13 piglets & a brand new cow!

"Our state fair is a great state fair,
Don't miss it, don't even be late.
It's dollars to donuts
That our state fair
Is the best state fair in our state."
-"State Fair"; Rogers & Hammerstein

it's true though... proof? um, how 'bout FRIED PB&J?!?!
have you EVER????


yeah. it's a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, dipped in batter and deep fried right before our eyes... and THEN they asked us if we wanted "anything on it"... WHAT?! like what? lipitor? an angioplasty? turns out some people opt for chocolate sauce... that just seemed... well, let's be honest, we WERE eating a fried pb& j... yeah, throw on some powdered sugar.

as it turns out, it was only good for a few bites; then it was too dry and too "mwack, mwack" (that's the sound of me trying to chew and swallow dry, warm peanut butter".

so, we have been going to the Maryland State Fair for years (AJ's always worked for non-profits and always ends up with these free passes the state gives to "good people"); and we always watch the pig races, visit the petting zoo,


and see sweet things like this alpaca (i want one... imagine all the yarn!)


and this sweet donkey with his long eyelashes and black eyeliner; and then we walk through the livestock "viewing" show area (until i get too sad realizing they are parading around to be sold to be turned into meat...) AND, i always get a corn dog. (hypocrisy? yes). Those who know me, know i L-O-V-E pigs. love 'em. so we'll start there...

pig racing.
these little piggies race around the track, to win... an oreo. oh, it's fantastic!



so, that's pretty great, but check this out...SWIFTY; swifty is a little pot bellied pig who swims. SHE SWIMS!
(after she swims you can take a picture with her for $5. i was giddy inside thinking about the possibility of that, and before i could convince myself that that was a "waste of money", my dear AJ said "honey, i will GLADLY pay $5 so you can have your picture taken with swifty". yep. and i did. actually WE did. i'll have to scan it so you can see it. we might use it for our christmas card, it's that good)



after the pig related excitement, we needed to "take it down a notch" and headed over to the agriculture pavilion, where we got to check these out...




awesome, right? then we bought honey sticks, which i always thought might be gross, because i don't REALLY like honey, but the flavored ones were pretty tasty. and THEN our lives changed forever.
we ran into some friends who, knowing my love of the porcine, said "did you see the baby pigs?" (yes, we just watched the race!), "no, the piglets in the birthing center... they were just born tis morning!" (WHAT?!?!). yeah, they have a pavillion where things are born.

so, we rushed over to find it and walk into this place and there's cows everywhere and this row of holsteins.. signs above each one saying "2 years old", "1 year old", "6 months old", "1 month old", "1 DAY OLD!!!".



a day!
look at that little cow. sooooo CUTE. AND SHINY!!!

there was also an incubator with newly hatched ducklings and even cuter, an incubator with EGGS, which turned INTO an incubator with egg SHELLS and teeny, tiny, wet little chicks in it, in a matter of minutes. THEN we saw the piglets. oh my gawd the piglets. OH T H E P I G L E T S!!!


thirteen of them, born between 9:30 and 11:30 that morning... these little red pork-itos are only 6 hours old.


and of course, there were two that especially reminded us of sweet mason.

so, that's how it started. we're watching these little piglets, totally freaking out about their tininess and the fact that there are little chicks and little ducks just a few feet away, when i hear a speaker-voice saying things like "placenta", "calfing", "water breaks"... and i say, "is there like a cow having a baby over there or something" (very eloquent... i'm always really eloquent at the state fair). so we go on the other side of these bleachers to check it out and yes... yes there was.



this is cow #2539 (or something like that), but AJ and i later named her Eloise because it just seemed right to be on a first name basis when you spend THAT kind of time with an animal. The guy speaking into the microphone told the audience that this heifer's water had broken about an hour ago, which meant she could give birth anytime now (between 2 and 12 hours after the water breaks)... he also told us that we could stay ALL night if we wanted to, because the state fair as an agreement with the birthing center, and if there is an animal in labor you don't have to leave when the fair closes. hot damn! now, this was Eloise's first calf, so she was likely to freak out a little (he warned us) and it might take longer. well, we sat tight. we followed her through all the wide eyed, straight tailed, still bodied contractions; watched some sort of other liquid make a big splash (not pee... not "the water") and when she got up and moved around the pen, we watched with our eyes (some other idiots kept getting up and blocking the view of people who had been sitting in one spot the whole time, letting their kids go right up to the fence and poke her, despite verbal abuse from the crowd and repeated warnings from the staff), and finally, she settled on our side of the pen and laid down... the start of things.




