Organized scratches on paper

Who's that peeking at us.

  Organized scratching with a pencil yields some amazing results.  The photo above really looks like some peeking through a piece of paper.  A good artist can draw a very realistic pictures, they look like photographs.  I am not one of them, my drawing skills are lacking.
  We know a man that used to live near us in Medford who could draw like this, he used the cheapest ballpoint pen he could find, his drawing of people and places were very, very good.
  I thought I'd just point out some of the fine work a pencil in the right hand can do.  Enjoy.

Photo, or not?  It's not!



An eagle takes a look at you.



No mistakes here either.

NOTICE: Tune in tomorrow for an important announcement.

The scratch of graphite on paper

Colored pencils

  When I was a little boy my mother would give me a pencil and some paper to keep my busy (or busier than I already was), crayons were in short supply during WWII.  Pencils, or crayons if you're French) have been around for centuries.  Remember the storekeeper in a western movie, touch the pencil to the tongue than write on the bill?  When you started school and were learning to write, you used a pencil.  Pencils come in handy, for example it you're trying to stop a table from the wobbles you could put a part of a pencil under one leg.  Or you could draw, or doodle, with a pencil for fun.  Next time you're in the area of an office supply store, like Staples or Office Depot, look in the pencil section for just a part of what they offer, then check the drawing/drafting/art aisle and see even more.
  I use colored pencils that are for watercolors, it works just like one of those coloring books children have that they can brush water on to color a page.  They are very handy for adding lines, or I'll show you a complete piece done with pencils.
  Buy some different kinds and try them out!

A set of pencils for art work, these are for drawing, not water.

This "painting" was done in pencils for watercolor, by me last year.
A 1929 Ford Tudor

Click to enlarge.  More pencil art, letters of the alphabet a carved in the tips
of the lead in each pencil.  Don't say "darn, my pencil broke" with these.

A "short" ride

Two Smart cars

  Gas prices going up makes some people think of ways to save fuel, don't drive as much, things like that.  Some people buy smaller cars and some people buy even smaller cars- minis.
  Most of the minis are for two people, some only for one, and safety may be an issue, I wouldn't want to be in an accident with one of these.  For driving around town, if you live in town, maybe these aren't so bad.

A "fold up" driver, in the Netherlands.

A 1954 Mivalino, built from a motor scooter in Italy.

These are "fold up people" for sure, even in the camper.

It still is (eating is for the birds)

Nuts! This is for squirrels

  Feeders in the backyard, feeders on the porch!
everyday we carry, feeders like a torch,
from small to large, no shape is too extreme;
all of those feeders aren't always what they seem.

windows stickers, groups on poles,
feeding birds soothes our souls.
some feed squirrels, most for the bird,
and joyful "thank yous" can be heard.

you can make one from a jar...

..and a bottle goes quite far.

or, you can feed a lot

Eating is for the birds...

Birds in the hand, the feeder is hidden (it's red).

...at least that's what I say,
feeding birds is fun, every single day,
why not give it a try, there's not to much to lose;
maybe just a dish, and half a dozen screws.

Or, you could but a new one, fill and hand it up,
remember - it should be big enough to hold a half a cup;
then sit back and watch the birds that come and go;
because when you're feeding birds, you're getting quite a show!

Be an angel feed the birds

An "apple" a day!

Here's a beak that holds more than a belly can.
Old Navy poster in the mess hall:
Eat all you take
don't be a Pelican
it's beak can hold more,
that it's belly can

Home is for the birds

Simple but nice

  Birds don't really need a "home" but they do like a place to nest.  Sure, most bird nest in trees, some on the ground, and a few on "floating islands".  But, some birds like to build their nest in houses (just for them) group homes (purple martins) in barns (swallows) or in little bird houses furnished by humans.  We still have a couple of bird houses that I've painted, but, those aren't meant to be outdoors their just decorative.
  Houses of birds for bird actual use are usually wooden, other stuff works too, the holes have a diameter that will be specific for a species (maybe more than one).  A house for a bluebird is about two inches, but other birds like small holes - you just have to look it up, or already know.  Houses for purple martins are built in groups (kind of condos) because they're very social, some are very large.


Some may like a rustic home



A single home (holes too big)

Purple Martins might like a "Victorian" home.

Lance Armstrong never saw these...

A wooden bicycle built for two.

  I wouldn't be to certain that two of these were never ridden, by anyone, but maybe.  Browsing through all of the bicycles was a bit time consuming, but what the heck, I've got plenty of that (most days).
  I had a bike for my tenth birthday, a 24 inch red one, I put a lot of miles on it, and it's replacement a used 16 inch bike.
  Every once in a while I'll get the urge to buy a new one, but where would I ride it?  We live in a quiet little place, but the road to get here is busy, busy and the hills! The hills!  No way would I really get any use out of a bike.
  So just take a look at what I found, maybe you'd like to try one of these.

A solar powered recumbent bike, sit where the orange tarp is, almost lying down.

A Madsen utility bike, your own human powered pickup truck.

Take a walk on a bike, yes, this one has been ridden

The checks in the mail...

Whatever it takes

...now to receive the "check" all you need is a mailbox.  We don't have a mailbox, there are none here in the little set of buildings we live in, but the post office is just across the road, so we have a P O Box.
  Some people just put up plain old black or silver mailboxes on a wooden post.  That isn't pleasing to some more inventive people, with some art skills too I guess.  So what I have here is a mere sample of the photos on Google Image, but they're different enough to sort of stand out.  The mannequin, headless, is all one person needed for a start.  We also have a boathouse, a bicycle rider and a little grass shack.

If you receive your mail by boat.

"A little grass shack in Hawaii" , that's not in Hawaii (just the song)



Just put it where the sun don't shine



You can get there from here.....

On the way in

...but it will take a little longer.  Recently the blimp Hanger 1 Vodka while flying from Canada, where it was made, to Orlando Florida took a small break.  One of the trucks traveling with the blimp needed repairs.  As a result the blimp landed at the small airstrip in Lincoln Maine.  The weather at the time was kind of miserable; wet and cool.
  After two days the truck was fixed, and the weather turned sunny and warmer (one day only) so the crew took advantage and lifted off.  Shortly after departure from Lincoln the weather rapidly deteriorated becoming foggy and wet and cold; the blimp had to land, this time at a small strip in Pittsfield Maine; they had traveled about sixty miles, or less.
  Four days later the weather turned better for a couple of days and the blimp left Pittsfield and headed south.
  We haven't heard from it since, but I think they made it to their destination.

leaving, the blimp is 150 feet long and 60 feet high.



On the ground with it's mast, or tether, the mast travels on one of the trucks.

Here's a note on yesterday's entry:  The Nash Island sheep's wool is highly prized because it is constantly "washed" by the fog, therefore it's impecably clean.  Isn't that nice to know?