Hopalong Hollow....

Hopalong Hollow, where the Blueberries grow sweet, and the moss feels soft beneath your feet.

Showing posts with label atwork. Show all posts
Showing posts with label atwork. Show all posts

Friday, February 15, 2013

Mona Lisa of the Goose-kind part 2

  By Fionna Goosefeathers the 2nd.... ( super model)
  Dear Diary, The day I have been waiting for has finally arrived,, yes, the day that I,  Fionna Goosefeather II become immortalized in living Color!  The Mistress summoned me into her chambers and told me that in 2 days hence, I was to come to the studio to have my portrait completed! Months ago, she did my drawings and I've been waiting with bated fish breath for the day when she would paint me in all my technicolor glory... or was that watercolor glory??

 Wanting to look my best, I immediately made an appointment with the  hen hairdressers  at  
"Le Chic Chicken Salon"
  The hen ladies shampooed my feathers in chamomile and lavender,  fluffed up my tail to a perky puff and used a specially scented Pomade to slick my wing feathers smooth as... well, feathers.They slathered it on and it smelled a LOT like crayfish to me, but they said it was all the rage.  Then, they buffed my bill  to a lovely orange sheen and spent 2 hours giving my webbytoes a pedicure!

 They kept complaining "Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!.. what is theese green  between your toes!" I can't help it if the moss stains my webby toes... and I told those hoity-toity  gals so.! They think they are SO special , but I know those French accents are affected!  I happen to know that ALL three of those so-called "French Hens" were hatched, right here in Tennessee.... in the barn... in a wooden crate. Besides, I think they are just jealous because I am a super-model.

 Dear Diary, I arrived 2 hours ahead of schedule, and the Mistress directed me to put on my bonny bodice, blouse and skirt. I laced my corset extra tight, but I never did acquire a proper waistline.  Next I was told to adorn myself in the jewelry, ( straight out of  the vault!) 
 
 "You look just perfect Fionna, says she.... but what is that horrid fishy odor.?..."
 I self-consciously shuffled my feet and sniffed my feathers...darn those double-crossing French Hens!

 Dear Diary,  The Mistress had some of her paints at the  ready, she said these were for my feathers and face.. I was so very excited... I had to remember what she told me when last I posed... "Be as Still as Mona Lisa"
 
 
 Dear Diary, It really paid off having my bill buffed, the Mistress oohed and ahhed over the rich orange colors. She claimed vehemently that the only things in the world that SHOULD be orange are Pumpkins, Oranges, Autumn leaves, a Harvest moon and a Goose's Bill!


I think she forgot to mention goosey toes....

"Lets start with your beautiful blue eyes." ( Hamish says my  eyes are the color of bluefish scales in the moonlight... isn't he romantic? ).  But the Mistress said " Fionna, your eyes are the color of Blue Lobelia, just lovely, my dear! Well, she IS the artist, so I will take her word on it.

My eyes got blue...



and then BLUER
until they were the color of Blue Lobelia...

.

 
     And my bill and tooties were the color of a Harvest Moon!

.
  Next I donned my famous bonnet. It HAS been worn by dollies and cats;  BUT it was meant for Fionna Goosefeathers! "What colors shall we paint it Fionna Dear??? It is a wee bit bland in it's original shades, don't you think?"





I was about to suggest orange, but I bit my tongue as I remembered her feelings on THAT subject.
"Lets go with pastels!" she exclaimed, interrupting my thoughts; just in time.

  

   Who would have though that purple and pink would go so very well with a pumpkin colored beak?

Dear Diary, the Mistress must value my opinion a great deal. "Tell me Fionna, dear, what color is your favorite for a bodice?" I had to wrack my tiny bird-brain on that one, but then I reminded myself, 'Self, you ARE the official garden guide here in the Hollow, and SELF, you DO know the colors of all the flowers.....Forget-me-Not" blue!'  I honked... rather loudly, much to my embarrassment.

"Excellent!" said she.  And, feeling flushed with satisfaction, I blurted out,' With  tiny pink flowers!!' and then,
  'Mistress, Mistress, May I have a dotted swiss blouse to match my hat.... AND a pink skirt??? And a crisp white Petticoat too???' I could just imagine the feminine beauty of it all.
  I began to wiggle and waggle out of excitement... oh dear, I am afraid I was not at all "still", like Mona Lisa.
Nevertheless, Mistress gave me all that my heart desired... she is such a softie.
 Suddenly, I began humming 'I feel pretty, oh so Pretty... I feel', "Be still Fionna, we are nearly finished!"
Dear Diary, after 7 days of modeling my portraits are complete! The Mistress was so pleased with the outcome she said I could keep the dress! I can hardly wait to waddle past the "Le Chic Chicken Salon" in my stunning duds, in full view of those 3 "French Hens"... so-called.  
 In the meantime, I think I will just take a quiet stroll down the Blue Lobelia path....."


" I feel pretty, Oh so pretty, I feel pretty and witty and gay... and I  pity, any girl who isn't me today!"
 Dear Diary, I almost forgot to tell you... The Mistress was so pleased with me, she said that I . Fionna Goosefeathers, should have a book of my own! Just think, the "Autobiography of a Goose Gal.".. or "Confessions of a Fish lover" or  "Love stories from the Pond" featuring Fionna Goosefeathers and her dreamy love-boat Hamish... I can hardly wait.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

America!

Happy Birthday America!
  A few thoughts from our Founding Fathers...

"Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth."
George Washington, letter to James Madison, March 2, 1788
Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood.
John Adams, A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1765
"They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
"If it be asked, What is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic? The answer would be, An inviolable respect for the Constitution and Laws — the first growing out of the last.... A sacred respect for the constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy of a free government."
Alexander Hamilton, Essay in the American Daily Advertiser, Aug 28, 1794


"Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories."
Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 14, 1781

  And, an additional thought from Rusty today:
"God bless America.... and God Bless fish!"