always something to do

How much quicker time flies when one is being productive. I don't know; is that a good thing?
You won't find me enjoying the run to stay in place. As I corrected these pictures I'm about to show you, my critical eye saw a dirty floor mat and windows that need cleaning, a hedge, bushes and a lawn that need trimming and artwork that could use  a few tweaks.

In the meantime, Muji needs cuddles. Like, really! He needs them.

Some animals are much needier than others. Just like people. They suffer for not getting their daily requirement.

Babu loves his cuddles too, but he's very squirmy, the weight of his body pressing down on his little paws, so I put him on his back. Then he reaches up gently to my cheek like a baby, purring and grooving with the attention. Here he's doing his baby mewing, wanting some affection.

It's rather hot today. Too hot to open the windows. On the way to check the mail, I caught this vignette of an aluminum squirrel nutcracker, some seashells and pebbles plus a beautiful vase carved into stone by Nova Scotia artist John Hannah.

From the front ramp, the yard is looking that late summer scruffy. It needs a tune up.

I've been steadily exploring what those cheap Crayola coloured pencils can do. They are showing great promise, certainly equal to that of the much acclaimed new Jane Davenport "Magic Wands".

Disappointed with the eyes, I whited them out with Sharpie white paint pen and drew them again with extra fine black Pitt pen and a little brown pencil crayon.

It's funny what you see when you take a picture of your work. This squirrel turned out ok, done from memory, years of drawing them on pottery, but now I see that I forgot to colour in the nose and he could have used some shading where his feet touch the branch. Other tweaks would enhance this picture, but I'm done. I get like that.

"Life is just a dream, sweetheart"

done in Crayola coloured pencils and my new Uni-ball Signo broad white pen.

Then I was scribbling, filling the page with Crayola coloured pencil layering, enjoying the mix of colours I might not normally put together. Some washi tape by Tim Holtz made a nice muted border for one of his cardstock cut outs that I got in a pack earlier this summer.

It has a bit of that "going back to school" vibe.

It's been so nice having Wally home, even though he's pre-occupied with his plumbing right now. He's ordered the fabulous dramatic tile we decided on after such a long while, but we won't have it for another week and a half. That's ok. There's so much else to do. Now I must make lunch.

sweet September energy to you dear viewers

with peace in our hearts

a quiet overcast september afternoon

Wally is home for a week and 2 days, attending to the house, painting, plumbing, and gardening on his agenda. I've got paperwork to do when I'm not on domestic duty or drawing in my sketchbook.

 The cooler autumn weather has slowed the growth of things around here and our 10 cent red jewel cabbage that made it into an available pot has certainly grown larger than the seedlings behind it, but won't grow much more I suspect.

I would have shown you this picture first but I didn't want to shock you so soon with such a good close up of a hornet that sat on the uppermost leaves of the climbing hydrangea that still sits in its pot on the deck, propped near the door to prevent it from constantly falling over in the wind.

Hornets are notoriously aggressive, but I sensed this fellow was somewhat sleepy

from a rather cool night before.

so I came in for his close up

and closer still.

As I stepped off the back deck, the vegetable garden is looking somewhat spent as most everything is ripening. The hydrangeas are looking tired too, bowed from the rain a few days before.

Into the yard, I noticed lots of wild asters growing around the perimeter,

this one by Forget-Me-Not Cabin's old beat up garage doors that I painted in the spring, 

The roses that Wally put into a new garden at one end of the cabin are budding profusely.

There are fading blooms on the other side of the same plant.

Lovely heirloom tomatoes are ripening.

and I'm overdue to pick some more green beans.

On his way to the garage, Wally catches sight of me.

"Hi honey."

I had to underexpose this daisy to pick up the detail in the petals

Beyond the rose garden is the rhubarb, then some wild asters, and the shipping pallet that Wally leaned in place to discourage the deer. Apparently they figured out a way in as the netting was pulled on our little peach tree, bending it over again, the remaining peaches gone

. At least we got some this year.  Next year, a real fence!

There were more wild asters growing on the other side of the cabin

by the old door crying for some paint.

Turning, I look East by Southeast at the hayfield whose weedy clumps of goldenrod, milkweed, etc.

are growing faster than the grass.

The wild roses in our border have turned to rose hips.

I make my way over to the garage garden where, that huge plant with the funky yellow flowers, Ligularia Dentata, is still putting on a show. Wally wanted me to check out where he placed the silver pitcher that I didn't need but didn't want to give away.

We both got a kick out of seeing it in amongst the Sweet William.

Over by the composter that Wally made out of shipping pallets,

the clematis is still blooming wildly.

Their seed heads make fabulous starbursts,

an added bonus.

Beside them the "black" hollyhocks are nearing the end

as they grow from the bottom of their stalks upward.

