My Birds, My Flowers and My Buddy

There has been a flurry of activity in the backyard. Nests are being built, feathers preened, chirps perfected. I took several photos of my bird friends but most are out of focus. I was using my long-range lens and between my movements and the birds' movements...well, it didn't work too well. I was disappointed as I had taken several photos of my juncos. "My" juncos. You see how I think of them? Such sweet birds. I will have to set up my tripod in the backyard one of these days and see if I can improve my efforts.

The first daffodils are out. The crocuses are still lovely.  My botanical tulips are blooming but the cultivated tulips are only showing leaves for now. One thing I've realized since beginning my online life is that Montreal's growing season is behind many other areas. It means I have to be extra patient to see my flowers and it is sometimes long after others have posted photos of their own.

The past few days, I've been keeping extra busy. The week started sadly. We went to the visitation this past Sunday for a friend and neighbour, a mom to two teenagers, who died at age fifty. Monday I found myself in tears more than once.  Life just doesn't seem fair sometimes. 

Concentrating on painting has helped. Getting out in nature whether in the backyard or on my walks with Meeko has lifted my spirits. I've kept very busy. 

Maybe you noticed the small changes on my blog? I added my 'Trowel and Paintbrush' painting at the top right. If you click it, it takes you to my bio on Etsy. I thought that some people might be interested in knowing about my background as an artist.  I also finished working on some flowered initials that I have added in the right hand column as icons for social media. Clicking on them will take you to my Facebook page, Twitter account, Instagram and Pinterest pages. I forgot to do one for Flickr so will add it later.

I'm a bit of a latecomer to most bandwagons it seems. I tried Instagram very briefly over a year ago, panicked that my photos didn't look great and then retreated quickly. A lot of people I follow on Twitter post Instagram photos and I started to realize that it was a nice, fun way to capture moments and interact on another level with friends and acquaintances. So I have tried again. I am limited by my dinosaur 4th generation iPod Touch's abilities. I think most people are using the newer iPod Touch or iPhones to post their photos. Emma pointed out that my iPad has a better capacity to take photos so I am using that sometimes. I really like the way that looking at someone's profile page on Instagram gives a sense of the person. Like a visual collage bio. And I'm trying not to be a perfectionist about my photos (always a challenge for me :).  I quite like the experience this time. Here's a photo I posted on Instagram this morning. Meeko, my buddy, absolutely glued beside me on the sofa. Mutual comfort.

I have been working on a new print this week that combines a hand-lettered quote with some painted images. It took three tries to get the lettering the way I liked it. I'll post it once it is finished.

The week has ended for me with a cough and stiff neck. I'm not sure at all if they are related. Maybe my neck is complaining about all of the computer and painting time I've spent this week? On the other hand, Chloé missed school one day this week so maybe she shared some of her germs with me. So I am writing this with a heated pad around my neck and probably shouldn't spend too much more time at the computer today. I hope the weather is as beautiful in your corner of the world as it is here today.

You may have noticed that I've added 'Bloglovin' as a way to follow my blog in the right column. Google Reader is being discontinued in July. I don't know if Google will offer a replacement so it seemed best to provide another way of following me.  There are other options out there but Bloglovin seems to be popular. 

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