Inspired By Nature

Today I had a nature filled day, and right outside my kitchen window!

Outside of my kitchen window is a big tree. I noticed two squirrels playing on the tree. I don't know if they are mates or siblings, but they sure are cute! I watched them for about a half hour. This one took a nap while the other played nearby on my deck.

 Here is the one that played around on the deck. My goal is to get them tame or not run away when I go outside. There was a blog I read last year and the lady had a squirrel that became tame and would come into their house for food! lol How cute would that be? lol

 Eventually the squirrel became tired of playing alone so it climbed up the tree to wake up the one that was napping! Notice the five toes with sharp nails on it's back feet. It only has four toes on its front feet!

 While I think they are adorable, my husband hates them and calls them "furry rats!" He is planning on cutting the remaining three trees that we have in our yard! That makes me very sad!

 After it woke up the other, they decided to run around on the branches! They reminded me of little monkeys. Again...oooh sooo cute!

 Squirrel number 2 reminds me of myself...very clumsy! lol

 Since I was totally surprised by the squirrels today, I did not have time to mess with the settings on my camera. So this action shot was very blurry! I love how squirrel number 1 is a big blur!

 Also during my day I noticed a big commotion in my backyard! Again this year we have a bird nest that is on the boy's clubhouse. This time she built it on the ledge and this year I have been very respectful and have given her her space. Remember last year when I photographed the nest everyday? You can read about that here. If you go back through after that post you can view all of the stages from building the nest to the baby birds leaving the nest. It's very educational!

I really left the nest alone because I was too chicken to get up close and take the chance of being attacked by the mama bird! lol

Anyway I noticed this huge commotion in my backyard. The birds left the nest today and Allie got one! I was soo upset! She didn't kill it thankfully, so I woke my husband up and he put it in the neighbor's yard where Allie can't get to it! But all these birds were out there attacking her! Not just robins, but big black birds and small tiny birds! It was quite a sight to see! Here is a photo after my husband relocated the baby. A couple of birds sat on the fence and watched over it. It was very weird. They do not appear to be robins, but they seemed concerned. I also noticed in this shot that you can see the mama bird in the middle of the photo in flight! I feel really bad, but like my husband says..."that's part of nature!" The other baby bird was able to fly to safety, while the remaining third remained in the nest. I kept Allie in all day long and took her out only under supervision!

 Later in the evening this is what we noticed on our deck. The third baby bird flew out of the nest and somehow landed on our deck! Isn't it soo sweet with that fluffy little head!

 The mama bird was never very far. You can see the baby on the deck at the bottom left, and the mama in the tree at the upper right!

 We watched her as she fed it a worm. Within a couple minutes later she returned with this huge worm, but the poor baby refused to eat it! I don't blame her! lol

 So the mama bird walked around with it for a few minutes.....

And then returned and tried to shove it down the poor baby's throat! lol  

A few hours later we were off to hockey practice and the baby bird was off of the deck. I had my husband walk around to make sure it was safe and it was nowhere to be found!

What a wonderful day filled with nature! :)

A Peek Into My Art Journal

This is week 3 of my online "Sketchbook Delight" class! And I am loving it! Last weeks lesson was about finding your inspiration or "muse." I have realized that there are soo many things around me that are inspiring...that have great textures and beautiful colors! I really learned to open my eyes and see all the detail, that I normally overlook!

Last week I found some old corn cobs in our garage for our squirrel. They had such wonderful texture. I knew I must capture it in my art journal. It wasn't Indian Corn, but I love the colors of Autumn so I made it into Indian Corn! :)

 Another view.

And I have many inspiring photos on file that I have taken over the years. I have been looking back at old photos and they just speak to me now! I love putting them down on paper! I'm not a realist type of artist, I love the whimsical dreamy look of art, so that's how I create!

Here is a nest that was built by a killdeer in the middle of my sister's driveway! I love how unique it was and I am sooo glad that I was able to photograph it! I've been drawn to bird nests lately, so you may be seeing a lot more of them!

Here is my take on the bird nest. I journaled around the painting. I used watercolor, pencil, colored pencil, and markers.

