The Fat Fairy Meets Birdy

There was a dove sitting in a nest by our garage.  At eye level! I watched her until she left the nest and I peeked in .  An egg!  Then another trip out of the nest.  A second egg!  Yippee!!!

I watched her for what seemed like weeks and eventually saw baby birds. She saw us peek in so much she didn't seem to get flustered.  Every time I peeked in I would coo, "Hi, Birdy." I guess she figured out after a while that we were not a threat.

The birds grew and grew and I was getting hopeful that we would get to watch them fledge. I kept an ear out for dove cooing and peeked out frequently to see how the family was doing.

One afternoon I heard some odd sounds outside so I went to peek out.  There was fluttering and shrieking.  A blue jay was picking up and dropping the carcas of a baby dove on the driveway.  One of the parent doves was attacking the blue jay until the blue jay left.

Obviously the one bird was just.....desicated. I couldn't go out and deal with it, so Mark did.  We never saw the second baby dove out there so we assumed it had gotten carted away by the jay.

It was rainy out and the doves just kept hanging out on our steps in front of the next.  So much cooing and pittiful pacing. I left them some seeds and they seemed appreciative.

This went on for a couple of days.  We left out seeds.  The dove couple kept pacing around on our steps.

At some point Mark went out and picked up the lid of the yard waste can which was propped up on a cinder block.  Out ran a baby dove! It ran under our hosta plants and hung out there for a couple of days.  The parents looked after it and eventually they all left.  I am thinking it is a good thing.

Namaste, Ya Little Buggars.

I encountered my first class of scoundrels as a substitute teacher.  Fifth graders.  They came in the classroom and never paused their playing for a second.  They didn't even give me a chance to announce that their teacher was out and had asked me to come in and be their "guest teacher" for the day.  They never got quiet.  Never got settled down.  Never acknowledged the chime we use for such purposes in "Responsive Classroom."  Didn't put their heads down when I finally gave up and told them to take a five minute break.

I refuse to yell at kids.  It does no good anyway. So I just took a breath for a moment to figure out my next move.

This is how I fantasized the scene.  Me....breathing deeply and removing myself mentally from the bad vibes...as big claws come in and pluck the ornery little buggars away.  There's a hook that comes in a takes one of the entertainers off the stage. I found this little fantasy quite calming.

As I walked over to the telephone and drew my finger down the phone directory list, the room grew increasingly quiet.  I dialed the phone and knew that I had their attention. As I began to speak to their teacher, you could hear a pin drop.

Unfortunately, she was in a meeting and could not come to give them a pep talk, but I didn't let on.  They thought she was on her way.

They sat with their heads down in silence as I gave the evil eye to anyone who dared look up.  Finally, I pretended to call the teacher again to tell her that they had done better and I would give them a second chance.

They were quiet enough for the rest of the class.  Not as quiet as I prefer, but quiet enough.

Thank goodness that as a sub, I can choose to work with them again or not.



Scherenschnitte 5"x7"       "Fat Fairy"

Gnome Love

I guess that sometimes I have too much time for idle thinking.  The other day I was wondering what sort of man the Fat Fairy would go for.  I really don't know that much about fairy life.  I figure that they would like a man with a bit of magic, but well grounded.  This fellow came to mind.

scherenschnitte 4" x 6"

The Siren's Song of Coffee

Coffee.  Oh what a draw that delicious brew has on me. 

I tried giving it up for the new year, but it pulled me back in today.  It seems to have a siren's song like few other things.  I lose all rational thought in its presence.  All resolve breaks down.

That Star6ucks mermaid is a demon in disguise.



scherenschnitte 5" x 7"

Sweltering

My classroom has been like an oven this week.  90 degrees.  I measured the temperature of the air about a foot away from my heating unit.  118 degrees.  I always think about the fact that I would save my county money if they just let me have a controllable thermostat in my room.  68 degrees is fine with me for the winter.  The last time I saw an HVAC guy in my room, he said that they set the temps at 72.  Yuck.  Still, it is better than 90.

scherenschnitte 5" x 7" 

Sending Anna

My Mom passed away a month before "9/11."  Twelve years really seems like a long time in regards to that.

All of Mom's close friends are still alive.  I get great comfort seeing these women when I am back home.  It's as though Mom is still alive through the memories of her friends.

One of her closest friends, Anna, went into hospice this week.  That has really plunged me into great sadness.  I feel as though I am mourning my Mom again.  This lady, Anna, is such a sweet, sweet woman.  She's the type of person about whom you never hear an unkind word.  I live three hours from my home town now, and rarely see Anna, but it always feels comforting to know she is around. 

I snipped this with her in mind.

***Saturday night.......I just heard from my sister that Anna passed today.


scherenschnitte     5" x 7"

Playing with iBooks Author

How's it look?  I've been playing around with iBooks Author this week.  My hope is to publish some books of my snips and put them up on the iBooks site....for free....jus cuz.  I'll let you know if something gets published.  If nothing every gets put up on the site, I'll slink away quietly.  = )

Fat Fairy Gets Back to Business

Oh, that Fat Fairy; running on that tread mill.  Her form is a little scary, but she is at least out there trying.  She is making me feel guilty for not being outside exercising on such a gorgeous day.

I'm actually thrilled that I did go down to Snippyville and get some snipping done today.  This is a simple snip, but it's a step back towards getting back in the groove. 

Now, if I can only get back in the groove of exercising too!


scherenschnitte     5" x 7"

Fat Fairy.....Finito!

scherenschnitte

8" x 10"

Fat Fairy Battle...in Progress

Today was Jan-day.  Mark headed out before sunrise to go on a caving trip, so I had the day to myself.  I napped....read from a favorite art ed book....napped.... did lesson planning... finished watching something on Netflix.... worked on my art ed blogs... and did some paper cutting.

This was the design that I started on my iPad.  I had wanted to finish the iPad drawing and then print it on the silhouette paper.  The only problem was that I lost my stylus yesterday.  Oh yeah.  I spent at least an hour today looking for my stylus before giving up and ordering another one.  Since I didn't have the stylus and didn't want to draw with my fat finger, I just jumped to working on paper. 

I might submit this to the art teacher art show this year, but I already know it is too crafty or too much of an illustration to be included.  It just doesn't fit.  Still, I'd like to submit it.

Jan-day is almost over.  I figure I might be able to hang in there another half hour before I fall asleep.  I really could use a few more days just like today.

The Fat Fairy Battles Mano a Mano

This is a template I created on the iPad.  I have to admit, my plan was for the fat fairy to be doing a tango with a spider.  When I went to bed last night, she was all that I had drawn.  This morning when I opened the image back up, it looked more like a tug of war than a tango; kind of like interpreting a Rohrschach image.   I'll be curious to see how I change the image when it becomes a paper cutting.