Lamppost in Winter

Just had a wistful moment for Winter (believe it or not) - but I do love winter nights with a silent, light snowfall and maybe waking up to a snowday for the kids.  I had a message from my students at Frazer Elementary, and they were so excited about having a snow day!  I miss the 10-yr-old "Eagle Eyes" students with whom I work as a volunteer. They are such nice little people.

Florida Fighting Conch

The Lucky Ducky

Actually, the name of this boat (moored at the marina below our room) was the Lucky Lucy, but without my glasses on, I thought it said Lucky Ducky, and rather liked that name!

Flowers on the coffee table

Drink more water!

Seahorse with two little seahorses

Did you know that it's the male seahorse that carries and gives birth to the baby seahorses? The lady seahorse just deposits the eggs then swims away!  I painted this postcard for a friend's grand-child -- he will be getting a new brother or sister in August.  I imagine by then, his mother will be wishing she had been born a seahorse!  Watercolor pencil on 4x6 watercolor card.

Hibiscus

There are lots of hibiscus plants of every color by the Old Captiva House, where we have breakfast every morning.

Sie schläft wie ein Murmeltier...

A friend from Germany wrote to me that her grand-daughter "schläft wie ein Murmeltier." Literal translation: sleeps like a groundhog. We'd say she sleeps like a log.  Not sure which one is stranger -- probably ours!  Anyway, I painted her a postcard of a baby groundhog and explained our Groundhog Day tradition.  On Groundog Day, February 2nd, Buckeye Chuck, in Ohio, predicted six more weeks of winter. Punxsutawney Phil, in Pennsylvania, predicted an early spring.  I wish Phil were right, but my money is on Buckeye Chuck.

Snowy the Bunny

Snowy the Bunny (Adorabelle the Cat's new friend), after January's big snowstorm (approximately 30") in Central Pennsylvania.  From a photo sent by Wanda Nitterhouse.  I'll get around to painting scenes from Captiva, Florida, as soon as it warms up here!  It's in the 50s and 60s right now!

I'll meet you for a swim!

I've been learning German lately, and I'm finally able to correspond a little with a penpal in Germany.  During a recent Skype, we discovered that we also share an interest in swimming. We were both lamenting the fact that we didn't live closer, since neither of us knows anyone local that likes to go swimming.  At one point, Beate said something like, "Vielleicht können wir auf halbem Weg treffen!" (Maybe we can meet half way!)  So I painted her a watercolor postcard with my concept of what that meeting (somewhere in the Atlantic between Spain and Maine?) might look like. Yesterday, I got an email back from her saying that she just got the postcard, and I've learned a new German idiom: Ich lache mich tot!  (Literally, I am laughing myself dead!)

New Sketch: Tea for Two

Watercolor pencil and micron pen

Covered Bridge near Ludlow, Vermont

White Cedar

Crocheting

Vermont Country Store

Dinner with Cheryl, Chris, Stacy, Olivia, Michelle, Sarah, Breidy, Vicky, and Betty at the Bryant House Restaurant in Weston, Vermont.

Star Anise

I just discovered the spice, Star Anise.  It smells so good!  As an alternative to hot coca, you can place a star anise in a mug of skim milk, add a packet (or less, to taste) of stevia for sweetness, and microwave for 2 minutes.   Or try adding a Cardamom pod (or both!).  Very relaxing and comforting.

Northern Red Oak (Quercus Rubra)

We were in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania this past week to hear the third Festival Chamber Orchestra Concert at the Shippensburg University Luhrs Performing Arts Center.  On the program was Mozart's Requiem and Schubert's 3rd Symphony, both performed magnificently!

We had stopped in Shippensburg on the way home from visiting family in New Jersey, and as soon as we got to the hotel, Dan got a call from work and found he needed to spend a couple hours reviewing a contract proposal. So I went up to campus to get a better photo for a blog post I made last December. The weather was so comfortable -- 70 degrees and sunny, so I decided to sit awhile and do some sketches. 

Feeling at home in the Cumberland Valley again

We are passing through Shippensburg again.  Tonight we had dinner at the Boiling Springs Tavern up near Carlisle, and after dinner, we finally found the spring that the town is named after. It's right behind the tavern! 

The water actually does seem to bubble and boil right out of the ground:

Afterwards, we drove back to our hotel in Shippensburg and took a stroll up Orange Street.  The Martin Luther stained glass window at Memorial Lutheran Church was especially beautiful tonight, because I am in the midst of reading Here I Stand, a biography of Luther by Roland Bainton.

I can't decide if I like it better from the outside or from the inside (photo below taken in May 2014).  I will have to get better photos next time we are in town.

Martin Luther window, from indside, at Memorial Lutheran Church, Shippensburg, Pa.

We passed by this sign at Messiah United Methodist Church.  Sounds like good advice! 

Mouse Studies

Sketches of mice for an illustration course I'm taking. 

Experimenting with color

Nests, drinking, studies of feet.

Sleeping, running, eating cheese

View of Lake Erie from Geneva-on-the-Lake

After lunch at The Lakehouse Inn yesterday, we went to the park, and while Dan dozed off in the warm sun, I sketched our view from the bench where we sat.