Mountains and Valleys and Turning the Page

Or course, this time around in my journal I am noting the difference in my own situation and my feelings between Feb 13 and March 20 and it is remarkable.  A total "SHIFT" in life in general, isn't it?  

I see myself facilitating between meditative florals, and then back to Lysol spray cleaner.  That is sort of the way it's going for everyone right now.  Up and down.   Deep breaths and then fear...prayer and then isolation.  Grateful and then Worry.  

So now I turn the page.  Just as we all "turn the page" and continue on with mixed feelings.  

Ordinary Days

Just a normal day...one of those days that we forget to appreciate...ordinary.  I continue to play a little with different kinds of toned paper.  I did this little sketch while watching Greg get his haircut.  My hair stylist does this in her home and she had a shelf with a cute doll, a file cabinet and some other baskets behind her.  Fun shapes to play with.  Ink, wc pencil, wc crayon, pastel pencil and white charcoal.  

Lots of signs of spring around now...our bottle brush tree is blooming like crazy...always a March/April event.  The birds enjoy the blossoms and so do the wasps! Although I haven't seen the latter yet.  But we have some 90 degree days coming right up and that'll bring them out too.  It's a fascinating blossom when you look up close.  

Early Spring Tree in Mt. Dora

While most of this sketch was done with Lamy Safari fountain pen and black carbon ink...the "twigs" started to get away from me.  They had so much "lace-like" quality that wasn't happening with a thicker pen nib.   

So I waited until I got home to finish it using watercolor paint in a "dip pen". First I decided to paint a faint wash of blue gray and some slight tinges of pink behind the tree.  Using an old fashioned dip pen and gray mixtures of wc, I just added the tiny twigs.  

This nicely shaped tree was on a busy street corner in Mt. Dora.  Under it the planted flower box was wildly blooming but in contrast the tree itself had not yet responded to spring.  

All in our own time.

Spring Things in Central Florida

A lovely day in Mount Dora yesterday with 7 other artist gals from our Central Florida Plein Air group.  Lunch following at Goblin Market.  Weather was so delightful in low 80s with a slight breeze.  Really perfect for being outside!!  

Lots of people milling about and chatting and window shopping and getting lunch and just plain enjoying themselves.  Quite a few stopped to visit with me and ask me questions about sketching.  

The Tabebuia are blooming.  Often called "Yellow Trumpet Trees" but that gets them confused with other "trumpet-like" shrubs and trees.  Still they do look like lovely bright yellow trumpets shouting the arrival of Florida spring.  I hear they come in purples too but I don't think I've seen that.  They have a bright green seed that looks like a vanilla bean especially when it dries hard and brown!  And the flowers generally arrive before the leaves in spring making for an odd display but attractive.  

This sign appeared outside our restaurant yesterday purported to be my Mother Theresa.  Whether not this is true, we all agreed that the sign was a nice reminder of how we should react to all the negative things in the this world.  

Just a photo that I found in my photo box the other day...taken about 4 years ago at Lake Griffin State Park about 7 miles from where I live.  Greg and my daughter Julie standing at the base of this live oak tree purported to be one of THE largest trees in Lake County.

Quite amazing.  I couldn't get the whole tree in a photo!  

Paying Attention

This was a REALLY fast sketch...about 15 minutes with a little bit added when I got home. At home I filled in the foreground a little more and added some blue in the sky and darkened the shadow on the cypress tree and added the printing and date.  Another 15 minutes I suppose.  Strathmore 6 x 8 wc paper journal.  

Autumn took me for a lovely lovely golf cart ride along her favorite stretch of the river walk (same river from the canoe sketch but further up the river).  We identified a lot of the plants she pointed out by using the app "iNaturalist".  Including poison ivy!!!  

She was careful to instruct me to watch for snakes as we stepped out along the way.  She showed me how she knocks off the snail eggs from large snails that are not native to this area and who are pushing native snails out of their habitat.  It's fun to be with people who are so sensitive to nature.  And are willing to find beauty in tiny flowers that most people would not even notice. 

Blue Toadflax

Here is Autumn knocking off the snail eggs from the cypress trees.