this is the sweet little hoof of a calf... the first part to come out. (just to be fair, i should tell you that the hoof came out a couple times, and then, well, went back in... we were told this was also normal, especially with the first timers; and she got up and moved to the center of the pen for the final hoof appearance).
shortly thereafter, we got another hoof and a nose...



then the whole head and legs, then the torso, then in one fell swoop, the rest of the baby.
and oh, then she just licked her and licked her and licked her... i'm talkin' hours of licking. too sweet.




we watched as baby tried to get up and walk around (it wasn't happening for baby... but she tried really hard). and then the staff asked the onlookers for questions. a kid in the crowd asked what the baby's name was, which led to a "what should her name be" audience participation segment. the nominated names were pretty weak, i must say ( i mean COME ON! we JUST saw this little thing be born... we owe her a good name): haley (a lovely name, but obviously the mother's urging the child to say it's own name, and that kind of weird displacement of parental needs is just awkward), fairy girl (like "fair", like state fair), daisy (such a cliche cow name) and some other "eh" ones... i think princess was one too. Then, this totally unexpected boy stands up and says, how about (no joke) "peppercorn". well, in another sad bit of proof that elections in this country just plain don't work, i cheered (and i wasn't alone) louder for Peppercorn than anyone else combined cheered for any other name... but they chose Princess. Well, "Princess" as she might be known to you guys, was NOT the calf i elected... the calf i helped birth (through good vibes and moral support) was DEFINITELY named Peppercorn


we went to get some snacks, and then came back and sat in front of the pen they moved Eloise and Peppercorn to, and watched her get her first bottle (mom had to be milked) and then stand and walk for the first time. It was amazing.

meet: peppercorn


SO, if you live in Maryland and DIDN'T know you could do this, plan for it for next year. Bring extra snacks and be prepared to sit for a long time... but also be prepared to be completely blown away and weepy for a few hours. (also, i'm off beef for a while).
xo, danamarie

happy labor day!

greetings from the beach! (it's mason's first time in sand or near this much water... good pictures to come!). hope you're all enjoying the tail end of summer... personally, i'm eager to meet the Fall.
it's way inspirational...
autumn-y goodness
xo, danamarie

checking in, cleaning house & touching base

i know, i know--- i totally left you all hanging. i am such a bad blogger. i really am. why do i have one? i am too busy to maintain this thing... well, if you're reading this, thank you for not giving up on me. i will say that YES, the calf was born; yes i have pictures, and yes, they are amazing. And there was so much else that was awesome. The problem is the pictures are all gigantic and i just can't justify the time it'll take to re-size them (and a hundred other pictures for a hundred other blog entries i want to post) when i have the following on my plate for the next two weeks: one on one portfolio prep for 10 homeschool middle school-aged boys, 2 different classes of 2-5th graders, training someone to cover my shifts at the museum while i take on the aforementioned classes, an adult drawing class (teaching, not taking), a mural proposal, two art festivals (one of which i wont be at, because i'm teaching... thus opening up another realm of "AAAAAAAAH" as i figure out how to delegate the set up of my space to another person), cleaning the studio, 3 commissions, battling with my insurance company & allergist (my main question being: "do you seriously want me to pay you for services rendered 4 years ago? i can't even remember if i actually GOT those tests"), sewing 10 new knitimals... 2 of which i intended to post on etsy by Saturday (they're autumnal), making a hundred billion things for the upcoming shows... and i'm sure there's more that i am willfully pretending aren't happening.

They're good things... like the TWO Young People's Studio Classes i'll be teaching at MICA--- "Real & Fanciful Landscapes" and "Draw a story, Tell a story" for grades 3-5 & 2-4 respectively... i'm a great teacher, so if you're local, let me teach your kids. I'll show them the pictures from the fair, how bout that? Oh, and there's video too! I have to figure out how to post video (that'll actually play). Anyway, i have to put the computer away now and focus on sewing, because that's what is necessary right now.

oh, and also, i can't go in my kitchen for, oh, ever, because i spied a giant roach in there and i would rather do any of the top 10 things you might list right now that you would never, ever want to do, than to go anywhere near a roach... my poor AJ is in there right now whacking at it... either way, this might be a new weight loss plan because even if it is "proved" dead, i'm staying far away.

ugh.
(shiver)

anyway... i've procrastinated long enough.
i have sewing to do... tonight! and, well, we're FINALLY going away this weekend and i'm HOPING to bring the computer along, so we'll see. BUT, look for new stuff in the shop on Monday, and some very worth-the-wait posts coming up. really. in the mean time, here's a current favorite picture of my favorite 4-legged boy. (such a cop out, i know).
xo, danamarie

Til the calf comes home!

