Out and About

Hi everyone, 

 So nice to be out and about recently for a drive along the parkway; we stopped here and there to enjoy the views. 

What an autumn. Usually most of the leaves have been grounded by the cold and rain by now.  But this year sunny days have ruled last week and into this week. There are beautiful banks of colour everywhere you look--heavenly.

 

                      

                                                           It's all about yellow in some areas.

 

Usually bright red. The Burning Bush turned pink this year. 

 Took a short walk along a gully to collect a few weeds for my Herbarium.

Asters, Queen Anne's Lace and Golden Rod. 

The Aster to the left kept its bright colour.

                                       

                                                                  

Mums the Word

                                    Also enjoyed a trip to the Mum and Pumpkin patch.

 

                                 Pleased to report a rather large pumpkin jumped in the car with me. 

                                       Pumpkin muffins and pumpkin soup are at hand.

 

 

More Mums and beautiful ornamental cabbages.

 

Took me awhile, but growing fond of the warty pumpkins.
 

Scarecrow  

Joining Nicole for Friday Face off and Art for Fun Friday

 

Joining T Stands for Tuesday

 

 

Didn't have time to finish the painting on the right, although I do like the drawing better. I drew it on pastel paper, so will transfer to watercolour paper and finish it at some point.

 

Used Baohong watercolour paper. Thought it was hot press, but it turned out to be very rough paper. Better suited, no doubt, to a looser style of painting. But everyone has their preferences.

                                                               An Ink Cap Mushroom. 

                                                               

                                   Never happened upon one before, and this Ink Cap definitely fits the bill for                                                                         something creepy for Hallowe'en. 

According to Google, the Ink cap auto-digests as it matures. Hence they ooze an icky black liquid which carries spores on the wind. (This ones digestion has just begun I reckon.)

The liquid can be used as ink too, hence the name, but I wouldn't want to mess with it.

( Could not locate a free image, so for an enhanced creep factor, check out images on Google.) 

 

Besides noticing the mushroom on that day, I happened upon this little stream. And to my surprise there was a Bluejay upstream having a cracking bath. What a show he put on.  I didn’t want to disturb him, so no photos were taken.

After splashing about for several minutes, he flew to the bushes for a careful preening session.

 

A painted pumpkin from a few year’s ago.

Next time, I would definitely tone down the moon. 

 

                                                     Most years these trees put on a lovely show. 

                                                                  'Til Next Time...

 

                                                      Be well and stay strong.

 

                                      Oct 13th  Sunrise 7:12. a.m. Sunset 6:19 p.m. 

                                            Sunrise 7:30 a.m. Sunset 5:54 p.m.

 

The clocks go back an hour on Nov 1st.  Always good to catch an extra hour of sleep, but night sets in so early.

                                        Linking to Link Parties via my link party page.

                                          Thanks to everyone for hosting.

 

 

 One of my favourite photos from last year's Pumpkin Inferno. Could have cropped the right side out, but I do like the colours, the cross and the tree.

                                                       Happy Hallowe'en!

                                              

 

Magical Days

Hello everyone,

In this part of the world Autumn is in full show off mode. 

The peepers have quit peeping, and a lot of the birds have flown south, and the geese are often overhead in formation, so autumn it is. Most days are glorious, especially when a frost burns away and sunshine rules the day. 

Banks of Asters, Black-eyed Susan's and Golden Rod are currently pushing out from the roadsides and blanketing ditches.  The maples sport red and orange leaves, oaks are generally orange, and the birch leaves are a crispy brownish yellow.  So magical out there, especially this year when the rains have not washed all the beauty away.

                                                 

 

 Pleased to be joining T Stands for Tuesday

                                                                       * * *

Thank you for your kind comments on my last post. A brief update. 

I have neuropathy in feet and legs. (Only two outings this summer but more recently.) It happened because of a prescribed antibiotic. Didn’t receive any warnings from the doctor or pharmacy about the medicine. I was told it was a good drug by the doctor who prescribed it. However, another emergency doctor told me that the medicine can cause neuropathy. The odds: one in two hundred thousand. (It can do worse.) He said it will not heal, but I am hopeful. 