Note: for those of you who subscribe to my blog you won't notice anything, but anyone coming to the blog site itself may notice that the sidebar is not loading or loads very slowly. I was very disappointed to find that this morning.  Friends with google blogs experienced this slow down too.  Hopefully google will resolve it.

I have all my archives and blogs that I follow on that side bar!!


                                             

Starting a new "Littles" page

Starting my new "littles" along with my students.
Strathmore Mixed Media Journal
Today's "fortunes" were pretty good...thought I'd save them!
For some reason we ended up with 3 instead of two.  Bonus!  

Step 24 through Feb 14 Finished.  This one took a long time.

I've been doing my "littles" now for about a year.  Still finding them fun!  And a quick little review of what "caught my eye" that day.  

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all my blogging friends!

(little 4 x 5 card..wc and ink and pencil)

And as long as the holiday invites a lot of red...here's yesterdays' "little" or "smallie".    Spring is here in central Florida and the strawberries are lovely on the farm stands now!  Azaleas are blooming and there are buds on the orange trees...blossoms soon to follow.  (They smell heavenly).  

Some rain this morning on the 14th but it will just bring out more flowers...even the cactus are blooming.  Only 71 for a high today but back into the 80s by Sunday.  

I know the midwest where I am from it is bitter this morning.  It's -9 in Madison, Wisconsin and -20 in Lac du Flambeau where our summer cabin is.  Oh my gosh.  

The legend of Valentine's is rather tragic...

Today is Valentine’s Day, the day on which we celebrate love, especially romantic love. The holiday was named after an early Christian priest, St. Valentine, who was martyred on February 14 in 269 A.D.

The tradition of exchanging love notes on Valentine’s Day originates from the martyr Valentine himself. The legend maintains that due to a shortage of enlistments, Emperor Claudius II forbade single men to get married in an effort to bolster his struggling army. Seeing this act as a grave injustice, Valentine performed clandestine wedding rituals in defiance of the emperor. Valentine was discovered, imprisoned, and sentenced to death by beheading. While awaiting his fate in his cell, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with the daughter of a prison guard, who would come and visit him. On the day of his death, Valentine left a note for the young woman professing his undying devotion signed “Love from your Valentine.”

Lovely Stop Along the Way...

Although weather has not been generally kind to us so far on the annual trip south...we have safely ignored this and followed our itinerary (see previous post) with integrity.  

The wonderful "early" 80th birthday party in Warrenville, IL on Sunday was wonderful and it was sunny and chilly and the party room at my daughter's townhouse association had a huge fireplace that crackled and glowed brightly as I had a chance to hug a lot of people who mean a whole lot to me.  

And our two days and nights with friends Jim and Roberta in southern WI were so so delightful.  They have a wonderful welcoming and comfortable home.  And we found ways to work around having to cook which we all loved...we brought in a Papa Murphy's pizza the first night and then we all ordered our favorite Chinese the second.  Lots of fun conversation with two amazing smart, funny friends.  Our mutual connections to the UCC church and the town of Williams Bay, WI made our enjoyment even greater.  And their wide range of interests from nature and sports to art to music to theater made our talks endearing and warm.  

Above you see one of Jim's most cherished places, the conservancy in Williams Bay. (Also dear to me due to my old friend Kendra and her love of the place).  Being there brought her memory back so vividly.  Despite WIND and COLD, Jim took me for about a 45 minute walk on the south board walk yesterday and I did a few fast sketches to remind me of this special place.  Jim tells me there is a new app to download on your phone that will give names of plants and animals.  It is called "Seek".  I want to look this up!!!

This little sketch in my smaller journal actually took far longer than the one above!  It is Roberta and Jim's "kitchen sink garden" overlooking the beautiful woods.  

We are now headed to Janesville to visit Greg's cousins, Len and Rick and their wives and then up to Madison, WI tonight to stay with my daughter, Julie.  Saturday is THE wedding.

One Day and Counting.

One day and counting.  A very crazy itinerary you will notice.  Going south, then north, then north again, then south.  

