I spent the morning and half the afternoon happily working on a quilt, but noticed that my back was getting really sore. I stopped to stretch and make some tea and suddenly realised that I was SICK. Yep, after managing to avoid it for two years, I have caught the dreaded ‘rona.
Am I still going to feel like daily sketching as the virus runs its course? Of course I’m hoping for a light touch and a quick recovery, but we’ll see!
From a session by Jean Mackay on different approaches to nature journalling, offered at Wild Wonder 2022. I really love her work and aspire to make pages as beautiful as hers.
I was walking the dog in Legacy Park when I spotted the distinctive shape of an ibis! It’s the first time I’ve seen one in America (they are very common in Australia). The white-faced ibis Plegadis chihi is sighted so infrequently in these parts that my birding apps didn’t even offer it as a possibility. But I checked with my naturalist friend Suzanne, and she confirmed the ID. It was a pretty metallic bronze-green colour. Made my day!
If you see a coin in a fountain, it might be a penny. If you see a coin in a stream, it might be a water-penny beetle larva.
I spent some time in a light-filled chemo ward yesterday (I’m fine, I was there with a friend). Everyone who came through, both patients and staff, seemed cheerful and gentle. There was an air of optimism that felt good. I think it was partly the design of the space, and partly, I suppose, the quality of care. Patients are there to get better, and that was reflected in everyone’s tone. It was actually quite a lovely place to wait an hour or two.
I spotted my first Say’s Phoebe yesterday morning. Such a pretty belly!
I painted this for a much-loved sailor, then realized that this is not the type of turtle that lives in their waters. Oops. Hopefully the gift will still be appreciated 😊
I had fun watching this gull repeatedly drop a mussel from considerable height onto the exposed rocks. Eventually the shell cracked enough for the bird to get its dinner.
Here, the first wildflower of the season is always the wild cucumber, Marah macrocarpa. This voracious vine starts its strangling growth with the first winter rains, sending forth long, fast-growing shoots with clusters of white blooms. Later it will produce bright green, round, prickly (inedible) fruit 5–6 cm in diameter and 8–12 cm long, before dying back completely in summer.
Here on our block, we are already seeing wild cucumbers scrambling over the lemonadeberry and bougainvillea, sign that the seasons are turning once again.
hashiworks 