The moral of the story: check and re-check all meds. (The responsibility lies with moi.)

Sometimes it's a  jungle out there, so do be extra careful lovely people. 

 Pleased to be joining T Stands for Tuesday

Finished the tree accordion booklet that was working on in my last post.  It's possible to work the flip side as well, so I may do that. Pines are a favourite tree of mine. They, according to the article by Jonna Saari, and other magical trees, actually release chemicals that are beneficial to humans.

(Forest lovers know the benefit. A walk in the woods always makes for a good feeling day.) 

If you wish, you can read about the benefits in Jonna's article here: Trees

                                                            * *  *

 Soma from Ink Torrents Graphics recently held an Ink Fortnight small painting challenge. Soma, my multi-talented friend got me back to the drawing board with this fun two week adventure. She plans to host the event next year as well, so do check out her site to see the paintings and for more information.

From the party two of my paintings below:

                                                            

      

Had to add a photo of this wonderful book by Miranda Mills today. If you don’t know Miranda, she has a YouTube channel where she reviews books and some products.

This common place book is her second book. It's a book filled with wonderful quotes, beautiful illustrations, poems, recipes, book recommendations and more. It’s a lovely book. 

                                                Cyanotype and watercolour displayed by Zeus.

                                               Joining with Nicole for Friday Face off.

                                                                   For inquiring minds...

                                              From a post in July ~ Sunrise 5:27 a.m. Sunset 8:42 p.m. 

Today Sunrise 7:12. a.m. Sunset 6:19 p.m. 

 

                                                              Be well and stay strong.

                                        Linking to Link Parties via my link party page.

                                                     Thanks to everyone for hosting.

              Happened upon this uplifting little 2 inch rock at a picnic table recently.

              Many thanks to the person who painted the rock and left this little gem behind. 

                              

Summertime

                       Hi there,                                  

                  My, it has been hot but, thankfully, not as hot as it is out west and other parts of the world. (Hopefully, it will cool down for everyone soon.) On the day this photo was taken, it would have been nice to jump in this fountain.

                      Hot days but recently cool nights. Some nights 13C or  55.4 F.  The cool nights must be a relief for the fire fighters. So many fires this season.  191 wild fires in Ontario alone. About 858 fires burning nation wide.

                      So sad for many communities.

                                                                         

On the home front…Unfortunately, I hurt my foot. Not sure how.  It started to swell one day and two days later boom. It was getting better, but now both feet are sore. Back to square one or two—not been out and about much. 

Waiting for an appointment with a podiatrists. There are several here, but they are all booking for the middle of August. And even though I emphatically wined that I have places to go, people to see and worlds to conquer, no earlier appointment granted.  Humbug!

So it’s RICE: rest, ice, compression and elevation. Not getting along so well with resting.

*

 

This wooden palette was a Christmas gift from my son, Jesse.  

Sometimes, it seems, I can get too precious with new items. Time to get on with it. Use it!

 

 

 

    A toothpick works to get rid of air bubbles in the paint.  Filled the palette so far with mostly Sennelier watercolour paint.  Will the paint dry without cracking?  Probably. (Gouache often cracks and sometimes crumbles when it dries. Just add more paint.)

The good thing about Sennelier paint is that the binder is honey, so even after some time the tubes are generally easy to open.

                                      9 slots left. What to add?  Decisions, decisions.     

                                   Will swatch the colours once the paint dries.

                             The brush slot holds two travel brushes.  Also, the palette does have a tripod attachment. May set it up inside for a test drive.

But do prefer a small inconspicuous setup for outside—lap or a table works well.     

                                            

 

                                                                        Iced matcha. 

                                                   Pleased to be joining T Stands for Tuesday

                                           

                                         Could add these to the palette, although so fun to mix greens even though greens, to me, are finicky to work with.  Would, however, like to try another brand of sap green.  Even with red added to tone it down it appears garish to me.  Maybe it is just a matter of getting use to it.

