It's still about the art contest. Since anyone participating can have up to three entries, while waiting for the Super Bowl game to begin, I dabbled with another colored pencil sketch. Only rule is it cannot be a photograph! As my profile states, I enjoy sketching and painting...why not do it...even if it's just for the 'fun of it'? Entries can be of any art medium, and must pertain to Wildflowers or Texas Native Plants. I have no idea what plants are "native" to Texas, that's why I chose to enter with two wildflower drawings. The first one I did was of the fire wheel. This 2nd one is of one found on the sand dunes along the beaches. It's named "Railroad Vine". From what I gather, the reason for the name, it spreads in 'tracks'. One plant, up to 100 feet long and usually about 30 feet wide; very tolerant of drought, spreads rapidly, can be found in any environment, does well in poor soils. can withstand winter temperature drops to 20 degrees F - there is NO KNOWN human hazards of this particular plant...also known as Beach Morning Glory as the blossoms [very similar to the cultivated morning glory vines] open in the morning and close by mid afternoon; blooming year 'round they really beautify the naked gray dunes with color...color of blossom ranges from light pink to a most deep maroon-like shade of fuchsia with hues of purple veins in the petals...I surmise this has to do with the amount of light/sun. My submission:
Railroad Vine
All the time I was sketching and coloring between the lines, our cat, Tahoe, kept an eye on my progress. I love the pools of mint green flecked with a golden orange against her black coat. Pretty eyes; hypnotic eyes - especially when she is staring off in the distance; in the far away land of kitty-dom; capturing birds in her dreams. With the light filtering in the window from the sun, her thick, black eyelashes reflect against her iris; making me a bit jealous of them. No mascara or eyeliner needed!! I think our maker musta skipped that beauty on us humans. At least ME!! Naturally, Winston was being a typical male cat...not interested in any activity but dozing in his kitty bed.It was a most beautiful day Sunday. Mild temperatures, clear sky. A good quiet part of the day, early morning, I drove to the islands with camera beside me in the car. I stopped at my usual places and watched the birds over and on the pond at my first hot spot. As I walked the wide corner on the pathway, a Cooper's Hawk was perched in the tree. Tho, not a good position for any good photos, I still couldn't resist pushing the shutter button! Making my way toward the middle of the pond along the boardwalk, a couple of cormorants were making a ruckus. I am wondering if this is the beginning of the mating ritual, or if they were just bickering. I think it's too early for breeding, but what do I know? Altho, there IS TELLTALE SIGNS of the breeding plumage on the male...so just maybe?!! The breeding plumage of a cormorant, the neck feathers and 'eyebrows' become white and they are displayed to attract the female as seen HERE from a post on my birding photo blog.
My species list at this area was large, hawk -Cooper's and Harrier- cormorants, stilts, egrets, grebes, soras, white pelicans, coots, shovelers, ducks, and more. Heading down the road, after about an hour of walking and viewing from the first area, produced only five bird species...a mockingbird, phoebe, an immature night heron, several yellow rumped warblers, and a pair of redheaded ducks. I then drove to my last stop...Charlie's Preserve North. Terns, herons, sparrows, pelicans, larks, mockingbirds, sandpipers, yellowlegs, and a vulture were spotted in the mid morning hours. With my step count app, it told me it was then time to head home. Once I parked in the driveway, Bud and I washed and cleaned the car. Next, I made my traditional Broncos in the Super Bowl cupcakes of blue and orange...lunch and reading...then, sketching the above picture and the day was filled to the coin toss against Denver and Carolina where I sat 'glued' to the computer monitor while live streaming brought me to the game plays. All I can say, as a die hard fan, the Panthers made the Broncos look good. I WAS SURPRISED AT THE OUTCOME. If you remember correctly I predicted a Denver loss...big time. I'm happy to say, I was wrong. DON'T TELL BUD THAT I JUST SAID THAT....I'm never wrong.
Even if I don't work the clock, and have to go working outside the home anymore, the holidays still make a week a bit 'foggy'. Me, not knowing what day of the week it is for the most part 'til everything according to stores, government, closures gets back to 'normal'. In other words, I thought Tuesday was Monday and so on and so forth. GEEZ. So, what did I do this week? Not much. Bud and I mowed and edged the lawn, tho it really isn't in a 'high growth' period. We try and water the grass to keep it from getting too scorched, but it just isn't growing at a healthy rate. In any case, that's done for a while. I noticed when out in the front yard, the crepe myrtle is blooming for a second time this season, but sad part it, the leaves on the bush are a rusty brown from this eternal inferno. On Wednesday we went birding to a few places....everywhere we stopped, either dried up and weeds growing where there should be water, or the water is so scant that it's turned green with slime...not fresh water at all!!! We saw a few American Coots and a few Warblers, but that was it. Even the fresh water ponds stood quite vacant and no activity whatsoever. This all took place on the island...Mustang Island, where the little town of Port Aransas is located. And there, I turned in my art submission. Thanks to all who commented on my finished painting, you talked me into submitting my work. Also on Wednesday, after working on Joyce's Wednesday meme, Hodgepodge, there was mention of creamy or crunchy peanut butter....which made me instantly think of peanut butter cookies...so, had to make a half batch of them!!! And oh were they ever ooooey, goooey, good!! By the way, Tuesday morning, we, just for the heck of it, we stopped at TUESDAY MORNING, and as suspected all the Halloween Decorations were sold out!!! I'm sure glad we bought the three witches back at the beginning of August!! I'm not the only one in town who loves to collect 'em I guess. And I am truly pleased I have 'em for next month's decorating. I've dubbed them Lenore, Annabel Lee, and Raven [Raven is all dressed up in black!!]. We sat at the desktop computer and watched the third episode of the season of GRIMM....the 1st thru the 3rd episodes have been more or less a 'tell all' for now. All very good. Looks to be an upcoming promising season for this program...one of two that we continue to watch online, without cable TV. One day this week, don't ask me what day it was, LOL, we began pulling up and getting rid of all the rose bushes in the rose box. For the last two years they have been nearly stagnant, non-existing growth, again because of the 2 year drought. No matter how much I'd water [sometimes twice a day] they have become so destitute looking that I couldn't take their suffering in the extreme heat. Either this Fall we'll replace all we dug out, or put something a bit more drought tolerant in the area that is full sun!! The only other thing that has been on my itinerary this past week is looking for our annual trip with Erik. Instead of going out of state, we are planning on traveling around Texas's beautiful Hill Country. There is always something to see in Texas!!! And for the most part, even if we have seen them, most likely it was years ago when the kids were little. I've been tracking places to see and where to stay, etc. Of course there WILL be at least ONE birding expedition included. LOL Much to Erik's chagrin. Too bad. rofl
