I Saw Orange!

I was talking on the phone to DS this morning and glanced out the window to see a male Oriole on the dish of grape jelly I'd put out the night before. I didn't have any oranges so the orange holder was empty. (it's that coil-y thing on the side) I didn't think that they'd come to just the jelly but evidently they will. Later in the day the female stopped by too but I didn't get a picture of her. I'm thrilled! And I have oranges now so the feeder is filled up.

In order to get this picture of a fern frond not open yet I had to take about six shots moving around so that the auto-focus would focus on the fern and not the leaves behind it. I love the way these look. They remind me of a bishop's crozier.

Speaking of leaves, there are baby leaves on my little maple tree in front. They're such a lovely light Spring green. I'm happy to see them.

 

The Daily Practice today was a challenge. She had a pdf of a butterfly brooch for us to paint using gouache. I don't do well with gouache, I don't know why. I tried, I really did, but this is all that happened.

 

My author copies of Horizon and Better Than Mom's arrived this afternoon and thank heavens they both have the correct covers. I was afraid that Better Than Mom's would have the old cover and I'd be stuck with 10 more books with the wrong cover. But I'm not, they're right, and I couldn't be happier. Well, I could be a little happier if the cover was a little brighter but I'm not going to quibble. This cover is better than any of the three previous designs and I'm not changing it. I'm actually impressed that I got the new design at all since the company that I order from is in western Ukraine so I can't fathom how they're able to keep working with a war going on around them.

 

I made time to do a Gratitude Journal page today because I had things to be grateful for. Yesterday I didn't do one because I couldn't think of anything to draw. That's kind of sad, isn't it?

 

A local woman wrote a book about an old scandal in town and everyone has been raving about it. It's so successful that she's organizing walking tours to view the houses where the people lived. I got the audiobook from the library last week and started listening to it. I got a few chapters into it and had to stop listening. I don't know if it was the narrator or the story but I just couldn't listen anymore. I must be a philistine if everyone thinks it's wonderful and I don't. 

Tonight OJ had his Cub Scout advancement ceremony and DS invited me to attend. It's quite a challenge to have a ceremony that resonates with a herd of 8 year olds but they tried and it was very nice.

--Barbara