Sketching, no TAST news

Hello again!

WOW! My last blog entry had us in the middle of a wild snow storm! Today, as I write this, it is 22 C, the sun is shining, the fields are dry and the farmers are planting wheat! And yes, there are still small areas in thickly treed areas and along the edges of fields that have snow in them!

After my last post and our last snow storm or maybe our second to last snow storm, we actually got some nice weather! We never knew how long the nice weather was going to last as the weather report seemed to change hourly, so the last few weeks, every time it was nice out, we ran out to do yard chores. We live out in the country and have almost an acre of land, so there is lots to rake. I also have about 80 bushes and trees, and four large flower beds and one large vegetable garden plus pots that needed to be cleaned out. We even did some pruning! So we are alot further along than we normally are this time of year, but I am way behind in stitching. Since we are an island and surrounded by somewhat cold or cool water, which can be in ice form this time of year, our springs are usually a long time in coming so it was a bit unusual for us to have the nice weather that we did the last few weeks. In between our yard work, we managed a few walks along various beaches near us. As a side note, there is no where on this island, where you are no more than half an hour from a beach!
This is Cabot Park:

In any case, I was able to start my "Pebble", previously mentioned. You can find more info on the Pebble in Stitchin Fingers or here. This is what I have done in my Pebble so far.
I started out with just the ecru but thought it was boring. Even though I have recently stocked my perle cotton supply with various colours, I didn't seem to have enough variation in colours to get a slight variation in colour from the ecru. I ended up with some somewhat sharp contrasts. The ecru right now is looking a bit lonely so I will have to spread it around some so that it doesn't look so out of sorts all by itself along the bottom. I'll keep you posted!

After all our hard work in the yard, I decided yesterday that we needed a day off. Not too much of a day off as I am now getting up at 5:30 a.m. to get to the pool by 6 a.m. so that I don't lose too much of the day and can get some work done. So, after the pool, we packed a picnic lunch and the three of us headed off to our nearby National Park Campground (me, husband, dog). The park is still closed to camping, but you can walk in and enjoy the quiet peacefullness. I brought along my sketching supplies and my husband took the dog and they walked the nearby 10 km trail as I sketched.

The results of my efforts:

The first things I drew: leaves, dried flower, pine cone, branch on the ground
The leaves:
The dried flower:

And the branches:


Then I got brave and tried to do a tree stump. I think I chose something a bit too challenging as there were too many angles and levels and it got a bit overwhelming for me and I kept forgetting what level I was trying to draw. Not displeased with the result though.

The tree stump:

After I sketched each item, I got up for a stretch and during one of the stretches, took a photo of my set up. LOL Not much of one! This is when I was preparing to do the tree trunk.
There was a picnic table behind me with the rest of my gear. I didn't use them but brought some watercolour pencils, some water and brushes, just in case. On my chair and with me, was a selection of drawing pencils, my pad, and two cameras.

These are two photos taken from the chair. One to my left and a bit in front, the other to my right and a bit behind.

To the left and a bit in front, which I love because I love backlit scenes.

And this is to the right and a bit behind me:

I am definitely behind in TAST for sure now. I have no idea what happened but I was unable to see what the new stitches were after week 14. I just got to see week 15 stitch a day or two ago and so am now at least 2 stitches behind. We are expecting some cooler and possibly rainy or snowy weather for the next week so I will hope to catch up!

I leave you with one further photo. Along the north shore of our island, lobster fishing season opens May 1st. The fishermen are allowed to put their traps in the water April 30th and then haul them out May 1st with their first catch of the season. These lobsters are the best! The meat in the shell is wonderful and full and the water is cold so they taste the best. We have another season in the fall, mostly along the south shore, but I find these lobsters just don't taste the same. In this last photo, the boats which were taken out of the waters in the fall because the water freezes up, even though it is salt water, are now back in the water. The new or freshly repaired lobster traps are being loaded and piled up on the docks waited to be loaded onto the boats for April 30th.
This last photo was taken just outside of the Cabot Park, in Malpeque Bay. Malpeque Bay is actually world famous among the good seafood restaurant world. Malpeque Bay oysters are among the best in the world! The lobsters are pretty good too! LOL

Well, enjoy your spring and have a lovely week!