Sheep Squatch, Sammy Squatch and Little Green Men.

Recently I watched a very serious documentary. In this documentary, two charming young fellows, let’s call them Crackalackin’ and Sippin’Shine, fell prey to a mysterious and elusive creature deep in the Appalachian forests of West Virginia. One day while wandering through the woods, misfortune befell them when they came upon this dastardly, devilish, despicable, degenerate of a demon.

Even though they were terrified, petrified, paralyzed and stupefied, they were able to give a clear and concise description.

The creature was gigantic! Nine feet tall at least! It was a slovenly creature with disheveled wooly white fur. It had a damp rank smell.
It had flaming red eyes that gleamed with malicious intent, much like my Siamese, Minou’s would glitter if I did not obey her every command, may she rest in peace. (or at least rest under the large rock and brick memorial I built for her, I told my neighbors that it was to keep the coyotes from disturbing her grave but I really did it because I still think she was part vampire and I didn’t want her digging herself out)

See what I mean..

Minou©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013>

Man I loved that cat.

Anyway.
It had ram’s horns, not the musical instrument or the plant, but horns similar to those one might see on a ruminant animal.
It’s muscular arms were outstretched as if it was channeling Frankenstein’s creation. At the end of it’s arms, raccoon like paws with eagles talons reached for them.
And it had a possum bottom. With a prehensile tail.

It was the platypus of monsters.

That’s right it was the…the…

Da Da Da Dum…..

The SHEEPSQUATCH!!

(a distant clap of thunder is heard)

Or a large albino platypus. Take your pick.

But in the moments before Crackalackin’ and Sippin’Shine noticed this smelly, white, towering, wooly, horned, Siamese eyed, raccoon pawed, eagle taloned, Frankensteinian creature with a possum butt…

they innocently mistook it for a tree.

Which begs the question. What the hell kind of trees do they have in Appalachia?

Are they like this tree? I call this photo “The Mad Tree” because that tree is mad. I didn’t’ stop and ask why. It didn’t seem like the type of tree to appreciate any kind of neighborly concern.

treemad©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013

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Not to cast aspersions on the tales of Crackalackin’ and Sippin’Shine but I live with a Sammy Squatch.

A Sammy Squatch is a rare but not so elusive creature.

While the Sammy Squatch (Minimus Canis Squatchacus) is one of the smaller members of the Squatchie familiaris, he does share some of the distinguishing features of his larger cousin, Sheep Squatch, (Grandis Gluteus Bestia).  He too has wooly disheveled fur and sometimes smells rather cadaverous. He, however, does not have raccoon paws with eagles talons but instead has mole feet. He does not have a prehensile tail but indeed has a tail that Sammy Squatch grooming books describes as carrot like, yes he has a gluteus vegetablis (that being the scientific term for carrot butt).

The Sammy Squatch prefers to hang out in brand new recliners that nobody else has actually sat in yet, not that I’m bitter or anything, while drinking his beer.

sammybeer©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013.

And even though I’ve been hanging out with the Sammy Squatch for six years, never once have I ever mistaken him for a tree. I’ve never even mistaken him for a shrubbery.

I mean it’s not like they saw a Triffid. I could understand mistaking a Triffid for a tree.

It can be noted that they ran as soon as they saw it so how they saw it’s Frankensteinian arms with it’s raccoon hands and eagles talons while also noticing it’s possum butt is beyond me. It must have been standing in a very awkward position (or maybe they interrupted it’s yoga session). At this point I lost all faith in this “documentary”. I’m starting to believe it may not have been an actual documentary.

I was about to turn it off when they went onto a tale about aliens and a shootout in Appalachia. Now who can resist that.

So these people are in a cabin playing cards (poker) and of course they weren’t drinking at all (really) when one of them noticed a creature in the woods. He described this creature as hunched over with front arms as long as it’s back legs and the arms were touching the ground. In other words it had four legs. It had big brown eyes, velvety skin and soft pointy ears. So of course they shot and shot and shot (p’ting! p’ting! p’ting!) breaking all the windows and yet it never once returned fire.

Because it was a deer.

And as everyone knows, deer don’t use shotguns, they prefer slingshots.

But that is heck of a story to come up with up with just to avoid paying for all the windows they broke while doing lord knows what. I’m only telling you this just in case you break a window and need an excuse for doing so. You’re welcome.

Meanwhile in my own backyard, a rampant invasion has taken place. All over the lawn there are dozens of little crop circles, swirly ones with holes in the middle. They look exactly like the marks a skunk would make when searching for slugs. They also look exactly like the landing marks a miniature fleet of little tiny UFO’s would make. So either I have skunks or I can go with the more likely explanation which is that little tiny aliens are invading the planet nightly.

grass©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013

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Okay that last photo may be a wee bit tampered with.

