12-12

It's my birthday

and I have big plans:

It's a quiet life, but a happy one.

And sometimes there is pie!

~~~~~

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.

~~~~~