But we are having fun in northern Illinois and then visiting friends and family in Wisconsin and then attending our granddaughter's wedding on the 19th in Wisconsin...thus the return back part way north again.  On the 20th we turn and head south again and hope to get to Leesburg on Oct 23.  

We expect a hard freeze tonight...it's SO cold and windy.  Only 39 for a high today!  BRRRR.  The mailbox was taken in and our sign put to bed in the garage.  We'll drain the pipes in the morning.

More adventures ahead!  

Watching the golden birch leaves fall into the lake!

Closing Up the Art Show

Took down my paintings at the Woodruff, WI show today.  I had 4 there.  Nothing sold this time.  But that's okay.  It was a fun show anyway.  This scene of the sea turtles was a painting that Kendra hung over her bed for years.  When she passed away, it was bequeathed back to me.  It was fun to see it after so many years.  But I think of her every time I look at it.  

It's been pouring rain here in Lac du Flambeau for 12 hours straight.  Hmmm.

Greg maintains it is supposed to clear off this afternoon but then...you guessed it, more rain.  I think the rain symbol is there for the next 3 days now.  Sigh.  We are glad much of the yard work and shore work is done for closing.  12 days and counting.  

Inktober starts tomorrow.  I am tangling it.  But I'll only post every 3 days in October for that as I am tangling 3 on each 5 x 5" page.

Am off to make some white chicken chili for the church chili supper tomorrow night.  

The Milkweed Goes to Seed

Yesterday's walk was sunny, windy and nippy.  I should have worn gloves.  Where did I put them?  

I have been following the milkweed since spring...with the little caterpillars eating them like crazy and then off into that magic change into Monarch butterflies in August.  Now the plants are spreading their seeds again.  Beautiful puffs floating about.  

The pines drop about 1/3 of their needles each fall and they make a bright yellow carpet on some places on the road.

We are having a stretch now of VERY dark and wet and cool days (again).  Indian summer is over.  Highs about 56 today.  So I've started the humidifier in the house again.  Same every year about this time...heat and fireplace dries out the air.  

The countdown continues as always.  
Heading off to teach a little Zentangle® this morning, then a few errands in town. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Julie made us dinner tonight...roasted veggies and sausage.  Wow was that ever delicious! The broccoli was from her garden and the other veggies fresh from the farmer's market.   Decided to keep THAT recipe handy.  

Been canoeing twice while she was here.  WHAT a lovely treat.  The high water in the lake this year has made our shoreline so different.  We have more islands that we used to!!!  Fun to weave in and out.  There are beaver, otters, eagles, and loons.  

Julie leaves tomorrow morning and Rick and his family arrive Thursday at lunch.  A quick turn over.  But such fun to have them.

Greg visited his ear doctor today for a routine ear cleaning.  He's one of those folks who get a lot of wax in his ears and so having them professionally cared for is essential.  I asked how he felt after they removed the wax.  He said it is "drafty".  🤪 What a goof.  

Red Pine Camp

The Sketch and Painting group met at Red Pine Camp for Girls in Woodruff, WI this week.  What a lovely spot...VERY hilly and a little challenging for knee-sensitive folks like me.  But I managed.

The camp was actually closed for the season...all the girls were gone and just the crews there beginning to put things away.  Painting the boats and bringing in the swim floats etc.  So it was quiet and nice.  

Got there late so the sketch is pretty small.  But weather turned lovely and sunny for us after a slow cold and cloudy start.  Lucky us.  There was a large group but everyone spread out and so it wasn't until later I realized who was there.  The location is about a 30 minute drive for me.  

I didn't stay for lunch as daughter Julie was driving up from Madison that day for lunch and a few day's visit.  

Today (Friday) it is rain rain rain.  A napping day.  And then off to an art reception this evening.

The Story Sketch

Some sketches come with natural stories attached.  Those are often special memories.  You can, I hope, read the the little bit that I wrote right on the journal page.  

Fascinating little story attached to this little bait shop now preserved by community members who want to remember.  That's the real story, isn't it.  That people care enough to remember.  That they plant flowers, repair the roof and mow the lawn.  No money is charged to come.  

