pictures from several walks

It's been hot lately. Over 80 every day.
I don't usually install my air conditioner in May, but I'm considering it.
Some nights have felt airless, even with a fan on.
In MAY!

One morning after very little sleep, I got a foolishly late start on chores.

By the time I came in, it was 84F in the shade and I was soaked with sweat.

Full disclosure: that doesn't mean I was working hard.
It doesn't take much physical activity to bring me to that state.

These days I break a sweat walking to the letterbox.
But that morning was hot.

I could say, "I just haven't adjusted to the hot weather yet,"

but there's no reason to think I will adjust to it. I never do.

One day I took Piper to the pond for our walk.
We haven't been going there lately, and we almost didn't go that day, because there were so many vehicles at both entrances I had hoped to use.
I can't take Piper off lead if there is anyone else on the trails.

Fortunately, there are other entrances, and other trails.

Generally, no matter where we walk, even on our own little road, there are more people and biting bugs about.
We just need to be out early and back early.

Piper is not really helping with this.

If she would just get up from her bed, jostle my elbow and look enthusiastic,

it would be much easier for me to fall out of bed - I do rely on gravity to help with this - and get moving, so we could go for a walk.

Instead, I'm the one doing the jostling and enthusing.

Piper is perfectly content to sleep in.

But once I've gotten her up, she is happy to go for a walk.

Warning: Introspective Moment 
It's a surprise to me that it's taking so much effort to reactivate a simple habit - getting up and out at dawn - that was a way of life for decades.
It's a surprise of the, "What? Am I not that person anymore? When did that happen?" variety. Hmmmm.

End of Introspective Moment

It doesn't matter, really.

All that matters is, I need to get up and out early.
Yesterday we started at 8, and walked less than a mile because it was very biting-buggy despite my herbal repellent spray, and as soon as the sun was high enough to come over the treetops and reach the road...it was hot.
Today we started at 7:30 and although the bugs were horrible, it wasn't quite as hot. Humid though. Ugh. Tomorrow I'll try to get us out earlier.

Because this hound isn't going to walk herself.

Trust me. I asked her.

~~~~~~~

saturday saunter

After a long, gloomy day of rain yesterday,

when I fed the fire all day just to take the chill off the house,

today dawned clear and bright.

And cold. And windy.

I waited til almost noon to take Piper to our favorite trails by the pond.

By that time, the wind had dropped and the air was warmer.

Five days ago, the pond looked like this.

There was still a lot of ice, but there were open areas.

We've had some very warm days in the past week.

Today, the pond looked like this:

The sky was really this blue.

 It was a splendid time to be out in the woods.

So much to look at. So much to see.

And no one has to tell this girl to "stop and smell the roses"

- or anything else, for that matter.

We had a grand time, and I wore out before Piper did.

When we got home, I puttered around a bit but had to sort of drag myself out for evening chores.

So...no goats were combed today. 

But I believe it was the right call.

~~~~~

thankful thursday

Well, here it is August.
My, my, my.

What does that remind me of?

I know! It's another #drawingAugust!

A jar of corks without the jar, 2014

I couldn't remember when I first joined this informal twitterfest of shared artwork...

was it three years ago? four?...so I searched my own blog. (Very handy.)


It was 2014. Yikes! This will be my 6th year.


This post describes what Drawing August is about: fun and sharing and encouraging others and possibly even making artsy friends from around the world. Back in 2014 there was an actual sign-up list of participants. Each year the number has grown, and now a few people post reminders that August is coming up, and then it's just "try to do a drawing each day, and post a picture with the hashtag so everyone can see them all." In other words, an informal international event has become even more informal as it has grown larger - how often does that happen?

by the millstream with Piper, 2015

Each year I have had Very Good Company on my outdoor sketching adventures.

at the pond with Piper, 2016 (in progress)

I hope the heat, humidity, and biting bugs will lighten up

so Piper and I can head out to the woods this month.

At the pond with Piper, 2016 

For four years, my number of August drawings varied quite a bit.

I never made a full 31, and it didn't matter a bit.

It was still fun, and still interesting to see everyone else's work.

Missing the Sea, 2017

And then, January 2018 rolled around.

In a moment of optimism with no apparent foundation in reality,

I decided to attempt not one month of daily sketching, 

but one year of daily markmaking.

Iris, 2018

And to my astonishment, I did it. And am still doing it. Today was day #578.

Here's a thing I'm going to say to anyone who feels even a tiny urge to do #drawingAugust 2019:

if you do 10 or 12 sketches in a month,

you are bound to to be pleased with at least a few of them.

Which is a lovely feeling!

Why not give it a go?

