My Week's Adventures

Hi everyone. Happy Friday and happy almost weekend to you.

Whoever says staying home is boring doesn't know what they are talking about. I've had a lot of adventures this past week that didn't even involve getting into my car and driving. 

1) Home Chores: I've been hanging low this week trying not to go through a lot of gas. Mostly I've been busy with gardening and also unpacking a few craft supplies back into the just about finished art space. I've also stained and urethaned the trim boards which hopefully will go in tomorrow morning, and then, I can officially move everything back into place. Hurrah! 

Soon my lettuce, kale and spinach will be ready to pick out of my cold frame.

And my newest garden is coming along. I planted some dahlia bulbs and some zinnia seeds this week so I hope they grow.

2)  Nature: The other day I took a long  walk (thankful for wind to keep the bugs away), and that turned out to be  an adventure also.

The coltsfoot flowers (Tussilago farfara)  (Thanks David for mentioning this plant in a post so now I know what it is) may have passed, but I love these pom-poms left to spread their seeds.

And I also spied a lady slipper (Cypripedium acaule).

This fern looks like fabric. 

And  further on the way home, I heard a large crack. It didn't sound good, so I took a quick look around, and maybe 15 feet in front of me an old rotted tree came crashing down, bringing a branch off another tree down with it. I took this photo where I was standing right after the big fall.

Maddie was totally unimpressed, but it was a bit scary until I knew what exactly was being blown over. I called the town highway department to let them know they'd need someone to clean it up.

That same night, around 2 AM, the dogs started going NUTS. I totally missed this photo op  as I was more concerned about my bees and bird feeders than grabbing a camera, but once I snapped on the back light, standing in my yard was a big old black bear. He and I took a good look at each other through the window, and then I rapped on the glass and he ambled off into the woods. 

Of course bears are really smart, and what they do is only amble out of sight, figuring you'll turn off the light and go back to sleep (or most likely forget about them) so they can then come back. I waited about twenty minutes. Then I let the dogs out,  and I took my flashlight to go check on the bees (all OK) and to grab my hummingbird feeder, which was the only one still out. I didn't walk very far out into the yard though, because I don't want to come face to face with a bear.

All was good with the bees and feeder, but I did hear Mr. Bear running through the underbrush of the woods. He was loud as he ran over branches, snapping and cracking them, and also as he ran through brush. I could tell he was getting further and further away from the noise level. I knew then he was really gone. Maddie did some of her "Get Out of My Yard" barking and Pete ran around smelling the ground, followed by Maddie. Pete has chased a bear or two in the past, and I was glad he didn't decide to do that because the bear was far off and if he did go off after it, he'd be gone at least an hour.  Plus dogs can get hurt if a bear swipes at them with their claws. Most importantly, I wanted to go back to bed.

3)  My Art for Today: My journal page will probably be lost in this post, but since that's originally what  I planned on  sharing today, let me include it.

My inspiration for this page was this fun lady. She was on a birthday card I got from my aunt this past March. I didn't want to hang onto the card, but it came from my only aunt still left alive, so I thought I could recycle her onto a journal page. That way there I would always think of my aunt whenever I looked back to this page. It also explains why she has no feet because her legs ended at the  bottom of my card.

I started by inking half the page orange to match Myna's hair, and then I used gesso and stencil to make the design. I layered some paper scraps, some of which I added details too because they just looked too blah without any details.  I also added some washi tape with letters on it and some little paper scraps to make the ground.  And I also used markers and a pen to draw outlines not only around my page but also around the paper layered sections on the left.

I added my Myna, and then I found some silly punch out birds from an Art By Marlene punch out book. I also found the scooter image. I think Myna looks like a lady who would have fun and be on the go. I did color and add some details to both the birds and the motorbike.

I'm linking this art piece up to Art Journal Journey. This month Matilde is hosting and as you probably already know, the theme is birds.

I am also linking up to Gillena's Friday lunch break, and Nicole's Friday Face Off.

Have a great weekend. Thanks for visiting.