Another angle.

And by far the most inspirational place I have been to recently was our trip to the beach this past summer! I didn't realize how inspired I was until after I came home and missed it tremendously! I cannot wait to go to the beach again this summer and take my watercolors and just paint on the beach!

Here was our view from the campground we stayed at called "Castaways" in Berlin, Maryland. We stayed on the bay side and in the distance you can see Assateague Island.

I should have varied the colors of blue, but since I am just beginning with watercolors I am ok with it. I had an inspirational moment and just went with it.

And I did the journaling on the sand.

Another view.

I religiously work in my art journal everyday! I have been going through some tough times lately, and art is a great escape for me! I am seeing the world with a whole new view, and I LOVE it! :)

Bye bye birdies!

I haven't posted anything in the last couple of days, because it has been super hectic around here. On Tuesday I spent the day shopping with my mom and when I got home look what I found! The baby birds finally left the nest! It was sad to see them go!
After I got home from shopping and I left my dog out, the mama and daddy birds were going CRAZY! Allie was at the fence sniffing and sniffing and the birds plus a few others joined in at dive bombing her! I yelled with fear that she got one of the birds, but luckily she didn't! They must have been nearby though. We checked the entire yard and there was no sign of feathers or the birds, so I guess it was a success! The mama and daddy birds were still coming at us angrily for a day or so, but we finally reclaimed the yard!

Yesterday we removed the nest and installed a steering wheel and telescope on the boy's play set. As we were taking down the nest one of the birds was throwing a fit for a minute or two, but finally flew away and left us alone! Maybe she was just thanking us for letting her stay over the past month! lol Next week I plan to take the nest and the photos in for the kids in Ben's class!

Yesterday Ben celebrated his birthday at school. His real birthday isn't until July, but they are celebrating it because school is out soon. I made cupcakes and stayed while the kids celebrated, and after the little party we stuck around the classroom as the kids played. Alex had such a great time playing with the big kids!

Here's Ben enjoying his little party!
This time I decided to make something simple. At Christmas I spent many hours making and decorating sugar cookies for Ben's Christmas party at school. In the end, most were not eaten and were thrown away. It was very frustrating! The cupcakes were easy, took no time at all, and they were all eaten! Definitely the way to go in the future!
Today I planted a miniature gnome garden and will post those photos tomorrow! It came out really cute! Hope you're having a great night!

Bird Nest-Day 29

I can't believe that it's been 29 days since the bird nest appeared! Look at how big they are getting! I know that it's only a matter of days until they leave the nest, and I will be sad to see them go!

They take up so much room in the nest, that I can't even imagine what it would be like with four birds in there!

Bird Nest-Day 24

I cannot believe that the robin built a nest just 24 days ago and look how it's progressed! As the babies get older, the mama and daddy bird are really getting protective! Just today I was outside between the garage and the house. I was probably 60 feet away from the nest and not even in the view of the birds when one of the birds chased me into my front door! I was sooo scared! lol

I can be so far away and they'll just fly at me! So I had to send Chris out for today's photos! lol It was a funny sight watching them chirp and chirp and fly at his head! lol It's hard to believe that they hatched just 6 days ago! They'll soon be able to leave the nest!
He tried getting some action shots as they were flying at him and he captured this action shot.
Here's another shot of one of them sitting in the tree above his head. He's a lot braver than I am, and I'm thankful that he takes these photos for me!
Oh and I forgot to mention that whenever the bird chased me inside the house I was in the kitchen talking to my mom on the phone and the bird landed outside the window and was making a huge fuss! I guess it doesn't like me any longer and only seems to do this to me! lol Chris jokes and says it's because I didn't get their permission to post these photos online and they're mad! lol

They don't seem to bother my little dog Allie. She can get close to the playset, and even bark at the birds and they don't care. I can't wait to see their reaction in the next couple of days when Chris has to mow the grass! That will be exciting, I'll be sure to post photos of that!

