a quiet celebration

Last week’s camping trip, with our kids and grandkids spending Saturday with us, was to celebrate Bill’s and my 50th wedding anniversary. But today is actually our real anniversary — so we went on a date, just the two of us. We had barbecue at Tejas Chocolate in Tomball, then bought some of their hand-crafted chocolates (which we are saving to try tomorrow — we are full! Giving me time to sketch them in my 2” ZigZag sketchbook).

eye pressure check

After an adjustment in my daily eye drops (for glaucoma), I had an appointment this morning to check my eye pressures. Nothing interesting to draw in the waiting room so I drew my eye drops in my ZigZag watercolor book. (Turquoise is hard to mix with this limited palette!)

I was taking the drops with turquoise and yellow caps; my doctor wanted to switch the yellow-capped one to a combination of the yellow and the purple-capped solutions — but it cost over $400 and insurance refused to pay. So she just added the purple capped drops as a separate Rx — only $5! Just inconvenient to now have to take 3 separate drops instead of 2. At least my pressures are down.

San Felipe de Austin

We took time out from camping to visit the nearby San Felipe de Austin’s history museum with a “Villa de Austin” recreation of some of the town’s buildings. The actual township’s location is across the highway where archeological digs are ongoing. This town was designed and established by Steven F. Austin in 1823-1824 and served as his colonial capital when Texas was still part of Mexico. Townspeople destroyed the town themselves as General Santa Anna advanced on those fighting for Texas independence.

Drawn with a Kaweco Liliput fountain pen loaded with J. Herbin Lie de The ink which blurs a bit when watercolor is added, causing an “antique” look.

camp site

The wind is picking up here in the woods, and the camp sites are beginning to fill up for the coming weekend. The above site is presently empty but has a reserved sign. We normally prefer not camping over weekends due to heavier crowds, but this time our kids and grandkids are coming for a family get-together tomorrow. We tried to keep our 50th wedding anniversary low-key but it has become a party after all.

walking in the woods

While walking around the woods here at Stephen F. Austin State Park, we found wild blackberries and several white tailed deer. We hadn’t seen any deer in the piney woods forests we have camped in previously, not even the smaller mule deer. This doe calmly nursed her fawn while keeping a wary eye out for the silly humans with camera phones.

The RV / travel trailer camp sites are drive-through (no backing into the space!) and set far enough from each other that each site feels private. The grass is kept mown in a semi-circle at each site (there are venomous snakes here) but left to grow tall between sites under the trees. Gives a feeling of being all by ourselves as we relax under the awning looking off into the forest. And watching lightning bugs! We haven’t seen them since leaving Kansas.

unknown vines

This week we are camping in the Stephen F. Austin State Park along the Brazos River, on a section of the original land grant where Austin made his home. Several of the trees near our campsite have these thick vines climbing around the trunks. Not sure what they are.

Spotty, weak internet — I may or may not be able to post this!

pinching basil

A sketch drawn directly in ink a few days ago — color not added until last night. I pinched the tips of my newly potted basil to make the plants bushier. Then drew the tips in my journal.

Last time I did this, I laid the pinched tips on a paper towel to cook with later. But our cat Scottie Dubh, who is NOT allowed on the kitchen counters, snuck up there and ate them!

Texas wildflowers

The brilliant blue bluebonnets, orange-red Indian paintbrush, and pink primrose are gone for another year, giving way to yellow coreopsis and white prickly poppy. I took these photos at a friend’s beautiful country property in early April. The day was very windy and pollen levels running very high, but I hoped to try painting a landscape or two from these photos. But painting a whole field of wildflowers still intimidates me!

yesterday’s sketch, in process

I forgot to include this in-process photo with yesterday’s post, but thought I would go ahead and post it separately to show my recent set-up. Inspired by Brenda Swenson’s recent newsletter (which can be subscribed to HERE), I attached 2 mixing pans to a business card sized magnet — then clipped it together with a Pocket Palette to my sketchbook. Works brilliantly!

seen in a bookstore

We were browsing in a favorite bookstore in Brenham recently where I saw a vintage TV sitting on top of a bookstore. The quote written on the screen was too good not to sketch: 

“I find television very educational. Every time someone turns it on I go into another room and read a good book.”  — Groucho Marx

This old TV looks very much like the black % white set we rented from the Navy Exchange when we were first married, just about 50 years ago.

bee farm visit

For Mother’s Day, our son-in-law planned a tour of Bee Weaver’s Honey Farm outside of Navasota. We learned about raising bees, harvesting honey, and making mead — ending with a mead tasting event. I was hoping to buy some local raw honey, but this place raises bees to sell along with beekeeping supplies; all honey harvested goes into producing various flavors and strengths of mead. The company is the oldest honey farm in the state, run by 5 generations of the Weaver family since 1888.

a great quote . . .

. . . from a 1920s mystery I’m reading on my iPad. I somehow came across a series of Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries checked out as e-books from the library. This quote had to do with a suspect wishing to add to her alibi story — but it often fits sketchbook art as opposed to framed artwork as well.

“The rough sketch is frequently so much more convincing than the worked-up canvas.”

I tried not to . . .

Last November Bill, who used to never catch a cold, actually caught one. A few days taking Cold-Eeze and he was fine. Unfortunately I caught it from him — and for some reason, Cold-Eeze makes me sick. 

After returning from our latest camping trip, Bill once again caught a cold (for someone who never used to get them, he seems to be making up for lost time). I tried extra-hard to catch it this time and thought I had managed to avoid it. Until late Saturday night when I felt like I was freezing, and we keep our air-conditioning fairly warmer than most.

So here I am, lacking energy for just about anything except this silly sketch.