Scene/seen while walking the dog.
landscapito
Month: May 2022
making a new sketchbook
My current 9″ x 12″ sketchbook feels too big for easy portability, so what did I decide to do? Make an even bigger one! 🤔
fresh o.j. for breakfast
grapevine
If the birds don’t get them first, looks like we might be eating some homegrown grapes this summer!
monday’s daffodils
topanga banjo fiddle contest
The thing I love best about the Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest & Folk Festival is not the contest itself, or the professional acts, but the many folk and bluegrass jam sessions under the oak trees.
Despite the event’s name, it’s not held in Topanga, but rather at Paramount Ranch, famed Western movie set turned National Park, which suffered terrible losses in the 2018 Woolsey Fire. Nearly the entire Western Town burned down; only the church and railway depot were saved. Then COVID came along, putting a stop to the festival for the duration.
But now it’s back! It was good to return to the Ranch yesterday, and hear the music once again. I wandered from jam to jam, sketching the artists and audience while tapping my toes. Good times.
ground squirrel
I can’t say I’m a fan of ground squirrels, given the harm they do to our hillside and garden. But this little fella reaching up to grab some slender oats was pretty darn cute.
striped racer
After stopping in a shady spot to paint a profusion of Sticky Monkey-flowers, I came around a corner of the trail and surprised a California Striped Racer. It tried to climb the trunk of an oak but didn’t get purchase and fell to the ground! I have never seen a snake ‘fail’ like that, and we were both momentarily stunned. Faster than I could whip out my phone, it recovered and raced off through the undergrowth at its signature speed. Sorry for disturbing you, little buddy!
eastern tailed-blue
I attended a Youtube Livestream last night with a super-enthusiastic entomologist, who weekly magnifies and explains one insect for our edification and sketching pleasure. She goes fast and meanders frequently—it’s pretty hectic (but fun). I filled several pages with scribbled notes and sketches which I consolidated into this page after the session.
digger bees
A large section of our hiking trail was a-buzz with bees, and it was quickly apparent that the action was happening on and close to the ground. Not knowing much about these ‘ground bees’, we gave them wide berth and I did some research when I got home.
What I learned was so fascinating, that V & I went back yesterday to observe them more closely. Each bee, laden with pollen, was crawling into a hole then emerging a few seconds later to collect more. How did she know which hole was hers? How long will she live after her work is done?
Now we know where they are, we’ll try to go back in 10 months to see the next generation come forth and mate. Fun!
hashiworks 