New Years Greeting

May the new year be sparkling and filled with

magical moments in nature.

Happy New Year!

The Birds and the First Snow

The first snow of the season and some of the birds who

visited our yard...

A Rainy Day

Spotted a pair of mergansers in the rain….

and along the shore this happy dog was a very good 

frisbee player.

Winter Solstice

Happy Winter Solstice

Our resident little red squirrel enjoying berries

Way up in the crabapple tree a bluebird stopped by...

The cardinals brighten the scene.

What we are missing on this day is snow.

The temperatures are very mild for this time of year.

A Favorite Spot

This is a new favorite spot for Josie's naps.

Peace

and love

and the beauty and lovely surprises in nature

on our walks around the village we collected chestnuts

to share with squirrels and chipmunks in our yard

and this little red squirrel 

discovered them.

Now they are all gone.

Painting with Josie

While in the midst of painting autumn leaves

this morning, Josie hopped up to supervise

and meditate.

We grew some vegetables in containers on our deck

and these are our own eggplants saved from the frost.

I find them so beautiful that I am painting some of

them which makes it difficult to actually cook with them!
I've been enjoying painting from life what we have grown…
the tomatoes, Asian pears, squash, apples, peppers,
  eggplants and leaves so far.

A Baby Snapping Turtle

While taking a walk on our street this morning

I discovered a baby snapping turtle in the road.

It must have just hatched.

My husband picked it up and escorted it through

the yard and woods to the brook where it swam away.

We wish it a good life!

The birds of summer through my art

I've been painting birds this summer and here are

some of them.

The endangered piping plovers and chicks are

so endearing to see in person from a distance.

Love the kingfisher and have been delighted

to see it rest on a branch over a marsh.

In our garden I caught sight of a mama finch

feeding her baby. The baby was bigger than her.

You can see those and lots more on my website.

Here's a link to the prints of birds section.

There's many categories and choices within those.

Thanks for looking!

Spring is Full of Surprises

We put the hummingbird feeder out about a week ago

and the hummingbirds did find it to our delight.

Then we had another visitor to the hummingbird feeder…

The oriole loves this.

And chippy has discovered a new safe place.

I had never seen this bird before and I discovered

it is called a Canada warbler.

Who is This?

This lovely bird visited us yesterday and I don't know 

what it is…do you?

I think it may be a kind of warbler...

Would love to know if anyone can identify it.

thanks

Back On the Porch

Josie is back on the porch…

watching

and  this….

Warmth and Yellow Signs of Spring

It's the first day it felt warm enough to open the windows and let 

fresh air in and keep the door opened so Josie could go out on 

the porch.

Was she ever excited to see the chipmunks, squirrels and birds

from a new vantage point.

The goldfinch is still turning yellow.

The first yellow crocus appeared like magic.

Little Signs of Spring

The goldfinch is turning a brighter yellow.

Saw a Flicker at the suet bird feeder yesterday.

Noticed this little dog running 

for joy on the beach yesterday.

Chippy on a little deck….

Great Blue Herons

A surprise on the last day of March (yesterday)...

we saw 5 Great Blue Herons.

Wonderful to see them....still have snow on the 

ground but they seem to be able to fish.

Signs of spring while still resembling winter.

Snowing

Yesterday we had snow once again…

fortunately it was light and didn't accumulate.

Will we ever see the crocuses this spring?

Recent Pet Portraits

you can see the other pets I've painted

if you click here.

Fist Day of Spring

Snow still hides the garden as blue jays find nourishment

on this first day of spring.

The chipmunk is out of hibernation…

and filling his cheeks with sunflower

seeds from the bird feeder.

A beautiful sight, 15 deer appeared in a marshy field

near the ocean.

Happy spring wherever you may be.

The First Sign of Spring

Several days ago we actually saw our first sign of spring

even though we were surrounded by tall snowbanks.

It gave us hope.

It was actually warm enough to melt some snow along the

road into a puddle.

Robins and cedar waxwings were enjoying a bird bath,

splashing and frolicking.

A wondrous sight to behold.

The Squirrel This Morning

This morning as I glanced out to see the who was visiting

the bird feeders I spotted this squirrel way up in the tree.

I couldn't figure out what he was eating.

Could it be bark from the tree?

What could it be?

Whatever it was, he seemed happy with it.

Another Big Blizzard

So cold and so much snow…

I sprinkled bird seed on the surface of the snow

for the birds and squirrels.

We have regulars at the bird feeders

this winter.

Today we saw the starlings, blue jays,

tufted titmouse, sparrows, juncos, cardinals,

chickadees, starlings and finches.

Getting harder to dig out!