My apologies, I’ll go stand in a corner.

Meanwhile, fancy a flaming inferno photo?

fire©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013

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Have a good one. And watch out for mad trees.

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013

Having a Hitchcock moment…

Good Evening, ladies and gentlemen…

The scene is set. An isolated farmhouse before the storm.

A ladder leaning against a lone tree.

Here a heedless harpy harangues her hapless husband.

The husband, his soul pierced by a thousand verbal barbs, slouches over his basement work table and slowly twists a rope over and over.

And as the skies darken, faint thunder is heard rolling across the barren landscape. The basement stairs creak as the man heavily climbs them with the rope in his hands.

Twisting, twisting….

house2©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013.

Meanwhile a lone eagle flies over a railroad span.

The river rages below.

The wind whips through the trees. A light mist settles.

A ravenous troll lurks below the bridge as a footsteps of a young goat rings out.

Clip. Clop. Clip. Clop. Clip…

railroadbridge©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013

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Oh sorry Sampson, didn’t mean to scare you. Thank you Zeus for covering his eyes. Sammy is a bit nervy at times. He also needs a bath..

Sammy2©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013

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Why don’t you guys go and chase some birds?

Oh I see. Yes, that is an awful lot of birds.

A Hitchcockian amount of birds, one might say.

birds2©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013

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Where’s an eagle when you need one?

There he is!

eagle9©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013.

Now, where was I? I was going somewhere with this Hitchcock stuff.

Never mind, I’ve lost it. Here, look at a photo of Zeus chasing his nose.

Yup, that’s what he’s doing. Don’t worry though, he didn’t catch it.

Zeus2©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013

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Well. I guess I should quit messing around with the camera and go paint something.

Till we meet again..

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013

Happy Saint Valentine’s Day!

In the spirit of Saint Valentine’s Day, Zeus smooched Sampson.

He pretended to be shocked but we all know he liked it!

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dogs©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013.

Happy Saint Valentine’s Day all!

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013

 

 

Eagles, Seagulls and Sychronized Sporting Events

Well New Year’s Day came and went. I only made one resolution.

I decided I would not rest until I had a decent non goofy looking photo of Zeus. So I prepared myself for an arduous year long journey of begging, treat offerings, bone buying blackmail and general doggyness. I took him out on the first day of the year to start our journey together and..

Zeus1©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013.

Sooo…apparently I will have a lot of free time on my hands this year.

Which is great! Because it’s that time of year!

“What time of year?” you ask..

Well it’s the time of year for my favorite sporting event.

Yes it’s time for the Synchronized Aerobatic Flying Event.. SAFE for short.

Oh, you missed it? What a shame, let me give you the rundown.

As I arrived at the Rock River, the spectators, mostly from the Bald Eagle Fan Club, were beginning to arrive and jostling for seats.

eaglespecs2©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013.

As they settled in, eagles to the left and center, herring gulls to the right and petrified ducks huddled in the middle, the juvenile eagles (juveniles have brown heads, they don’t get their white feathers for several years. This greatly helps reduce the sale of liquor to young eagles although occasionally one tries the old dump a box of cornstarch on the head trick to fool unwitting vendors) put on a rousing demonstration show featuring a half pike, reverse vertical aileron position. Well done, young ones!

eagles©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013.

With the demonstration over and anticipation for the main event growing, a roar came from the crowds. Shrieks, piping whistles and loud kuk kuk kuk calls came from the eagles and gulls and even the petrified ducks occasionally omitted a small quavery quack.

Then the first team for the pairs entered the arena. A shocked silence filled the air as the referee called out their names.

” Ladies and Gentlebirds! Please welcome for their first time at the Annual SAFE Competition….

Seigel the Eagle and Egal the Seagull!!”

That’s right for the first time in history, an eagle and a gull had paired up. Shocking, right.

But soon their beautiful highly technical set, performed to an exceptionally moving version of  U2’s “Window in the Skies” sung by the charming Crimson Cardinal Chorus, delighted the crowd.

Here they execute a lovely Lunkenheimer air taxi move with their legs in perfect tuck position.

eaglegull2©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013

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And here’s the infamous tetrahedron wings up yaw maneuver. Bravo, I say! Bravo!

eaglegull4©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013.

Followed by the cross volitant split flap maneuver.

eaglegull3©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013.

