Annapolis Royal afternoon

Company has come and gone but the pictures and the memories remain.

 

a funky tribute to maritime life on the front lawn of this home in Annapolis Royal

 

you can look but don't enter

 

a gorgeous late Saturday afternoon looking across Fort Anne to the Annapolis River

 

An enormous tree in the Fort Anne Cemetery

 

An amazing twist to a chestnut tree

 

a wonderful Indian import

 

a most amazing House with a red mansard roof

 

And more pictures to come of our gallivanting

 

I finally have my studio reamed out after all these months of talking about it, so that I can start painting. But what colour? White is too bright with the southeast exposure. Hot pink too reflective of its own colour. So now I'm considering a midtone greige. Do you remember that word from the '80's? A cross between beige and grey, basically a warm grey that won't cast too much of its own colour onto whatever I'm working on. I can brighten the space with an inspiration pinboard. The big news for me is that we are donating the old teak wall unit to my studio so that I don't have to make do with the mismatched shelving as I have been. That was Wally's idea. AND he came up with the sacrilegious solution to cover up the awkwardly placed low-hung window (typical of older homes) with the wall unit freeing up the opposite windowless wall for a long length of table and wall-hung shelving where I could strap some undershelf lighting. How very decadent, but necessary to my tiny space with all the STUFF I have!

 

That's the latest. Hope you are well in all you do, content with your choices.

 

 Peace

 

Nature compliments with her favours

Yesterday it rained. A big black cloud alarmed me so much, with how dark it made the interior of the house, that I had to look outside to see if we were having a solar eclipse that no one told me about!

After the rain, the garden looked so happy.

 

The zucchini leaves looked happy!

 

Don't you think these heirloom tomatoes look jolly too?

 

The tender green of tender peas in their tender green pods,

 

the beets just bursting out of the ground,

 

and whoops! I ate another one.

 

In the foreground, the spiky-leafed artichoke has been loving the hot dry weather we've been having.

 

Here is the wonderful broad-leafed Ligularia Dentate or what I prefer to call it, "Midnight Lady".

It produces its flowers inside a pod

like this! 3 flowers bursting forth

 

Hens and Chicks, that very popular rock garden plant, a desert succulent,

 still sits in its original container.

Potbound, it has sent forth this ridiculously tall stalk of fuzzy flowers.

 

a close up of a fuzzy blossom

 

Our bird bath has to be checked regularly for mosquito larvae that squiggle about like tiny tadpoles.

This leaf lays partially underwater, brocaded with the most amazing pink spots.

 

Meanwhile, the 3 apples we thought we had left have magically turned to 4!

 

How funny that we couldn't see the 4th apple for so long.

 

With another month or more til they are ripe, I find this a terribly magical time.

There is something wonderful about watching your own apples grow...

 

The peaches still number 3. They don't hang like an apple but cling very tight to their branch

 

They, too, need some time to ripen, but a hint of their peachy colour is starting to show.

 

And here's something peachy I enjoyed doing, using a photocopy of one of my Artist Trading Cards in this collage made with dictionary papers with definitions starting with the letter "E"(a gift from a fellow Mermaid Circus classmate and ATC trader) and some washi tape (a Japanese decorative paper tape) with a cut-out of some clams from a can label.

 

I finally got it into my head that there are other beautiful things to paint besides mermaids!

 I enjoyed doing this little watercolour with mixed complementary colours for the greys.

 

Let's make "complimentary" the word of the day.

 

last days of July

My enthusiasm was flagging last week for a number of reasons.

The crazy heat was getting to me too, and then...



this lovely thing happened...

I received a darling handmade journal in the mail from someone I barely know, possibly a real life angel, in the online Mermaid Circus class I've been in since (I can hardly believe it) April.

 



The first few pages I filled were awkward and clumsy, indicative of the mood I had been in,

but then I came to the watercolour paper and decided to go back and work with the original design I made for my first ATC at the beginning of the month.

 

And this is where I stopped.

There are still a few days left for anyone who might want to do a trade with me.

You can see the details HERE.

 

And here is a picture for my niece who I promised to show an update of our garden.

See how well the aluminum pie plates are growing from the trees?

With 3 apples and 3 peaches left on each tree, I can't say they've done the best job of discouraging the deer, but at least I'm getting used to their tinging in the nighttime breeze.

 

It is cooler today and overcast with a possibility of rain.

I hope wherever you are the weather is kind to you

and that you are kind to yourself.

 

from the sidewalk to the last hay bale

Walking home from the post office...

This is the little house I fell in love with when we first saw it last year..

It is still for sale; it's price has dropped dramatically and still remains empty so I guess there's good reason that we never even toured it and it's all for the best,

 but I do love the look of the dear thing.

 

Oh did I get suspicious looks from neighbours as I stopped to photograph these beauties.

 

 

Exquisite

 

Always by the roadside, I stopped seeing formal gardens up close,

but there were still wondrous beauties to behold without stepping off the sidewalk.

Wild Roses

Chicory

 

Chicory and waspybee

 

Another neighbour eye-balling me

 

This fascinating flower emulates a thistle,

fascinating because it has no thorns but has protected itself by pretending to look like it does.

 

a common weedhead

 

Quite wonderful when you have a closer look at it

 

This lowly scrub cone is so beautiful at this stage

 

Wild currants

 

 

Swirly tendrils of the wild currant

 

More tendrils and flowers that will become currants

 

Bracken and Horsehair

Maple keys on the concrete sidewalk

 

Glorious Groundcover and its Flowers

 

So I bet you thought you were safe from the dreaded hay bales. Well, almost. Personally I was sad to see them gathered up so soon, but I, too, knew that rain was forecast for that Tuesday evening, so I knew the farmer was wise to gather his precious load before it could be damaged by water and consequent mould.

 

It was with some wistful regret that I came out in time to see

the farmer go to pick up the last hay bale.

 

Adjusting the last hay bale

 

Adjusting the bale. Here you can see a bit of the South Mountain that makes up the Annapolis Valley

 

Loading the last hay bale onto the wagon

 

The hayfield stripped barren of its bales, still beautiful in the evening light

 

I do love the glow of late afternoon light on the trees

 

The Memory of Trees in the Setting Sun

 

Mermaid  With Her Lyre ATC

 

As Below So Above ATC

 

Remember there is still time to take advantage of my offer to trade ATC's so please follow the link to see how. I have a received a few Artist Trading Cards in exchange for mine, and I am delighted to have these tiny original works in my hands, so lovely. And I have had the best time making works in a small format.

 

Peace in our hearts and in the world at large