And So It Snows...

I was beginning to think they were going to be wrong about the intensity of this winter storm that was forecast for Southern Ontario. I decided to leave the horses in - not sure about my logic there, when I actually turned them out Wednesday when it was colder and windier! When I was about to give them their noon hay, I actually considered throwing them out, because it wasn't really that bad. I decided to stick with the plan - it was supposed to get worse in the afternoon, after all.

And so it has! Monster is doing her best to look pathetic, standing by the gate letting the white stuff accumulate on her back. Before you start feeling sorry for her, she does have a run-in shelter she chooses not to use most of the time; she's double-blanketed with a nice high-neck waterproof Wethabeeta as the outer layer, and the temp is actually pretty close to the freezing mark!


Yesterday was beautiful - crisp, for sure, but the sun was shining, the sky was clear. I took a few photos, and it seems little Miss Peaker has an interest in photography. Here's a photo she helped me take. Focus is so over-rated! Well, they have horses that paint; why not?

The ghost groom is still a ghost groom (and late last night had me contemplating the potential significance of that! Another time, perhaps?) but I worked on the horse last night, establishing more of that all-important anatomy! I find a horse's legs fascinating.


And now, a note from our sponsor! I bought a small Cocoa Camino Chili and Spice chocolate bar at the grocery store yesterday. I know the thought of that combination puts a lot of people off, but they're done a good job with this. So to the benefits already provided by that 71% cocoa content, add those of ginger, cinnamon and chili! The added advantage is that you don't tend to want a big piece, so it keeps the caloric density down!

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.... :-)

Seriously...Where's the Chocolate?

It's perhaps a sad thing that one of my greatest motivators to get to the grocery store is needing to replenish my supply of chocolate. Yes, even out here in Boonieville we have a couple of corner stores of a fashion (all gas stations seem to have convenience stores now) but when I talk about chocolate, what I'm usually looking for is "real" chocolate, the higher the cocoa percent, the better! When I go away (in a geographical sense) I look for new chocolate. Have you read my profile? That degree and minor I have? I figure that gives me the authority to remind everyone that chocolate is GOOD for you! Has to be the high cocoa content stuff though. More antioxidants than that red wine everyone goes on about. And you don't get drunk on it!

Okay...painting, right? My next task is to finish the other piece that was abandoned mid-underpainting last October. When I originally edited the photo for this, I flipped it, and I was going to call it "Backstretch Banter" because the riders were making me laugh. When it came down to it, though, I decided to leave the orientation as it was - the field in a route race going past the grandstand for the first time. The race in question was actually the '06 Canadian Oaks. Maybe my reasons for not changing the photo too much were directly related to that!

This is one of those "count the legs" paintings. I'm still doing that. I'm also testing my memory, painting those legs. My photo ref doesn't show as much as the painting does. I still have some work to do there. Too bad this race was over the old dirt surface at Woodbine, or I would just throw in some Polytrack kickback!

As I'm sure no one but me remembers, this is the first painting I've done on Artfix Linen. The surface is so smooth, it's been giving me some real challenges. Just when I think I have the hang of it, I lose it! I've got the sketch for another painting blocked out on another, smaller piece of this. Haven't touched it with paint yet. I think I've come to the conclusion I like a bit of texture!