Please note, I did apologize to Egal the Seagull for the fuzziness of  his photos. My camera was acting up in the cold. It was downright icy out there. He was a bit miffed at first. Then we got to talking and I told him how, on my great grandmother’s birth certificate from 1886 London, England, my great great grandfather’s job is listed as “Scavenger”. Once we realized we both came from a long line of honorable, hard working Scavengers ( with a capitol S, please) we got along like a house afire. Strange term “a house afire”, connotates affability between parties but I’ve had a house afire and let me tell you it’s anything but affable. Now don’t try that yourself, just trust me on that one.

Of course as per usual over in the judging feeders, the officials were fighting tooth and nail. To no one’s surprise the French judge, flew off in a huff.

starlings©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013.

After much discussion and some squawking, squabbles were settled and Seigel the Eagle and Egal the Seagull were befeathered SAFE champions of the year. In honor of the historical SAFE interavian champion performers and much to the relief of the petrified ducks (that huddled mass at the bottom center) the crowds dispersed peacefully.

Rumor has it that the pair are now being considered for the Nobel Peace Prize.

eagles2©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013

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Sure a few straggling hecklers had to fly by the stands and mock the crowd.

But all in all it was a good day.

eaglesgull7©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013.

Mark your calenders and don’t forget to come out for this inspiring sporting event next year!

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013

Weekly Photo Challenge: Purple

This week’s Photo Challenge’s theme is Purple.

I was trying and trying to come up with something purple.

Had an idea floating in the back of my head..

Hmmm….What was I going to do?

Was I going to show you some sage?

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Pretty, but no, no that wasn’t it..

Sammy, can you help me out?

Oh! I beg your pardon, I didn’t know you were in the bath.

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How about the balloon flowers? They are a lovely shade aren’t they.

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Also pretty but no, that wasn’t it either..

Sammy why are you laughing at me? I know, my memory is just terrible!

But considering how much stuff you have buried in the back, I wouldn’t mock if I were you.

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Oh what a minute, I did use a purple filter on the Moon, I mean I was actually on the Earth taking a photo of the Moon with a purple filter…(Grammar will get you every time. So will gravity, come to think of it.)

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No, no I’m sorry folks I just can’t remember what purple photos I wanted to show you…

It’s a shame really..

Why are you looking so frustrated, Sammy??

It’s okay, maybe this Purple theme will come around again..

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We’ll try again next week.

If you would like to participate in the Weekly Photo Challenges, follow the link and join in!

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

Feral bankers, enchanted muskrats and black velvet…

Well hello to all the real people and the nice spambots who have been filling up my spam comment catcher.

Sometimes I wonder if spambots have souls. Well actually I never wonder that. I know they are soulless creatures floating in the internet universe desperately hoping that someone will notice them. I once had a friend, more of an acquaintance really, who like spambots would go to great lengths to get anybody with a pulse to talk to her. We would all go out dancing and her chest would be tethered and strapped so high that if she had even attempted the first move in the Watusi, she would have knocked herself out cold. And forget hiphop, that would have put her right in a coma. So just remember, if you ever get tempted to reply to a spambot, you’re just inviting a boozy, strapped in, tethered up, pulse seeking, lousy coma prone dancer into your home.

Occasionally it is tempting to answer them, especially when they give me comments like this..

“I adore foregathering useful info, this post has got me even more info!”

What a flirt, not only can he foregather which I’m assuming is some bizarre psychic thing, he enjoys my usefulness in pointing out tap dancing baby giraffes, bird drowning bigfoots and silly billboards.  I can quite honestly say of all the things I thought could be said about this blog, useful was not one of them.

This one just said

“There you will find 40528 more Infos”.

Infos..with a capitol “I”.  40528 of them. I think it’s trying to get me curious enough to check out it’s Infos. But I don’t want 40528 Infos, I only want a little bit of Info and that my dear spambot is…Who counted all those Infos. And how did you keep track? Did you use a really big abacus or do they come rolled like pennies. And do they smell like pennies? There’s a terrible smell. And it attracts bankers. A cold shiver went down my spine at the thought of attracting bankers. Be careful folks once a banker starts tracking down that penny smell, you’ll be in trouble. The next thing you know you’ll have feral bankers living behind your house, breeding like crazy, scaring your dogs and knocking over your garbage cans looking for torn up bills. Then you’ll have to listen to them maniacally laughing while they try to piece them back together. Let me tell, you have to shred that paper really good or really well..whichever you prefer.

I know, spambot, I know. The simplest explanation is that you have 2026 employees who counted on their fingers and toes and one employee who after a horrible Infoaccident lost three digits on each extremity. That’s very sad, Infoaccidents are terrible things, you shouldn’t mock the guy and make him keep counting on his poor mangled extremities. And in protest until you do I’m not checking out your link. I won’t be a party to such a lackadaisical attitude towards Infoaccidents.