A gorgeous green and gold fly perched sleepily on one,

even as the wind bounced the bloom up and down and sideways.

Such an exquisite creature with its orange eyes.

Just to the side of the composter, more wild asters.

Sweet peas are blooming on the other side of the composter.

Going back up the steps, I look into the composter which looks more like a flower box with its Echinacea, clematis and the wild asters poking up through the deck side

The Echinacea are faded, woven through with sweet pea vines.

looking down on this natural bouquet of wild asters.

You may remember that I bought an extra cheap box of Crayola coloured pencils that have turned out to be of mixed quality, but fun nonetheless.

This piece done in Crayola coloured pencils as well,

as well as this one.

I'm feeling a little impatient to finish this book that I am drawing these images in so that I can justify turning to better quality paper. I've got a history of not completing my sketchbooks.  Better quality paper will actually enhance the appearance of these children's quality pencils, not to mention other media. Paper matters more than the materials sometimes, like the quality of a piano one plays on.  Still, there is much to learn each time I set out to draw something. The beaver's face was a challenge with its unusual shape, certainly not bunny or squirrel like, but as you can see I gave up finishing this piece, a sign that something better is to come.

Thanks for visiting today. I hope your September is kind to you. It is something to be grateful for, a little bit of kindness.

blessings

and that's august

Welcome dear viewers, on this last day of August, unusually balmy with a gentle breeze and wispy clouds on this late summer afternoon. I hope you've been well and have taken time to figuratively, if not literally, stop and smell the flowers. It all goes so soon.

Wally continues to be very busy at work, and I continue my quiet days at home with the cats. They put me through the moves each morning as I will soon describe, but now they are both passed out as cats are wont to do, enjoying their naps with fresh air from the windows wafting through.

One day last week...

Muji was awake one afternoon and caught sight of something fluttering, most likely a leaf.

My pretty boy makes a pretty picture

Babu was on hand waiting his turn in the window.

On another day, Babu was "stalking" a sparrow- through the window screen.

Oblivious, the little bird  fluttered and preened on the railing after a splash in the bird bath.

This morning I caught a rare sight of my two companions sitting together.

Babu is usually the one who doesn't stay still except when he's asleep, but this morning they were waiting for "seconds" in the kitchen.

Actually, it's just Babu who wants seconds. Muji hasn't finished firsts.

This is the new routine as I try to wean Muji off of his demands for his beloved kibble before he's finished his tinned therapeutic food.

Babu has elected himself clean-up committee. 

This includes cleaning up Muji's plate before Muji has finished.

This keeps me on my toes as Babu is already a touch overweight and that tinned food is expensive.

That doesn't stop Babu from kitten mewing plaintively for my attention to his appetite.

As long as I stay on top of them (and myself for I must not soften up to their demands) things are under control.

 Muji didn't finish his breakfast this morning.

And Babu can't understand why I lifted Muji's plate.

Lots to show you, this piece is done in coloured pencils with a few dabs of white paint pen.

Experimenting with a all my different black pencils, the one that came out the darkest was,

surprisingly, my 55 year old Laurentian coloured pencil- another allusion to the better quality available in the past.

After watching some videos about printmakers, I found myself intrigued, once again, by the new retro palette in somewhat earthy pastels. I themed this picture using some animal symbols of love and did a variation on Botticelli's Venus. Sketched in grahite mechanical pencil, I went over the lines with extra fine Pitt pen, then coloured in with Jane Davenport coloured pencils, or as she calls them, "magic wands." The surround is washi tape.

It's back to school season in the stores and I found myself in front of a display of school supplies pondering the value of Crayola coloured pencils. I found a 100 pack for $12!  That's outrageous. So I bought them.  This is what I did in place of a swatch test, using as many colours in the pack as I could. I then, like a crazy woman, proceeded to colour in all the negative spaces in black Pitt pen with some coloured pencil blends down the middle. More washi tape, these are by Tim Holtz, went on the border.

Continuing to experiment with the Crayola coloured pencils I began to scribble first one...

and then a second abstract. I worked them from every which way and am pleased with the balance I found in design by doing that.

Last night I began making these little "C' shapes, again trying to use an ever-changing variety of colours from the Crayola pack.  This morning, I carried on, eventually summoning the courage to draw the rabbit in a Pitt brush pen and then continued colouring it in with the Crayola coloured pencils.

Here's a little footnote: I was surprised to see that the label on the box spelled "Coloured" with a "u". I see now that these, as well as "All Crayola Art Materials are Nontoxic". Crayola is now a Hallmark company. My pencils were made in Brazil and imported by Crayola Canada out of Lindsay, Ontario. I found this news comforting somehow... ethical comfort.

peace on earth