Seahorses

Hi there,

As I've said in other posts, I've always wanted to see seahorses. Now I can say for sure that they are really sweet. I find it amazing that the male carries the eggs in his pouch and births the babies too. Way to go.

Nearly there. Ripley's Aquarium Toronto.

Entering a fishy world. 

A bevy of  colourful Sea Anemones.

Fascinating Sea Pens. Who knew? Apparently if surprised certain species will glow in the dark.

Overhead, a shark weaves through the water in the Dangerous Lagoon.

 I finally made it to the Seahorse hang out!

One of my first watercolour paintings. It might look cute on a tote bag or back back for wee ones.

Sorry the pics aren't better. I left my big camera at home and was, I reckon, excited so that the cell pics are a bit water wavy.

What a spectacular place Ripley's Aquarium is. (click to check out the galleries on their site). I'm sure it be wonderful to be a diver. I really enjoyed my visit to the aquarium, but I did find myself wishing the inhabitants were free.

However, I especially loved the tunnel walk, where you are totally immersed in the world of fish.

* * * 

Next door at the CN tower. Can you imagine hanging over the edge like that?

I've been up there before and it took all my courage to step on the glass floor. And as soon as I did, a boy starting jumping up and down on it. Whoa! Give me terra firma!

It's time to organize.

Cultivate a dream. They do come true!

Thank you for reading along.  Enjoy the week. . .

Tuesday It Is

Hi everyone,

Since I've been on the go, it's been awhile since I've been here on Tuesday. 
I hope you all had a great summer, and or fall/winter. Not that summer is over yet, but I do feel that nip in the air.  And a few trees have been stroked by nature's paintbrush to keep us aware of the beauty yet to come.

Because I wanted to travel light, I only had a cell phone with me while traveling. I don't have the pics organized yet, but, hopefully, I'll have a few arranged soon, especially a pic of the seahorses that  I saw at Ripley's Aquarium in Toronto. I've waited all my life to see them. Sweet things!

Chrysanthemums . . . traditional autumn blooms.

I love the divine colour of these Begonias. 

My dahlias didn't grow very big, but they are appreciated.

 Common Arrowheads. So pretty!

Abigail--mission control.  

My first attempt at fashioning paper clay. A trinket dish painted with acrylic paint and stamped in the middle with a stamp I carved awhile ago. Can't wait to try another. Next time I'll try watercolour paint.
If you haven't tried Paperclay, I think you will love it. It's light weight and versatile.  It air dries in a day (no heat required) and you can paint it with acrylic or watercolour.  

 Water colour added to my sketchbook doodles. Tricky...you can only add a bit liquid or the paper lifts. My Stillman and Burn Zeta series sketchbooks recently arrived, so they should be better for watercolour.

Fern frond and maple seeds.

On the needles. . .

Swallowtail shawl.  Yarn Brooklyn Tweed's Vale... so lovely and squishy to knit with.

Cultivate your dreams.

  Have a lovely week...and enjoy a great long Labour Day weekend for my U.S. and Canadian pals.

Lovely Summer Days & Celebrations

Hi there,

Just dropping in to share a few pictures from my recent nature walks.

As you know, I love to get out and about. Well, more than that. It's an absolute necessity for my  over all well-being.
On my walks, I've been lucky to encounter little animals and many other things of beauty. Yesterday we had a mink check us out. He was on the boardwalk and when he saw us he ran for cover, but he did peek out from under a boards to look us over. So curious. It's a trait that I admire in humans and in our fury and flying friends.

Wild Blue Flag Irises. 

I had to lean over the barrier for this one. Love the iris at the bottom. Wish I had a better pic. It would be a lovely one for the drawing/painting board. Maybe I can go back out there and take one today. 😉

Love the shape of these leaves.

Musk mallow. The seeds must have blown into the wild places because this plant is a native of India. White flowers, for me, are hard to capture in a photo. Any pointers?

Water lilies backed up by a winning chorus of frogs.

A huge wasp nest. 

  Sights and sounds.

What no seeds?

To those who ask, I didn't make the cut off date for an entry in the juried art show. Last year it was held in September, and I was hoping or the same this year.  I did, however, go to the opening night to cheer the others on. There were approximately 186 entries. And what a wonderful array of great paintings!

As a country, we are celebrating 150 years of Confederation on July 1st. U2 along with some other great bands will be entertaining us on Parliament Hill.