This one tried to trick me into believing my site wasn’t working.

“I’m not certain exactly why but this web website is loading incredibly slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a issue on my end? I’ll check back later and see if the issue still exists”

Buddy, I’d like to help you but I have no idea how this site works. For all I know, enchanted muskrats could be taking care of it while I’m not around. And anyway, you probably just need a better internet connection. I suggest using cable.

This spambot was really clever. It said..

“I’ve just been talking to Sean Gallagher about his upcoming Instant Income Cash Machine course, and he’s been kind enough to fill me in on a couple of details regarding his upcoming course. “

That’s right, it tried to fool me into thinking it was my mother by telling me pointless gossip about people I don’t know. Throw in a trip to the grocery store where there was some nice produce (my mother once left me a six minute message about the nice onions she bought at the grocery store. I don’t even like onions), a story about the Hysterical I mean Historical Society and some random observations about “Raccoons” which is what she calls UFO’s so no one thinks she is crazy and you might have had me fooled.

And this one just outright tried me order around.

“You should have relevant usage of Bold and italics..panda”

All I have to say to that is.. NO! and who are you calling panda?

Well I was through amusing myself with spambots after that so I took to going through some of the more ridiculous filters on my photo editing program. It’s an old Microsoft one and like all the good programs they come out with they promptly discontinued it when they realized it actually worked. I would use Photoshop or Corel, but my computer has a glitch in it that doesn’t allow me to download either one. It runs on Windows 7 which is kind of like Windows Vista which is nothing like XP which actually worked and thus was discontinued. I’d listen to my Zune, which I liked better then the IPod but I can’t find the power charging cord. I’d buy a new one but alas..that’s right…discontinued.

So to make a long story short (hahahahaha, man I crack myself up) there’s this filter that turns photos into a neonish, little bit tacky, little bit garish, sort of black velvet painting with a modern twist. I mean who can resist that right.

Well I managed to resist it for seven long years.. then I realized I could do this to my dog. I would show you a nicely taken photo of my dog but for that fact that I took him to the groomer last week. She apparently mistook him for a poodle on crack mixed with a Clydesdale mixed with a bat that had had unnatural relations with a primate. He had weird poufy things going on and long shaggy legs, bat ears and a shaved nose, back and bottom to boot. The poor dog looked a baboon from behind. A baboon with weird ass poodle poufs. And bat ears. And Clydesdale legs. So I cut off the weird poodle poufs, bat ears and Clydesdale legs but there’s just nothing I can do about the baboon thing, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t go for a toupee.

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“The Groomer did What?!?”

westie neon

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

Cemeteries and Black Cats…

It has been a chilly, gloomy rainy week.

A perfect time to clean the house or closets or..no no that won’t do.

We rarely have long periods of gloom here so in keeping with the atmosphere I have bravely ignored the housework and instead have reflected on our trip to Mount Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood, South Dakota.

Mount Moriah, a cemetery established in Deadwood after the old one filled up, is an interesting place. It’s the final resting place of the some of the most infamous of Westerners. Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Sheriff Bullock and Preacher Smith. It’s been said that Calamity Jane was buried next to Hickok as a rather rude joke as she drove him nuts in real life. The more likely explanation is that interest in the cemetery was waning and they needed a tourist boost. They still charge admission to the cemetery to pay for it’s upkeep.

I had envisioned a much tackier tourist attraction, I mean really who charges admission to a cemetery. Being from Niagara Falls , Canada, I’m a bit of a cynic, tourist attraction wise. I’ve seen many wolves come out to try and fleece the tourists for all they’re worth.  But like much of what we saw in South Dakota, the spirit of the west, the charm and ruggedness of the scenery and the decency of the people overrode any modern attempts to exploit it.  I wish we had taken the time in Niagara Falls to care for, maintain and respect both our natural beauties and history as the people South Dakota have.  Hats off to them.

This is an acrylic miniature (4×6 inches) of a path that leads up to Sheriff Seth Bullock’s grave. The Sheriff, a Rough Rider under Roosevelt was a tough, rugged and fair man. He managed to stabilize the rough lawless town of Deadwood and surprised everyone by doing it without killing anyone.  His grave is up on the mountain, 750 ft above the rest of the cemetery facing Mount Rushmore.

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I took many photographs of Mount Moriah as well. Don’t worry they encourage that, the visitors and admissions pay for the upkeep of this absolutely beautiful resting place.

I don’t normally much like sepia toned photos but I thought it suited these.

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This one appeared to be made of petrified wood.

