I’m a day behind in my posts. Yesterday I went to my 9:00 a.m. art class. I’m taking the class from a master pastelist, Barbara Haselton. She teaches all kinds of art in the class and people can work on whatever they want, but she is a signature PSA artist, so I feel very fortunate to be taking her class, which is much more convenient to get to than all the way to Auburn where other teachers are located. I thought I would have trouble working on the pastel I began of Daisy in the months before she passed, but it turned out to be a catharsis, not only because of the beloved subject matter but because I enjoy pastel painting so much. I’m glad I went now. It was good for me to get out of the house for a while and do art. Bubba was alone a lot yesterday, though, so I'll have to make up for it today.

The goshawk comes every morning and sits on my fence making her loud call, kak-kak-kak. I caught a glimpse of her in the morning sun. Her eyes were like shining gold nuggets in the light. I wonder why she stays? What can there be to eat in my neighbor’s suburban back yard or mine? The poor wild creatures have so little space left to thrive in. Still, the river is close by, and it seems like there would be more vermine to hunt there. I thought about putting some chunks of meat out for her, but it's probably best not to feed her.

I got a great review on Sirius About Murder and Howling Bloody Murder (re-released) from Dogs, Dogs, Dogs! in Canada. It should be posted on my Web site shortly. See Glenn Perrett's review at http://www.beanieandcruiser.com/raves.html. Sorry, I have't figured out how to do links on Blogger yet.