So Darn Cute

The goslings are here, and they are so cute I decided to start with them today. There are only two so far this year.

This little one stopped to pose for this picture!

 

 

 Cute as can be, and below it did a couple of stretches, straightening up in between.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't need a lot of words here, the goslings are stealing the show.

 

 

It was a beautiful day and their fine down was glistening in the sunlight.

 

 

watchful parents... 

 

 

 

 

 



 

AAAAAAAWWWWWWW!
 

 

 

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Next the art news:

Great news, two of my paintings have been accepted into the South Delta Artists' Guild
"2016 Oil and Water" exhibition:

Ink and watercolour - "Squashed"

and watercolour - "Angels Trumpets".

 

 

They will be at Gallery 1710 in Tsawwassen, BC.

 

The exhibition runs from June 2 to 24 and

the opening reception will be held on June 2 starting at 630 pm.

 

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So how is my triptych progressing? Well here is part two almost finished and part three is well on its way, I hope to be able to share that next week.

 

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Two other things for your entertainment:
 

First, a heartwarming video about a baby hummingbird:

 

 

 

Second, a treat from surrealist painter Rob Gonsalves at:

 

http://www.boredpanda.com/magic-realism-paintings-rob-gonsalves/

 

"The beautiful and mind-bending illusions in Canadian artist Robert Gonsalves’ paintings have a fun way of twisting your perception and causing you to question what in his paintings, if anything, is real."

 

That's all for this week, thanks for dropping by,

happy Wednesday, with whimsy,

Gillian.

Thank you for your comments, I thrive on them!







Adrift with little-uns

There is always something to watch at the park this time of year, I saw 3 different broods of ducklings. This little ball of fluff caught my attention. 

 

This mother duck had her "wings" or "feathers" full with 8 little ducklings. 



 

 

A closer look at one.

 

 

 

"Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but always paddling like the dickens underneath."

Michael Caine

 

She was "herding" them around the pond.

 

 

 "If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidea on our hands."

 

Douglas Adams

 

 

There are small drifts of "white stuff" along the edges of the trails in the park and in the woods, in some places about 4 inches, not snow but the fluff blowing off the trees (cottonwoods I believe).

It is at times like this that I am very thankful that I am not sensitive to pollen.

 

 

This duckling is a lot older, notice the colour in those cute little wings.

 

"That is my gift. I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck's back. If its not positive, I didn't hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy."

 

George Foreman

 

 

I only saw three goslings so far this year and the parents were being very protective; at one point they even chased away a duckling.

 

 

 

Pretty cute!

 

As I watched one seemed to fall asleep on its feet; it sank to the ground burying its beak in the grass, a short nap until woken by the adult.

"Being born in a duck yard does not matter, if only you are hatched from a swans egg".

 

Hans Christian Andersen 

 

Here is the last of the duck families. I noticed that not one of the three duck families had the drake in attendance, in that respect the geese seemed to be more conscientious parents.

 

 

"If you keep your feathers well oiled the water of criticism will run off as from a duck's back."

 

Ellen Swallow Richards

 

I also saw some newly fledged Redwing Blackbirds. The male RW Blackbird was chasing the Crows away and in one case I saw it actually peck at the crow.

 

The crows must be quite a threat to the newly fledged birds.

 

and just one more thought:

 

"Just when he thought the world was ending, the caterpillar turned into a butterfly."

 

Proverb

 

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This week I finished this painting, an ink and watercolour, of an artichoke which I called "Arty-choke":

 

 

 

Love the purple versions but as with purple beans they end up green when cooked.

 

 It is the latest of my Food cards, which include a recipe card using the pictured ingredient. What is the recipe for this card, take a look:

 

View at:http://www.pswhimsy.com/food-cards-series-22.html

 

or all the food cards at: http://www.pswhimsy.com/food.html

 

In addition to the above card I have made several other card additions to the PS Whimsy site, view these at:

 

http://www.pswhimsy.com/new-additions.html

 

 

Until next time...

Thank you for all your kind comments on my last post.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

happy Whimsy Wednesday

 

 

 

 





Cariboo Country

I have just returned from a visit to the Cariboo region of British Columbia.

Old Trappers Cabin



 

"The Cariboo was a land born of dreams … dreams of discovery, yellow dust and instant riches. In 1862, Billy Barker found gold on Williams Creek, a discovery that started a rush of adventurers from North America and around the world.

Between 1862 and 1870, over 10,000 adventurous people travelled the Cariboo Waggon Road, and towns sprang up in their wake, from Lillooet in the south to the goldfields of Barkerville in the North.

The gush for Cariboo gold soon declined, but not the trek of discovery into the rugged wilderness of the Cariboo. People from all over the world still venture here, following the footsteps of the expeditions that went before them. It is still a land of golden dreams with summer images of golden rolling pastures, grazing horses, and forest meadows filled in spring with beautiful flowers."

http://britishcolumbia.com/plan-your-trip/regions-and-towns/cariboo-chilcotin-coast/cariboo/

My sister and brother-in-law live in a beautiful log house, not at all like the trappers cabin above, near 100 Mile House. The numbered place names get their names from distances on the old road that started in Lillooet and led north to Barkerville.

We visited the 108 Mile Heritage Site and walked around the lake. First here are some pictures of the Heritage site.

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

The Clydesdale barn below is the largest log barn in Canada.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Heritage site is open to the public from the third week of May to the beginning of September, so I was a bit too early to see inside.



Next we walked around the lake. There are many wetlands and lakes in the area and they attract a lot of birds' some passing through and some nesting and raising young. I saw quite a few birds that I had never seen "in the feathers" before.

These Red-necked Grebes were clacking their beaks together in what I presumed was part of their courtship ritual.

 

Mergansers below, here the female seems to be outnumbered.

 

At first we thought that the birds below were swans, but a closer look revealed them to be pelicans, they are on a shallow "island" in the middle of the lake. Also a new bird to me.

 



I think this little beauty is a Western Tananger, another new one for me. There is gold in them there trees!

 



 

He thought I had enough pictures and turned his back on me below.

 

These next two I am not sure of, the first I thought might be a Cedar Waxwing but now think a Nuthatch (thanks Tex)

 

and the next two are either a Cowbird or a Blackbird.

 

 

Speaking of a gold rush look at these little fluff balls!

 

These Canada Geese were keeping their goslings very close, we though we saw a hawk in the area.

 

  

 

A Barrows Goldeneye.

 



 

 

The birds were wonderful but here are a few other sights from our walk.

 

 

Well I took almost a thousand pictures, so there will be more in future posts.

 

Sorry no art to share this week.

 

 



Until next time...

Thank you for all your kind comments on my last post.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

happy Whimsy Wednesday, 

 

Gillian.