Days and Nights With Nature 🌲🌲

Hi Everyone! Happy Sunday! 😊😊

I hope you are all happy, healthy and living life to its fullest! We are! We spent a lot of time in Nature the last week and it was a much needed break. I mentioned on my last post that we followed a very dirty sandy road for miles that led to a bog and protected wildlife area. Along the way we found this secluded little spot by the river. We had to climb down quite a ways, but it was worth it. We spent a few hours here enjoying a picnic lunch that Alex made for us. 💚

I'm linking up today with Eileen's Saturday Critters!

We were lucky to see lots of wildlife on those excursions like this bullfrog.

Look at this beautiful turtle. We saw it on the road and had to stop to bring it over to its pond.

There are some BIG birds in this area, we saw some eagles, falcons and herons. 

In this area of the bog, we heard a buck deer rut call. I tried to capture this with my silly little cell phone microphone but all I could capture was the wind and the occasional "did you hear that Alex?" LOL...

This is the sound we heard. It was coming from the trees in the back of the logged woodlot, every minute or two. (For some reason this video doesn't always play but you can click on the "watch on You Tube" link, the sound is at 1:15.)

We were fascinated by these sounds, we stood on these logged tree trunks for nearly an hour just listening and enjoying what we were hearing!

We decided to head home when the sun started to set. I personally don't like driving at night, but we specifically came out to see wildlife and the best time to see/hear them is at dawn and dusk.

Some of you have seen this photo, I posted it last week. On the drive home, we saw a black bear cub running across the road, his mamma was waiting for him in the ditch. Our first bear sighting!

We had to drive very slowly because every few hundred yards, these little brown rabbits would shoot across the road.

When we got home, we sat outside to watch the Perseid meteor showers. This was the second night we sat outside. I was fooling around with my camera and yes Monica, I pulled out the tripod this time 😊! I got a nice photo of the Big Dipper.

I can't be sure, but this could possibly be part of the Milky Way. I still need to learn more about night photography, but this is pretty darn cool!

The days have been so hot and humid! Here I am with Marlene, swimming in the stream. Our Marlene is getting older and she feels more confident when I hold her in the water. By the way, no bathing suits here! I was in there in my shorts, t-shirt and hiking boots!!!

I was SO PROUD OF MY JACK!!! With Alex's encouragement, he actually went for a swim, but we had to throw the ball in to entice him! Although...we discovered that a leech was heading right for him. If you look at the tall green weeds to the right-bottom of this gif I made, you can see a black worm-like thing snaking through the water, that's the leech. I can't believe I got it on camera. I was kind of freaked out a little, but I do realize there are leeches in so many waterways, we just have to be careful and check ourselves and the pets when we jump in the drink!

Not so good pet news...as many of you know, I post a few times a year about Charlie's allergic reactions to (what we think are) spider bites. Well, it happened again. Poor girl, her face balloons up and her eyes swell shut. The telltale sign is that she scratches her snout mercilessly just before she starts to swell. When we see that, we have only a few minutes to pump her full of Benadryl while she can still swallow. It's FREAKING SCARY...but the Benadryl works and as I type this she's completely back to normal. Oi.

Oscar is such a sweet cat...he's so affectionate and easy. Whenever he purrs, he REALLY vocalizes...it always makes me smile to hear him so happy! I was cleaning the bathroom when he decided to join me and show me some love! 💓

I haven't only been frolicking by the river lol...I spent three days taking down the old curtains that were left here, washing windows and installing our sheers and curtains. The house will take a while to become our own, but we are slowly getting things installed, repaired and organized!

My Sunday post wouldn't be complete without some food photos! Every month on the 14th, Alex and I have a fondue dinner - we celebrate our monthly "anniversary" that way. It's been 7 years and 5 months now, and we had our favourite Smoked Cheddar and Apple Cider Fondue. We had it with a nice wine from the Puglia region of Italy. (See Linda? We don't follow any rules for "pairing" wine either!! 😊)

After one of our Nature days out, we wanted something hardy and comforting...pasta it is with lovely and delicious fresh shredded and "petaled" Parmesan!

Last night I made Chinese food: Stir Fried Rice, Garlic Noodles and Sweet and Sour Cauliflower (served in a pineapple!).

Oh strawberries and cream! How I love thee! 🍓🍓🍓

Thanks for stopping by my Friends! See you on Thursday for our art date, the theme is Night Scene! PS: I wanted to let my Friends know that I'm back to responding to all of my comments! During the move, I couldn't find the time, but now I do because I love it so much, so check back for a response. Sometimes it takes me a week, but I will always reply!!

🎅🎅🎅 I will be adding this to my posts for a few weeks: Please contact me via my contact form on the right side bar of my blog if you want to be on my Christmas card list! And also please contact me if you have been previously so I can give you my new address! 🎅🎅🎅

Thursday Art Date: Swipe! and Paint Party Friday!

