Summertime

                                                                        Sumacs

                                                    

    I've been away from blogging for sometime, so hello there once again. There were changes, so I needed some time away to process and deal with things. I am; however, glad to be back, and I am sending along a heartfelt welcome to all of you!

Wonderful, lately, to enjoy a few cooler days with a lovely breeze; so nice after the extreme heat of most of July. Summer breezes, to me, are a refreshing gift.  I also love to hear the breeze rustle through the rushes and to watch the wind ruffle the water. 

                                                                 

The world looks lovely and green thanks to all the rain sent down from the heavens in July.

                                                                    Purple Loosestrife

        Queen's Anne  Lace                                 Sumac                                  No quite sure. Could be                                                                                                                             Coneflower or Black-eyed Susan

                                         

                                                  

If you are in the U.S. or Europe, you may have experienced or are experiencing  smoke from Canadian wildfires.  So many are burning--approximately 880.

 In N.S. some of my family members had to evacuate, but fortunately they were able to go back to their intact homes. Not so for many others. And a month or so after the fires they were hit with flooding from unusual torrential rains. (Tumultuous weather and fires have been reported world wide this year.)

At the end of June 27.1 million acres or 11 million hectares have burned nation wide. So sad for people, and, of course, all the wildlife. 

Our forests are vast and it's nearly impossible to curtail these fires. Some are very remote, so they pick and choose which ones to fight. Of course, they suggest some areas need to burn, but 50,000 lightening strikes in British Columbia in seven days has added to the burden. Fortunately the world has stepped up; firefighters have been arriving from as far away as South Africa. Bless all those who risk everything to help out!

                                                                     

                                                                   * * *

 

A little reading...

The Covenant of Water--a heavy tome for sure with a total of 714 pages.  If you haven't already, you can watch a six part Oprah interview with the author. 

James Gurney author of the book Color and Light knows a thing or two. You can check out a preview of his book here.

                                                                           * * *

                                                                    Pastel on Claybord

This piece of Claybord was specifically made for watercolour. It has a very smooth surface, so I coated it with two coats Golden's pastel ground. I usually use Pastelmat, but I do like this rougher, textured  surface. 

                                                                     Unison Soft Pastels

This year marks many years of blogging for me. I will go into specific details next time.

Until then...

                                                 Cultivate your Dreams

                                  Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. 

                                                Thanks to all for hosting.