Wandering Wednesday - Wilder Ranch

 From earlier in the year,some pictures of the beach and historic ranch at one of our local state parks, Wilder Ranch.

 The mossy ranch bell.

 Climbing in the enormous cypress.

Enjoying the sunset down on the cove beach.

A New Vessel

 I hardly ever showcase other people's artwork on my blog, but I had to make an exception in this case.

 This beautiful vessel was made for me by my son, Alex.

 It is the first ceramic vessel he's ever constructed.

 I'm so impressed with his natural abilities in a form that's so foreign to me.

I feel really lucky to have been given this as a gift on Mother's Day. Thanks Alex.

Deer-Watch 2013

 Our deer seem to be enjoying the not-quite-ripe apples tremendously this year.

 They wisely ignore the dog barking at them and me taking pictures.

And then they come back the next day for another one.  I guess I post about our deer quite a lot as I have a tag for them! I do see them everyday, and we name the new ones every year. This one is Dearie.  If I get a good picture of Prongs I'll post it, he has a wonderful rack growing.

Wandering Wednesday - Animals of India

 More pictures from my husband's trip to India, these are all animal related.
First a decorated horse racing down the street past a wall of speakers which were all going full-blast.

 A horse-drawn vehicle from inside, and one of the many three wheelers passing by.

 Monkeys on the roof tops. I think they're rhesus monkeys.

 The monkeys are free to roam the monuments.

The workers pretty much ignore the monkeys.  Funny to notice how similarly we humans sit.

Blackbuck wandering the grounds of the animal preserve, (glad the horns point that direction).

 Rose-ringed parakeets on the walls.

And contrasting nicely with the red stone.

For Want of A Few Yards More

The perfect fabric, a silky print of small skulls, you really can't tell what they are until you're close up.  Unfortunately I was only given a small piece.

Oh but only if I had a few yards, I'd make myself something like this to wear with my big black sun hat, black sunglasses and red lipstick:

Oh dear, aspirational dresses made out of invisible fabric, things are getting worse, send help.

Posted To Inspire

The two bulletin boards that I have in my work room are used for different purposes.  This first one is larger, more easily accessible and requires no thumbtacks to put something up.  So it gets changed more often, has more current, topical, things like show advertisements, birth announcements.  I have things hanging off the bottom too, a green silk scarf I'm supposed to do something with, and a cool black/white/green zipper I want to use for a bag or jacket.  This is mostly just a hodgepodge of stuff I want to look at more than once or an image I want to revisit.

The second one is smaller, much harder to reach as it hangs over my wide cutting/work table and requires a new thumbtack to be hunted up to hang something new on it.  I have inspirational images,things with color combinations or patterns that I enjoy, quotes and words and a few objects hanging on here, a collage of myself in a way.  It doesn't change as much, but it gets update occasionally, usually when I clean off the other bulletin board.

The coolest artist bulletin board I ever got to see in person was probably Judith Content's, it took up almost a whole wall above her desk I think.  And if I recall correctly she takes everything down on a yearly basis and puts it in a book, then starts over again filling up the blank wall.

Do you have something similar in your work space?

July Flowers

 Happy July! If we survive this heatwave with any flowers remaining I'll be totally amazed.  Over 100F for 3 days in a row.  At least the bees are happy.

 So are the butterflies.

 Second try at growing this plant, Lotus Vine, I have it in a less hot and sunny spot so hopefully it will survive.  Isn't the shading on these buds beautiful.  I'd love to try dyeing something to look like this.

I like how speckled it is on the outside, and how the flower shape changes so much as it opens up from the flame-like bud.