Today, we have had about 10 or 12 Cardinals (male & female) back and forth from the pine trees to the feeders--all during the time the snow was falling (again). We had this phenomena the first time about the last week in January. Usually there are a pair of cardinals that come to feed very early and then very late--the last ones to visit the feeder just before dark. I read somewhere that Cardinals will gather that way in February--has anyone else read that? They are so colorful and enjoyable to watch.

Still lots of Snow

I did this watercolor card a couple years ago at a Christmas Card Making Class. Thought I would dig it out and put in on the blog because we are still very snowy outside.

I think this is the most snow we have had in years here in downstate Michigan.

LET IT SNOW

Yes, I said I was sick of winter (see below) but then we got all this snow in our front courtyard--what happened to global warming? It was quite beautiful and I tried to sketch and watercolor it through my front doorwall.

The bird eat up the seed voraciously during all this snow, and there are deer tracks all over my yard--especially under the feeder and in the small woods behind us.

Tired of Winter already

Now that the Christmas Celebrations, and the New Year has begun, it always make me think of the days now starting to get longer...and maybe we could hope for an "early spring." Am I too optimistic? So I went thru my sketchbook and found another great memory--a visit in South Carolina for a wedding. And while we were there, we visited a nature park which had an interesting gazebo in their Iris Garden. Somewhat Asian-looking I thought. Nice.

Merry Christmas 2008

All our cards have been sent out, so I thought I would post a copy of the watercolor I put on the front of them. Last year my watercolor Guru (Catherine) painted a sketch of her Christmas Cactus which was pink-colored and my cactus had just bloomed bright red--so I thought to try it for myself. I was pleased with the result and decided to save it for our cards for 2008--and here is the cover. To anyone who sees this: Merry Christmas!

Grindelwald Switzerland

This is a watercolor sketch I did in 2003 when we were in Grindelwald, Switzerland--part of a 50th Anniversary trip--where we started out in Frankfurt, Germany and drove thru Bavaria and other parts of Germany. The view out of our hotel window was this Church steeple in front of the mountains--and I had a table to work on right there. I ended up using this for a Christmas Card picture that year. Brings back fond memories.

Lewis River Yellowstone National Park

This was a beautiful scene that we came upon after leaving the Tetons in Wyoming. We just entered Yellowstone Park after a huge snowstorm--I quickly sketched what I saw in my sketchbook, and my husband took a photo of the scene and this is the one I decided to paint. The reflections were awesome.