Theresa Mather - Nature and stuff and junk and things.

I've entered the time of year where I paint all day long, with breaks to collect 101 eggs on Facebook (yes, I backed off of my no-more-social-networks stance, and like I suspected, Facebook is a time sinkhole.)breaks to fix and eat meals and a little time for some casual games. I keep up on the news via NPR on the radio as I work, so I'm not totally in a bubble.

I finished a new piece for prints yesterday, and hope to finish another today. I'll post them when I have several done.
The reception for the Braithwaite Gallery invitational show of regional artists is tomorrow, and I'll probably go.
We've been busy decorating my new canopy tent in anticipation of setting up at the local Ren Faire in early July. It's a very small Faire, but it's right here in town and we'll be home for it this year so I figured "why not?".

My backyard robin population has recovered after the temporary residence of a hawk, who ate a number of them. This year's crop of babies has fledged, and they are hopping all over the yard doing stupid things like pecking at various items to see if they are edible. I saw one peck a grasshopper and then jump back in total surprise when it leaped up into its face. No veteran robin would be shocked by a grasshopper hopping. Another naive new robin looked in to the kitchen from a cottonwood branch and then freaked out and fluttered to another branch when it saw me.It peeked cautiously from behind some leaves and watched me with apparent fascination and made alarm calls. Jaded veteran robins just boldly stare and sit there. I like robins, and I'm glad they're back. The antics of the babies are pretty funny.
I startled a deer again in the yard when I opened the curtains this morning. It had bedded down, and got up and panicked when it saw a person. I'm not sure why such totally skittish deer decide to live in town, but I think it's the succulent lawns that they're after. Still, they're terrified of even being seen.

I've noticed bats on my evening walks lately. They've been out earlier than I've seen before, so it's been light enough to watch their aeroBATics (snark). They really are amazing flyers, turning so quickly and catching bugs at such a furious rate.

It is such a luxury to have such quiet and uneventful days. It won't be long till I have to plunge back into travel and chaos.

Tags: robins, stuff, work

Current Mood:

busy

On June 25th, 2009 04:53 pm (UTC),

yourbob commented:

I enjoy fishing for bats. When you're in an open area with bats flying around, take a small pebble and throw it up into the air just outside the path of a bat. They'll momentarily die for it, to see it's edible. They will, of course, get a resounding "thunk" on their sonar so won't actually dive to it, or be hit by it (a flying bat probably can't be hit by a hand-thrown pebble).

Also, it can be harassing if done more than a handful of times in an evening, but it's an interesting demonstration of just how well their sonar works. Especially if there are kids around.

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On June 25th, 2009 05:01 pm (UTC),

theresamather replied:

I might try that. They seem to have figured out that on the town trail, bugs follow people so you get a pretty long view of bat flying as they hunt the bugs that are hunting you.

Edited at 2009-06-25 05:01 pm (UTC)

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On June 25th, 2009 07:43 pm (UTC),

jenelycam commented:

I agree...FB is a time trap...but I love it. :P

YAY for time to just "relax"!!! ^___^

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On June 26th, 2009 03:56 am (UTC),

theresamather replied:

Yay for collecting eggs...hehehe.

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On June 25th, 2009 08:28 pm (UTC),

buddykat commented:

Clearly your deer just aren't used to people yet. The deer that come into our backyard just kind of look at you and go back to eating. When the in-laws had a dog, the dog would run out (on a lead) and bark at them, and the deer just ignored the dog. They knew *exactly* how far the dog could get on the lead.

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On June 26th, 2009 03:57 am (UTC),

theresamather replied:

I think you're right. The area is so sparsely populated the only time many deer see people is during hunting season.

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