Hello Friends! 😊😊

Welcome to Thursday's Art Date, today our theme is Swipe! I had a lot of trouble with this theme...and I was the one who came up with it lol...but Bugs Bunny said he'd work extra hard at his facial expression to inspire me! I imagined his face being digitally swiped and with some tasty encouragement (fresh carrot juice), he posed for this drawing! 😊 

For this piece, I swiped a bit of Van Gogh's style from his famous Starry Night. I had no clue what would come of this, I just pulled out my pencils and pens and sketched away. I started with the sailboat then went from there. I honestly sat in my studio staring at the word "swipe" for a long time and nearly gave up! I hope next week's theme will be a little less challenging!!

Andrea asked me about the 3D art "key" drawing I did last week. Here is the link to the You Tube Tutorial. I suggest that you watch the whole video before starting. I didn't and when it came time to fold the paper for the 3D effect, it failed, so I had to do it again. Where you will be folding your paper is key <--- "pun" 😊, to where you will draw the parts of the key and where you will place the key hole plate! (Sorry it took me so long to respond Andrea!!!)

I'm also linking up with Paint Party Friday tomorrow!

Friends, I am stunningly, prodigiously and uncommonly busy (not too busy to consult the thesaurus though lol!). Alex and I are trying to balance fixing up the house with taking some time to be out in nature. We explored the area just north of us - a dirt/sand road that leads to a protected wildlife area and bog. We saw lots of wildlife and had a picnic by the river. Look at our dirty car! It's a front-wheel drive SUV and definitely a "city" car...not really made for these kinds of excursions...our next car will be a 4-wheel drive Jeep or some kind of pickup truck, that's for sure!

Speaking of Starry Nights, we sat outside on Tuesday night to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower and we saw a dozen meteors. I held my camera up to the sky on "shutter" mode and just clicked away. I'm so happy I was able to capture a photo of the sky I see every night to share with you! I wish one of the photos had the meteors showing though! Oh my neck is aching still from looking up for an hour, but I feel so blessed to have seen the meteors and to be living in this area! I'll write more about our days out on Sunday's post!

That's all for now folks! Please check out the link gadget below to see more Swipe! art! And join me on Sunday for my food, pets and home post! 😊

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On our drive home Tuesday night, we slowed down when we thought we saw something in the road; we realized the black shape we saw crossing the road was a black bear cub. The mamma was in the ditch waiting for her baby.

August 20th: Next Thursday's theme is Night Scene. Click on the link for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! 🎨

Thursday Art Date With Rain. Click on the link for a description of the art date as well as a list of upcoming themes. 

Don't forget to add the URL link to your post (not your blog) to the link gadget below to share your wonderful creations! The link gadget expires Sunday at noon (EST).

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Enjoying Life!

Hello Friends 😊😊😊 Happy Sunday! 

How is everyone doing? Have you noticed new features on Blogger? One that I really like is that the default photo is now "Extra Large" so I don't have to go each time to re-size it. One that I really DON'T like is the automatic double spacing when you press enter. If you don't want a double space, instead of "enter", you can click "shift" and "enter". As I type this, the "left", "center" and "right" align buttons when clicking on the photo don't work anymore. I had to highlight the photo and use the buttons up on the toolbar to center them. I sent feedback, I hope they fix it.

Someone asked me how I got my Blueberry Pancakes so even in size...here's my secret in the photo above! 😊

I decided to walk across the stream the other day. I didn't get a photo of it, but to the left, there is a bit of a rock dam to access the Crown land on the other side.

I'm the not first person to have crossed the stream, there was a trail right on the other side. I decided to check it out.

I walked for about five minutes until the trail opened up to the other side of the stream. This side is quite shallow, very beautiful and serene though!

The girls went into the water, but of course, Jack just pulled back and observed! Looks like a deep conversation going on in the canine world doesn't it? 

Wet dogs - I love this photo! 😊 After a long walk and a swim, the dogs needed a rest! They joined the cats for an afternoon of lounging.

Charlie

Dana

Jack

Leo

Marlene

Oscar

The monthly shopping was brutal. I have to get used to new stores and what variety of food they offer - also the pricing. New Brunswick food prices are much higher than Quebec. I decided to join Costco to see if I could save money that way - and I will - but the amount of people there (without masks too) is very surprising. I'll have to travel 90 minutes each way once a month in order to save money. It's worth it, even with the extra gas expense. Living in a rural area is like paradise to me so I don't mind the once-a-month drive!

I made some easy dinners last week. We are so busy with the house that I don't have the time I used to for making dinners. One night, we had leftover pancakes with Toasettes and Iced Coffees. 

I had leftover Goat cheese, so I made Goat Cheese and Nectarine Toasts. This is a spin on my Ricotta and Strawberry Toasts. Delicious!

