Postcards From (Mostly) the Lake -- Art, Eagles, Harry and Tomatoes!

It has been quite a week! The day after Rick's baseball birthday gig, I took off for the lake solo, to spend a few days in the north before my ear procedure. It is, as always, lovely -- but also very smoky and hazy from the Canadian wildfires. It was a little hard on the eyes, the sinuses and the lungs with air quality falling well into the high yellow and sometimes red zone. We had our share of foggy mornings, too. 

 

So, there were times I was inside when I would have preferred to be out! I suspect many are feeling this here in the US. But certainly our Canadian friends and neighbors are having it much worse -- the smoke, the haze and the damage.

 

it was a quiet few days, with otherwise lovely weather. There was time for painting, reading and walking. I also got the cottage in order for our upcoming weekend with Molly and the little guys! Clean beds, food in the freezer, tidying up. All good!

 

And, it was a great time for nature, too, though mostly photographs of the heart. The very first thing I saw when I looked out the window on one very early morning was Harry North, the graceful blue heron. He was stalking in the shallows, and bent his glorious neck to nab part of his morning's catch.

I was luckier with Eddie the Eagle! My first sighting was in flight with no camera. But a few days later, he flew right up into a tree two doors away -- and I was able to walk much closer!

 

Isn't he magnificent? He was huge and sat there for so very long!

Do any of my bird buddies here know why his mouth is always open? I watched/photographed him for about 20 minutes and I don't think he closed it! 

 

And just when you thought you wouldn't see more natural wonders, look who showed up! Harry North!

 

As I mentioned above, my initial sighting was a memory of the heart, around 6:30 in the morning, peeking out of my bedroom window when I was up by myself. But when I was here with Rick and the kids, another peek yielded another look. I was quite sure I'd missed him again, but then, there he was an hour or so later, walking the beach.

 

He was farther down and these are probably a bit fuzzy. But I caught him!

 

(Best of all, he has a heron friend, a mate I presume. I don't have a photo of the two together I dare share -- there is half a bird on each side! But I saw it! Evidence! 

 

I also enjoyed some online painting/tutorial workshops, with varying degrees of success. Terry Runyan, who is a favorite of mine, had another of her "cat" workshops. I'm not that fond of this one (cats in a garden). I can do better. Much better. But it's a good jumping off spot for future work.

This one, by Jessica Panzarino, was "Painting the Galaxy." And I LOVED it! I loved it so much that I did three versions, large, medium and card-sized. I will do more of these and in different colors and tones.

 

My tomato crop started coming in -- don't get excited. These are salad size tomatoes, about the size of a large lime. But so delicious!

 

I made a fake-caprese salad with them -- thinly sliced and salted, lots of torn basil and feta (instead of mozzarella) cheese, with balsamic glaze. Divine! 

 

And I've very nearly finished the England journal -- just one more spread to do. I'll finish it at art camp but we have other tutorials and workshops up our sleeves for that one!

 

Thanks for many kind comments and good wishes on my lab tests. Most of them came back as good or better than they had been in ages. But one rather nasty one popped in -- my pseudonas aerginosa bug has ramped up and so back on the big girl drugs. The worst part is I can't eat anything I like on one of them. No citrus, soy, red wine, hard cheeses, most breads, no cured meats like salami, bacon, sausage, no blue, feta or gorgonzola, pizza, pickled things, chocolate or (GASP!) red wine! I can have most fruit, most veg, rice, pasta, cereal, mozzarella, eggs, salad, white wine. (If you eat the wrong stuff, your BP can spike dangerously high.) I had to do this last year during art camp, too. The good (?) thing is that the drugs require prior auth from the insurance company so I decided I'll wait till after Monday to start and at least have some red wine on my birthday!

The ear procedure went well enough, though results are too early to tell. 

 

I had a tube put in one ear to help drain a middle ear infection and they did a procedure to open the eustachian tube on that side to help prevent it getting blocked again. I had to take some anti-anxiety/relaxation meds at home before. After I got back (with a screaming sore throat -- all I ate that day was ice cream), I slept for about six hours and went to bed early. Hopefully, it will be effective. 

 I would rather be thinking about this!