My dear friend Georgia and her mum are spending the week at Scarborough (UK). She sent me a photo of their “windswept joyfulness”, and I just had to capture it in a loose sketch.
scarborough
Blog
Rhus ovata
This week in the PerpJo. Rhus ovata, commonly known as sugar bush or sugar sumac, is a shrub or small tree found growing in the canyons and slopes of the chaparral and related ecosystems in Southern California, Arizona, Baja California and Baja California Sur. It is a long lived-plant, up to 100 years, and has dense evergreen foliage. It is closely related to and hybridizes with lemonadeberry, which grows at our place. It’s in the cashew family!
illuminatin’
Where am I, Narnia? I wish! For some reason my mother-in-law’s house includes a lamp post in the middle of the back lawn. I guess it’s a good place to look for your car keys.
mournful
Bo’s having a post-bath sulk. She thinks I’m a big meanie for not letting her roll in the dirt to dry out her fur.
pile o’ pebbles
the last tomatoes
Only a few day’s worth left. It’s been a good long tomato season!
SMC
This week’s Buildings assignment was to sketch a fancy local building that we could sit directly in front of. I was on my way to the historic Adamson House when I realised that the new Santa Monica College satellite (opened earlier this year) fit the bill.
It seems there was not really a need for this campus, but the money was available, so they built it anyway. The parking lot is always empty. Are there any students inside? In the meantime, the park opposite is populated by people experiencing homelessness. Were resources allocated rationally?
Cannery Row
I first read this book seven years ago. I don’t remember the frogs, but as they appear on the cover of this edition, I expect they feature in the story. Looking forward to jumping in (see what I did there?)
Grace
Gouache, watercolour, crayon and ink on toned paper. Inspired by Study of a head: self-portrait (1916) by Grace Cossington Smith.
Trichechus manatus
It’s Manatee Awareness Month.
I’ve never seen a manatee (or a dugong, the Australian member of the Sirenia order), but I would love to. Sirenia are the only extant herbivorous marine mammals and the only group of herbivorous mammals to have become completely aquatic. These large, slow, gentle creatures are more closely related to elephants than to other marine mammals.
Humans are the main cause of death for manatees—no longer hunting, but still habitat destruction, propellers, flood gates, fishing nets. Additionally, with the warming of the oceans, their behaviour patterns change, food sources are disrupted, and bacteria and parasites spread more quickly. All three species of manatees (West Indian, Amazonian and West African) have been listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since the 1980s. Another gentle giant could well disappear from the planet in our lifetimes.
hashiworks 