I never imagined that the time spent sketching something - anything - every day

would become a peaceful harbor for my mind and spirit.

But there it is.

Moxie, 2018

I sometimes wonder if I post too many daily markmakings here on the blog,

and if you are getting tired of them.

I hope you haven't.

I hope you won't.

Because just as I am thankful for Jean Stevens,

the wonderful printmaker who encouraged me to give it a go in 2014,

and for the camaraderie of twitter's #drawingAugust folk,

I am thankful for you, my blog readers, who have responded so kindly

through comments or emails or even mail with a stamp.

Thank you. So much.

~~~~~

crystal clear

See anything familiar in this photograph?

How about now?

I took Piper for a little walk in the woods by the pond today.
It was very cold, but the air was crystal clear and the sky, pale blue.

At this time of year, when it's safer to just assume that something is "in season" for hunters, and also that people may be hunting where it is not allowed, I keep Piper on lead until I'm as sure as I can be that there are no other people in the area. Then I let her roam a bit.

While I take loads of photographs.

We had a fine time.

It set me back on chores, and tomorrow I'll probably be gritting my teeth while trying to move extra hay because my back was aching too much to lift bales when we got home. But I'm glad we went. Especially since freezing rain is now predicted to start tonight and continue right through Saturday night.

I can move hay in freezing rain if I have to, but a blue-sky walk in the woods with Piper is a "seize the day" kind of thing.

~~~

p.s.
Thank you for all the nice comments on the 2018 Pictorial post - it was a tough choice to pick just 12 images from the 99 blogposts I wrote last year! For those who were interested in the fisher snapshots, here is a link to the "always learning" blog post from back in the Spring.

~~~~~

weekend winding down

Saturday was the nicest day we've had in ages.

Cool and breezy.

After morning chores and doing the recycling, Piper and I went for a walk by the pond.

It was overcast, but very pleasant.

And after a while, the sun appeared!

The air was crystal clear. So much to see and admire.

I had carried my sketching chair into the woods, hoping to paint outdoors for a change if the mosquitoes weren't too bad.

And they weren't! The really vicious late-summer mosquitoes are still here, but they weren't out in huge numbers. So I chose a nice spot to set up my chair and sketch for a while at the edge of the wetland.

But every time I reached for my sketchbook, this happened:

No sketching allowed!

Fair enough, Piper.

It was such a perfect afternoon.

The very faintest beginning of Autumn in the air.

We had a great time, and I let Piper decide when it was time to head home.

~~~

That was Saturday.

This was Sunday:

I think Piper's weekend was a success!

I hope yours was, too :)

~~~~~

to the woods

Yesterday, or as I call it, the first day of summer,

I had planned to take Piper to the woods.

She has been having a very dull time of it, with all this rain.

Piper does not enjoy rain.

She has been going outside for only a few minutes at a time, every day.

Even with the new portico, she has not wanted to spend one extra minute outside.

But yesterday, the gorgeous day, Piper surprised me.
She did not want to be outside.

Maybe she just expects rain every day now?
Maybe she has begun to enjoy spending most of her time on her couch?
I kind of understand that feeling.

But.

This morning seemed almost as nice as yesterday.

The second day of summer!

Hmmmm.
Time for some Pup Psychology.

After chores and gardening, I started putting some things in a little pile.

my camera

my sketchbook

Piper, snoozing on her couch, opened one eye.

I filled up my water bottle

sorted through my pencils

selected a pen

Piper opened both eyes and raised her head.

"Ready?" I asked.

Piper scrambled down and away we went.

We headed for the pond, and walked first to my favorite blueberry spot, just in case.

But the blueberries are gone.

Completely gone.

We found not a single wizened berry clinging to a branch.

I'm lucky my highbush blueberry at home still has a few berries left to ripen!

I pick a little handful each morning and savor every one.

The day could not have been nicer for a walk in the woods.

Mostly sunny, but not too hot.

Sometimes cloudy, but not muggy.

And no mosquitoes.

No. Mosquitoes.

Piper ambled and explored and intently sniffed hundreds of things.

I took photographs, then set up my wonderful backpackable sketching chair.

"What shall I draw?" I asked Piper.

"The root end of this deadfall looks texturally interesting," she said.

"And speaking of interesting, isn't it time to bring out the treats?"

Outdoor sketching with Piper always involves treats.

My viewpoint was close to the ground, so the deadfall loomed large:

We spent over two hours in the woods, and every minute was a pleasure.

This summer is going great.

~~~~~

sunday snapshots

It's still totally dark outside at 6:25AM, and I'm hearing wind-driven rain hitting the house. But here are a few pictures from yesterday, which was a perfect Autumn day.

 

~~~~~

piper wednesday

~~~~~