                                          

                                         Tip: you can use white gouache sparingly to fix watercolour mistakes.

                                          It will be opaque, but depending on where it is and how you paint, it may not be                                                                noticeable.

                              Concertina booklet that I recently made. You may remember it from my last blog post.

                               Small and handy. Makes it easy to sit on the sofa and draw with the wax pastels.

Love pine trees.

Working on the darkest value paper is different.  Although you can mix the wax pastels with water, it doesn't work on this paper.

                                     

                                     There are 11 pages in this booklet with two left to paint. 

                                              

                                 

                                                                Eye of the birch.

                                                       Painted with gouache and wax pastels on 

                                                       400 series Strathmore paper.  

The Neo colour wax pastels are fun to work with. They stay put—no smudging or dust to worry about.              Will try a larger drawing/painting at some point.

                    

The world is still Shakespeare’s oyster. But the debate runs on: is Will, really the Bard, or did the poet Emilia Bassano write the plays and sonnets?

Or were certain other men or women the writer?  Round and round we go.  We do know that Will added  1700 words to the language and that he was brilliant. Small wonder the plays and sonnets are still entertaining us today.  Apparently, “Where there’s a Will there’s a way.” 

                                                              

                                                             Love the clouds in this photo.

 Sunrise 5:27 a.m. Sunset 8:42 p.m. Later than last time.

by approx 12 minutes. (Inquiring minds.)

                                                    Be well and stay strong.

                                        Linking to Link Parties via my link party page.

                                                     Thanks to everyone for hosting.

Random Things Part 2

                                                                       Clematis 

Hi folks, 

Two of my favourite flowers. I just adore the poppies.  And as you can see these ones are huge.

   Cell phone photos today. When I was out for a walk recently, the clip that holds the battery in place on my big camera snapped.  At the car park, I noticed the battery was missing. Did a back track and, luckily, found it. A miracle that no one stepped on it.

Not sure where to get it fixed. Searching... Just now the battery is secure with fashionable electrical tape. 

Such a beautiful face

                                                    Pleased to join in Nicole's Friday Face Off

Bearded Iris

Ink from Ferris Wheel Press and three handmade concertina sketchbooks.

The ink has sparkles in it--okay by me, but it does clog pens.
A recent clean has them back in working order.

A concertina sketchbook has been on my wish list for sometime. If the paper is a cotton rag, 
they can be expensive, so decided to try and make a my own.

Black one made from Strathmore 60lb drawing paper. 
Other two: Fabriano 140lb hot press paper.

Watched a couple of YouTube videos and was off and running.

I liked the books that were made from a large sheets of paper and cut out so there is an overlap instead of using tape. My large paper is too heavy to fold.

                Used Caran D’Ache Neocolor II water soluble wax pastels to paint this tree.  They are like crayons. Fun to use. Makes you feel like a kid again. However, the light weight paper doesn't mesh with water.

The smaller concertina sketchbooks were easier to make. I used writing paper to cover the cardboard covers of the larger ones; the paper on the larger one buckled, mostly because I ran out of glue and, of course, the paper could have been tighter. Sometimes I find new sketchbooks difficult to use.  Oh me, Oh my. Mistakes. Yikes!

But these sketchbooks seem to say relax and will be tossed in my go bag.

Today’s drink:  Water 

                                                               Happy to join with T Stands for Tuesday                                      

Happened upon this wonderful Fungi again.

A bit of water used on the right branch—like the texture on the left branch better.
Apparently, you can also use baby wipes to blend the Neo colours.

Above the tree an antique salt dish. 

That's all for now. I hope you are all enjoying yourselves.

 Sunrise 5:14 a.m. Sunset 8:53p.m. Lovely!

                                                    Be well and stay strong.

                                               Linking to Link Parties via my link party page.

                                                      Thanks to everyone for hosting.