Fly Away...

This lovely Tiger Swallowtail butterfly was trapped behind the garage door window.  It took a lot of coaxing to get it to crawl onto my hand so I could set it free.

It seems to be staying around, as I've seen it since that day.

From Feathers To Fur

Not so long ago I was constantly watching baby robins grow from naked scrawny hatchlings to punk rockers with huge crooked beaks- and then into spotted fledglings.  I never saw them fly away, but one day they were gone.  I experienced empty nest syndrome.

Recently I was looking out at the nest, when I noticed the new tenant.  Cute and furry, bright-eyed and striped, a chipmunk was curled up in the hollow of the nest.  Then it hung its head over the side.  It couldn't seem to get comfortable.  Then it sat up.

When it crawled out and went down the tree I thought I might have scared it away.  Minutes late, it was back, cheeks full.  I guess it got hungry and went to get take-out!

Small Wonders of Nature

I love peonies, so beautiful and fragrant, yet they only last a few days and then they are gone until next summer.  On this day I stuck my nose into a large blossom to smell the sweet perfume.  When I looked down, I saw that I had barely missed inhaling an unusual white spider with pink markings on its body.  It kept putting it's front legs together, appearing 6-legged instead of 8-legged.  And then, I ran for the camera.

Goldenrod Crab Spider 

GELLI PRINTING: Painting Over The Printed Page

Some of these pages came out of an old medical reference book.  The chapter on "How To Happily Grow Older" was interesting.  I don't stop painting and over-painting until the dining room table is covered with papers waiting to dry.  That's when I put the paints away and clean up my home made gelatin printing surface.  If I'm not as careful with pressure, or the edge of the brayer while rolling out my paints, I  have to melt the plate down in the microwave, then pour it back into the baking pan to chill in the refrigerator overnight.
NOTE:  I have been able to keep using the same plate without remelting/remolding for several weeks at a time.  The gelatin plate stores at room temperature indefinitely with no problem.

GELLI PRINTING: Junk Mail Snatcher

True Confessions:  I look through waste baskets in the PO lobby.  Not in an obnoxious way, of course.  I don't hover over patrons waiting to snatch their cast-off's.  In fact, I wait until the coast is clear before I sidle over to the trash.  If they didn't want me to look at it, they would have put it in the locked paper recycling bin.

Every so often some auto dealer sends out large fliers with a fake key attached.  I scarfed up a pile of those red/white/blue striped slick folders and have begun to paint over them on the gelatin plate.   Hey, they're cheaper than brown Kraft envelopes.  In fact, they're FREE!!!!!!

Stone Walls Along The Countryside

There is something about a stone wall.  It defines property.  Divides one plot of land from another.  It provides a place to pile up stones cleared out for future planting of crops.  But it is also a strenuous labor of human hands.  Each rock carefully placed in position, leveled, balanced, aligned with the others, for the harmony of the whole wall.  A good place for squirrels to frequent.  A base for eventual moss coverings.  In time, a surprise find when overgrown with trees. Humble monuments to the farmers of yesterday.  Fading demarcations with the passage of time...

And a few more trip pictures

I almost didn't recognize the town I left behind five years ago:  new expressway exits/on-ramps, double-lane highways, numerous high-rise hotels were some of the changes to the landscape.  It seems the economy took off when I departed.  Hmmmmmm..............
The little peak on this porch roof charmed me, as you might imagine, so I pulled over and took the picture hoping everyone was gone to church.  It would freak me out to see strangers stopping to take pictures of MY house!

 This charming Victorian mansion graces the top of a rise in a small village.

Friends and I had a delightful lunch together in this depot made into a diner.