Bird Nest-Day 21 & A Marathon

Today is day number 21 of the bird nest. I didn't check on them yesterday, I just assumed that the third egg would be hatched. When we checked up on them today the third egg was not hatched. I was a little disappointed, but the two babies are growing so quickly, it's really amazing!

I went outside for a photo and Chris talked me out of taking my umbrella with me for protection. He said "They're not going to hurt you!"

Well I thought I was in the clear because I didn't see the mama or daddy bird, but out of nowhere they headed straight for my head! I screamed and screamed and ran straight for the house! lol

So, I asked Chris go out and take the photos for me. I wasn't happy with his first set (they were blurry), so I made him risk his life again for a clear photo! lol So this photo is courtesy of Chris! Thank you sweetie for risking your life for my daily photos!

Aren't these babies just precious? They are finally starting to look like little birds!

Yesterday Ben's school had a marathon. They blocked of the roads around the school and let the kids run around for four hours! They gave each child a ticket and each time they made it through the course they would get a punch on their ticket. Four punches equal one mile. I figured it would last about a half hour or so and then the younger kids like Ben would get tired. But that was not the case. Guess how far Ben ran in four hours? He ran just over 12 miles! It's hard to believe, but I witnessed it with my own eyes!

He just ran and ran. He never gave up! It was a really nice event. They had booths set up with popsicles and drinks to buy for a quarter. It was a really fun day and I bet they raised a lot of money for the school!

Here Ben is proudly showing of his ticket and all the holes that are punched! I was so proud!
Alex, who was only three, was too little to run by himself. So either Chris or myself ran with him. Alex ran 4.5 miles! I was surprised his little legs could handle that! But boy was he cranky by the end of the marathon. It was hot outside and he refused to wear shorts!
Here he is rounding the street! He looks soo tiny! Either that, or those orange cones are huge! lol
Alex was very proud of himself and all of the punches on his ticket! I'm so glad that the school lets him participate in the school's events. He won't be going to school there for a year and a half, but they treat him just like any other student.
I am so proud of my boys and how far they ran! Ben never gave up, and the poor little guy has blisters to prove it!

Bird Nest-Day 19

Today is Day 19 with the bird nest. Today has been an eventful day here with the bird family. First I noticed the daddy bird searching for worms, so I grabbed my camera and waited. When the actual worm transaction happened, I turned on my camera and the battery was dead! I waited a half hour to see that happen, and I wasn't able to capture it on film! It figures, especially since I'm not that patient!

Mama bird lets me get close and doesn't seem to mind. But that's only when she's on the nest. When she's off of the nest LOOKOUT! She's not very happy then! Here she is, sitting on her babies. I'm about five feet away from her and she's fine!
It was warmer today, and this meant she was able to spend time off of her nest. She sits a lot above the nest. And here she looks like a proud mama, looking down on her babies!

Here's another shot of her just sitting in the sun!

When I noticed the nest was empty, I grabbed an umbrella and off I went to take a photo! Yes, I said "umbrella!" When the nest in unoccupied by the mama, both mama and daddy get very very angry. I keep thinking of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" movie, and I was afraid to get pecked! So I got the brilliant idea of an umbrella, and it worked! The neighbor probably thought I was crazy, cause he saw me walking through the yard with an umbrella on a sunny day, but that's ok. I got the shot that I needed, and I still have my eyes! lol

Aren't these babies just precious? Ben said they look like furry teddy bears! I'm not too sure I agree! The boys haven't seen the babies up close, they only view them on the computer now. I don't want them growing up with bad associations of birds, and possibly getting attacked.

Since the one egg didn't hatch today, I'm assuming that the egg that the little girl broke was egg number 3. Since eggs usually hatch one per day consecutively, today's egg didn't hatch, probably because this egg was the last one laid. So hopefully this one will hatch tomorrow.

My first unsuccessful attempt to take photos today was full of interruptions. I was staying as far away as the birds let me, but yet Alex kept coming outside and yelling for me. That and each time he opened the door, he let Allie out and she kept chasing the daddy as he was in the yard searching for worms! It was driving me CRAZY! So I ended up witnessing the moment, but didn't capture it on film because of the batteries being dead.