And just before shopping day, I emptied the fridge as much as I could. I made a pasta dish with basil, olives, Feta, Mozzarella and Parm for me; and a Linguine Puttanesca for Alex. Comfort food. 😋

Thanks for stopping by! See you on Thursday for our art date, the theme is Swipe!

Thursday Art Date: Abstract and Paint Party Friday!

Hello Friends! 😊😊

Welcome to Thursday's Art Date, today our theme is Abstract. I decided to do a Picasso-esque portrait of Bugs Bunny this week. He's very versatile with his facial expressions! 😊

At first I had no idea what to do for this theme, but I do get a lot of inspiration from other Bloggers...this week, I got inspiration from Sue over at Elephant's Child blog. She has a weekly Wednesday post called Words For Wednesday - it's a post encouraging people to write. Her prompt last week was about keys opening doors and what would be on the other side: "...What key will you use, and what is on the other side of the door."  

That was my inspiration! Here is a pen and ink abstract key and door piece. I really enjoyed doing this one! I have a feeling that if you used this key to open that door, you would fall into another dimension!

Another fun piece involving keys, this is called "trick art" or "3D art". I followed a tutorial for this using markers and pastel pencils.

I tried another trick art piece, my hand, drawn with graphite pencils and Sharpies. I had no idea I'd have so much fun with this week's theme! I hope you did too! I think more trick art will be in my future!

I'm also linking up with Paint Party Friday tomorrow!

Things are moving along at home, we're doing so many things...Alex found a great big salamander while he was cleaning up behind the shed. I think that the dots on these creatures are so interesting! I figured this fell under the abstract theme!

I feel as though I'm living my dream life right now! While walking Charlie and Jack, I discovered a trail in the woods! I walked for a good 20 minutes, but it was like a rain forest in there, oi the humidity...so we turned back. I have no idea how long this trail is, this country goes on for miles and miles. 

Here's a fun gif I made from photos. Charlie and Marlene cooling off in the stream. Jack won't go in though, he doesn't like to get his tootsies wet!

Beautiful Summer!

Today is monthly shopping day, ugh! I'll catch up with everyone on the weekend! That's all for now folks! Please check out the widget below to see more Abstract art! And join me on Sunday for my food, pets and home post! 😊

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Wisps of fluffy clouds are swiped across the beautiful blue sky!

August 13th: Next Thursday's theme is Swipe! Click on the link for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! 🎨

Thursday Art Date With Rain. Click on the link for a description of the art date as well as a list of upcoming themes. 

Don't forget to add the URL link to your post (not your blog) to the link gadget below to share your wonderful creations! The link gadget expires Sunday at noon (EST).

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Foggy Mornings

Happy Sunday Friends!!  😊😊😊

How is everyone doing? How's your weather? We're still having beautiful summer weather here in the Maritimes of Canada. It's quite foggy and humid in the mornings when I wake up and take the dogs for their morning walk.

Usually by about 10 or 11 am, it clears up and we have sunny skies. This is the Forks Stream, it runs for miles and feeds into a larger river in this county, people around here call it the stream. My neighbour told me I could cut through his property to access it. Isn't it beautiful? Alex and I checked it out a few times, we are on the lookout for a second hand canoe now! It's not even a five minute walk from home. I'm so thankful for finding this place!

Bill, Mike and Alex moving cement blocks

Bill and Mike came back the other day to finish up the heavy work. They finished sawing the concrete wall that was putting pressure on the house. Mike also sealed the crack in the foundation and it took all three men to move out these large cement blocks that were just hanging around in the backyard.

Mike cut up the concrete from the old wall to make us stairs for the front door. I have a few ideas on how to decorate them, and I'll post the before/after when I get all of that done. 

Of course my job was very important - supervisor! 😁

Actually while the boys were doing the heavy work, I was making a picnic feast for them. Pinwheel Sandwiches with my Homemade Cheez Whiz, potato salad and Coleslaw with Old Bay Seasoning.

Jack always has an eye on me!

I spend many hours a day walking the dogs now. At my last place, I had to drive to the woods because people would leave their dogs loose all of the time so I wasn't motivated to go out walking too often. Here I'm blessed. Actually on a sad note, I can't walk Marlene (right of Jack) with the others anymore. She is really slowing down and she can't handle the long walks. I'm sad about it. I walk her alone just around the property, then I grab the "black and whites" and walk them along the logging road. We all have to age don't we? 😡

A rare photo of the three cats hanging out together! (The photo is a bit bright, sorry about that!)

It's blueberry season so I made Blueberry Pancakes for dinner last night. The blueberries that are growing in the backyard are tiny, so I bought a few pints of local berries. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can harvest from the blueberry fields next season!

I hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend! And please join me on Thursday for our art date, the theme is Abstract. 🎨