Bunnies everywhere....

I decided that I had to try the chocolate bunny again... .and again. The middle one has better colour but the film got saturated and started looking flaky. The end one looks better overall but isn't as dark as I wanted. I guess I'll let the kids and husband look at them and see which one they like best. I still find the first one to be oddly attractive. Does that say something about my character?

My Neighbor's Backyard...

It's funny what you get to "see" when you walk around with a camera in your hand. The yard through our glass block looks rather Alice in Wonderlandish, compared with reality. I see mazes and racetracks. What do you see?
My neighbors actually have been working hard on their backyard. Making a butterfly garden and a haven for birds and wildlife. It has been fun to watch, the other day I saw a Pileated Woodpecker at their feeder.

Busy Bee....

This little guy was real busy. When I first saw the picture I thought the yellow was part of the flower. But when I compared it to another picture I realized that it was the bee's back legs covered with pollen. Also when you look at the second picture you can see an example of before and after a bee visit. Funny the things you know about but have never seen.

Chocolate bunny...

A new ATC that I am working on for a special person. I tried several new things at the same time. Nothing seemed to work out very well, yet I find the finished drawing to be kind of attractive. I am trying to decide if I should send it or do another one??? The bunny is from Vosges Chocolates.

Weekend away....

We had a great time at my Aunt's in Michigan the other weekend (yeah I'm late). We all look forward to this every summer. My Aunt has seven kids and they all have kids and some of them have kids! It makes for a great time watching all the younger generation getting to know each other the way we did when we were little.
My Cousins and my aunt do a great job making sure everybody is fed and having a good time. My kids favorite thing is getting to shoot guns. Something that they never see here in Canada. They all desperately want to buy BB guns to do target shooting here.
The kids found this great maple tree to climb in. They spent much of their time up there. Douglas wasn't to sure about the hole thing but there was no keeping him down. Jim saved him several times.

My Dog Park.....

Many experts say no to dog parks. I have to agree and yet there I am with my dogs. I go there with a great group that is centered around a dog walker and her dogs. We have all found out what time she goes there so that we can show up at the same time. The dogs all do their business, we clean up and then off we go for a walk in the woods. We head down to the river where the dogs get a good workout chasing sticks and balls into the water. After an hour of walking and swimming we head back to the dog park and visit a while.
Now we have made a dog pack around the dog walker so maybe it takes care of some of the problems that are associated with dogs meeting. Ed Frawley has an ebook on Why dog parks are a bad idea. It is worth reading and understanding what you are getting into.
Something I have found on my own is that if you only have your dog off leash and never deal with it in a training situation, you will begin to have problems. Running and getting the extra exercise is great but training is very important. That goes for you small dog owners too!!! Ed Frawley has some great training info on the net for free as well as selling DVDs with more info. I find him a bit extreme but more and more I find that his information is very good.
Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer is also an excellent source of information. I find his approach to be common sense, after he explains what common sense for dogs is! Much of what the two of them have to say is the same. Mostly be your dog's leader. I wonder what Cesar thinks of dog parks?

Artist Trading Card....

At Let's Make Art we had an ATC exchange. ATC's are artist trading cards, they are 2 1/2" x 3 1/2". This little guy winged it's way to Toronto. I am still waiting for mine to arrive. It could come form Germany, Australia, Malta, the USA or Canada.

Adeline....

This past month I have been taking a colour pencil class on Drawspace. Jeanette from Illustrated Life has been teaching the class. She has done an amazing job of taking a bunch of us from graphite only drawings to colour pencil drawings.
Adeline is the result of my lessons. I am pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed the process and look forward to doing others.

My Piano....

Some years ago at Christmas Jim and I give a family present instead of many individual ones. About four or five years ago the family gift was this used Yamaha piano. I think it is about 50 or 60 years old and has been factory refurbished.

We set out to get an electronic piano, but by the time we found one we liked the sound of, we found that we would rather spend the money on the real thing.
With the piano I purchased Bastien's Piano For Adults. This book has been a great learning tool as none of us has ever played.

My piano playing comes and goes. Some days I'll play everyday for weeks, others not so much. I think it goes with how crowded my living room gets. Is it a dumping ground for every bodies current project or is it clean and tidy. This week the room is some what tidy and I am playing.

I love playing the piano and hearing it played. I don't think I'll ever be truly good at it, my timing sucks big time. Also if any one is listening my fingers fumble like they are tied in knots. This is okay with me as I like to play for myself.

If you love trees....

Photo Courtesy of William and Douglas

Photo Treasure Hunt

You need to visit the Via Negativa for the 14th Festival of Trees: in katydid time. You will find pictures, stories, poems and information. All of this is brought together by katydid (Dave) in wonderful style.
The tree in the photo above started its life in my Father-in-laws backyard. My husband brought it home and it has a wonderful space in the front yard. It is growing nice and straight and is starting to give us nice shade.

Active????

I was filling out a form the other day, on the Pet Smart site. I was trying to decide on what food to feed my ever growing puppy. At one point it asked me if she was active one hour a day, one to six hours a day or over six hours. I was trying to decide between under six or over six...... today I thought maybe I should rethink that....