So at my second attempt, the boys ventured outside to watch with me. They were very patient, and very quiet. Alex couldn't see the birds very well and in this photo he's saying "I can't see it!" LOL I just love that look on his face!

So as the mama bird is sitting on her nest. She opens her mouth and makes the faintest noise and signals the daddy bird to land with the worms. During my hour or so observing, there is much communication between the two. It's very interesting to watch. The daddy was out in search of worms and once he got them, he landed on the play set. If you click and enlarge the photo, you can see the worm sticking out of his mouth. Notice the mama, patiently waiting on her nest.

And he swoops in for the worm exchange. It happens very quickly, I'd say between five to ten seconds and then he flies away in search of more! This happens quite frequently!

So that was our eventful day! I've been busy crafting too, and hopefully will be able to post my project in the next couple days!

Bird Nest-Day 18

I'm a grandma! Look what I found in the nest tonight! Two little babies and one egg to go! This is so exciting! I saw a lot of activity today at the nest and it made me wonder whether the babies had hatched.

It's been really cold here lately in the 30's and 40's and my husband and I were concerned today that the eggs might not hatch. While outside on a couple of occasions I noticed the mama bird on the nest and the daddy bird would come to the nest to drop off food. It seemed that the mama bird would hop to the side of the nest and this made me curious to what could be going on!

Later I saw the nest unattended. Well it wasn't really unattended, she was perched on the railing of the kid's play set. So I ran down and climbed the ladder and saw these two cuties looking up at me! They weren't actually looking since their eyes are still closed, but they were hungry! So I ran inside and grabbed my camera and took a quick photo!

I only took a couple quick ones, because I didn't want to make the parents mad and I didn't want the babies to get cold! After I ran back in the house I saw that the mama was quickly back on the nest! She's such a good mama! I'm so glad she is keeping them warm and taking such good care of them! Oh and the boys have established names: The mama bird is "Robin," the daddy bird is "batman," the one baby is "Mr. Freeze," the other baby is "Joker," and the unhatched egg is "The Penguin!" lol Is anyone sensing a Batman theme? lol And Ben said that once the egg is hatched "The Penguin" will turn into "Poison Ivy!" lol What an imagination!

Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get some photos of the daddy bird feeding the mama and babies! And hopefully egg number three will hatch! I'll keep you updated!

Yard Sale Finds-Part 1

Today is Day 8 of the bird nest and I didn't bother going near it. I still want to give her a day or two to recover from her loss. However, my husband checked in on it and said there was only three. She didn't lay another egg to replace the one she lost.

I mentioned yesterday that I found some awesome things at the yard sales. I figured I would do a three part series on my finds! I love antique thread with the wooden spools. Normally when you do come across them they are expensive! I found a whole huge bag full and asked the lady how much for the bag. She said it was priced. I saw a price tag on one of the spools and it said $1.00. I figured she was asking a dollar a bobbin. I looked closely at the tag and it said $1.00 for the entire bag! YAY! Don't these bobbins look so yummy? I love the colors!
I have some of them displayed in a large candle holder that I have! I'll share more of those photos when I do my kitchen tour in a couple weeks! There were some empty wooden spools in the bag as well, but I love them all! I counted them once I got home and there was 100! Yep...only one penny per bobbin! What a bargain! :)

It's hard to believe that a spool of thread was once only 15 cents!
I have another cool find to share with you tomorrow and a really cool story that goes with it!

Bird Nest-Day 7

Today has been such a crazy day, and not a good with for the bird nest! We had an incident today and lost one of the eggs! It started out as a good day! Today was the big day for my yard sale. And my husband came home from work and took over so my friend and I could go out to the other yard sales in the area. I had two hours to go and had to get back so he could go to sleep.

My friend and I got back from the yard sales and my husband said that he had bad news and there was an "incident." I thought maybe he gave something away really cheap, because he's known to do that. Anyway he said it had to do with the NEST! My heart sank!

