Looking Up

Beautiful Blue 

                              

Hi Everyone,

  How are you good folks?  

Birds nest are fun to see this time of year.  Once the foliage comes out, we don’t see what is happening in the trees.
I saw one tree in my neighborhood with three nests in it. Seems rather unusual, but
perhaps the nests are fashioned by the same bird species. It’s difficult to tell because the trees are so tall.

 

                                                     Earl Grey hot.

                                                 Pleased to Join T Stands for Tuesday this week.

                                                            The Marsh. 

                                                   Pastel on Pastelmat paper.

Back in business as usual over hear with the desktop computer up and running. Many thanks to Jesse. It needed a new power supply that had to be ordered from the factory--took forever. He did open the sealed tower and get the job done so all is well. Up periscope from my corner of the map.

Most appliances and computers do not last that long these days it seems. I remember having a Maytag washing machine that lasted for so many year.  Guess they can recycle the metal, but all other parts might just in up in the land fill?

She looks a little shocked. It's the March weather look.

Used  Caran D'Ache Neocolor II to add a bit of colour.

Pleased to be linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off

Speaking of March, it has been a month of surprises. It came in like a lamb and has thrown all sorts of weather at us.

+ 20C, -15C, and all temps in between, sun, freezing rain, a lot of snow storms etc. But I did see a brave robin on the 18th. I hope he made it.

I this part of the world we say that if  March comes in like a lamb it usually goes out like a lion, or vice versa. 

                                                                    Praying for peace.

Be well and stay strong.

                                         Linking to Link Parties via my link party page.

                                                   Thanks to everyone for hosting.

An Autumn Field Trip

 Hi everyone,

Finally, back to say hello and to catch up. The summer was, well, hot and dry. Much hotter than anything we have experienced before. Early mornings or later evenings were, at times, a good time for a stroll.

Autumn has arrived and it is lovely. We still have a lot of leaves of the trees. Usually by Hallowe'en the leaves have fluttered away.

Made it to Pumpkin Inferno this year. A magical, spectacular event! 

Apparently, everything is carved by hand. Can't imagine how long it takes to carve and then wire the lights, and then install everything. On the night we went, it was sold out.

The inferno just keeps getting better and better. So good, too, that nothing scary jumps out at you. Yes, I am a scaredy cat. 

The photos were taken with a cell phone because my big camera was taking in too much light, and I couldn't find a suitable spot to sit down and make the needed adjustments. (Just as well because at this point there's no way to transfer them to the main computer.)

The main computer needs a new power supply—perhaps. My son needs to check it out for sure. So I am limping along on an iPad, which is working well. Could never complete a post using the I pad. Must be the new updates.

The village venue was sectioned in categories, and I tried hard not to get people in the photos, so this post will be a random showing from here and there.

          In case you are interested here are a few photos of  the Inferno from 2017 

   

                                                            Love this photo

                                            So loved the lights and pumpkins in the trees.

                                           There were hundreds of carved pumpkins all over the village.                                                          No two faces were the same.      

                                       

                                                                           
                                The cat category was fun. Cats everywhere, including the roof.         

                        Unfortunately, several photos are blurry, so just a few pics of the cats.       

     

                       

                                                             Nursery rhymes

                                                                    Hickory dickory dock…

                                                                          

                                        Humpty…

                                                                  

                                                                The Great Outdoors

                                                                     Marshmallow?

                                                        Who needs a birch bark canoe? A pumpkin one will do.

                                          

A bit fuzzy. Boo!

                                            

                                                      The Scarecrow and Dorothy.

               
                                                                     Mad hatter 

                

             Needless to say it's the big bad wolf and the fashionista Little Red Riding Hood. The        wolf, looks bad—bad to the bone.

                                                           Alice Through the Looking Glass

                                          

                                       There he is! The Knight in Shining Armour.

                                                                   The Gilded Age

            

                                                      

                              Tea always as must, along with an occasional fashionable tea party.

                                           Linking to Link Parties via my link party page.

                                                       Thanks to all for hosting!

Bright Side

Hi everyone,

Starting out on the bright side today with a pic of flowers. Love the colours--so uplifting.

Just now we have a few feet of snow with more storms on the way, so I haven't been out and about to my usual haunts to take photos for a while.  We are, however, really enjoying  longer days. 

 

                                Green tea in the mug. The wood cut is by Elizabeth Harbour.

                                  Love is in the air too.  Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

                                                                          * * *

                                      

                                                   Soft pastel on Clairfontaine Pastel Mat paper

Above a large sheet of Pastel mat paper that I've been putting off cutting to specific sizes.

Since I have precision challenges, I called on Chat GBT and ask the best and most efficient way to cut the sheet into 5 x 7 inch pieces. What a wonder. Spit out the info in a few seconds. Too bad the program couldn't cut paper as well. :) 

Great to have sized paper on hand. Now I can easily grab a piece of paper and paint a small painting.                                              

                                                     

                           

 

Tried out Canson XL cold press, sketchbook paper. I think it is wood pulp paper. Not as good as cotton rag but not bad.  Still working on the pears. Will see what happens when I erase the outline and then paint some shadows under the pears. 

Plan to paint the pears using soft pastels as well.

At the end of the month, I will be closing my Etsy shop.  It's difficult to get seen there, and the fees have gone up again. 

 

 

Another drawing. 

 

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off link party among others.

                                          

'Til next time... 

                                                 Happy Valentine's Day!

                             Linking to other Link Parties via my link party page.

                                                   Thanks to all for hosting!

      

                                                    Cultivate Your Dreams