Farmin' and Doodling

Sunday afternoon found me at Heartland Farm again. It was good to catch up with my feather and fur babies although a wicked storm was coming in and they were all feeling it and kind of antsy. I snuggled with my buddy, Reggie the gorgeous pantalooned rooster. He's just a bitty thing but when I first started working there he was FIERCE. We couldn't get into his stall to feed him or clean without having to use as a dustpan as a shield or putting a laundry basket over him to keep him from attacking. I have a lot of scars on my legs, arms and face from His Nibs. But somewhere over the years, he turned to corner and decided to give peace a change. Now I pick him up , snuggle him and carry him around. He loves to be talked to and clucks back. If you fondle his comb, his little eyes close. What a sweetie!

(photo courtesy of Sarah Konkle)

The reason I was there was to help load  this little guy...

(photo courtesy of Sarah Konkle)

Tyrion the Nigerian Pygmy Goat, and Ellie the Mini Pig into the Heartland truck and head on over to the Fitchburg Fair for the afternoon to let the fair-goers know about all of the programs that Heartland has to offer. Ellie had other ideas and decided that she needed to spend the rainy afternoon sleeping in with her sisters, Lola and Lucy, (see the '3 Little Pigs below) so Tyrion was the main man! 

(photo courtesy of Sarah Konkle)

For a tiny goat he was surprisingly difficult to catch on the 80 ACRE grounds! He played 'I'll-let-you-catch-me-oh-no-I-won't' with me for 15 minutes, kicking his heels up, bouncing around and leading me on a merry chase! Finally he took pity on me and let me put the leash on him. 

It was a stormy afternoon and he was a little unsure of the rain on the tent roof and the sides flapping in the breeze when we were at the fair, but he was a trooper and enjoyed being adored by all of the kids and a lot of adults too! We were in the Children's Tent where a group who runs kids' sports teams was signing up teams and providing arts and crafts for the kids. We also had a visit from Truly Remarkable Loon (he goes by just 'Loon'), a juggler/entertainer from the Madison area. Very interesting guy! And a fun day despite the rain. 

Saturday we had our semi-annual Wisconsin Zentangle Artists' Coalition Meeting. There weren't as many folks at this meeting, which is to be expected in May-especially around graduation time, but we had a wonderful meeting as usual. There was a demo on stenciling backgrounds which I cleverly avoided. I have a bad case of monkey-see-monkey-do-itis and don't need one more thing in the way of crafty stuff to add to by brimming supplies! The work that my friends were bringing back to our table was A-MAZ-ING though. I did overhear that they made their own stencils out of hot glue but then I stuck my fingers in my ears (LALALALALALAL) so that I couldn't hear how to actually do it, thus avoiding a stop at Wisconsin Craft Market on the way home!

There has been (non-stenciled background) drawing going on though. I seem to be in a bit of a frenzy actually.  It comes and goes. When it goes, I knit socks! Lately, there has been no sock-knitting except when I'm with the Knit Chicks!

This was a tile that I made for the front of a Thank You note for my big boss. He gave me a generous gift card for Administrative Assistant's Day.

I've been geeking out on the Ben Kwok templates too, now that I have shrunken them down and put them in one sketchbook. This is his elephant template.

(When I talk about Ben's templates, this is what they look like-kind of like a coloring book page.)

And this is his zebra. I did a larger version of this one a while ago, but wasn't happy with it. I took a lot more time with the shading this time and like it a lot better. 

I stumbled across a new pattern this weekend that I am IN LOVE with called Narwhal (like the tusked whale). I got to bed WAY too late on Saturday night because I was playing with it.

But there's just so many possibilities!!!

This weekend there is a Zentangling Day at friend-Katy's house that I'm looking forward to. Looks like there will be 20 or so of us there and it's an all day thing with lunch and other shenanigans. I'm sure there will be lots of tips and trick and fun to be had. 

What are YOU doing for the long weekend?