Week 39

"We are rare, not perfect...we need to soothe ourselves, not blame ourselves." ~ Mark Nepo

Walks, bike rides, art in the backyard, leaves changing color, clear sky in the west, Hurricane watch on the east coast, and these adorable grandchildren of mine. All is well and we're all okay. Thank you.

I love watching the Liquidambars change. 

Out for a morning adventure with this cutie.

Noticing.

I gave him a new pad of paper when I picked him up from school. 

He walked into the house, gathered his supplies, and went straight to work on his masterpiece.

My heart!

Straight out of my camera (phone).

Burn baby burn.

As we watched the weather channel all evening, I  made a little graphic from a screenshot.

Then we watched again the next night as Ian headed towards Melissa in SC.

Thankfully, all of our family made it through okay.

Paisley highly recommends this book. 

It is eye-opening. 

She liked my happy face Sun.

Got all three of them together. 

More Liquidambar (aka Sweetgum) leaves.

Those are some big eyes staring down at me - like I'm prey. 

This is one of the White-tailed Kites that has been hanging out at Hub's office. 

Week 38

"And all at once, summer collapsed into fall." ~ Oscar Wilde

I took a lot of photos this week, and it took a bit to sort through them all. Then I had to pick my favorites. 

The highlight of my week was playing with Paisley's new bubble machine. Well, also photographing flowers, birds, a butterfly, and the clouds, and, oh yeah, IT'S FALL!

An American Goldfinch. 

They are getting more comfortable with me sitting a little closer to their food source.

We had some amazing cloud-scapes this week. 

Signs of fall.

Best bubble machine EVER!

"My bubbles."

Cosmos at Heather Farms.

Just practicing with manual focus on a Mexican Sunflower 

when this Gulf Fritillary decided to have a snack. 

Miss Cleo on one of her thrones.

Art in the back yard, every chance we get. 

Test drive.

City Hall, again. I love the reflections from the pond. 

Week 37

"I am the intentional creator of my human experience."

~ SelfHealers Circle

Bike rides, clouds, walks, Great Horned Owls, hanging out with the grandkids, and even some rain. 

It was a good week.

Downtown PH pond.

That sky though!

Our City Hall.

Sidewalk Sunflower

Another cute yard in Martinez.

No power here for about seven hours while they replaced a power pole.

That's an impressive amount of equipment for one pole.

It's the time of year for backyard sunrises. Yay!

Second breakfast.

Okay, this is a really bad image from my iPhone of a Great Horned Owl we came 

upon while on a Saturday evening walk. It was being harassed by a Cooper's Hawk, 

and we were able to watch it for a while, once the hawk left. 

We believe this is one of two that have been calling from the trees in the creek behind our house. 

In the middle of the night, we can hear them talking to each other and they lull us to sleep.  

Painted this one a little differently. Still, so much fun!

We had a very nice rainy Sunday. 

Week 36

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are  tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

~ Henry S. Haskins

I've gotta keep up here - the weeks are flying by, as are the years. For example, we celebrated Miss Paisley's 2nd birthday this week. How did that happen? I've been here the whole time and yet, poof, she's not a baby anymore.

A Tuesday morning with this sweet pea.

I love flowers.

After school snack.

Did I bribe him? Maybe.

Still playing with watercolor rainbows on my iPad. 

Can't stop, won't stop.

She came to cheer on her big brother.

We don't know where she got this pose, but we all love it.

He ran/walked all the laps for his school fundraiser.

An ice cream bar for the birthday girl.

Birthday bouncy house pile.

Opening ALL of her gifts, with some help.

"Push Papa"

Week 35

Back to our regularly scheduled program.

There is this spot in their living room where the light hits in the morning.

She is ready to go explore the neighborhood.

So many cute yards with fun decorations.

Went on a dinner date with Hubs and of course, we ordered the infamous Fox Roll from Mikuni.

Chillin in the backyard.

The illusive first-grader. 

I don't get to see him as much since school started.

I'm having a lot of fun playing with digital watercolor. 

This one requiered a lot of layers in Procreate.

ALL the rainbows! Always.

A quick little fun project in Procreate.

My favorite part about this, in addition to the quote, is the shadow under the paper.