Little Things with Wings

Bees, butterflies, dragonflies and other little winged wonders can be real day brighteners. 

I don't know what kind of pollinator is on the black-eyed Susan above, but it was an earnest little fuzz buzzer that caught my eye.  

I've been cheering for mosquito-eating dragonflies since I was a small child. They not only have the most delicate and intricate wings, they're the most amazing aerial acrobats. They hover, fly backward, forward, dart, dive and actually eat their prey while hanging in the air. 

I love the way sunlight makes the wings glitter and the veins are like stained glass leading around the colorful panes of transparent wing. 

Piper and I saw this newly emerged monarch butterfly as we were finishing up an afternoon walk. It was so vibrant in its new colors and completely undamaged by any encounters with the world. I'm sure it will be well traveled by the time it finishes its migration flight, but no less majestic for that. 

We took a Jeep ride (old 1966 vintage), complete with windshield down and no doors, of course, on the family property to celebrate my brother's birthday. We stopped to admire some giant swallowtail butterflies in the thistle patch. 

They hardly ever stop fluttering and it's really hard to get a good picture.  I did manage to get a couple clear shots out of the dozens I took - most were blurry to one degree or another. The patterns on these butterflies are beautiful. The tiny teardrops on the ends of the tails and the colorful orange and blue markings at the base of its abdomen are striking details in an already intricate series of wing markings. 
 

Can You See It?

It's not really a mystery post, but it's a little hard to spot. If he hadn't moved, I probably would have missed seeing him altogether. He took a step and gave away his location. 

Who is he?  He's an American Woodcock, also known in my area as a timberdoodle. 

Everybody piled into the jeep (old 1966 vintage model with the windshield down and no doors) and took a ride on the family property for my brother's birthday and got lucky enough to see another woodcock. I was able to get better pictures of this one. 

Having green grass as a backdrop, instead of more dry leaves really helps with the contrast and visibility. 

Watching these guys bob along as they walk is such a treat (that's how I know he is a male). Also, if you ever have the chance to go out on a spring night and watch their spiral mating flights, it's an experience not to be missed! You can sneak up closer and closer when they're high in the sky and then watch them do their courtship dance in the dusk after they land. As I said, if you have the chance, do it! :)

Yes, I've Been Quiet...

In case you've been wondering why I've been missing in action lately, I confess that I haven't had the heart for much in the way of creative posting. 

Over seven months after the fire, my house looks like this. There's not a scrap of drywall or insulation, they still haven't gotten all the old plumbing removed (much less new installed), same with electrical, fire remediation is still going on in the basement, which has been scrubbed, sandblasted, disinfected and is now being deodorized. Ductwork, furnace, water heater, are all gone - the basement is a huge empty space. I could go on, but I won't bore you all with further details. 

The latest completion estimate is December 31, 2026. I'm hoping for a Christmas present of getting my house back, but I have days... 

 My family has been great, my dog is confused but coping and I have so much to be grateful for.  

I'll try to get myself rolling with the blog again. I have some pictures to download from the camera and prep for viewing. I also have some fun trail camera pictures. :) 

Happy New Year!

Things have been chaotic around here, as you might imagine! Some things, however, don't change. 

I'm still watching the birds, but from the bountiful banister buffet at my sister's house and walks around her neighborhood with Piper. 

I hope 2026 is as delightful as this titmouse enjoying the fattest peanut it could find along the rail. 

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous year! 

And I'll try to be a little better about posting from time to time! :)
 

A Minor Mother's Day Mystery - Mapped

Here's the clue from yesterday, if you missed it - or so you don't have to toggle back and forth to check for the mystery's subject(s). 

The subject in question at the moment is close to the middle of the picture. Not quite perfectly centered (there had to be a little photographic balance, after all). And there is more than one, but the others will be frustratingly elusive from this angle. 

Every year, our family would spend Mother's Day weekend wandering around out in the woods looking for treasure. It was a search to rival any Easter egg hunt and we children had as good a chance to make great discoveries as our parents, since our eyes were lower to the ground and provided an excellent vantage point. 

This is the one you should be able to spot in the mystery picture. I tried to get another picture at the same angle, so you can look for shape and shadow. It's the one that put me on alert. 

Once a little lower to the ground (children's eye level) in an effort to gather the first specimen, its friends were easier to locate. 

My brother and I harvested nearly two gallons of black morels in our afternoon of hunting, but a lot of crawling along on hands and knees through brambles was required to accomplish the feat. 

However, there's nothing quite like a pan of fresh morel mushrooms fried in butter for hors d'oeuvres as a reward for the effort. Yum!

I have made morel mushrooms the subject of one of my block prints, and it was fun to try to keep some of the mystery of the hunt in the final image. If anyone's interested, I can post a picture of it. :) 

A Minor Mother's Day Mystery

This little mystery is especially for BetsyLee (which, in itself, might be a dead giveaway). 