I am not leaving the fairgrounds until this cow has her baby. Even if its 2am.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

spring cleaning! (i'm either really early or really late)

ah, cleaning house. i'm not a fan, really, but i don't see why you can't benefit from it, right?


coloring book, keychain, wool, coffee cozy, pitter, reLana, reLarry, t-shirt, minimal

these sweet little goodies are in danger of "expiring" on etsy (GASP!), meaning, they've stayed in the shop for three whole months without getting the attention or love they deserve. we can't sit back and let that happen, can we? SO, i have gone back through and sweetened the deal--- they are all now ON SALE (in some cases as much as HALF OFF their usual retail price) and if you order by Saturday, you'll get free shipping too!

*just go to the shop, fill up your cart (and feel free to take home other goodies too!), then checkout and pay. Once i get the payment, i'll reimburse your the shipping total via paypal. easy peasy.*

** reLana and reLarry, the sweet, earth friendly, snuggly recyclimals will expire on SATURDAY!!! So act fast and take them home by Friday night, or they'll be gone.

:(

this is a great time to stock up on holiday gifts, back to school treats and more!
and remember, 5% of all sales will go to 2 Dogs 2000 Miles!. it's a win win.

much love! xo, danamarie

Ha!

I just thought this picture was too hilarious not to share. He looks like an aardvark. Oh, and to anyone keeping score: the printer is still not responding with an ethernet or wireless connection but I did get it to print via very short USB cord I snagged off another appliance. And having struggled with that all day, I am now nursing a monster headache. Hence the dachshung on my belly.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

love on 4 legs: the importance of pets

i've been enjoying a few days "off", this past week. i "meant" to be back online a lot sooner... and honestly, i wish the reason was cooler (i was in the amazon; we ran off and got married in amish country; i was asked to go on tour with ben folds; i won the lottery and had to change my name...), but the real reason is i can't get my flippin' printer to print anymore, or to "recognize" my computer and it's just sitting there blinking at me and distracting me every time i sit down at the desk; i see this stubborn little green light flashing, assuring me that it is talking to my laptop... well, i assure you that it is ABSOLUTELY not talking to my computer.

it is, in fact, just blinking and making me angry.

so, i've had to turn my mind to something a little less offensive. like my little mason.

little mason who doesn't blink or ignore me. little mason who has discovered the pure joy of sitting in the window sill and who just this evening ran into the bathroom, jumped on the cat and then threw a punch with his little paw (before running out of the room with his tail between his legs). ah, pets. animals are amazing, aren't they? they seem to be able to do all this stuff that we'd shrivel up and die from embarrassment, fear, sadness, shame or guilt.

is it any wonder that they rule our lives? that we want them around for ever? that people ask me all the time to make knitimals out of their little 4 legged babies? no... it's no wonder. faithful blog readers will no doubt recognize some if not all of these Knitimal Pets from years past:


daisy and bob of everything and the dog


daisy & her lovely mom, lydia


a couple of greyhounds, out to raise money for their cause (Virginia Greyhound Adoption & scooby medina). their mommy, Diane, helps raise money which enables them to rescue Spanish greyhounds called galgos and is also Scooby’s Virtual Adoption coordinator for North America.


these little cuties are casper & bumbles (my cat niece and nephew)


and here's max the knitimal with max the brussells griffon

i'm sure not every knitimal pet serves the same purpose... i know for some its just a fun tribute to a good friend; to others, another piece of decorative art of a favorite breed; to others, a token... a reminder & a friend for the sad time when their real true friend crosses that rainbow bridge. whatever the reason, making these Knitimal Pets has become a touching & soul renewing part of my commission load. and when i send them on their way, well, the letters, emails & pictures i get back are rewards in and of themselves...

BUT, what if you could save the lives of other dogs (and cats... and PEOPLE), while paying tribute to your own dear friend? ah ha! changing subject only slightly...
*****

as most of you have no doubt noticed (and been confused by) august has come and almost gone with no mention of the august charity. well, i'll blame this partially on my harry potter vacation, partially on the printer from hell and partially on my perfectionist spirit ( i can't do anything half-way); i knew THIS post needed to be perfect, and only now did it feel right.

as most of you know, we lost our beautiful girl, Shiloh, to cancer (in her blood and a tumor on the base of her heart) and the complications it set in motion. in the absolutely agonizing weeks that followed her initial plunge in health & the news that there was nothing we could do, the one thing i couldn't beat from my mind was "how?".

how did this happen?
how did we not know?
how long had she been ill?
how much time was left?
how did it feel?
how should we handle it?
how do i let my little girl go?

the one how that DIDN'T occur to me was "how many other people have gone through this?"; i would find out soon enough. Losing a pet is like losing a family member and there was no shortage of love & support poured out to aj & myself, from all over the world, and that was amazing. AND, it is, in fact, how i came to find out about Luke Robinson, and his Great Pyrenees, Malcolm.

