Showing posts with label Anna's Hummingbird. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anna's Hummingbird. Show all posts

Wednesday, 24 December 2014

It's beginning to look...

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas with decorations showing up in
the woods and in parks, seemingly random acts of decoration, but someone has taken time
and care with them.

Thank you, I am sure they bring smiles to a lot of faces.




This one takes advantage of a rather odd shaped tree and was about a 1/2 mile down a trail and
took planning because whoever did this needed a ladder.





..and a battery pack.



This tree is decorated every year in December and then the decorations disappear again in
January.




Here's a look at the whole tree.




Of course nature provides beautiful decorations too,






...and occasionally even building materials for winter fun.





These children are taking full advantage of a snowfall (taken last winter).












This is one of "our" Anna's hummingbirds that visits feeders each day throughout the year



 

and provided inspiration for my Christmas card this year:

"Santa Anna" (a watercolour)


May the Christmas season fill your home with joy,

your heart with love,

and your life with laughter.

Merry Christmas!



Well that is all I have for this week, hope you are all keeping well, take care of yourselves,
Happy Whimsy Wednesday,
Gillian 




Wednesday, 2 April 2014

Blossoms, beginnings and endings

The early blossoms are starting to appear on the trees; they are pretty and delicate and add and subtle perfume to the air.




Delicate pinks, white and deeper blossoms herald the beginning of spring to me.



 

"The Blossom" is a poem by William Blake, published in Songs of Innocence in 1789:

File:Blake The Blossom.jpg




 
“The artist is the confidant of nature, flowers carry on dialogues with him through the graceful bending of their stems and the harmoniously tinted nuances of their blossoms. Every flower has a cordial word which nature directs towards him.”
August Rodin
 



These blossoms remind me of fluffy little tutus:



 



Blossoms in the Springtime (song byVaughn Horton)

When I see blossoms in the springtime
I know that sweetheart time is here
My love that blossoms in the springtime
Blooms in my heart through all the year.
I love the blossoms in the springtime
Kissed by the sunshine and the rain
I love to hold you oh my darling
When kisses bloom in sweetheart's lane.
 
Never to flame all winter long
Then like the blossoms in the springtime
Burst with the first red robin's song.
I love the blossoms in the springtime
Kissed by the sunshine and the rain
I love to hold you oh my darling
When kisses bloom in sweetheart's lane.
 


Here is a video "Simon's Cat: Springtime"




I mentioned endings in my title. Earlier this week I was wandering in my garden when I found the tiny body of a hummingbird. It is one of the Anna's Hummingbirds that have been coming to our feeders year round for a few years. This one was a bit smaller than the others.
 
An Anna's Hummingbird is a medium sized hummingbird native to the west coast of North America. It has a reddish purple throat but here it appears black.
 
It was sad to see, this little fellow's ending was especially poignant to me because it is just the beginning of spring and new life.



 
On a happier note a bit later in the afternoon I got a picture of another Anna's at one of our feeders.
 
 
 
I have begun painting again, several things at once, but have only managed to finish one painting so far. It is painting of a bird I saw in Italy last summer, a black headed gull I think. A watercolour, no name, no signature, just a little study I did.
 
 
 
 
 That's all for this week, happy Wednesday, thanks so much for dropping by.
 
Gillian
 


Wednesday, 14 November 2012

Seasonal colour

The days are getting shorter, and it has been dark and rainy lately, so when it stopped raining recently I went out looking for colour. Here is what I found:


Not sure what this bush is but the leaves are spectacular this time of year.



Crab apples I think ...




Again, not sure what this is, but I loved the blue sky in the background, a rarity this time of year.

 Hydrangea turned deep red-purple:



Again I am not sure what this is but it adds a splash of colour.



Holly


A beautiful splash of colour in our neighbours garden:


Red Maple, the last leaves are still clinging to the tree and here are catching the late afternoon light.


A friend showed me a large patch of mushrooms growing in her neighbourhood. I took these pictures on my phone.


This mushroom is found in fairly large groupings. There were about a hundred in the area where I photographed these.



 Amanita muscaria, is a stunningly coloured mushroom; it is generally considered poisonous, but is eaten in parts of Europe, Asia and North America after parboiling and deaths from eating it are rare.

Amanita muscaria is noted for its hallucinogenic properties, with its main psychoactive constituent being the compound muscimol. 


They also appear to be very strong: able to supporting a car in this picture.


Magic mushrooms indeed, I think I saw a fairy or two peeking out from between the mushrooms, but they are camera shy, so you will just have to use your imagination.

 







The last patches of colour are birds. This hummingbird (Anna's) was swooping at me and scolding me for being too close to the feeder in my back yard. He should have figured out by now that it is me that fills that feeder.



There are a lot of birds at the feeders now including Towhees, with their bright sides and eyes, but they have been too quick for me to get a good picture, so I have included this picture I took in the summer instead.


I have a picture in the current exhibit at the Federation of Canadian Artists' Gallery on Granville Island until November 25, 2012. Here is the link to the exhibit.

The bright colours, especially the reds and greens to me are a reminder that Christmas is not too far away. I have been working on my card stocks for the two Christmas Markets that I will be at, the first is this weekend (November 18) and then two weeks after that (December 2). Both are at Delbrook Community Centre, here are the days and times (I am in the gym both times, table on the right as you enter):

2012 DELBROOK CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR AND MARKET
Saturday November 17th 10am-4pm
Sunday November 18th 10am-4pm
Saturday December 1st 10am-4pm
Sunday December 2nd 10am-4pm

Anyone who is thinking ahead to Christmas will find some new cards and some old favorites on my website right now too.

Here are the new ones:
"Christmas Cactus"

"Holly Time"

And here is another new card and an old favorite:

"Nutcracker Sweets"

"Three Wise Crackers"

There is a special offer too, get one free card when you buy four cards, follow these links:

New items and specials and my full selection of Christmas cards in Greeting and Celebration Cards.

Well that's it for this week, hope you have enjoyed my look at colour.

Thank you for dropping by, Happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next time ............