bridal wreath and crane fly

I’ve seen spirea shrubs coming into flower before, but this Bridal Wreath Spirea in our neighbor Km’s yard caught my eye . . . . Just as the white flower buds began to open up, the large previous-growth leaves took on a gorgeous purplish-red color. Much brighter than in my sketch, but I am still sticking with the muted earth-color palette that I began this journal with, shown below.

I added a scribbled crane fly — they are rather hard to miss lately, flying around outside . . . and even in our houses! Known around here as a mosquito hawk, they do not actually kill mosquitoes (as is popularly believed), nor do they bite or sting.

elf on the shelf, aka rubber ducky

This morning we headed to Beasley where Bill repaired our oldest son’s water heater. Having no WiFi at home, I spent the time using their WiFi to download an iPad update and back up both iPad and iPhone up to the “cloud” —- and sketching this wee rubber ducky elf that I found sitting on the shelf.

There’s always something silly to sketch at Jason and Carrie’s home!

I came to the end of the first side of this accordion-Fold journal; this is now side # 2. Eventually, those end flaps will be glued to more permanent covers.

Sketch With Me: HOME

First of all, I admit that I absolutely CANNOT capture Bill’s likeness!

This weekend’s Sketch With Me virtual sketching event’s theme is “home”. My first thought was to sketch my husband.

We have lived in San Diego, CA; 1 month in Mesa, AZ; 2 weeks in Bremerton, WA; Portland, OR; one month in Wichita, KS; El Dorado, KS, and now Brenham, TX.   But none of them is “home” . . . What truly feels like home to me is this very special man.

a bit of nature sketching

It’s been rainy and cool around here, but I managed to sketch a couple bits of nature. I love the types of lichen around here — often 3 to 5 varieties on a single branch.

I prefer the huge white magnolias that grow on trees (not in bloom yet) but this shrub variety is interesting to draw — no leaves until after the blossoms fully open.

more roses, Freddie’s, and a wonky cup of tea

Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers originated in Kansas near where we used to live. We thought we would be leaving them behind when we moved to Texas but new locations are popping up all around us now. Saturday we took Mikala and Bree out for hamburgers after they cleaned goat and pig pens at the barn.

And now our favorite pizza from Kansas has made it to our area as well! Gambino’s has opened up a restaurant in Cypress, just west of Houston. Their online ad said they were open today so we drove Mikala there for lunch . . . but someone must have slept in because they were still closed.

Meanwhile, I drew a very wonky argyle mug of tea this morning.

early wild roses

I have been meaning to cut back our patio roses. Just waiting for a warmer day without so much wind . . . sort of like today! Except we are heading to Houston so the job is being put off yet again.

Some of the roses are ignoring me and deciding to throw out blooms anyway. This particular rose is an antique variety rescued from an abandoned farmstead where it was found to be thriving without human intervention. That’s what the Antique Rose Emporium where we buy roses specializes in.

The actual colors of these petals are yellow, peach, pink, and rose — hard colors to replicate using the muted earthy colors of this palette, but I’m trying to see if I can stick to the same palette through the whole journal.

Everything looked great as I added a bit of text and put my pen down . . . So how did I manage to smudge the ink yet again?

saying goodbye to Benjamin

These next journal pages are to remember a wee goat named Benjamin, as well as remembering the great time Bill had working in his woodshop with three very cool girls. Benjamin didn’t place high due to a flaw in his hoof (which had nothing to do with how he was raised so why judge him on that?) but he had the sweetest loving nature!

Thursday through Saturday was CFISD’s Livestock Show and Sale (Cy-Fair Independent School District in Houston) — we went to see our granddaughter and her friends show the animals they’ve been raising and the wood project they built. After the exhibition and judging, most animals either “made auction” or were sold, ultimately for meat. A bit tough for our three girls who have such tender hearts for animals.

Mikala, Bree, and Haley came to work in Bill’s woodshop over several months, building a cedar picnic table they designed. The top opens up on both sides — the plan is that one side has sand in it for kids to play in. The hidden spaces can also be used for storage. The table was sold in a silent auction along with the other student-built projects. Another one we particularly liked was an antique door turned into a bathroom lavatory — the water flows “waterfall fashion” out the mail slot when you turn the glass doorknob! These kids are so clever!

I didn’t get a photo or sketch of Haley’s steer or heifer but here are Bree’s chickens and pig (her name is Jeff!) and Mikala’s goat, Benjamin. And one of Bill and his “crew” of woodworkers.

next pages and a bit of dog-sitting

For the next several weeks I’m helping a neighbor out while she’s at work, letting her new dog outside and giving her a bit of extra attention. Sunni has an unknown past, having been displaced by Hurricane Harvey. Her family was never found and now she’s being treated for distemper. Kim works full days in downtown Houston, over 1 1/2 hours away, so I go visit Sunni midday 5 days a week.

While there, I found a few bits to add to my accordion sketchbook journal.

a slow beginning . . .

After filling my last sketchbook in a bit of a whirlwind of sketching, I’ve been a bit slow at starting the next one. This one is an accordion-fold style made from leftover bits of Fabriano Artistico soft press paper. Typically with these folded journals, I like each 2-page spread to have some element that leads to the next page. But I also prefer to not plan too much . . .

As per my normal habit, the first page has a palette and maybe other sketch tools. After jotting down the colors in this Pocket Palette on the page, I wonder if I could actually stick to using only this palette for the whole journal?

Then a favorite cross necklace leading to . . .

. . . what I ate for three days straight that helped me get over a recent bad cold. Bill made a large pot of what we call “kale soup”, similar to Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana but Bill’s version is so much better! The soup mug was a “white elephant” gift from a church Christmas party years ago — Bill has loved using it ever since!

The far right page isn’t done yet; for now I jotted down some verses from church yesterday.