goats and gardens

There's no better feeling for a person raising livestock than to hear an expert say your animals "look good." Last week, not-my-usual-vet came out and did annual shots for the herd. He commented repeatedly on the condition and manners of my goats, which left me feeling pretty darned good. I don't take my goats to shows, and very few of the people who come here and see them are "goat people," so it's rare for me to get this kind of feedback. Rare and sweet.

Tsuga says, "You know he was talking about ME, right?"

~~~

It's taken several years of encouragement, but there are now three separate milkweed stands producing flowers here, and my efforts to bring Monarch butterflies back to my place are ever so gradually paying off.

Last year my Occasional Helper spotted the first chrysalis - which was unfortunately attached to a fence in a high-risk spot. After a lot of thought, I decided it's chances were better in the house, so I had the experience of watching it slowly develop into an actual butterfly. Pretty much everyone I know has had this experience - usually in childhood - but I never did. So it was especially magical.

This year, I saw two Monarchs dancing around the gardens!

And a couple of days ago I noticed one of these, in two of the milkweed stands:

Huzzah!

~~~

Remember last year's zinnias? I started seeds in peat pots, transplanted them into the terrace garden, and they bloomed and bloomed and bloomed and brought me joy every single day.

This year I mixed seeds saved from last year's flowers with a few left in 2018 packets, and seeded them directly into the garden. They have just begun to bloom and it's so exciting to see what colors they are turning out to be. I already have plans to find seeds for zinnia colors I particularly enjoy, and plant even more next year.

~~~

Daylilies!

How I love them.

Sometimes when the very last flower on a stem is blooming,

I bring it into the house to enjoy for it's precious day.

Like this:

And perhaps to draw:

And speaking of drawing...I think I answered every comment in the previous post,

but I want to say a general "thank you" again.

I am so grateful that each of you took the time to reply, and I am pleased as punch that you are not getting tired of the daily markmaking adventure.

You lovely people made me the same kind of happy as the vet who complimented me on the condition of my goats! Thank you so much!

~~~~~

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.

~~~~~

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

🐾
~~~~~

sunday snap

~~~~~

sunday snaps

~~~~~