As always, you can click on the image to enlarge it. I left it as big as I possibly could. 

This is on my family's property and reminds me of the group outings we would always take on Mother's Day. The reveal will come tomorrow. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

More Frosty Morning

Happy Valentine's Day!

It seemed appropriate to start Valentine's day with a little bouquet of frost flocked rose hips the birds haven't eaten yet. I mean, roses are a big thing for Valentine's Day, right? 

A nosegay of curly dock with hoary crystals adorning the stems also seemed appropriate for the day. Most of the seeds have been collected - probably by field mice and voles (maybe taking them home like sweet treats for their sweeties?). 

How about Queen Anne's Lace seedheads covered in ice?  

My favorite may be the red sumac berries with white, frosty accents. They'd make a beautiful Valentine bouquet, too. 

Sunrise painted the undersides of the clouds with pink and gold. 

Finally, a tiny, frosty nest stood out in this autumn olive, without leaves to camouflage its location. Somehow, it still looks cozy, even though it's very cold outside. 

I hope your Valentine's Day is cozy, too, and filled with love. Piper and I will find a way to celebrate the day together. It's always good to celebrate!  :)

Happy Independence Day!

This year, there won't be any fireworks or air shows in my Independence Day celebration post (or any of my Independence Day celebrations, for that matter). 

 

This year, there will be much quieter celebrations with little Piper, who thinks loud noises are very, very scary.

Piper will get to gnaw on a new marrow bone to distract her from all the booms and we'll be listening to music down in the relatively sound-deadened basement while I tackle a few chores (like slicing up some Tan-Z Kut and breaking down boxes). 

We'll take some nice walks early in the day - before the lights and explosions begin, making it a good day all the way around. 

But, America's birthday simply couldn't be allowed to pass without at least a small commemoration here on the blog!  We have a wonderful country filled with amazing beauty and founded on excellent principles. We're very fortunate. 

Happy Independence Day! She's a grand old flag - forever in peace may she wave.

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day! Mine left this world way too young and I miss her creative and indomitable spirit.

This is one of the little lilac bushes she nurtured and kept alive in the shade of huge pine trees. It's somehow fitting that it's blooming for Mothers Day this year - and it smells divine already, even though only a few of the flowers have opened.

Piper was with me when I took the lilac picture and sat down very obligingly in front of the little bush for her own portrait. She doesn't hold still much, so I took advantage of the opportunity. :)

It's Draw a Bird Day!

 

Once again, it's Draw a Bird Day! On April 8 we celebrate the birthday of Dorie Cooper, who in 1943, visited her uncle in the hospital, as he was recovering from a land mine injury during World War II. He was understandably upset and depressed at the loss of a leg and, in an effort to cheer him up, Dorie asked him to draw her a bird.

He complied with her request and they laughed at his poor artistic skills, but she promised to display his bird in her room, anyway. After this first visit, every time she would come to see her uncle, the soldiers on the ward would hold bird drawing contests to see who could come up with the best picture. It always seemed to lift everyone's spirits.

Sadly, about three years later, Dorie perished in an automobile accident. At her funeral, the soldiers, nurses and doctors from her uncle's ward filled her coffin with bird drawings in her honor and her birthday has become an unofficial celebration of Dorie's bright and indomitable spirit and an excellent reminder to find joy in life's simple delights.

Here's an invitation to draw a bird for Dorie's birthday. Your drawing doesn't have to be fancy or accurate – remember, her uncle's was pretty bad. But if you're great at drawing birds, show off your skills! This year, I drew a playful bluebird of happiness, thinking of the 8 year old Dorie.

Don't forget to share your drawing with someone to spread the joy and honor Dorie's memory. 

 

Happy Draw a Bird Day!

Happy Easter!

I just had to pop in and wish you all a very Happy Easter! This time with a little bit of carved art. :)

 

Every now and then, the back yard bunnies give me a perfect pose - and I couldn't resist carving this one. 

I hope you and your loved ones have a joyful celebration - finding eggs, feasting and spotting the occasional Easter bunny on its way home from a long night of spreading springtime delights. Not to mention chocolate... 

Some Bunny Loves You!

I like to send a few Valentine's Day cards every year. I ended up with fewer than usual, because the gallery took my first print run. I made another few to send out and realized I hadn't taken a picture to post here. 

 

 

So, I just printed one more to wish everyone a very Happy Valentine's Day!! Remember, some bunny loves you!

Happy Lunar New Year!

It's the Year of the Dragon. As I understand it, the dragon is one of the most auspicious signs in the zodiac cycle. It's associated with wisdom, success, power and immense possibility. I particularly like the immense possibility part. 

A most excellent carving buddy of mine hosts an artist exchange where participants send her enough prints for everybody in the exchange and she binds them into wonderful books and sends them out in time for the new year. It's such a treat to see all the different interpretations and styles. 

