". Arranged Words: loosestrife
Showing posts with label loosestrife. Show all posts
Showing posts with label loosestrife. Show all posts

1 Aug 2023

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.  

7 Sept 2021

Summer Escapades ~ Part 1

                                                             
                                                         Loosestrife in the Marshlands
 Hi there,

Since my last post, I've made another trip around the sun. Travel onboard terra firma; it's a marvelous world!

 I do hope everyone enjoyed a lovely summer, or winter. Thankfully, summer’s not quite over.


I did visit my usual haunts, but I certainly would have enjoyed a few more outings. But somehow when out walking, I twisted my foot and developed Plantar Fasciitis. I have no idea how athletes keep on the move with it. Obviously, they have superb medical expertise at hand. I hope to be on the move soon though; I do have lost time to make up for.

                                                                             A selfie.

   I love being outside for what I call my restorative nature therapy. I always feel renewed and refreshed     after a day, or even an hour, out in the heart of the beauty that surrounds us. 

The Loosestrife looks like Fireweed. If you really stretch your imagination, you can imagine lavender fields in Provence, France. According to Wikipedia, Bulgaria produces the most lavender. Who knew?


                                                   Peaches and Cream corn fields




Someone told me about this sunflower field, so I went on a little excursion to another town. Standing near the sunflowers, I found myself thinking about Van Gogh. I wonder what he would think about his sunflower painting selling for 39 million in 1987.


I hoped the farmer was the benevolent type, although my imagination conjured up an angry farmer with a shotgun in hand yelling at me to get off his land. Undaunted and with wonky footing, I stealthy crept into the field. I mean who could resist. 




                                                                          Busy Bee
    
Bees are a favourite creatures of mine. I've been out to the hives with a beekeeper a few times. 
Sometime ago I took a bee keeping course and would love to tend hives. These days I would need an assistant. A full super of honey can weigh up to 90 lbs.

A bit about bees. Bees navigate using landmarks and/or the sun. In the early spring, the scout bees fly out on a mission to find a supply of flowers. If they find them, they fly back to the hive and do a dance. The dance gives the worker bees the exact coordinates of that supply of nectar and pollen. In the summer, they air condition their hives to a precise temps required to raise the brood by fanning their wings that have drops of cool water that they have gathered on them. Easier done if they have afternoon shade, but, unfortunately, the proper placement of hives doesn't always happen. The queen bee, besides laying eggs non stop, controls the hive's activities with her pheromones. There’s much more to tell, but it’s time to move on.
Like many people, I am concerned about the bees; I wish they were treated better. They are such amazing creatures.

Here's a link for info and for a list of the many crops bees pollinate. 


The sky here looks so white. I've toned down the picture so you can look at it without wearing sunglasses. Actually, that's smoke from the many forest fires (over 100) that were burning in Northern Ontario at the time. Like many parts of the world, Canada has had a summer of extremes. In British Columbia, at one point, the temperatures were hotter than they were in Death Valley. On the B.C coast mussels fried on the rocks. Temperatures reached 49.6C or 121.28 F. It boggles the mind.



A late blooming wild rose. I wish you could smell it. Glorious!

                                                                         * * *

     Off the drawing board...





While clearing out my desk, I happened upon this wee birdie that I drew long ago; she was destined for the bin. I did manage to salvage it by pumping up the colour and adding the wee fly to cover a splotch of paint. (Sometimes the brush has a mind of its own; amazingly it can flip out of your hand and twirl about in the air and hit the paper with an unceremonious splat.)

While not much is happening on Etsy, a friend of mine knows someone who owns a shop, so some of my cards and prints will be available there next week. That makes me happy.

In other news, the local art group will be starting their regular meetings next week. (Social distancing, both vaccines and masks apply.) 
Also, the group hopes to have an art show at the mall in November. I have a few pieces of art to frame for the show. I can buy a ready made mat and frame for one, but two more will require a professional touch. (Mat cutters and I do not see eye to eye.) I love how the shops finish the back too.




Using up my scraps of paper. The top painting: pastel and then two watercolours.

'Til next time...

Cultivate Your Dreams

Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. Do drop by for a visit; there’s much to see.

  Thank you, ladies, for hosting.






2 Sept 2015

Dog Days of August/ Knitting

I put my files in order so here are a few pictures of the countryside that I wasn't able to post in August.
Because the sky was such a beautiful blue that day, I spent a long time admiring it.
Loosestrife. Invasive but pretty.

Bull thistle.


The path taken.
A few cattails.

In the past, I am sure I've mistaken the pink flower for milkweed, but I believe that it is Sweet Joe-Pye Weed. It certainly does smell sweet!  I love to hear those tall rushes in the background rustle in the wind.

 
Off the needles... Rosetta Mitts

 I finally finished knitting and writing up my Rosetta Mitts pattern.  They are knit with Classic Elite Yarns Fresco, colourway Rum Raisin; I'd like to knit a pair using Madelintosh yarn, too.  They can be made in three different lengths, but I like my fingerless mitts long. I am looking forward to wearing these mitts later this fall.  I only have the ends to sew in and the  blocking to do. 

I am also happy to say that I kept my commitment to draw everyday for two months. I filled one whole sketch book and part of another.  Several birdies are among those drawings.  I can't wait to start painting them.

 'Til next time....enjoy.