I lost 323 calories today. F***king seagull stole my snickers bar. (unknown)

My husband was embarrassed when I pulled out the camera to photograph a few gulls on Naples beach in Florida. They are pretty dime a dozen. I'll give him that. But a beach day certainly wouldn't be as entertaining without them.  And there are so many varieties.  This one was just strutting along.

O.K. This one is probably not even a gull. It's gull darn hard to tell. He looks like a Willet or Sand piper.  I guess he should have piped up that I was mislabeling him.  But he is too sleepy.

Now it's this guys "Tern" to be mislabeled just a gull.  

Here's a laughing gull.  Their call really is a hoot. I'd be happy too, if I spent all of my days flocking and frolicking on the beach.

 I sure had a lot of gall labeling all of these beach goers just a gull.

You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now- and nothing can stand in your way! Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

It's my true writing self, me, myself and maybe even Irene over at The Chorus of the Crows Be sure to fly over and scavenge up my post on Dangerous Minds!

Saturday's Critters

Bird d'Pot

Wild Bird Wednesday

My World Wednesday

Image-in-ing

Your Goose is Cooked

A wild goose never laid a tame egg.

Silly as a goose

Kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

Wild Goose Chase

What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Marcus Terentuis Varro

Can't say boo to a goose.

Goose Flesh

A fox should not be on the jury of a goose's trial. Thomas Fuller

When I sit down to write, I just let the goose out of the bottle. Tom Robbins.

I don't know what that means, but I don't think I put a cap on fear over at The Chorus of the Crows Don't be a goose, go check it out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Saturday's Critters

Bird d'Pot

Wild Bird Wednesday

My World Wednesday

Image-in-ing

The streets are not alive with the sound of music...

click to enlarge

  I photographed (not scanned, that's why it's crude) one of my early architectural pieces for today's www.illustrationfriday.com  City theme. I think I painted this after yet another Zombie attack on the streets of somewhere.  Zombie attacks are of course all too common these days. I hope they never hurt any kittens or puppies on their thoughtless and whining Zombie rampages.  But let's get back to my painting.  It seems deserted, quiet and downright devoid of life. Like the empty streets after an aforementioned attack.   But it is an eager study of Terra cotta tiles.  A personal favorite to paint when I work on fine art pieces.  Something I haven't done enough of lately.  I love to paint old texture, mysterious stairways and archways.   

click to enlarge

B/W

Black and White.  The preferred method of viewing post Zombie zones.  At least in old movies.  :)

Up North

If you're visiting Duluth and are looking for an easy trail that's just as pretty as its brethrens up north, then the Chester Creek trail is for you. Plus, it starts across the street from Burrito Union. You can't beat that. 

Alice would like the mushrooms here. 

Even cats like it.

This sparrow is thinking, "If only I was eating rice at Chipotle. Those were happy days. Woe is me."

Hawk Ridge was counting migrating birds and doing a release party of Hawks and Kestrels. At least those were the birds on the menu that day. 

"You talk'in to me?"

"Caw. That's the spot. Caw. Now I eat your fingers."

Duluth's Rose Garden in Leif Erikson Park.

And of course stacked rocks. I heart Duluth.

Do you want to take a bizarre nocturnal pilgrimage with me? Then head over to www.thechorusofthecrows.blogspot.com

Saturday's Critters

Bird d'Pot

Wild Bird Wednesday

My World Wednesday

Image-in-ing

Dogs and Cats

What could be better choices for the www.illustrationfriday.com theme animal than dogs and cats. Everyone's favorite animals. Unless you are a python fan. Just for fun, I selected the goofiest versions I could find. Big Eyed Dog is still an all time favorite of mine.

 Skeptical Cat

Skeptical Cat with mustache. Why not?

Mayflies and Oh, How Time Flies!

Boy, how time flies. It seems like only a moment ago that we were heading down to the Nelson Stone Barn in July. The day was hot, the skies were clear and the trees, well,

 they were full of mayflies! They drip from every leaf. In fact, almost everything is occupied by at least one. It's amazing. But also gross.

Someone has a wagon wheel fetish.

Lately, it's the lady bugs that are bugging me. I tried to read a book outside the other day and was constantly digging in my shirt and pants to retrieve wayward bugs. Yuck. Lady bugs or Asian beetles are a real fall menace. But earlier this summer, it was the mayflies.

Fast forward to fall. The end of September to be exact. And the Stone Barn's last hurrah. We always hike the wilds of Maiden Rock bluff. This time, the sky was full of pelicans. I didn't capture any though. They love to graze the bluffs as they glide by.

This was the night before the blood moon.

The blood orange sun set on our rural Stone Barn Pizza trips.  And on our road trips down the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi. Until next year...

 Endurance is patience concentrated.

Thomas Carlyle

Head over to The Chorus of the Crows if you have the patience!

Whimsical

whim·si·cal

ˈ(h)wimzik(ə)l/

adjective

1. 1.

   playfully quaint or fanciful, especially in an appealing and amusing way.

   "a whimsical sense of humor"

   synonyms:

   fanciful, playful, mischievous, waggish, quaint, quizzical, curious,droll, fantastical, Seussian

The word whimsical could describe almost all of my illustration work. I recently started concentrating on more fine art pieces. I can't wait to share those.  But for now, well, the majority of my vast computer files is whimsical. As you can see I googled the definition. It is a word I use all the time, so I was curious about the qualifiers. 

I think my Luau Pigs fit the bill. A recipe illustration I did a few sunsets ago. The poor rhythmic pigs have no idea what the true meaning of this hula dance reveals. Basically that ham sandwiches taste great!

www.illustrationfriday.com