Malcolm, like too many dogs, lost his brave battle with cancer. But his legacy lives on in the form of a very long journey, aimed at raising money to find, not the cure for cancer, but the CAUSE.... the "how".

"The YBD Foundation, which operates the “2 Dogs 2000 Miles” project, is a non-profit organization established to operate exclusively for charitable, educational, outreach and scientific purposes related to the reduction in the incidence of cancer and improve cure rates for all those touched by this disease. We strive for the goals of:

1. Promoting public interest and awareness
through education about the causes for
the rise in animal cancer.

2. Encouraging and supporting those
institutions that conduct research in the
field of comparative oncology which
compares human and animals cancers in
order to find the causes relative to each.

3. Establishing and empowering
collaborative efforts among individuals,
groups, communities and institutions
that seek to find the causes of cancer."

in other words... this is good for everyone. and THAT is why i am proud to announce that the 2 Dogs 2000 Miles organization will be greenstarstudio's next cause of the month (well, from today through Sept. 30th). They have a fabulous travel blog and a store where you can buy products to support the boys, AND, as always, 5% of all etsy sales will go directly to the cause.

****

AND, (and here's where the two segments blend together seamlessly), for every Knitimal Pet ordered between now and Sept. 30th, $10 will go directly to 2 Dogs 2,000 Miles. Knitimal Pets are $100 for a 10" tall doll; and can be made even larger if you wish. All i need is a few good photographs for your beloved pet, and we're good to go.

Whatever your reason for wanting one, now is a good time to get one; your one of a kind love can help make life better for every one of a kind love.


*me, a diet pepsi, the best tomato & basil pizza ever, my green crocs, and my girl*

i'm gonna go find my little sausage man and give him kisses! here's to good health and long lives. xo, danamarie & mason (*in loving memory of mason's "gammy shiloh")

the end... and a beginning

wow.

dang.

D A N G!

that was a week well spent, methinks.

they're gonna need at least two movies to make that good.

*yes, that is a tissue next to the book... yes, it is used... yes, i cried.

i have to thank my good friend Alecia (the first "cool" person i knew who ever read Harry Potter), who made it acceptable to read children's literature, years before it was the "in" thing. i know there are a lot of harry and jk rowling nay-sayers out there, but for me, as an illustrator and someone who is constantly told "enjoy it while you have it, because no one reads anymore", i am ecstatic that someone, something, came along and encouraged and rewarded reading again. i am now climbing down off my soap box because a very sweet boy is looking to take me out on the town, for dates, i'm afraid, are few and far between these days. did i mention i woke up to this the other morning?



and this



and this




sigh.

love is magic.

also magic... people who dedicate their lives to animals.
(a segue for the next post... you'll see)
xo, danamarie

AAAAAAA!!!

I'm 70 pages from the end and sort of afraid to go on. Everything's happening so fast, such tension, things are "being revealed"; I'm having a hard time not reading ahead and I am so not wanting the story to be over. I am going for a walk. Is there a Harry Potter support group out there?
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

the best laid plans...

so, THIS is what my day was supposed to look like. On Friday i was FINALLY able to procure book 7 from the library (i know, i know, but when it came out last year i was teaching summer camp and all the kids were reading it--- i needed some distance from some of the spoilers i over heard. And of course there's that pesky expense of hardcovers... i thought for sure it would be out in paperback by now) and i came home with the plan of using my "week off" (HA HA HA HA HA) doing nothing but lying about reading Harry Potter in the air conditioned splendor of my living room. I'd only take breaks to rest my eyes and knit a few stitches on this lovely, pale colored knitimal i've been dreaming of. and my whole day would be fueled by multi-grain cheerios™, blueberries and skim milk. these are trader joe's blueberries and they are SO big and so sweet, a sleepier me might confuse them for candy.

this plan of harry and yarn and blueberries lasted all of 20 minutes and then something, some small, stupid thing, toppled from heights unknown and landed with a crash behind me.




