monday meander

Piper and I went for a ramble in one of our favorite areas today. You've seen bits of it before, in photographs and various sketches - it's one of the places we visited repeatedly during our first outdoor drawing adventures.

And speaking of drawing, thank you very much for all the kind words about the iris watercolor. I'm so glad you liked it!

Today was crisply cold and very bright.

While Piper examined dozens of enticing aromas,

I took dozens of ice portraits.

I took a few photographs of stones that I usually see from a different perspective.

To give you an idea of scale, when I'm standing next to this one, the ferns growing atop it are at eye-level.

I also managed to sneak in a few snaps of Ms. Piper.

But mostly:

ICE

More clear, cold weather is predicted this week,

and I am looking forward to it!

How are things in your neck of the woods?

~~~~~

saturday sketch

This watercolor sketch is from a few days ago.

I wish I had taken a better photograph, during daylight,

but you get the idea.

Daily Markmaking continues...

hard to believe tonight will be #342.

What will it be?

And will I fall asleep in the middle of making it?

There have been some very close calls.

Daylight hours are so short and there is always so much to be done.

I almost never get out the sketchpad til nighttime, after chores are done and everyone has been fed. Most of the recent drawings and painting have been done while I'm snugged up in bed, with Moxie and Della anchoring me in place, and Piper within reach curled up in her new nest.

That's exactly the situation right now, in fact.

I'm the only one still awake, and I am very tired,

so I'd better get cracking.

I hope your weekend is going well!

~~~~~

delivering the stars

The entrants in the giveaway for handmade felt stars
from the Snow Leopard Trust were:

1 SALLY H

2 MAGPIE

3 SALTY

4 KB

5 JO

6 TIPPER

The winner, determined once again by Random.Org,

is #3 Salty Pumpkin Art! 

Congratulations!

Please email your mailing address to q dot piper at hotmail dot com within 3 days,

so I can get your colorful little constellation in the post right away!

Oh, and please put Comptonia in the subject line so your email will jump out from the literally hundreds of "offers" that are filling my email box this month.

Thanks!

~~~~~

renewal

I felt sad when my passport expired.

The expense of renewing it seemed unjustified, considering how unlikely it is that I will be physically able to travel. But letting my passport expire felt like a surrender.

Every now and then in the past 3 years - my passport expired on 8 November 2015 - I've mentally debated the decision. It came down to one question.

Not: "How likely is it that I will use a passport?"

But: "How much value does the option of getting on a plane carry?"

Once when I had a medical appointment in a city I rarely visit these days, an hour away, I stopped at the AAA office and had pictures taken. Just in case.

And one day when I came across my old passport while looking for something else, I put it in a place where I could find it when wanted. If wanted.

Well, on the subject of renewal:

My Massachusetts driver's license is going to expire in December. Hoping to avoid a trip to the Registry, I went online to renew it. It quickly became apparent that the licensing system in MA has changed, and is in the middle of a transition related to federal ID requirements. I read all the instructions two or three times, and after spending an hour on the website, I came to a startling conclusion:

The simplest way for me to renew my MA driver's license
would be to first renew my passport.

Crazy but true.

This morning, I renewed my driver's license online.

Because a few days ago, this came in the mail:

And I feel very good about it.

~~~~~

giving tuesday

I don't know about you, but I am just as tired of hearing people complain about
"the commercialization of the holiday season"
as I am tired of the actual commercialization.

So I love the whole concept of Giving Tuesday.

from wikipedia:

Giving Tuesday, often stylized as #GivingTuesday for purposes of hashtag activism, refers to the Tuesday after U.S. Thanksgiving in the United States. It is a movement to create an international day of charitable giving at the beginning of the Christmas and holiday season. Giving Tuesday was started in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation as a response to commercialization and consumerism in the post-Thanksgiving season (Black Friday and Cyber Monday).

There's just no "down side" to Giving Tuesday. I love the recognition of the value of all kinds of giving - your time, your goods, your voice - not just money. I also love that so many philanthropists and organizations that can offer huge financial contributions, take this opportunity to match the tiny financial donations of ordinary folk like me. When my five dollars suddenly becomes ten, that's pretty sweet.

This Giving Tuesday website provides "near me" opportunities in the US - searchable by town or state, with a filter for category. I tried it for Non-Profits and immediately found 4 in my little town, and 1775* in Massachusetts.

An interesting website I visited yesterday for the first time is a place "for nonprofits to find pro bono help and for skilled volunteers to provide it." I don't have experience with TaprootPlus, but I do have experience offering skills to non-profits in lieu of cash, because these days my time/skills are frankly worth far more than I can afford to donate in cash. It's very satisfying when such an arrangement works out, but it can be hard to set up without a specific project/need already identified by the organization. (Psst: still hoping to hear from you, Snow Leopard Trust!) So if Taproot Plus is a functional clearinghouse for both the nonprofits and the volunteers, that sounds like a need fulfilled, right there. If any of my readers have used this website to either find free help or provide it, please share in the comments or send me an email. I'd love to follow up.

Meanwhile, today I'm going to make my small - but sometimes matched! - donations to groups I've written about before on this blog - APOPO HeroRats, the Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation, the Pat Brody Shelter for Cats, and of course, the Snow Leopard Trust.

Pat Brody Shelter - free access outdoor area

~~~

And now - if you've made it all the way to the end of this post! - here is a little reward.

Some of you may remember a giveaway back in - oh my gosh, I just pulled the original images, and look - it was January 2015! 

Well, last year I had stocked up on more of these stars in order to repeat that giveaway in December. But I unexpectedly lost my laptop for most of that month and missed the opportunity.

So let's do it now!

I just checked the Snow Leopard Trust gift shop, and did not find stars amongst their many felted items, which makes these handmade stars not only pretty and cheerful, but possibly rare collectors' items!

To enter, just leave a comment on this post - perhaps sharing your own ideas for Giving Tuesday? or just say hello - and I will draw a winner one week from today. All are welcome, anywhere on the planet and on the International Space Station.

The winner will be announced on the blog and will have 3 days to provide me (by email) with a mailing address.

Good luck!

~~~

* That state-wide number made me smile. There was rather a lot going on in Massachusetts in 1775! It was the start of the American Revolution.

~~~~~