As for Bruno ...

Himself, having a munch of lunch. It's become very cold again, so he is wearing a quilted blanket under his winter blanket. It feels like about -5C out there right now, with a howling wind, too.

That scraggly weed is dock weed. When I looked it up, the note said it might cause an allergic reaction in horses if ingested. I believe this was the culprit that caused Bruno's hives, which are still being treated.

There was a line of the weeds along the fence line [nothing but barely visible stumps now], and I have now roped this area off.

He also pruned the honeysuckle I had planted along one side of the ring. Believe me, there were plants there. :) Thankfully, they are not noxious for horses, and grow very well even when cropped to the ground by someone with teeth needing exercise.

He also re-contoured the fence ...

... and the fence posts.

This is the new charger I bought yesterday, as the old one was doing nothing.

Last night, when I went to feed him around 9:30, this insulated handle was on the ground, not hooked up to the connection, as I had left it.  He had obviously been playing with the gate, and knocked it to the ground.  And when I opened the gate to go in, he jumped up in the air and 6 feet backwards. Usually, he is at the gate, over the gate, mugging me for goodies. So, it seems the zapper is doing what it is meant to do.
Horses like to chew, some of them more than others, and some develop neurotic behaviour associated with chewing -  usually the more highly-strung and very bored horses. They will chew and gnaw wood like beavers! Some people resort to trying various unpleasant-tasting solutions applied on the wood [which doesn't work]; others will put a top-line of metal stripping on the fence; and some resign themselves to their horses' habit, and just replace the boards as they are chewed through. I have found, for this property, the electric fencing works best. It delivers a relatively mild jolt - I know, as I have been at the receiving end many times. It's just enough to discourage most horses from chewing up the fences. There you have it - a little introduction to fencing-in horses.

Thank you so much for dropping by. I hope you enjoyed the post!!!

A Fishy Tale in the Making ... or ... Koi in Progress

I started with a fairly detailed drawing, then wet all the background and dropped in phthalo blue.  I find I am not using cobalt blue as much, to start with, as it dulls or greys the later glazes a bit.

I added more phthalo blue to the tail, and applied a wet-in-wet wash of indanthrone blue. Then I painted some wubbly lines for ripples.

I spent some time darkening the background, with indanthrone, or a mixture primarily made with that blue.  I also lifted some highlights in the tail fin, both when damp and when dry.

Here, I started glazing the fancy pectoral fins, both w/w and directly. There is a touch of quin. rose at the top of the pectorals. I also shaded the head and body [those parts under water] with a thin glaze of the violet mixture.

Finally, I removed the masking that I had applied to some of the "dangly bits" - what are those things called??
Right now, I am working on the head and body, using quin. sienna and quin. rose. The inside of the mouth is the same rose/sienna mixture, with some of the violet from the background color in the depths of the mouth. This is quite small, only 10.5 x 9 inches, and I hope to finish it today or tomorrow, but knowing me ... it might be a week.
I needed something fluid and yet complicated to take my mind off other things - my aunt, Bruno and the bumps, the whopper traffic tickets I racked up last Friday ...  no, not for speeding.

Anyway, I am very glad you dropped by - thank you! Your comments are always a pleasure.