And that people love to come there and feed the ducks.  They bring their children and sit on the pier and chat.  Edith and Hazel must be so pleased.  I can imagine them sitting in the shade of of that old porch facing the lake having lunch.  

The photo of the "minnows" sign is from the side of the shop that I could not see from my angle.  The articles from the "museum" inside are just a few...there are tons.  And the entrance hall has been sealed in plexiglass so that you can stand inside and see everything, but it is safe and untouched.  That took some work and planning.  It's really quite impressive.  Full of old tea pots, tackle boxes, lures and bobbers and tins.  

Keep in mind I had to drive about 45 minutes from Lac du Flambeau to Sayner, WI to find this hideaway and there is NO sign.  
You can google it and get directions on line so it's not a secret but they don't put up signs so in a way this is kind of nice that it is more word-of-mouth.  I guess it's quite popular and people stroll down or ride their bikes.  There isn't much parking...one or two cars.  Which is good.  The town is very small but there are a lot of cabins and fisherman and bikers and families who like to come to the area.  AND fisherman of course.  

I am including also a little photo of the sketch as it first started.  I like to lay in the shadows first.  The reason is that they immediately start to shift as you draw.  During the hour or two that you enjoy the sketch they are in a totally different place at the end.  I often pick the angle of the sketch based on how the shadows fall.  Because cobalt blue is very transparent, it makes a nice shadow I can paint right over.  

Mid summer sketching

Stoney Creek Garden Center is south of Minocqua, WI and is one of the most diverse and eclectic one I've come across.  I could paint here all day.  I had a few hours on Thursday morning, however, and just settled beside an old potting shed.  I liked the worn exterior and the huge jungle of vines that has engulfed it!  The rain barrel and the big old jug/vase were nice elements too.  

We got some lovely warm sunshine that morning for a change!

Out front is a koi pond with a lot of fish and I had about 20 minutes left before I had to head off to fix lunch for my company.  So I just did a small sketch there in the shade near Millie.  

I've been waiting for the price on the Hahnemühle Watercolor Sketchbooks to come down.  So when they did I ordered one from Amazon.  I thought the packaging was amazing.  Made in Germany, it was sent out from Nottinghamshire, UK and then the instructions said, "if not deliverable, mail to Sweden".  A very international purchase!!!  So I glued the interesting bits into the front of the sketchbook.  

Here and Now completed.

You've seen this page as it developed over the month.  I always like to share it when it's done.  

Wrapped up with my favorite bird...the rose breasted grosbeak.  He was at our feeder many times over the last two days along with his 4 children.  (Mommy must be off on vacation.). The youngsters present their "feed me" wiggles...shaking their wings in a pleading way.  Obviously old enough to feed themselves but like kids do, wanting to be fed as long as possible.  So much fun to watch them.

This page goes from May 26 to July 13.  (So mostly June) but I don't have any real plan to keep to a month...it's whenever the mood strikes and I feel I need to save a memory.  I keep a record of the books I read and sometimes a comment on weather.  I LOVE my thrift shop red cap (which also attracts hummingbirds!). I wear it on all my walks this summer.  And so it goes.  The next page is entitled "Whatever". 

We were off to some garage sales this morning...Greg found a sturdy small ladder for jobs that require only being a few feet up.  
And I found 3 new jig saw puzzles (3 for $1).  I couldn't resist the price.  And a new queen bed quilt that looked like it had never been used for $5.  (I actually use them as room dividers out on the porch.). Hung from clips on a rod across the ceiling they provide privacy in the cozy reading corner but more important keep in the heat on frosty mornings and evenings!  BUT when fall comes I need to remove them and store them in plastic boxes or the mice come and chew them up for nesting material.  The summer porch is not mouse proof.  

Lake Life in the north woods

What a morning we had today out on South Bay on Little St. Germain Lake! Whew.  Was about 65 degrees when I left at 7:45 am (this is really something for me to be up and out of the house THAT early!)  Greg decided he'd like to come along and see the resort and go out to lunch with us.  He plays computer games on his iPad, does his Suduko and reads magazines (and I think he naps) while I paint.  This time he did all that IN the car to keep out of the wind.  If you were in the sun and out of the wind the temp was not too bad.

