In Our Yard This Week

 Since moving to Maine, we have found all sorts

of wildlife in our yard.

Moose, bears, deer, groundhogs, beavers,

otter, raccoons, porcupines, coyotes, fox -

perhaps others, those are what I recall. 

We found this little guy yesterday.

We believe he is some type of hawk.

Too young to fly yet, still fluffy and fuzzy.

And no mama in sight. 

 He is pretty good at camouflage.

Mostly he has been hiding under a bunch of leafy

bushes. Mark saw him run and hide the day before.

Then yesterday we saw him sitting on this 

downed tree. 

 I was able to slowly move around him,

trying to get a decent photo

but my camera kept focusing on all the

other stuff and not him.

He kept an eye on me but never tried to

run and hide.

We believe him to be some kind of hawk.

Haven't seen him today yet.

Hopefully he is in hiding.

I saw some golden colored hawks flying

overhead last week. I am guessing they

may have been his family.

Welcome to Storybrooke, little guy. 

Days 67 and 68 and a Luna #the100dayproject #hahnemühle #zentangleallaround

 I had some fun the last couple days playing with

Schmincke watercolors and 

Bamboo Mixed Media paper from Hahnemühle.

This particular pad of Bamboo is 3.1" x 4.1" - 

small enough to play with and get a feel for

the paper, 

and large enough to actually accomplish something. 

Above is Day 67 of The 100 Day Project. 

Some days color is all I can accomplish. 

And I do love me some bright color!

From the new limited edition 

Schmincke set from Wet Seal, I used:

pure yellow, chrome yellow deep, transparent

orange, ruby red, sap, phthalo green,

helio cerulean, and French ultramarine. 

Went on really smooth with my water brush

and the colors flow into each other really well.

 This piece was really fun!

For day 68, I used AD Markers from Chartpak.

They are an alcohol marker with a really 

strong smell, matched only by their

brightness and boldness.

I love the colors so much!

I thought I would be able to move them around

some with a water brush, but that did not work.

So I pulled out a blender and smoothed out some

lines that way, then used the tip to make

those little corn row shaped patterns over

the rows of color.

Love this one!

 And I got a bonus piece!

My first ever bleed through to make a

bleedthrumanade ala Sandra Strait!

This is the back side and I like it almost

as much as the front.

Can't wait to try some more of this Bamboo

paper with some other types of media. 

Last night Mark opened the door for us to go

outside and this guy flew right in past us.

This is a Luna Moth. 

We had them in Florida and I am always

surprised when I see one here in Maine. 

This Luna was about 6" across the wings.

She posed sweetly for some photos,

then Mark got a step ladder,

caught her and released her back outdoors.

It's been a rough weekend.

Blog issues all day yesterday.

My friend Cindy was able to fix it this

morning and I was sooooo happy!

We grilled hamburgers yesterday -

they were yummy!

We need to do that more often!

Now I'm going to watch some more reruns from

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD

and tangle!

Have a great weekend!

Cool Find Yesterday

 Yesterday we were out driving, looking for some

waterfalls that we never found.

But we did find this awesome thing hanging

in a tree. It was about the size of a basketball,

head level if we had been walking.

I've never seen one of these before.

The best we could guess is it's a wasp nest -

possibly.

 They had a body that very much resembled an ant.

An ant with wings. And they were flying in and

out of those holes. Like a bug condo.

Pretty awesome!

From a distance.

 The day was fairly overcast so please excuse

the low light in the photos.

This is part of the road we were on looking for

the waterfall.

Then it quickly lapsed into awfulness that was

all but impossible to maneuver. 

And required some work done on my car later that

day. Not a happy camper.

 I am guessing there was no wind,

because the long line of turbines - 18 in all -

not a single one of them were turning. 

We did enjoy a nice ride,

for the most part,

until the car damage.

Ugh.

Finally! An Animal!

 Finally!

After a long winter and snow that stayed

on the ground forever -

we finally had an animal show up in 

the back yard today!

 I love that the raccoons in Maine are brown.

