Foovay’s Cauldron

I just sat down at the computer to try and kill a few minutes before I go feed when I noticed this outside my window:

The bird on the right is a Eurasian Ring Necked Dove of which we have so many here that they are shoving the native White Winged Dove right out of their habitat. The bird on the left…well my guess is she is either a dilute color variation of the Eurasian Ring Necked Dove, or some sort of hybrid. Here’s a better look at her:

Sorry the pix are so bad – we have a storm rolling in and I was taking them through the back bedroom window at a weird angle to avoid the window frame, which included me standing on the desk. I keep getting knocked off line as I try to post this, too. Yeppers – storm coming in.

I got a great Squidoo payday today and was really excited until I discovered that everything I wanted to buy would not accept PayPal. I no longer allow PayPal to associate with my bank account – since the $300 fiasco over a $10 bill where they refused to use the PayPal balance but instead kept dunning my empty checking account until they cost me about $300 for a $10 payment, no matter how many times I called them OR the bank. So I’ve got money – yay – I just can’t touch it – LOL. Well, I could spend it shopping but I wanted to invest it in advertising (no one accepts PayPal) or go shopping at my adult toy store (PayPal closed their account since they don’t allow any adult businesses).

Speaking of being an adult, a twitter follower “threatened” me that if I did not watch what I said on Twitter she would HAVE to BLOCK me as she is a homeschooler. Well, I’m sorry, but I am an adult – and I am a Pagan – and I call it as I see it. I do not write for small children or sheltered children or children as a matter of fact, so block me and get over it.

Now I need to get out there and feed before it gets worse

Summer Fey Foovay

I happened to notice a few people doing #saturdaysketchbook on Twitter. If I can remember to do Follow Friday (and I usually do but some Fridays I am in town and away from the computer), and spend Music Monday at Blip.fm (I am trying to limit that since it seems to suck up our bandwidth here and then they shut us down to slower than dial up for the rest of the week – love you Wild Blue and your arcane BW limiting system that makes no sense to anyone including your operators) then I should be able to manage sketchbooksaturday. I can at least try. Easier for me right now than Daily Art, unless you count the fact that I am really trying to add about one coloring page per day (or do several in one day and sprinkle them out to you). Anyhow – here is what is in my sketchbook – see now and then I do something that would pass for fine art by hand.

Now, I am going to piddle with my widgets some and give you the RSS feeds to my short story and coloring page blogs which I have not done for some reason.

I am stripping every possible reference to the Anthony Morrison late night informercial AffilliatesSystem.us folks – they are scammers. Sorry. I got fucked out of my $20 investment, but at least I didn’t fall for their constant upsales. I’m sure they would say I failed because I did not pay someone $197 to sign me up for a Google Adsense account (I already have one, thanks), nor do I have a $5000 credit line to spend on ads that MIGHT make me $100 a month if I’m lucky. ROFLMAO. Thank goodness! The only person making money on this is Anthony Morrison and his cohorts.

Sigh. Live and learn. He’s got a GREAT scam. Instead of saying you will make bazillions on the Internet – which so many of us now know is not true – he says “well you might make a $100 or so, and wouldn’t that help if you are struggling to make the house payment?”. Sure it would – if I didn’t have to SPEND $500 to MAKE $100. ROFLMAO. That is assuming they even credit you with your sales (which they do not – or at least they skim them, something porn masters made into an artform).

Oh enjoy the artwork. I’m working on a little short story, then I’m going to go play SEO expert for a friend. I’ve got housework and some sewing on the menu, too. Taking Sunday off, I think, and Monday have a Dr.s appointment for hubby that will probably eat most of the day one way and another. So have a great weekend!

Summer Fey Foovay

Oh – I hereby release the artwork above into the public domain. I’d rather not mess with the karma of theives who steal whatever they like – if I give it away no one can steal it.

My buddy the Juvenile Sharp Shinned Hawk dropped by again this morning. He seems to feel I got enough close up pictures yesterday, instead he posed today with his back to me as we both enjoyed the view of the mountains and clouds out back.

I’m sitting here this morning having my coffee and doing my morning prayers (I am Pagan and I bet I do more and more regular prayers and blessings than most Xtians) and being just filled up with inspiration and brilliant ideas. My problem has always been that I have far more great ideas than time to bring them to consummation. All these groups and web pages and blogs and lenses and prompts to help you find great ideas and here I have them pouring out of my ears at any given time. I should just sell ideas. If I could get an idea of how to do it. LOL.

I forget now who said it but someone recently said online that 1.9 million Americans are out of work – boy that is a lot of new blogs. And here sits this old blog that has moved around here and there and changed up a few times to the newest thing but basically been around since about 2000. Yeah, I’ve pretty much been out of work that long – although largely by choice of late. I’d like to think I’ve learned a thing or two in that time.

One thing I have definatley learned is how to work your ass off 12 hour days 7 days a week to make about $100 a month on the Internet. Not that I want to discourage anyone, but during the last ten years I’ve seen a whole lot of people claiming to be making zillions on the Internet come and go in a matter of months. So it kinda makes me think either they weren’t telling the truth, or maybe they just made their zillion and quit to go lay on the beach for the rest of their lives. Maybe that 1.9 million unemployed Americans are all unemployed by choice – they are laying on the beach soaking up the sun and spending their zillion. Ya think?

Maybe not.

One of my brilliant ideas this morning – that immediately sprouted a dozen branches – is that I ought to start blogging a bit about my experiences and what I’ve learned. Right – I know – every blogger on line is telling you how to be an SEO expert, a social media maven, a blogging millionaire. So I’m not going to tell you that – I’m just going to tell you what I’ve learned over time.

