markmaking

Young mountain lion, pencil sketch

With thanks to my friend KB

who generously shares her wonderful wildlife videos and photographs

on Romping and Rolling in the Rockies

🐾
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sunday snap

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sunday snaps

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wordless wednesday

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weekend seen

This chipmunk shinnied up the pole holding the bird feeder.

S/he paused a couple of times on the way up, to look around.

At every pause in the climbing, s/he slowly slid downward,

like a little cartoon character.

But once the buffet was reached,

there was plenty of time to eat and look around.

Ms. Piper also enjoys looking around. And sniffing.

Whatever she was sniffing here, it was fascinating!

She stood perfectly still for a couple of minutes.

We went to the woods today for the very first time this summer.

You may not be surprised to hear that it was very hot and humid.

An hour of walking was plenty.

First we walked down into our favorite little streambed looking in vain for cooler air,

then back along a flat trail that Piper really likes.

The bugs were so bad we both wore the Seriously Awful Spray.

Piper seemed unbothered by the deer flies, thank goodness. 

But if I stopped moving even long enough to take a picture,

deer flies took bites out of my fingers and my face.

Many of the photographs I took today were too blurry to share.

Say, readers, here's a question for you!

Are there any fungi aficionados reading this?

If so, I would love to know if that silvery color on the surrounding vegetation

is an incredibly thin and perfectly even layer of released spores.

There were a few similar examples nearby, at various states of maturity/decay.

Can't think what else it could be, but I'm surprised I've never seen this before.

The color stood out so much, my first thought was

that someone had used marking paint.

And here's another colorful thing, but less mysterious:

a "bead" of a "bluebead lily" in the process of turning blue.

They turn quite a dark blue - this bright, light blue was a surprise.

Well, Piper is sound asleep and the sun is beginning to drop behind the trees,

which means evening chores are waiting.

 Time to get busy.

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spiderwort wednesday

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saturday scarlet

The first bee balm is just beginning to bloom!

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world watercolor month

July is World Watercolor Month, and people all over the planet are trying to paint something every day and share it. Since my daily markmaking habit feels pretty solid (today is #550) I've decided to push myself a bit, by expanding beyond my usual sketchbook or card or miniature size. I have a watercolor pad of 11x15-inch sheets, and if that doesn't sound very large, let me tell you this: it looks vast to me before the brush first touches the paper! There are about 20 sheets in the pad...how many will I have to paint before it feels as comfortable as the 5.5x8.5-inch sketchbooks? This iceberg is painting #3, and it's the first one I like enough to share with you. I hope if you are having the kind of hot, humid weather we're having, the thought of ice and ocean will make you feel a little cooler for a moment or two.

Do you happily jump into new adventures,

or do you have to push yourself to try new things?

And if the  latter, how do you do it?

I'd love to hear!

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