Our yard sale was out front and in our main garage. We have a second garage out back. He had a freezer and refrigerator stored out there and showed people them if they were interested. As he was taking a family out back, they apparently let their kids loose and all my husband heard was "Mommy I found an egg!" And as he looked the little girl squeezed it between her fingers and SNAP!

My husband said the mama bird AND the daddy bird were very upset and were going crazy! All the mother could say was "I'm sorry, she's just bad!" They are soo lucky that I wasn't home, because I'm just as protective of that nest as the mama bird is!

After they left my husband checked out the nest and the remaining three eggs and nest were left undisturbed, and shortly after the mama bird was back on her nest. I am soo thankful that she returned to nest after the devil child touched it!

My husband said that this little girl was about 7-years-old, and in my opinion is way to old to be acting like that! So I guess in my Pre-K presentation I will talk to the kids about the importance of not disturbing a bird nest. I plan to get a photo of the broken egg to document this event, but I left the nest alone today since the bird were on edge!

I'm very disappointed because I built up trust with the bird and she let me get soo close! Now I could be standing 50 feet away and she's watching me! So I may just let it go for a couple of days until she realizes that she's safe again!

I was so upset, almost to tears, and it is still really hard for me! I've gotten attached to this whole process and it saddens me that they lost one of their eggs. I'm not sure if she'll lay another tomorrow but we'll see if she replaces the lost one.

On a good note, I did get several really awesome things at the other yard sales today. I will post more about them with pictures tomorrow. Sorry that I don't have a photo today, hopefully soon she'll let me get back out their to photograph her nest!

Bird Nest-Day 6

Lookie Lookie who lets me get close to her now! She lets me stand about a foot away from her to take photos! Isn't she beautiful?! I was so close that I could see the mud around her beak!
She has been on her nest about 90% of the time now, so it's very hard to get a photo of just the nest. There was one point that I noticed the nest was empty and I wanted to check to see if there was the fourth egg, and by the time I got my camera she was back on the nest again! I visited her another time during the day and she was sitting opposite way.

My neighbors probably think that I'm nuts because I talk to her all the time when I take photos! lol For someone who doesn't know that there is a nest there, they probably think that I'm talking to the swing set! lol She just looks and looks at me when I take photos and talk to her! It's like she knows that she's safe and that I won't hurt her!

I also think she knows that I really don't need the zoom lens that I am saving for! That's why she lets me soo close! lol But I know it'll come in handy in a couple of weeks whenever her babies are born! :)

Normally I take photos during the late morning towards early afternoon. It hasn't been really sunny so the lighting is ideal. Well today it was really sunny, too sunny to take a photo. But I can't determine when she's not going to be there, so I take a photo any chance I get! So you have to excuse the bad photo today, it was soo hard to get one! The mama bird came back as I was taking this photo and she was really throwing a fit and I was scared that she was going to peck my eyes out! lol So I just snapped a few! lol

But this is what her nest looks like today! 1...2...3...now 4! :)

I haven't decided what to do about continuing documenting through photos. I mean they shouldn't hatch for a couple weeks and not much is going to change now. The only thing that will really change is that they will be turned in new positions each day. Do you think I should keep taking a photo every single day until they hatch? Or should I just document it through journaling? If I take a photo every single day it'll be one very LONG slideshow for the Pre-K class, and they might get a little bored! lol

After today I've decided to dig out the old hockey helmet for protection! She was one very mad mama today! I can't blame her though...her eggs are just soo precious! :)

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day here! It's the community yardsale and I'm participating! Hopefully I'll make enough money for that new lens! I'm so exhausted right now from preparing that I'm finally taking a break now! About an hour more and I'll be ready for tomorrow!

Bird Nest-Day 5

Today the mama robin has been sitting on her nest the majority of the day. I patiently waited until later in the afternoon until I saw that she was gone and I snapped this photo! Three little eggs...so blue and oh so perfect! I gasp every time I climb the ladder and look in! :)
I did manage to get a shot of her sitting on her nest. She lets me get about 5 feet away. Sorry for the quality of the photo, I'm in need of a zoom lens!

So that's about all that's been happening today. One more egg to go! I can't wait until tomorrow!