Author: Hashi

yer blood’s worth bottlin’

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This came in the mail today. Apparently I have given blood at Red Cross 32 times. That doesn’t count the time I donated at work, on an empty stomach, then fainted and got a concussion. Oops. Now I need a 4 gallon hat on which to pin my 4 gallon pin.

I give because my father did, and because he had a few blood-related exclamations he was known to utter. When he was angry he would sometimes yell “Hell’s bells and buckets of blood!” I knew to make myself scarce when I heard that one. The other was “Yer blood’s worth bottlin’!”, an expression of admiration or gratitude.

I miss my Dad; I think of him every time I go to get my blood bottled.

national moth week

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It’s National Moth Week again, so we sketched moths (and their larvae) on Draw With Me.

Halysidota tessellaris, the banded tussock moth, is found in North America from southern Canada south through Texas and central Florida. Adult moths are attracted to decaying plants with pyrrolizidine alkaloids. They regurgitate on them, then drink the fluids, and thus acquire defensive chemicals that offer protection from predators.

Megalopyge crispata, the black-waved flannel moth, is found along the east coast of the United States, and as far inland as Oklahoma. The caterpillars produce a venom, delivered through hollow hairs that penetrate the skin, that can cause pain, headache, inflamed lymph glands and dermatitis. They may look cute and furry, but don’t go petting them!

doleful

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I took Bodie for her first ever professional grooming today. It seems the wash went OK, but when it came to the drying, she “just wasn’t having it.” They called me to come and get her right away; I could hear her barking up a storm in the background. So she didn’t get her brush and trim, but they didn’t charge me anything. I brought home a damp doggie, who is sulking because I won’t let her run around outside and roll in the dirt.

So much for that idea!

just a little one

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Busy day, so only time for a tiny sketch. Literally tiny — it’s less than 2″ high, done with a .005 micron pen and painted with a size 0 brush. Inspired by the colours in a Saul Steinberg sketch of an ashtray made for him by his friend Alexander Calder. Thanks to Esté MacLeod for the prompt.

In other achievements, I replaced the ratty mesh on the screen door in our dining room, and now I feel like a DIY superhero.

crossing to safety

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I’m looking forward to reading this Wallace Stegner book, as I’ve previously really enjoyed two of his (Angle of Repose and All the Little Live Things).

Stegner (1909 – 1993) had a long and much-lauded literary career. This book, Crossing to Safety, was his last novel. Can’t wait to dive in.