Making peace with bird on bird

I see red-shouldered hawks about three times a week when I'm out and about. Most often they are standing on telephone wires on Rte 12 between Sonoma and Santa Rosa and on Rte. 12 between Sonoma and Napa. Occasionally they stand elsewhere, but telephone wires seem to be their thing.

Until recently red-shouldered hawks were one of my most favorite birds. Their posture caught my attention -- large, standing up straighter than crows and small birds, looking proud as they survey their land (or whatever they were surveying, I never asked).

My favoritism changed after we got the chickens and I began worrying about a hawk swooping down into the chicken run, scooping up one of the girls and taking off with her. Currently the chickens have a bird net covering their baby run and, if I ever get the run constructed around the larger coop, there is a stronger net to cover that one too. So I'm doing my part to keep the chickens safe, but still, I keep hearing sad stories of up, up and away...

I think they are almost too large for that - I don't think a hawk can fly with someone the same size - so maybe red-shouldered hawks will soon regain their stature with me. They are gorgeous, they stand proud, they still catch my attention when I drive by.

Spring is a-comin'

I could hardly believe it, but today it was knock your eyes out bright and sunny for the first time since I don't know when. What's more, this is the weather we're being promised for the entire week!


I celebrated by attempting to follow a Prismacolor tutorial on goldfinches by Kaaren Poole, but I definitely need more practice. Her book, DRAWING BIRDS WITH COLORED PENCILS, is great. I want to spend a lot more time with it because each "lesson" is clearly explained and I know I could learn a lot -- both about birds and about how to draw them. You can click on the image and end up at amazon.com if you want to purchase your own copy.

In the meantime, I painted all the white cabinetry, door and trim in a bathroom at home today, so at least one room is fresh with no paw prints. The work went fairly quickly, 2-1/2 hours from sandpapering the wood to saying, "I'm done." I have hundreds of those little 2-1/2 hour tasks throughout the house and it always feels so good to actually cross one off the list.

Steve and I took three of the dogs for a 1.3 mile walk, which we all enjoyed. Steve gave Brix a bath and I trimmed his nails and Parisse's too. Cassidy had her bath yesterday. Right now we have four dogs in the household - Cassidy is probably temporary - and there's always someone in need of our little beauty shop. Demi is the most public of the dogs so she gets the most attention - and a weekly bath - but the rest are pretty clean too, I'm funny about that. Maybe I should have become a groomer.

My sentiments, exactly

"Daffodils" (1804)
I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
By William Wordsworth (1770-1850).

Don't give up, drop down!

Today was one of those days when I was so discouraged about some recent drawings I'd made that I decided to drop down about 87 levels and copy a charming little picture from the Draw.Write.Now series. This one is the second lesson in the first book -- for six year olds! (That shows how desperate I was feeling.)

I used Prismacolor pencils -- I have hundreds of them, donated by a friend who found a killer of a sale, but I rarely use them. (It's on my list of things to learn... after I learn to draw, after I learn how to paint, etc.) I'm seen some gorgeous colored pencil drawings but I haven't done much with them myself... yet. Tomorrow I think I'm going to sit around and draw hens and chickens all day. Yeah.

Just finish it!

I'm always looking for new projects for the kids at Juvenile Hall. These are kids with very limited art skills, skills even below mine, and who lack self confidence that they can do anything. So today I'm bringing in some pictures from National Geographic magazines which I have more or less centered on the page and I'm asking the boys to finish the pictures in any way they like -- realistically or imaginatively -- but with some sort of coherence to the starting image. They can choose the picture they want to work with and they can use Prismacolor pencils. I always show them what I did so they won't be too intimidated. So now I'm showing you.