Outdoor Fun and Indoor Fun

It's been in the 90s here for a while, so I've been taking the Hounds out at eight in the morning.  I imagine that some retirees enjoy sleeping in after a lifetime of having to get up early for work, but not this retiree.  Ever since I discovered the joys of birding back in 2008, I've been a morning person, even on weekends, because birds are most active in the mornings.  Birds such as this Black-chinned Hummingbird:

This hummingbird is a resident of W.E. Johnson Park in Richland, where it likes to hang out near the trailhead (which happens to be near a few houses that put out feeders).  I've been seeing Black-chinned Hummingbirds at this same spot ever since I began birding -- if you ever want to see one, come on down and I'll take you there!

My favorite bird, as most of you know, is the pelican, and more specifically, the American White Pelican.  One day this past week I went to Chiawana Park in Pasco again, where this stunning bird was near the shore, preening.

I watched it for a good half hour, and when I left, it was still busy preening away.  

At one point a Canada Goose swam past.  As you can see, an American White Pelican is considerably larger than a Canada Goose.  They're even more impressive in flight, with wing spans up to nine feet.

They have a lot of feathers to keep neatly in place....

And sometimes they have an itch to scratch:

Such a thrill to get to watch this magnificent bird.

There was also an Osprey at Chiawana Park, carrying nest material.  I admit that I didn't pay nearly as much attention to it, though I should probably go back to see if I can find the actual nest.  I miss watching the Ospreys at the Montlake Fill in Seattle.

While I was in Pasco, I decided to take a scenic drive to the northwest part of the city along the river front, where I had not been before.  From here you can see the north end of Richland across the Columbia.

The area has some lovely views.

It's a mix of newer housing developments and old farms.  I preferred looking at the old farms.

This place had goats, sheep, alpacas, and a couple of ostriches.  Much more entertaining than a bunch of contemporary houses with no character.

Speaking of houses, we now switch gears from outdoors to indoors, and my own home, where the walls are the wrong color.  You may recall that after visiting a friend's brightly painted and decorated house, I felt inspired to change everything in my own.  Well, that didn't last long.

My bedroom had green walls, which the photo below does not properly convey, but trust me, they were not attractive. 

I found a lovely light blue and went to work.  Since it was light over a darker color, I had to do two coats.  I managed to do one wall per day.

About halfway through my back was sore, my shoulders ached, and my neck felt stiff.  The new color is wonderfully soothing and I'm glad it's done, but I never want to paint another wall again, and have decided that the other wall colors are just fine.   The only way they are going to change is if I pay someone else to change them!

The only painting I'll be doing is the small kind, with watercolors.  Or watercolor brush pens -- remember those?  I've been enjoying them, but wanted to find a better way to cart them with me.  The cheap plastic trays they came in were not useful, and it was hard to get the pens in and out of them, so I invented this:

I divided it so I could put color families together.

Then I took it with me to the Gallery at the Park's weekly paint-in session, where artists can hang out in a big, well-lit room with plenty of tables (for free!) to work on whatever they want and to socialize.  This was the first time I'd attended, and I was happy to find that half of the folks there were people I knew from the urban sketcher group. 

I had a pleasant time chatting and working.  I brought a book of nature photos along so I could practice using the brush pens on something colorful, and chose this toucan to paint:

I did a pencil sketch first, then an ink drawing, and then added color with the brush pens plus a little bit of regular watercolor here and there.  This took about an hour and fifteen minutes, at which point it was my lunch time, so I left it unfinished -- and then decided that I liked the unfinished foliage.  I think it helps make the bird stand out more.  At least, that's my theory, and I'm sticking with it.

Turns out the gallery's paint-in room has a small kitchen, so I could bring food next time and stay longer (the room is available from 10-1).  Or I could stroll two blocks up the street to the Farmers' Market for a snack -- it opens this coming Friday, which is the paint-in day.  Yay!

Now I just need to figure out what to work on there -- usually I draw and paint in the field, not in a studio setting.  And if I do studio work, I want to use my own photos.  This week I plan to go through my photos in hopes of finding something to take to the next paint-in session.  Stay tuned!