I’m still making botanical prints but not quite as often because, for one thing, the appearance of brand new wildflowers has waned, so I don’t have as many new things to try. I did make a couple of things with my prints though. I made a double-accordion book with one and with another one I made a hand-operated scrolling viewer so you can focus on one section at a time. I’ll put those pics below. Proud of those.
But another reason I haven’t done as many as that obsession has been replaced by a different one. I ordered a gelli plate and some acrylic paints and I’ve been playing around with them. I started with leaves and textures from around the house, and then I learned how to do image transfers. Super cool, just not sure what to do with all of the prints I’m making! Also, a lot of the stuff comes out yucky as I haven’t quite figured out how to get the layering to work well yet. I did make one collage so far. A couple pics below and then more at the end.
I also recently started using an app I’ve had for awhile but I didn’t realize how fun it is. It’s the Merlin Bird ID app. Just step outside and press record and it’ll identify bird songs in real-time, including the image of the bird species and the visual of the soundwaves. If I just step outside for like 5-10 minutes, I’ll get at least 10 or so bird species! I started a spreadsheet and I was thinking I could log the stuff I hear once in a while and after a year I could do a data visualization of it maybe. So far, it has identified 35 species!
Around the house, we’ve been eating flower petals from the calendula plants and the whitemouth dayflowers. Lots of baby deer around and recently I noticed one that was apparently stuck in our fence! I got the dogs inside and asked Rob to help, and he moved her over to a shady spot and within minutes the mom deer was back by her side. Phew!
She looks all broken but really she was fine. Rob said she weighed about the same as a piece of paper!
I was standing in the yard not long ago and watched a deer come up to the fence looking into the yard, waiting for a dog to see her. So Stoney runs over, and next thing they do is deer and dog are racing along the fence together! At the corner, they turn around and go back. Woody joined in and I watched for easily 5 solid minutes of top speed racetrack! This has happened more than once. Super hilarious. I finally went in for my phone and caught the last two laps on video but by then they weren’t going as fast.
Dogs are doing well overall. Rob ordered a tool that can grind the dogs’ nails rather than clip them since its super hard to cut their nails especially as they move at just the wrong time. And Woody’s are extra impossible since the quick of his nail is really far down so you can hardly cut at all before causing bleeding! (And his are always super sharp- we call them talons). So anyway we have done this a couple of times on the front paws and the grinding does seem better. Doesn’t cause them to freak out as much, but it still requires both of us for restraint and dogs panicking and crying, etc.
And I’m trying to decide this week if we should bring Woody in to the vet because he’s itching a lot and his underside is pretty reddish. They recently renewed their flea and tick medicine but all kinds of other things can be causing itching these days, including chiggers, which I have all the time. Stony itches a lot too but it seems like Woody’s condition is worse. At least to me. Woody is always worse about everything ;)
It’s crazy hot out, like 100 every day and even higher. Concerned for chickens so I have an extra bin of water in the shady part of yard and I put ice in it and the drinking water in the afternoon a couple of times. I know other chicken folks have lost chickens this week from heat so we are keeping our fingers crossed. We believe that they have cool dugouts under the pool deck which helps. There’s also two hens broody right now so when I pull them out of the roosts a few times a day I stick them in the tub of water which serves to cool them a little.
What I used to consider short jogs I now refer to as animal conservation tours because I inevitably find a critter that needs to be coaxed off of the street before it gets run over. Twice there were little baby checkered garter snakes - super cute! And literally one day in front of me a gentle tarantula was just walking across the street, no big deal! I was very pleased to get a picture and video of it. Not scary at all, just doing its thing and not really minding me taking a few glamour shots.
I recently participated in Game of Shrooms 2022 and I hid my “art” at Jester King Brewery (I got permission first). Unfortunately, no one bothered to go get it lol. That’s OK, but maybe next year I’ll make something cooler that’ll be desirable to hunt for! More pics below.
