Sunday, April 6, 2008

mixed bag Sunday...














Sunny, but still cool at night time.... what little water is in the birdie bath still freezes each night... today I am going to scrub it well and put out some fresh for the little visitors.

This year there are lots of little warblers or thrushes..I am not sure, I need a lesson from a true "birder"... but we hear them trilling away all day now. This is something quite new to the neighbourhood. We have decided that perhaps it is because so many of the huge, old poplar trees have been taken down (finally) and maybe that is deterring the bigger birds from building in the immediate area. Great! There is nothing worse than watching a huge crow or magpie stealing a baby robin. I have hurt my arm and shoulder several times throwing boots, brooms, balls, (whatever is handy when I dash out to screech at them and throw things!) .. those murdering big ugly birds. Sorry...I know it is nature...but...I can, and will, draw the line at letting it happen in my yard. Two years ago, we tried in vain to stop the magpies from beginning a nest in our big blue spruce... lobbing golf balls at them...but we couldn't throw them half way up the silly tree. Mr. Bumble decided he could climb the tree and do it ... he is pretty agile.... but I wasn't sure about him doing that. In about 3 minutes flat he was 30 feet up the inside of the big branches... throwing out the huge twigs they had hauled in since 6 in the morning...they had quite the pile of junk in there already. They flew past a few times while he was in the tree..but never did come back ... and nobody fell out of the tree, so all was well. Whew.
























This is a little sketch from a few weeks ago. My eyes don't always feel up to looking at tiny stitches if I am sewing... or even concentrating on where I am stabbing sharp felting needles if I am doing some felting project... ..... so, on those days, I just do something else. There are so many cute dolls on the covers of some of the magazines I have in my small collection. ... and I kept looking at his little girl.... finally took out my sketch book and pencil and gave it a try. I had never done any drawing or sketching until '04, when I took my first online class and actually had to draw eyes on fabric to make my first doll face. My imagination doesn't provide me with original stuff...but I like to copy things.... animals...pictures....the like.... I find it fun to see if I can make it look "sort of like" ...... I am a copycat.

Update: sunny till about 2:00...then the cloud rolled in.... the birdie bath was sparkling in the sun ... .... some robins discovered it....

12 comments:

C.C. said...

You've been drawing only since 2004? It looks like you've been at it all your life! You must have a natural talent only recently tapped. I love your story about chasing away the magpies. Glad the robins found your birdbath!

BumbleVee said...

hiya c.c. ....yeh, I guess it was just one of those things that I never really tried, so who knew I could even do it?

Judi W. said...

Your drawing is great!

Vee said...

You are definitely an "eye" person! You give so much attention to the eyes...it's really fun to see.

Warblers...are they the birds that sound as if a rope is being swung around and around?

this is my patch said...

I am so impressed, your sketching is amazing, you have yet another talent. I totally agree with you about magpies, I have noticed a pair building a nest in one of our neighbour's spruces, just what I didn't want, yes they kill smaller birds, young, eggs etc but they also make one hell of a noise too, and I can't stand it. I love birds, but magpies really do test my patience. I had a warbler in our garden the other day, but I have a problem in telling a Willow Warbler from a Chiffchaff, one has black legs and one has paler legs apparently, but how can you get up close enough to find this out, and I didn't have a pair of binoculars to hand either. x

Linda Fleming said...

Your drawing is wonderful, Vee! You may not have been sketching long, but you are very good at it.

I, too, get upset with the harshness of nature, and hate to see any creature suffer or be killed. Mike says I want to live in a pretend Disney-like world. I guess he is right- reality can be so harsh at times.

Susan said...

Your drawing is beautiful Vee and you exactly captured her expression - the most difficult part of drawing. Bravo! Winnie Dixon & Mr. Ver send their love xo, S.

mrsnesbitt said...

Lovely drawing!

yes, the birds...nature is so raw.
I witnessed a sparrowhawk dive into our hedge and take a young sparrow. Over in a flash!

Carole Burant said...

So I'm not the only one who throws things at big birds who are trying to eat little birds?? lol It really upsets me when I see ravens and crows after the baby robins...I do everything to try to save them but sometimes it happens anyway and I just hate it!!! I saw my first robin today so that's a sure sign that Spring is finally here. If you saw my pictures this morning you'll have seen we still have quite a bit of snow but it IS starting to melt away:-)

You are a natural at sketching...you got the exact facial features of that doll, gorgeous!!

Take care of YOU!! xoxo

smilnsigh said...

Me too, I copy. :-) I've done pastels and oils and just plain drawing. {A long time ago...} But I mostly copy.

You did a simply marvelous drawing of that doll! I actually like your drawing, better than the pic of the doll. I mean it. It's prettier.

And your shading! Wow, you are gooooood!

Mari-Nanci

Sandra Evertson said...

LOVE the drawing and the doll!
Sandra Evertson

Veronica said...

I have such a funny picture appeared in my mind of you out there throwing boots!