The Florida raccoons are gray.

These are much prettier and warmer looking.

(I still don't want to get close to one, though.)

 I was starting to worry that the animals

wouldn't find Mark's corn feeder again.

And I really enjoy watching through the

studio window to see who will show up!

 Patience has paid off.

Another life lesson right there!

Hahaha! For sure!

 He pretty much found a good spot with corn

on the ground and stayed there.

Didn't move around much at all.

And he ate. And ate. And ate.

Then, when we was full he slowly ambled off into the woods. To hopefully tell his friends that the Hendon Buffet is once again open!

The Birds Are Coming Back

Mark put new birdseed out about a month ago.

It's taken this long for the birds to find it.

Hahaha!

(These first three photos were shot through

the kitchen window.)

 Actually there were about 8-10 blue jays flying

around the front yard. 

 I took a chance and stepped out onto the porch -

hoping they wouldn't all get scared and fly away.

 The jays put a little distance between 

them and me to start with.

 Thankful for my long lens.

When I bought it I had no idea we would be

moving to Maine where wildlife teems in

abundance. 

And you can see - the trees are all bursting

into bloom. Green everywhere.

 And apparently not all the bugs froze to death

over winter. Hahaha! At one time this spot of

ground was buried under about 3 feet of snow.

 Distorted when enlarged,

but you can see the bug more here.

 I guess these Maine insects go down smooth.

Hahahaha!

I love the crisp colors of the blue jays!

 Before I went outside,

the jays were hopping all around my dragons.

In this photo you can see two in the tree

branches above Maleficent and Prince Charming.

If you look closely, you can see a total of four dragons here. Pretty soon, there will be two more joining them. When all the mud dries up.

The Urge to Fish is Strong

 This is the first sunny day in a long time!

Mark came into my studio and asked if I wanted

to ride and look at the lakes.

He is so bored sitting in the house and is itching

to get back out onto the water.

On the way to look at lakes, 

we ran into this girl just down the road 

from our house.

 She was patient and stood still for a long time.

Seriously, I have like ten photos of her being so still.

So Mark started talking to her and she moved a little.

 Not much. Hahaha!

I am guessing this is a new deer since

last hunting season.

She needs to learn quickly to run and hide

when people stop and stare.

 Just a little further down the road

we started seeing flowers along the road side.

Mind you, we still have snow in parts of our yard -

and flowers in other parts of our yard.

Go figure!

 In case you weren't following my blog last spring

and summer, Mark and I just moved to Maine

a year ago. One of my favorite things to look at

here are the wind turbines.

These are literally just down the road from our house.

By fall you will be tired of seeing them here.

Hahahaha! Sorry.

Pleasant Lake. On our road.

Up till the past day or two, this lake was covered 

in ice. It can melt so fast.

 This is one of Mark's fishing spots.

And it's beautiful!

 Different lake - Mattawamkeag Lake

in Island Falls, Maine. 

 From the boat ramp.

I noticed the little sparkles on the water.

Didn't catch them very well here . . .

 . . . but had better luck with this photo.

Such a beautiful day with the sun shimmering

on the water.

 This bit of driftwood reminded me of Florida.

And Newfoundland.

When we visited Newfoundland two years ago,

I found an awesome piece of driftwood but I

was afraid the airlines would make me throw it

away. So my friend Christy mailed it to me.

Hahaha!

It is currently sitting in a window in my studio.

This pile in the photo was the size of a small dog.

So it is still at Mattawamkeag.

 Traveling to the next lake,

we drove through Smyrna where a community

of Amish reside. They have the best jams and jellies!

 I don't know if the buffalo belong to the Amish or not.

They are always good for a few pictures.

Just don't walk too close . . .

 . . . or they do this . . .

 . . . and this. Then they walk away.

In the opposite direction.

 This is Nickerson Lake.

Probably the lake Mark likes to fish the most.

Lots of fish to be caught here. And - apparently - the occasional tree.
When we got home, Mark got his boat out of the garage and it is sitting out front. Ready to roll!