But I was determined to be at the lakeside.  At least this first time there and I wanted to sketch the iconic red Adirondack chairs on the pier and enjoy the ambiance.  A lot of the artists chose to paint up the hill in warmer places.  I couldn't have done it without the wind breaker. I am so pleased I thought to bring it at the last minute.  It did warm to 71 degrees by mid afternoon and in the sunshine out of the wind it felt cozy.  Hoping things warm up more soon.  

Then a delightful lunch at the 19th Hole Restaurant in St. Germain.
Lovely menu!  Lots of good art talk.  

I have finished up my framing for the Manito Art Show next week. 
You can see a few pictures from last year's show here.  The reception for artists and patrons will be Wednesday evening and I am serving punch at the appetizer table.  This is always catered by a nice restaurant in the area.  We have a harp player and it's very posh!  The show hangs Thurs-Sunday noon.  9-4.  So it's a nice.  

So the outdoor group won't paint out next week due to the show.  
The second round of company here will arrive on the 25th so I don't know about joining the sketching/painting group that week.  Have to see how times match up for arrivals and etc.  We'll be painting at the local nursery/garden center called Stoney Creek in Minocqua. If I go I may have to skip eating lunch out with them that day. 

Our loons have a baby!
This is hugely exciting.  I wanted to be sure Autumn got to see it.
We hold our breath as we often lose baby loons to  predators on the lake and we have had very few survive.  Hawks, eagles, large fish, and turtles can all eat a new born chick. Crossing fingers for the little guy.  

 

Little Bits of Life

The iris that Greg planted up by the road have bloomed now in the warm sunshine.  I see them every time we go in and out the driveway and when I go on a walk or get the mail.  Decided to bring a few down to the cabin to enjoy.

A friend has gorgeous poppies she brings to church on Sundays.

They are the size of dessert plates!  Beautiful.  

Our study group at church meets every other Tuesday morning in the sunny meeting room here in Lac du Flambeau.  This year we are studying some of great historical thinkers of the modern church.

We'll be without any guests for the 4th this year but that is okay.  We'll go down to the town for fireworks in the evening if the weather holds.  So far we've had a nice week.  Had some rain Sunday morning but it has lifted and last night we had wine down at the lake in amazing beautiful weather. The wind dropped and the turtles swam by and dragon flies were languid on the pier.  Life slows down.  

I told Greg about the book I am reading for book club while we sat there.  It is Jodi Picolt's book Small Great Things which is about racism.  It is a very disturbing book (I warn you up front).  But timely and something that people need to confront.  

Sketching My Days

This will be a repeat of the first few rows...this is going a little slower this summer with some competition for my time.  But in July things actually slow down a bit (I think). Less company this summer and a little more relaxed schedule.  
I've been reading a lot and getting ready for the summer art shows coming up.  

My usual July company has postponed to later in the summer. 
So this frees things up a bit.  Hoping that all this rain moves off and we get some sunny days.  
Happy 4th of July everyone.

Happy Summer Solstice

Today is the summer solstice...June 21.  Longest day of the year.

After a wet and very cool start to our summer here in the Northwoods...we are going to have some sunshine today and a high of 75.  It seems the lake is quite still today (I love windless days best).  However, I do add that some breezes do help to keep the mosquitos at bay.  So you have keep that in mind.

My walks along the roadsides show places where there is more sunshine and there the lovely Columbine have burst forth.  I think they are the most jewel like of all the Northwoods flowers.  The sketch above is on a Strathmore Multi Media sketchbook.  9 x 12. 

The Canada Mayflowers are slowly disappearing now as the summer comes on.  Blueberries and black raspberries will be ripening in July.  And I have never seen so many False Solomon Seal flowers.  

Below are just a few short sketches done on different days in my Birns and Stillman notebook.  Places we have eaten out...4 from church services in different spots..and the last a begonia plant that was on the table where we went to a church study group last Tuesday morning.  

I have tons of company coming this evening so I have a big lasagne to put together AND a cake to bake.  I am pleased the rain has pushed off to Sunday now so we may get at least one good weekend day!  Not hot...but in the 70s.  No weather whining today.