might it have fallen from THIS? this tragic mess i've created over the course of i dont even KNOW how many months. it's primarily stuff i've filed into the "already dealt with but needs to be sorted and filed" category, which btw, is my most loathed category. plus, sorting it (which i DO like, because its like a trip down memory lane... oh, remember when so and so bought that knitimal? oh and remember when i participated in THAT show?) would ultimately lead to putting it somewhere, and in this case, somewhere is a stuffed to the seams filing drawer, just brimming with other stuff that needs to be sorted and filed and worst yet, recycled or shredded. i'm not into shredding. and when i make a to do list, those kinds of tasks always fall way at the bottom (far below reading for pleasure, which happens like... never, or even cleaning the dog's teeth, which i am proud to say, happens at least twice a week).

so, of course, having an 8 month old puppy, i had to leap to my feet to find whatever fell and put it back right... not "put it away", but shove it back into the pile again.


and doing THAT only made me look around and realize that THIS was a problem too.


what's even going ON here? i'm almost positive that there are 3 rolls of cling wrap in there because i just kept buying more, rather than actually look for where i had put the first one. or the second. baggies, paper towels, opened tubes of paint, tissue paper, padded envelopes, customs forms, sculpey... insanity. this is what crazy people's houses look like. yeah, i can use the whole "i'm an artist" thing, for a little bit, but eventually, i'm just a crazy person.

i spent some time near the desk, which meant looking at my planner, which lay open (i had MEANT to hide it this week) and reminded me cruelly that i had several phone calls to make, at least 2 bills to pay, and a whopping 5 different "places i am supposed to be, if only they are actually confirmed" events, classes, workshops, and such that i needed to reconcile. thus, i spent the next 3 hours making calls, moving piles around, checking email, sorting papers, erasing-rewriting-erasing-rewriting-cursing-erasing-and rewriting dates and events in my calendar as various pieces of half information floated in and out of my inbox. and after hours of rediscovering things i'd saved for various projects (like, oh, knitimal halloween masks, for example), i ended up with this:


lovely, but only a start.

and of course, as i am just reaching the boiling point of frustration, i hear the familiar sounds of mason literally racing up and down the hallway, slamming into walls and charging through doors. he does this sometimes. like a weird solo man relay race. he just goes nuts.

and then i realize i'd left the bedroom door open...

ok, so last week we finally retired the 10 year old mattress that has been destroying my spine for years. look how sad and bare springed and uneven it is. poor sad old mattress. here it is awaiting is death in the hallway.




and HERE is the B-E-A-U-t-i-F-u-L new mattress (a sealy posturepedic parker grove pillow top, if you must know, and you must, because it's glorious). this "limbo" place i'm in with planning my autumn has been making it hard for me to fall asleep, but ooooh, once i'm out... i am O U T.




the only trick is... mason.


this bed is much taller than the last one, and even though he has "his steps" to get up to the bed, even with his steps he's still inches off without leaping... which, as i'm sure you know, is not the best idea for dachshunds (and is, naturally, his most favorite thing to do in the whole entire world). so, we have to watch him around the bed now... because he's a dachshund (nature's perpetual teenagers) and he just loves being stubborn, headstrong and physically daring.

when i go into the bedroom, i find this:


also known as EVERY SINGLE TOY THE DOG OWNS; the quilt in a bundle, the pillows on the floor, his steps pushed perfectly up to the side of the bed and bits of kibble hidden beneath the sheets. the dog has spent the last (let's see... when WAS the last time i saw him? when i unearthed that 4th roll of cling wrap, was it?) 2 hours, running each and every one of his toys, ropes, dolls and bones up the steps and has made a little nest of craziness on our beautiful bed.

of course, every time i throw one off the bed, he runs down the steps and grabs it and runs back up.
i gave up after 3 tries.
he looked so happy.

i broke two frames.
ate way too many strawberries.
nearly choked on a lemon seed that had been hanging out in the bottom of my water bottle (darn you squeeze of lemon in my water!)
and then spent 2 hours curled up in a ball on the couch nursing a headache.

even still. i managed to read through nearly 200 pages today and wow. (DON'T SAY ANYTHING), but wow. harsh.
**********


regarding the rest of the week: i DID have a plan to unveil both a new project and a related new charity for the month (notice my monthly causes tend to start 2 weeks into the month? what the hey, it's still 4 weeks, right? but i am just BEAT. i NEED to take the next couple days for myself (i won't even get into how long its been since i've had anything close to a vacation, and with the cost of gas and whatnot, i'm thinking a 3 day siesta on my couch is really very little to ask for). SO, i will be away from email & blogging until Saturday at the earliest, but don't worry... i'll come back with great news to share; an updated etsy shop, a wonderful new charity to support; refreshed, re-energized and renewed... like a phoenix.

speaking of phoenixes... mr. potter awaits me.
xoxo, danamarie