Bits and Pieces

Happy Friday to you all! I cannot believe how fast a week goes by! Today I have a few things to share with you in addition to some art.

1. The flowers and plants in our garden are finally starting to come alive again. I took some pictures after a rain (which seems to happen daily at the moment - a very wet spring for us), that were just too pretty not to share.

2. Daniel found this amazing little abandoned wasp nest in our garden the other day. Isn't it perfect?

It now lives with the two huge dead bugs on our piano.

In good company!

3. Here is the progression of a pet portrait I worked on as a commission. As usual, I just started with some colors and shapes. These were so pretty!  

Then I did a very rudimentary sketch and started with the eyes. I always start with the eyes.

Then some more color and definition.

And finally, after all the shading, adding more color and some detail, Zachy was finished.

Zachy is Winslow's best buddy and he has a sweetness about him that I tried to capture in the painting. Winslow and Zachy thought I did a good job...

If you would like me to paint your pet, just send me an email (the link is in my profile) for the details.

4. It's actually been warm enough on a couple of days to go take a walk on the beach. Barefoot!

 It was glorious! Although the cold water made me jump when I put my feet in.

Not Daniel. He loves walking through the water, no matter what temperature.

5. The newest member of our family. He came to us from the storm drain on our street, wet during a rain storm, with a wound on his cheek and bad ear mites. We kept him outside at first and checked around if someone was missing him. He is quite young and very sweet. When the nights got very cold, we took him inside (he wouldn't go into the garage with our two outdoor cats) and discovered that he loves both Winslow and Ramses. It seems it was meant to be. The vet thought that someone probably moved and didn't take him, something that's inconceivable to me.

Meet Peabody!

And with that I wish you a beautiful weekend, an even better week ahead and as much joy in your life as you can stand!

I'm linking this to the amazing folks at Paint Party Friday and at I Heart Macro.

With lots of love and appreciation for you all,

❧ Silke

Bugs

When you live in a climate like ours where it is warm and humid most of the year and where the winters are mild, bugs of all sorts are a part of daily life. But right now I am fascinated by the variety we are seeing on our plants and flowers and I tried to take some pictures for you (you can click on them to see them bigger, which might help with some of the smaller bugs).

Of course I always love to see ladybugs in our garden taking care of aphids which seem to like certain plants. In the picture below it's hard to see the ladybug as it blends in perfectly with the flowers of the beautiful tropical milkweed.

The reason we planted these plants a couple of years ago was not for the pretty flowers, but to attract the caterpillars of the monarch butterfly. We were so happy to see a few of them chomping down on the leaves this year. As far as we are concerned, they can keep on eating.

Here's a new bug for us (on our fig tree) and I had to do a bit of research, but I found out that they are Kudzu beetles and were first spotted in our area 2009. They eat not only kudzu (which is a good thing as this plant is invading the south), but also legumes, which may be a problem as they multiply. They won't hurt our fig tree or the figs, but will soon fly on to find food elsewhere.

This little guy below I have no idea what it is but I found his colors so pretty, I had to snap a picture.

All the flowers right now are attracting all sorts of bees, wasps and flies. (If you click on the photo above, you can see the bee's perfect yellow and black stripes.)

The yarrow especially is abundant with all kinds of flying creatures.

I love seeing the bees so busy!

I have lots more garden photos which I'll share with you in other posts. Don't want to overwhelm you...

In the meantime, I wish you a beautiful Monday!

❧ Silke