Mary Jane's Farm

When picking the second to the last cucumber last week in the early evening, I discovered what Cruiser and Spit must be hop, hop, hopping after at night in the grass. It is frogs! The one I saw was little as brown as dirt. You would think my cats could catch those, but I'm sure all the fun is in the chase.

Yesterday morning I got up first thing and started that painting I said I would do for Mary Kay. That is how I get done those things I resist, start them first thing in the morning before I have time to think about them. By 10 am I really hated it, but decided to try to push through it. By 11:30 I still hated it and gave up. I tried, but what she gave me to work from is really not my style and I tried to treat it like an experiment, but it was one of those loose graphic primitive watercolors and those are really harder than you think. I am sorry it took me so long to try it and to admit I don't want to do it. Now I have to call Mary Kay and ask her if she can chose from something I already have.

So by noon I am traumatized by wasting half of my Saturday on this really ugly, spiritless painting, besides wasting a quarter sheet of paper, so I thought I better quick do something I like and get over it. This is another study of Katherine Alberson Park last autumn,



Today I whipped that ugly painting off the board and into the trash and stretched another sheet of paper. The trash man will come tomorrow and that painting will be nothing but a bad memory.

My friend sent me a link to Mary Jane's Farm,

http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/

I want to go to farm school! The one week intensive includes food preservation, seed saving, chopping wood, I can even learn how to start a bee hive. I would stay in an outdoor tent, like they use for their Bed and Breakfast, check out the B&B pictures. It just sounds super. Mary Jane's farm is in Paloose, Washington, that is just north of Moscow, Idaho. The University of Idaho is in Moscow, which is six hours north of Boise. I think University of Idaho has an extensive agricultural program and they also have a large arts program, much bigger than BSU. For now I guess I will just subscribe to the magazine. Thanks, Darcy, for the tip.

It would have been better if I agonized over that painting today, since yesterday was nice and sunny and today it has been dismal and raining all day. The sun should be back out tomorrow in time for me to go to work.