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Overlooking the mountains.

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Mass grave of the victims of a boarding house fire.

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Wild Bill Hickok.

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Meanwhile back at the ranch..

It’s still raining, both dogs are soaked. Zeus being a lab is impervious to the rain.

But Sampson is soaked and he smells. So I helpfully mentioned a bath might be in order. Sampson hates baths.

And this is his “We are not amused” face.

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Normally we do this little dance. I run the bath. He hides, behind the couch, behind the curtains, or he will continually walk around the dining room table with me in slow pursuit.

Today he upped his little game and instead of hiding he chose to sit behind the one thing that could stop me from bugging him. His biggest fan and protector. Five of her six ends are pointy and she knows how to use them.

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Well played, little dog, well played.

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

Duckzilla and the dancing chickadee…

Once upon a time, in a land far away (well not too far away, I mean it was actually quite close) there lived a terrible monster.

Grrr! it said! “I will stomp on EVERYTHING!” it said.

“Everything in the water” it clarified for all who were listening.

“I am Duckzilla!” it yelled for further effect.

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Then it tripped.

And it was so mortified, it came out of the water, shook itself off and behaved itself for the rest of it’s life.

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Meanwhile, back on the ranch, a chickadee was doing the Hop.

“Let’s go to the Hop..oh baby”

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A swan was having a serious chat with some fish.

Swans do like to carp.

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As a heron eavesdropped for any good tidbits of gossip.

He was very koi about it.

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A real monster stared cross-eyed at the tree fuzz on his nose and wished he didn’t have hayfever.

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While a little dog begged for a treat.

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So he was given one and all was well.

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And everyone was happy.

.The End.

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

It’s Spring!

Spring! Spring!! Spring!!!

Makes me sing sing sing!!

What a grumpy looking cardinal!

Cheer up Buddy.

It’s Spring!!

No? Hmmm. I wonder if he’s heard about Zeus’s bird catching abilities.

That’s right Zeus, my lab, catches birds.

He doesn’t hurt them. He simply catches them then stands around looking like a fool with wings flapping from both sides of his mouth.The birds freak out of course. Lab spit just isn’t a good cologne during mating season. Normally they prefer Old Spice.

I think he thinks they’re small planes. We live near an airport where many hobby planes are. I quite like them myself especially the old painted bombers. Zeus thinks he can catch them too. No such luck so far though.

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He’s been trying to catch this flicker, but he tends to stay up high. He looks like such a soft sweet bird but let me tell you when his suet is out that bird yells his fluffy little head off.

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So I told Zeus to stop catching birds. It’s weird.

To which he replied..

“Birds! I wasn’t catching birds! I was catching little planes!”

*sigh*

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In the meantime since my eyes are feeling a bit better I’ve been doing some quick sketch paintings to get back into the swing of things.

This is an acrylic of the sun setting over the Mississippi. It’s 5×7 and I spent about 20 or so minutes on it. It seems to me to be a bit off balance. The positive and negative spaces aren’t doing it for me. I do like the way the blues came out. They’re a combination of prussian blue, violet blue, olive green and naples yellow with a bit of white (all Liquetex brand).

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I also did this 8x 10 of my grandmother from a very crumbly photo circa 1920. There were parts of her face that were not distinguishable so I used my sister Yvonne’s face. She’s a cutie with lovely brown cow eyes.

This is also acrylic and I spent about 30 to 40 minutes on it. This is just a quick sketch for a real portrait eventually. I’m not sure why I signed it, I don’t remember doing that. It must just be habit or my mind is going, either way, it’s all good.

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I hope you all enjoy your first day of Spring and have some time to get out and smell the crocuses, crocusi? crocs maybe?

Beats me, but enjoy them all the same.

Happy Spring!

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012

 

 

The Abominable Snow Dog

Yesterday, I was bit by a mosquito, the no-see-ums were out in full force and flowers were blooming.

Today I walked out and saw this.

Well Helloooo Winter..

While I was admiring the snow and wondering how that tree in the back manages to stay at a 45 degree angle I heard a loud roar.

Roarrrr!

Oh no! it’s the Abominable Snow Dog…


Grrrrrr..Look at those teeth, those claws!!!

He’s attacking!

I”ll distract him with my boot..

Run Away! Run Away!!

Wait a minute, come back.

It’s okay.

Apparently he only wants to Conga.

Bum bum bum bum bum chhh, bum bum bum bum bum chhh….

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Zeus pondered life’s oddities and wondered why his brain was cold.

And here’s to warmer days on the South Dakota Plains or wherever I was.

This is an acrylic, 4×6 inches.

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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2012