Quilting and other Things

Yesterday I started from the Pear tree parking lot at km 11.8 and went back to St. Helena's side road. When I returned to the parking lot, I had some lunch and then went up through Speyside and the Speyside Side Trails to km 14.4. That made for an 11.2 km circuit. Near the parking lot, was this picnic table. There was a bench on the other side of the trail also covered in weeds. I was sure I took a picture of it as well but it wasn't on the camera and there are no missing numbers. Must have been dreaming. The little waterfall coming out of the pond was very full. From there it was off back to where I started last weeks hike. The only animals I saw besides birds were bees, dragon flies and a tiny, camera-shy mouse like creature. And lots of caterpillars. The cement barricades at St. Helena's Rd made a handy tripod for a picture this week When I got back to the parking lot, it was almost noon so I sat at the picnic table, with this little fellow, to eat my sandwich...

Exercise 4 was about copying different line styles from masters. Then draw something of your own. My hand was holding the book so was handy. At the symphony last night, I sat right in front of the cellos (row 3 on the main floor and had a pretty good view of the basses as well. During the warm up, I drew on my program. During intermission, I got my book out of my purse.

We got lots of rain this week. Thursday morning I was ready for work early and went out with the tripod and camera. Thursday evening, I played some more. These are the photos I liked the best This one was taking from the kitchen door after 10pm. To me it was dark out. The camera had other ideas. There was a faint tinge to the sky but not really this light.

I thought the photography show was next weekend. Fortunately someone in the class at Hobby Horse said something about it. So I came home, dropped the hiking and quilting stuff and grabbed the ticket. Wander through the show and sat in on a couple of presentations about taking travel photos and landscapes. When I came out, the sun was streaming through this cloud, so I grabbed the little camera from my purse and took a photo. The sea gull flew through for me which was kind. The landscape session had talked about exposure compensation so I tried that with the sky photo. This one is the same setting as above but with an exposure compensation of -1.0 (less light coming in) This one is the same setting as above but with an exposure compensation of +1.0 (more light coming in)

I left early for Hobby Horse this morning so I could walk a little more of the Toronto Section. I parked on St Helena’s Road and picked up the trail there. Headed back to where I stopped the other week. There was just enough time to go there and back before I needed to be leaving for Hobby Horse. It was a little overcast but the sun kept peeking through the woods. There was a small creek to cross with a tiny waterfall coming off the side. Someone or something knocked this tree fungus off. I’m curious what kind of flower this will blossom into. I think this guy was upset because I was checking out his lunch. If these are all tent caterpillars, its going to be a busy year. There were lots of tents in the bush. On most of them, the caterpillars were outside the tent. I’m still not positive what this is. I think it’s a porcupine but I’m not sure. The little guys were out in force today having snacks. Something hit this birch tree. I didn’t think the wood was red for birc...

Last fall I planted bulbs. These were an addition to the ones I planted a few years ago. This spring, these are some of the flowers in my garden The lily of the valley are spreading from next door. But they may have gone next door from higher up in my yard....

I got the book in 2004 and this is one of the pre-instruction drawings from then. I've worked through bits and pieces of the book and workbook off and on since. Here's the most recent set of pre-instruction drawings. I think I need to get out the class notes on drawing faces.