So for today, I thought it might be fun to post my dragon - it's totally outside my comfort zone in terms of both subject and style and it was interesting to see it emerge as I carved. I used pastels to give the prints some color and depth. 

Happy Year of the Green, Wood Dragon - may your year be filled with happiness, wisdom, success, and especially immense possibility!

Here Comes the Sun!

Yes, it's Groundhog Day! One of my favorite days of the year. It's the day that falls smack dab in the middle between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. That means, as of today, the days begin getting longer faster. We've reached the steep part of the bell curve of day length.  It's already noticeable, but we're going to start gaining minutes instead of seconds every day. 

So, whether the groundhog sees a shadow today or not, it's definitely a day to celebrate. We've made it through the darkest weeks of our annual spin around our star and sunnier days are ahead. 

Some years ago, I carved a groundhog crawling out of its burrow to check on its shadow. I even wrote a silly couplet and carved that, too. I sent quite a few prints out as cards and some of you may have received one. Hmmm.... maybe next year I'll pull those old carvings out and print one to post in celebration of the day. :)

Anyway, I invite you to celebrate one of my favorite holidays with me. Happy Groundhog Day!!

Fur Bird

The juncos and other ground feeders have been enjoying a spot on the deck that is cleared of snow and kept supplied with cracked corn and sunflower hearts.  One evening, this little cutie climbed over the great mound created by all the snow removal and onto the deck to feast on what the birds had left behind when they went to roost for the night.

It was shy at first, hunkering down when I trained the camera on it.

But, once it realized no threat was posed by the strange person on the other side of the window, it relaxed to enjoy the feast. (I love the snow ring around its nose.)

It came earlier the next night, so the lighting is a little better.

I'm a bit of a soft touch (even though the rabbits are really hard on my roses every winter), so I got some bunny food pellets.

Using jar lids as dishes, I put some out to see what would happen and the lids were emptied in the morning. Maybe, if it gets enough alfalfa and greens from the pellets, it won't trim my tea roses into oblivion. 

This little rascal looks like a good carving subject, too, don't you think?  Easter will be coming before long, after all!

Happy New Year!

It's that time again -- already!

A brand new, shiny year feels a little like a pristine supply of #2 pencils and blank notebook paper at the start of a new school year.

Setting new goals (or revisiting old ones that haven't been accomplished - yet), fresh hopes and plans.

I don't have any big resolutions - just things I'd like to keep working on. Things like continuing to improve mandolin playing and harmony singing, carving new images for printmaking, and chipping away at organizing my house - it got out of hand in a few places, somehow.... 

If you are thinking of any goals or plans, I wish you success. And generally, I wish  you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2024!!

 

 

The Model

I thought I ought to give credit where credit is due. After all, I wouldn't have been able to carve the Christmas Cardinal without a handsome model to work from. 

 
Here he is. I enjoy having him (and several of his friends) hanging out in my yard for most of the year.

 
I love seeing his brilliant flash of color any time of year, but it's especially welcome during the winter, when the color palette is dominated by neutral grays and browns (and white, when it snows).

He fluffs himself into a scarlet feather ball in cold weather.

And peeks out from the safety of brush tangles, where hawks can't penetrate, creating delightful visual surprises.

So, many thanks to this marvelous model for inspiring this year's holiday carving. I couldn't have done it without him!!

Christmas Cardinal

I thought it might be fun to share the print (three blocks) I made for my Christmas card this year.  I printed about 85(!) of them and when I ran out of the usual people on my holiday mailing list to send them to, I chose other folks for whom I had addresses. Local people, Carving Consortium people, RAPS people, letterboxing people and Myrthian merrymakers.

 

Since I always enjoy art surprises in my mailbox, I thought it would be fun to share a few random acts of Christmas (I went a little overboard).  Let me know if you would like to be added to my Random Acts list - you never know when I might have a stray print lying around looking for a home. :)

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the Christmas Cardinal and, as the card said on the inside:

May your Christmas be
Merry and Bright
And your New Year
Filled with Delight!

Merry Christmas and Happy Carving!

 

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

I ran across this poem the other day and Robert Frost's words have struck again.  Especially on this solstice - the darkest evening of the year.  So, here's the poem with a few snowy pictures to go along with it. No horses or harnesses, though. Sorry about that. :)

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Somehow, his words capture the peaceful hush of the snowy woods and trails.

And the solitude, with only the horse and whisper of the wind for company.

The "miles to go before I sleep" lines made me feel a reluctance to leave the quiet of that wood to dive back into the holiday season's bustle with all the preparations for gathering to celebrate with those we love. Things do get a little hectic at times! (I thought the turkey tracks went well with the bustling....) 

Happy Solstice!! The days start getting longer again from here and I'm ready for the shift.