More backyard excitement

Over the weekend we spent a lot of time on the back porch watching the birds. One morning after watching our regular visitor, the red-bellied woodpecker, I mentioned to Daniel how I'd love to see one of the pileated woodpeckers again. I was stunned when we saw one that same afternoon.

They are said to be the largest woodpecker in the US, about the size of a crow and they truly look prehistoric to me.

We first saw one ... and then two! They were hammering away at this tree and stuck around for a long time. I tried to take a video of them, but somehow the camera didn't cooperate, which was too bad as the wood chips were just flying from the tree!

We hear them a lot, but they are quite shy and usually stay way up in the tall pine trees around here and our house and we hardly ever get to see them.

They came really close to us, checking out our bird feeders. We figure they might be feeding their young.

I also found out that they mate for life, which I thought was so sweet, seeing those two together.

And then came the confusing part. Suddenly there were three! Really!! While they were all close to each other, I could not get them on the same photo.  We couldn't figure out why three of them would be hanging out together. Maybe it was a chick from last year? ~~ Ok, I just read about them some more and learned that the chicks have the same coloring as the adults right from the start. So, maybe they had one of the young with them. Although it did look pretty big... not sure. 

We haven't seen them since (this was only the third time we've seen them in our garden in six years), but what a treat that was!!

Even Winslow watched with us, but I think he wasn't quite as impressed as we were...

Do you any of you know why most of the woodpeckers here have similar coloring? Black, white, maybe some grey, but always bright red somewhere on their body? They aren't exactly camouflaged very well.

My blogging is going to be even more sporadic than normal - we are having a house guest with us until tomorrow and more arriving on Friday for the weekend. That means lots of fun outside and playing tourist, and less computer time! Hopefully, I'll take lots of beautiful photos to share with you!!

I hope you are all doing well and wish you a gorgeous Tuesday!!

Friday Morning...

We don't often have gray skies and dreary days here in Georgia. Most of the time, the sun is shining and skies are blue.

Not so this morning. Plus it was breezy and downright cool - a true gift this late in the year.

So, we packed up Winslow and headed to the river for a nice early morning walk.

All three of us loved it!

No dolphins, but I did spy a few pelicans.

When we got back home, we sat on the back porch and watched the birds.

I was lucky to have had the camera ready when the male red-bellied woodpecker brought the baby to the feeder. So sweet!

And since all of this happened before 9 a.m. this morning, we still have a the whole day ahead of us.

I wish you a beautiful and relaxing Friday!

Carlotta ~ New Painting

With my last painting, I was sort of afraid that it was a one-time deal, but it seems that my style truly is changing quite a bit.

And I am so enjoying it!

It feels entirely intuitive and that's how I like to paint best.

That's when time flies and hours feel like minutes and I'm totally present in the moment.

And afterwards totally covered with paint...

Carlotta
12 x 24 inch acrylic painting

Available in my Etsy Shop.

I hope you all are having a wonderful week!! And thank you for your visits and comments - they always make my day!! 

Checking in...

No, I have not fallen off the edge of the earth and all is well here in the Powers household. It's just been a busy and lazy few days. Much of what I've been up to has been exciting to me, but so boring to blog about: basically filing, organizing and filing some more. I'm making great progress in getting everything into good order, but it doesn't make for exciting blog fodder.

Today though, something exciting happened while we were eating lunch outside. The male red-bellied woodpecker brought the baby to the feeder. And then a blackbird arrived with a baby and a wren with the family. It was a sweet moment and all happened at the same time! The bluebird babies have flown the nest and we missed the great moment!

And so life goes on! And life it good!

I hope all is very well with you and hope to make the blog rounds sometime soon again ... between filing and organizing and spending as much time outside as possible before the sweltering summer heat kicks in.

Oh, I did make Savannah Banana Pudding from the Moosewood Dessert Cookbook on Saturday and it was heavenly! Sometime soon I'll have to share the recipe with you... You'll love it!

A quick hello...

...and a great big thank you for all your wonderful and encouraging comments on my last painting!

Here, the weather has been PERFECT and today we spent a good bit of time at the beach (as you can see from the photo). It was incredible! A little windy and cool in the shade, but Daniel even went swimming. It felt like vacation. We even had a big group of dolphins (including at least two babies) come by and put on a show for us. They were jumping and playing and splashing around right in front of Daniel when he was in the water. One of those perfect moments, you know?

By the way, all those sticks between Daniel and the water have been washed up lately by the extremely high tides we had around the last super moon. They are the reeds and grasses that get washed out to sea when the tidal waters get really high in the marshes.

In those reeds, Daniel discovered a huge dead fish. It had been dead for a while because all the bone had been exposed. The pattern of the scales looked so beautiful to me.

I did a little research online and found an interesting article on exactly such a mystery creature that had washed up on a South Carolina beach in March. People wondered if it was an as yet unidentified sea monster. Turns out, it was a carcass of an Atlantic Sturgeon. Mystery solved...

Well, all of this great weather has severely impacted my computer time and my time in my studio. But I don't mind... Soon it'll be hot and humid and I'll have much more indoor time again!

I hope you are having a gorgeous and joy-filled Friday wherever you are!!

So...

... you probably noticed I hadn't painted in over a week. Instead I cleaned, I organized, I put away, and I weeded out.

All the while feeling that the same process was happening in my brain and my thoughts. I had a feeling that when I would paint again, I would have assimilated something new to express. And I wasn't wrong.

This afternoon, in only 30 minutes of very intuitive painting, Sabrina was created. She's actually based on a photo of me as a child, but doesn't look anything like it in the end. I painted with brushes and my fingers, I used a color palette that's quite unusual for me, and a style that makes my heart beat a little bit faster. 

I am going to sit with it for a while, but had to share it with you already. Maybe she'll change, maybe not. Maybe I'll put her in my Etsy store eventually, but at the moment I am strangely attached.

I hope you had a beautiful day! 

Tall Ships in Savannah

This last weekend, the Tall Ships Challenge started in Savannah (for more info, click here). All those beautiful sailboats, some very old, some newer, were docked along Savannah's river front and a sight to behold!

Daniel took lots of photos for us and you and most of them speak for themselves.

I love the shots with the Talmadge Bridge in the background.

The US Coast Guard ship was stunning!

The building in the photo above was built in the 1700s from ballast stones that empty ships would bring carry and unload in Savannah to take on their cargo. It now houses a restaurant.

As we were walking back to the car, this container ship was leaving the harbor - such a great juxtaposition of old and new.

I leave you with a few photos Daniel took on our way back to the car.  The arches below and cobble stone streets are also built from ballast stones.

Everything is so green at the moment and simply beautiful. And our capitol building looked especially bright against the clear blue sky.

With that I wish you a fantastic new week!