Speaking of celebrations, to my American friends do have a wonderful, safe and happy 4th! 

I've decided to take a little hiatus from blogging. Thank you so much following my blog and for reading along. I do appreciate each and every one of you and I love to read your comments!  In the meantime, you can find me here.

HAPPY CANADA DAY ! 

First There Was a Robin and then . . .

Hi there,

Since I generally post on Tuesday, I can't believe it's not Tuesday.  It came and went without me, but, hey, thinking it's Tuesday must mean something. :) Moving on . . . to Spring! We've had it all weather wise. It's been very hot and it's also been unseasonably cold with a lot of rain. Perfect weather, it seems, for a beautiful spring.

Always on the outlook for whatever nature puts on display, I was lucky to happen upon a mother robin and her nest. I haven't seen robins' eggs since I was child. And what can you really say about robin's egg blue? It's the prettiest colour.

Not on her watch. Alert and on guard. I didn't want to upset her too much so I've waited awhile and then made a fast trip in to see her babies.

Two fat chicks, tucked in a warm nest and growing like weeds with the help of a package of mealy bugs and two hard working, diligent parents. Robins never use a nest twice. And these parents could raise two more families this year. Lined with mud (how many trips does it take?) and once that's dry, last year's dry grasses up the snuggle effect. The papa bird brings materials, but the female builds the nest. She's a wonderful artist. The grasses are spread out on the sides and the bottom with a real flare.

Flora ...

Lilacs

 Hostas. Wish they were mine.

Pretty in pink.  A Hawthorn tree.

Solomon's Seal

Once again, lovely ferns on the grow. So fresh and green. I can't help it, I am crazy about them.

The wetlands are actually wet this year. Drained for three years to kill off the cattails, it's, once again, brimming with water. The tadpoles are jumping and the frogs are loving it. What a chorus! 

 * * *

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Turtles."

Art for art's sake...

A mock up of violets. Very soon there will be an art show at the mall. I'd like enter two paintings, so I better get back to the painting board.

And finally, this lucky marsh wren was chosen for the spring show and flew off to the local gallery. 

I hope you are all enjoying spring, or if you are down under a wonderful fall.

Thank you so much for visiting. . .hope to see you on Instagram too. Let me know if you are there.

Enjoy . . .

Flowering Tea

Hi everyone, 

 Happy May!  We've been having a few lovely warm, sunny days. It's so liberating to be out and

about without winter clothing.  I've been traveling without my camera, so I don't have any pictures other than cell phone pics of the wild flowers. They are everywhere this year and in places where I haven't seen wildflowers before. A bumper crop. Lovely!

 Since I love tea and flowers, it will come as no surprise that I like blooming tea.  Normally, I brew two pots from one flower ball, but apparently you can brew three. I love the colour and if you like green tea it's tasty, too.

 Transcending Beauty ~ Green tea, jasmine and lily flowers.  It takes 45 minutes to tie a flowering tea ball.  Once you add hot water, a quarter sized ball quickly unfurls in the pot before your eyes.

                                                                  

For the drawing board, two fresh sprigs of reasonable priced Tiger Lilies from the florist.

                                                    

           

Art for art's sake...

                              Hawthorn berries The frost-bitten berries turn bright orange in the fall.

   Trying out Bockingford hot press 300g/140lb. watercolour paper.  I decided on a practice run before I start a Crab Apple painting. I've transferred the drawing to the Bockingford paper, but since I have one good Fabriano block left, I think I'll stick with the tried and true. In the meantime, I'll keep practicing on Bockingford. I'm trying to familiarize myself with it because the Fabriano company is still working out some issues. 

Bockingford is nice and sturdy. You can lift colour well too, but just at the right time. I found it's tricky to add more colour to a wet into wet wash that, because of a fraction of a smidgen of too much water, doesn't like to be disturbed.

 I've also tried Moulin du Roy hot press by Canson.  It's very smooth much like illustration board so it's easy for a wet into wet wash to dry out too quickly.  Windsor and Newton's Blending Medium slows the drying time. I haven't tried mine yet.  Recently, I heard that some people are having great success using the wrong side of the Moulin du Roy.  My O my, the intrigues of paper!

I am enjoying Season 4 of  When Calls the Heart. If you haven't seen it, it's a wonderful Hallmark production.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy the week...