I wish I could say that you’ll see an SEO entry every Thursday or something, but right now my life isn’t that neatly scheduled. I am at the mercy of the scheduling requirements of three doctors, two labs,  and counting upwards because of the hubby’s health situation. I may even have to go get a job, so he can quit, so we can get his disability. I guess if he wasn’t married they somehow expect him to live on air for a few months or years if he can’t work full time any more. He could work part time but his manager is too stupid to realize they could have their best cook part time for three or four more months – or full time for a couple more weeks before his health gives out. I love it – they know he has to have this and that day off for doctors to take care of his END STAGE renal disease and prepare for full time dialysis. So he calls in sick one day last week and they say “Why? What’s wrong with you?”

***LONG PAUSE***

Yes, I am keeping records for my wrongful death lawsuit when he finally passes out at work and falls into the fryer.

I thought about taking the usual route here on the Internet of making a lens or blog entry all about how sick my poor husband is and how financially fucked we are and oh please oh please buy a coloring book, just one coloring book, and save our ass. I know it would end up in the top 100 lenses at Squidoo and all that but – we really just aren’t that kind of people. Not that I am saying that’s bad, just it isn’t our way. We’ve been screwed since WorldCom turned out to be crooks – even before that really – and we have somehow managed to muddle along so far. And probably because of that sort of self sufficency, when we do beg for help, no one shows up to help. Fuck you – they seem to think – you made it this far. *shrug*

No sympathy for the devil

LOL

How did I get off on all that? I am not well focused today. I did mention that this was one problem I DO have – a lack of focus? LOL. Right. Regularly scheduled blogging on the Internet business – not going to happen. But some blogging on the Internet business – going to happen. More musing, I think you are going to be seeing more of the old musing about life in general on this blog again. More WRITING. Yeah, I’ll work on that.

And because like every other blogger on the Internet, I’d love to be making a living at it, probably you’ll be seeing ads on the blog again. Even if what I am saying in my article is most of this stuff being advertised is total bullshit. LOL. Except the pixie’s tickets. Those are real and you do get a good concert for them – if you live in England. And actually, I’ll probably stick on ads for my other websites. Even if you are here to learn how to make a trickle of cash on the Internet, maybe you’d like to spend some of that trickle on downloadable coloring books for older children and adults. Hah – got it in there!

But always – remember to stop and enjoy the view

As you can tell, this young Sharp Shinned hawk has gotten quite used to me being outside working. In fact, he’s gotten so casual about my presence that he has been less than 20 feet from me twice today as I worked on the fence repairs.

But this morning he astounded me with some behaviour I have never seen from a hawk.

I was doing the morning feed when I caught a bit of movement from the corner of my eye. I was just opening the chicken pen to feed them, so I eased the gate shut and turned my head. This young hawk had landed on the ground ten feet or so from a big brush pile where we pile the mesquite we cut down for this or that. Of course, the pile is always full of rabbits and birds and that’s just alright with us.

My first thought was perhaps I had flushed him off a fresh kill but I was wrong. He stood still a few minutes, then lowered his head so his body was in a straight line and took several very slow careful steps forward. When he got just a foot or two from the pile he pounced into it! Small birds burst out the top, twittering in panic with him right in the middle of the flock trying to catch all of them at once from the looks of it. The whole group went straight up in the air and then circled around behind the barn where I couldn’t see them with him right in the middle of them. I don’t think he caught him one as I’ve been seeing him around the house and barn all day – which is how I got these photos.

I have never seen a hawk stalk prey along the ground like that, let alone purposely flushing bird from a brush pile. Next thing you know he’ll be buying himself a springer spaniel puppy to train!

I haven’t gotten a whole lot done online this week, other than some new coloring pages requested for an adult. I’ve gotten a number of really wonderful coloring page requests this week. It really reminds me of why I really do line art and share it online. Yeah, I’d love to make a living – but no amount of money can make my heart feel warm like the email I’ve got this week from; a woman whose husband is ill but loves to color and finds it calming, a young man who teaches classes about animals in an orphanage, and a beekeeper who is creating a small book to hand out to local children about the importance of bees.

Between that and our little patch of desert with all it’s wonderful denizens, I am so blessed.

Hope you are having a great week.

Summer Fey Foovay

That’s the scene outside my kitchen window this morning. Forays to the outdoors are limited to the absolute necessity of taking care of the livestock. I love snow – it is so beautiful – but I also love being inside all warm and comfy while it does THAT outside.

On my todo list for indoors today is some housework, some sewing, some Squidoo lenses and some coloring pages. I got the sweetest email today from a woman whose husband enjoys coloring trees and shrubs. He is older and in poor health and she tells me that coloring keeps him calm and happy and is inexpensive as well. Stories like that make my heart so warm and make me feel like creating those coloring pages really is worthwhile.

I did finally create those Valentine’s Day coloring pages, too.

For now, enjoy our beautiful snow. I’ll have more to share by tomorrow – probably a whole list of new Squidoo lenses and some coloring pages, too.

I’m cogitating on a new idea…all sorts of thoughts are swishing around in my brain these days, but I’m not entirely sure I’m ready to share it yet.

Suzy likes the snow, too. She is outside prancing and dancing and flipping her proud head around. The older rope horse and mule are standing in the barn staring at her thinking, “girrrrl, you CRAZY.” LOL

Laters

Summer Fey Foovay

This lovely little Canyon Towhee dropped by for lunch today.  He was picking up pine nuts under the evergreen outside the kitchen window.  Hubby got a great picture of him!  The Canyon Towhee is a new bird for us!  Whee!

Summer