Our weather has been so up and down, but Friday was what I would call a perfect day for being out and about. Sunny, temps in the 70s and a light cool breeze coming off the lake made for a delightful walk at City Beach. Tourists have started arriving and the beach was bright with colorful umbrellas, towels and bathing suits.
The marina is full of sailboats and I saw several people out on paddle boards and small boats. Motorboats were being backed down ramps into the water. A few younger people braved the water which is still quite cold to swim and splash around. Summer is here!
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| Man With Turkish Coffee by Daniel Gill |
I made a stop at the library having finished another book and ready to pick up the next from an author I'm catching up with (Lisa Unger) and was pleasantly surprised to see a new exhibit in the lobby cases. A local watercolor group was being featured and this painting by Daniel Gill caught my eye. Definitely the best of the lot, and in talking to one of the exhibitors learned that he is a local illustrator and indeed better than the rest in this group which lost its teacher to retirement but decided to stay together and share their knowledge with each other - sounds just like the quilt guilds I've belonged to. Daniel has occasionally given demos and I can see that the group would benefit from his expertise.
Also by Daniel, I took this photo of a still life not so much because of the painting but because of the shadows being cast across it by the brackets holding the glass shelves. Abstract in nature, they almost look like part of the presentation, the one shadow over the painting itself looking as if painted there.
Another pleasant surprise: I got a phone call from the yarn shop owner who promised to let me know when her next order of mill end wool yarn arrived if it included more of the lavender yarn I'm sure I will be short of to complete the sweater I've been working on. Four skeins were included in the order, all the same color number and lot number of the yarn I originally bought - woo hoo! I think two more skeins will do it but heck, why chance still being short, and one can always find something to make out of a skein or two, so just like I used to say," heck, just give me the rest of the bolt" when buying fabric, I said, heck, just give me all four! They are so inexpensive, why not? I'm nearly done with the front so I'll start the sleeves knowing I have plenty of yarn to finish them.
Lastly, after getting all the bedding plants transferred to pots, I did move two of them - the extra marigolds and begonias, out front and they are doing marvelously along with the snapdragons in the big pot alongside the stairs. The sun may have been out when I took the picture but you can see that the concrete is still wet from quite the thunderstorm that drenched everything shortly before this.
The rain was so hard that dirt splashed up from the pots and covered the side of them. But the plants themselves were undamaged. This is such a lovely sight to enjoy when I leave and come back from my walks.
There was one not so nice thing that happened though. Even though all the windows and doors were shut, I was awakened one night by the smell of skunk! They do occasionally wander through my neighborhood and it always astounds me how strong their scent is and how long lasting. It must have checked things out under my deck because days later, after the smell had left the rest of the neighborhood, I still get whiffs of it when I step out onto the deck. I don't know if repeated rains are reactivating it or what, but I'm at a loss as to how to get rid of it, except with time.
3 comments:
We used to be bothered by skunks at night when we moved here, but a couple of great horned owls now nest behind our house, and appparently, from what I've read, they'll eat skunks. I also read that those owls have depressed olfactory nerves...
That is truly interesting, Pat! No horned owls here I don't think, at least not in my neighborhood. I had to deal with a skunk at the last place I lived, a little more out in the country. I still had a dog then and she encountered it more than once when I let her out into the fenced yard at night, and I came home one night to see it sauntering along the front of the house, taking its time and trapping me in the car. Try as I might, I couldn't find the spot where the skunk was making its way in, and it was definitely setting up shop under the deck and I think under the utility room which was an add-on to the rental. The landlord loaned me a trap but the skunk was too smart for that. Lots of research landed me on the suggestion to toss moth balls under the deck. So then it was a matter of which smelled worse, the skunk or the mothballs! After too long it finally moved on.
You had a lovely week with lots of interesting happenings! That beach looks very inviting. The watercolors were a plus for your library trip. We have skunks often enough that we keep canned tomato juice on hand for the inevitable spraying the dogs receive. yuck! Enjoy those beautiful flowers as you go in & out the front door! Happy knitting! Jan in WY
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