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

last friday in august

Friday from my little part of the world.

Nothing much has changed, though Wally is working like crazy organizing cars for the flight squadrons, crew and support staff who are performing at the air show in Greenwood this weekend.

Wally has free tickets but I won't join him as it truly is his thing and not mine.

a crystal and beach stones on a window sill

Muji watches me take the picture.

Then it's off to the front porch to check the mail. Yes, we still get home delivery here. Sweet.

The lilies are spent in the lily garden but the mallow keeps blooming.

Muji has been waiting for me to come in 

and then he hears Babu clunking around in the kitchen.

Could he be cleaning up?

Muji was once an outdoor cat and the world outside continues to hold great fascination for him.

He continues trying to make The Great Escape through the bathroom closet, kitchen cupboards and the basement door. Some things never change. 

This is where I left off this morning at the kitchen table.

My ancient box of Eagle Prismacolor coloured pencils is getting a good workout these days.

The Jane Davenport set lays to the left. It is also useful for its unusual colours.

I don't usually use a mechanical pencil but I've bee working on a sketch of Botticelli's Venus and finding this fine graphite easier to work with, easier to rub out with that school grade eraser that has worked amazingly well for me on the cheap paper of my little sketchbook.

a bunny sketch in Derwent Black pencil with that marvelous "light green" Prismacolor that fairly glows in the background

and that picture I showed you as a work in progress 2 days ago, now complete.

Done in coloured pencils with some fine Pitt pen outlining.

I played with a similar fantasy background in the fox picture I showed you earlier this week.

It's a fun way to fill in the background but this time I had to subdue it with sepia pencil because it competed with my main characters- hence the extra outlining as well to help bring the characters forward. I have no purpose in having them petition the cat with open bags. I call it Collecting.

The weekend is upon us. So is cooler weather. I hope yours is pleasantly spent.

in peace and presence my friends

morning of the solar eclipse

Perhaps because I was self-employed most of my life, Monday mornings don't hold the usual dread that they do for many people who differentiate them from weekends. I tended to look at my down time in terms of seasons and winter became a haven for me from the rigours of business. But today, this Monday of all Mondays, is supersaturated with relevance, for today,

Western Europe, Northeast Asia, Northwest Africa, North America, much of South America, the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Arctic 

will have a solar eclipse!

If that don't beat the Monday blues! We live such little lives on our beloved little planet and cosmic phenomena really serve to remind us the relative importance of everything. There won't be another solar eclipse in my part of the world, eastern North America, til 2025.

After another rainy Saturday and a hot and humid Sunday,

it promises to be bright though hot again today.

Muji would rather be outside with me

Babu would rather share the window with Muji

The hayfield looking ESE already promises heat as the dew lifts this morning.

So far so good with the grapes ripening

The beans grow in rows like a curtain

A brown butterfly suns itself on a fallen maple leaf

What a clever landing pad.

Raspberry for breakfast

Our new mint patch

a new stalk of gladiola

a nest of hens and chicks

a tall weed with its pretty little blossoms

We're inveterate, or should I say, "veteran" sales hunters,

but this ten cent cabbage takes the cake,  my best deal in years.

Muji hops down from the window and is at the door to greet me before I've got it shut.

Babu isn't far behind.

The middle section of my sketchbook has two signatures of cheap kraft paper which I'm enjoying for its mid tone, allowing me to use a light cream colour to effect. Outlined in a brush-tipped India ink Pitt pen and coloured with coloured pencils, I'm still working with multiple images for more interest. The heavier, gold-dotted kraft cardstock that I collaged on was harder to tear and therefore left some really nice edges.

 

Smitten with that gold-dotted kraft card, I found a place to lay it down in this coloured pencil extravaganza. It's been so much fun not to work to anyone's expectations but my own and see where my intuition will take me. I haven't been able to work like this since the '80's.

Giving myself permission has been a long time coming.

"Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement."

                                                                                    Nelson Mandela

peace on earth