The Melt

Last week's snow ended with a power outage here, sure makes one appreciate the light and heat that we usually take for granted.

So days of grey skies gave way to sunshine and all that is left is the melt.

A thin coating of snow is still on the trees, nestled in the rushes and on the bridge over the pond.

 

 

 

 

Still a few traces of snowmen.

 

 

There is still a coating of sludgy snow on the pond but the blue of the  sky is still evident in the reflections. 

 

The ducks have "cleared" pathways through the water.

 

 

 

There is a fresh coating of snow on the local mountains too, but after all that is where the snow should be.

 

 

Since I took these pictures it has snowed again, and again, and almost vanished. Usually the snow has fallen on the weekends minimizing traffic woes.

 

Pretty while it lasts as long as it does not stay too long. We are more used to rain than snow here, and that does not need shovelling!

 

Here is one new painting, it is finished or almost finished. I have not decided what to call it yet but it is a watercolour on paper. This was inspired by a photograph that a friend Robert took. Here is his website:   www.alifeintheday.ca

 

 

Untitled watercolour

 

 

Thank you for stopping by, I am always interested in your thoughts, happy Wednesday.

 

I will likely be absent for a week or two because I am scheduled to have surgery next week. I will be back as soon as I am able,

 

Gillian

 

 

 

 

 



 



Whimsy's week off?

You might be wondering what happened to Whimsy Wednesday last week?

Well I am sorry to say that I was not sitting with my feet up at a spa.

I had my feet up alright, but I was on strict bed rest in hospital. Aren't medical surprises wonderful? Not!

Nothing terribly serious but it will take most of my attention and as a result I am not going to be able to post regularly for the next while. I hope to be able to get around to visiting your blogs from time to time.

I had already taken these pictures and want to share them with you; here is a series of pictures of my favorite Jay (Stellars Jay) after I put some pumpkin seed bread out for him rather than peanuts, I thought his expressions were priceless, see what you think...

What is that?

 

...bread...



 

Come on ..........

 

I don't eat bread ....

 

..want peanuts,



 

peanuts,



 

peanuts, pea....nuts

 

I don't believe it!

 

Maybe the bread will disappear.

I don't do bread!

 

...got it?

 

Change of tactics..



 

OK, please

 

pretty please

 

whimper

 

pleading look

 

well I never...



 

...kiss my ... oh wait a minute ....

are those peanuts?

 

They are!

 

 

Oh finally, I love peanuts!

 

 

Thank you!

 

Here is a picture that I have finished recently, I apologize if you have seen it before....

It is another of my teddies and tigers series, a watercolour, called "Towering Teddies".

 

 

 

Thank you for dropping by, Happy Whimsy Wednesday,  

I will probably "see you in September", until then I wish you all the best of health.

 

 

Mag-nificent

I have always assumed that this was a magnolia but I read somewhere that Magnolias are evergreens and these are definitely deciduous. I walked around my neighborhood recently and saw many different kinds, but most were deciduous, the few evergreen magnolias didn't show any sign of flowers.

I thought I should investigate a bit.

but first, we have had a lot of this recently,

and some wind, and even though there are still a lot of cherry blossoms on the trees, it has been snowing blossoms too.

This hedge has caught quite a few falling blossoms,

and many sidewalks and pathways are covered in a blanket of newly fallen blossoms. Ah, spring!

So to get back to Magnolias, according to the Royal Horticultural Society, there are both evergreen and deciduous varieties:

"Deciduous magnolias usually flower in spring before leaf emergence. Magnolia grandiflora (bull bay), the most commonly grown evergreen, flowers in flushes from summer until early autumn. In warm summers these can be followed by striking knobbly seedpods from which bright red seeds emerge in autumn."

Apparently the Magnolia is an ancient plant genus:

"Magnolia is an ancient genus. Appearing before bees did, the flowers evolved to encourage pollination by beetles. To avoid damage from pollinating beetles, the carpels of Magnolia flowers are extremely tough."

One or two of the flowers below has been damaged by the rain and wind, showing a cross section of the flower.

They get the name from French botanist Pierre Magnol.

In my stroll around the neighborhood I saw white ones, pink ones and purple ones. These beautiful white ones and delicate star-like ones are my favorite.

Here are white magnolias against a background of delicate pink cherry blossoms.

I encountered some evergreen magnolias too, but they were not showing any sign of flowering.

I saw a couple of shrubs with little yellow puffy flowers too, quite lovely but I don't know what they are.

I have been a bit under the weather this week, a little dose of food poisoning I think, but starting to feel better.

Here is a great video of an owl:

Here is a picture my pal Judy forwarded to me titled "owls in camouflage". I had to look quite closely, at first to see the owl.

I did get some painting done though. Perhaps because of the abundant blossoms outside, this week I felt like painting flowers. This watercolour is named "In the Pink", it's a hydrangea:

For more details follow this link: GillianOlsonArt.blogspot.ca

Thanks for stopping by, Happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next week .........