Carbon Copy

Yesterday was a carbon copy of the past several days (weather-wise) - 
beautiful sunrise (worth getting out of bed for) with a few hours of spotty sunshine -

 followed by clouds the rest of the day... lots and lots of grey.

Jack loaded up the truck and we took all of our recycling 30 minutes north to the nearest recycling center.  It's a process, I've got to admit.  But... our local refuse company has stopped their recycling services.  As a result, we had to search for a place to take ours.  I worry that with no pickup service locally, that people might be just throwing away their recyclables, or even worse... burning them and releasing harmful chemicals into the air.  I have been heartened, of late, to see that more and more stores have stopped using plastic bags for their merchandise.  It feels like baby steps, when I wish we would just run with it!

We put the equines in the front pasture for the morning.  There's very sparse grass there - but we supplement with hay.  This gives us the ability to allow them more freedom and pasture time - knowing that they will not consume too many calories in an extended stay.  When we arrived home, they all came running back to the barn (forgetting that I had also given them their yummy chow earlier while they were still in the pasture.)

After bringing the horses back in, I headed home for some indoor activities.  I spent a little time in front of the fire, knitting, with my advisor looking on...

If I sit down or lie down, Ivy insists on being on top of me... unless my wool knitting bag is handy, then she opts for the warmth of wool.

It had been many months since I had the time to pick up my paintbrushes, so I found a photograph of an opossum online, sketched it, and painted it, yesterday afternoon.  I kind of like it... it's ok.   Most importantly, I had fun doing it!

 The thing is... I love opossums.  Some find them to be ugly, with their mouths full of sharp pointy teeth, their naked rat-like tail, and their beady little eyes.  And while I don't want them anywhere near the barn... (they carry nasty diseases that horses can get), I don't mind them out in the wild.  They perform all sorts of beneficial tasks such as eating ticks, and keeping the vermin (mice and rats) population down.  They are resistant to snake venom, so they also eat venomous snakes!  And... they are the only species of marsupial in North America - keeping her young safe in her pouch for 50 days after birth.  Once the young reach 3-4 inches in length, they leave the pouch and ride around on their mother's back.  Now what's not to love about all of that!

Comments

Love sunrise!
I don't know why they ever started using plastic bags in the first place. We always used paper. But because of tearing up the forests to build our trees have diminished. We need to replant whenever we harvest them.
I love the early mornings which I supposed comes from growing up on the farm. So many miss out on such awesome beauty!
Ivy knows how to keep warm. Is she your only indoor kitty?
Have a great day!
Unknown said…
We live in the country and take our trash to a convenience center where we sort it all. Unfortunately in speaking with the county trash consultant we learned that only metal cans, paper and cardboard get recycled. No one wants the plastic so unless it has a 1 on it, it goes in the landfill. Aluminum recycling creates a chemical that is bad for the environment so it is better to put in the landfill and the only glass recycling is too far away to make it cost effective. Then he told me my reusable grocery bag would need to used thousands of times before it creates less of an impact on the environment than the single use bags. That I sould not buy any of the plastic coated reusable bags. He said it was better to make bags out of old clothes and use those. We have really increased our paper recycling as he said that one was doing really well. Lisa G in TN
This N That said…
Recycling has come a long way but still has lots of room for improvement..
Love your smiling "possum".
Lots of sun today...
Your solar panels will be working overtime storing up all that energy.
Enjoy this beautiful day...Hugs
the bearded one said…
HEART WARMING AS USUAL...HERE IN HICKMAN COUNTY WE HAVE DIFFERENT CONTAINERS FOR EACH AND WE ALWAYS RECYCLE....WE HAVE A BIT WARMER CLIMATE THE LAST 3/4 DAYS...NOT SURE WHAT TOMORROW HOWS.I HAVE BEEN TO A LECTURESHIP AND JUST RETURNED HOME....THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO..THE "O"POSSUMS PAINTING IS BEAUTIFUL...YOU CAPTURED IT WONDERFULLY...YOU ARE SUCH A TALENTED AND KNOWLEDGABLE LADY...THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO VERY MUCH FOR THESE WONDERFUL PIC AND COMMENTARY...KEEP SMILING AND HAVE A SUUPER DAY !!!!!!!!!
I love O'possums too. How did you pick which kitty to be your indoor kitty, when you have so many wonderful ones?
Karen said…
Here in the Northwest we call them Possums - and they are dear to my heart! **if you find a Possum that has been hit by a car you are supposed to check their pouch to see if there are babies inside. I don't think I could do that - but I'm pretty sure my husband would (he gets stuck with sad stuff like this - but soldiers on:) Love your picture of your O'Possum! xoxooxKaren
Unknown said…
You are so multi talented Beverly! The picture of the Opossum is wonderful. I am an Opossum guy too. There is no threat from them other than what you mentioned. When Betty and I had a little 23 acre piece here in Iowa we had many kicking and in our 1900 hundred year old barn and they kept the rat population down. We had no animals but grew alfalfa hey for a local gentleman’s 12 steer. I had my office in the barn and the were ne’er a problem. Are you marketing any of your drawings and paintings? We are looking forward to spring which will be on us quickly now I pray. Blessings from our to to your farm and animals. P John. How we enjoy your posts. Thank you for your faithfulness.