Insects

I know lots of you cringe when you see this title. I happen to love insects...well lots of them. I do have a problem with mosquitos & no see 'ems. 

 

All of these shots are mine. Always on the look out for something in nature I want to capture. In the park where I walk, on North Fox Island, or just outside my door.

 

In the summer North Fox Island has loads of Monarchs.

I linked one of my posts (there are many) about North Fox above. It's one of my favorite places on the planet. We are so fortunate it's just a 20 minute flight away for us.

Camping there is a frequent event in the summer for us.

 

They  hang out on the milkweed. This is one of my favorite shots ever.

 

 

  Stick bugs fascinate me. What an adaptation to avoid detection. 

                                        This guy was on the side of our home.

On the street outside our door.

In the park I walk most days. He's looking right at me!

Always looking down for something small & interesting.

I have a little clip on macro lens for my phone that works great. 

The shot above & the 2 below were a day on North Fox I walked along the runway & took tons of close ups of flowers & bugs. 

 On the beach on the Island of Vieques.

 

 

  

Still Here

   It's been such a long time since I posted.  Almost a year.   

  Wanted to share a bit of what I've been up to.

 

        I am diving into a few calls for fiber art & my local Holiday Show.

 

 

I have lots of smaller vessels of all sorts, on display for sale at

Crooked Tree Art Center.

I will be at the kick off party tomorrow, Friday Nov. 10th. Hope you can stop by. 

There will be wine!

Sneak peek of my offerings.

Other things I've been up to in the studio & beyond:  

A little book binding repair. My 1975 copy of The Joy of Cooking.

 

 She was in rough shape.
Broke out the book binding skills.

Made a new cover.

 

Created a stencil of the original title font. 

Used book cloth & marbled paper from my stash.

 

 Did some foraging of ramps on North Fox Island this spring. Pickled ramps & ramp pesto from the leaves. YUM!!! 

 

 I can't go camp on North Fox without a hand stitching project. 

 

There is a blueberry U pick farm just up the road. We make sure we have 20-30 lbs. in the freezer to get us through the year. Plus we discovered a mulberry tree in the park we walk in almost daily. Beautiful.

 

We have been to some wonderful places over the past year. My go to place to post what I've been up to is Instagram. Follow me there & you can see more day to day goings on.

Aviatrix That's Me

Here we go. The start of the A to Z challenge 2021 edition. During the year I make lists of ideas as they pop into my head. Then comes the tough decision, what to choose each day.

 

I struggled with  A. I always do for some reason.

Then it hit me. Aviation! Aviatrix! Even better, a female pilot. Last Spring I succumbed to my husbands desire for me to learn how to land. There are classes for folks like me who fly with a pilot all the time & may need to land in an emergency. I already had an avenue...

 We inherited this plane from my Dad.  The husband of one of the doctors I worked for, Scott, got his instructors license around the same time .This was all a decade ago. He took the above picture a few winters back. That's me waving in the cockpit.

 My husband jumped at the chance to become a pilot. We had a plane & an instructor.

I have been in small planes since I was 6. Flying a plane is easy. No roads, no stop lights. Landing is a whole different deal.  It's like patting your head, rubbing your stomach, and tap dancing all at the same time.  Scott, gave me 2 hours of free instruction when I retired 4 years ago. Hubby got me far along on the process, then it was time to get Scott involved.  I am at the point I am comfortable with the set up & consistently land myself.  The goal has been met. We are moving forward on my landings being "elegant" in Scott's word. That's where I am now. Honing my new skills. It is exciting, gratifying, terrifying, mind focusing...you get the idea. A nice way to spend a fair amount of time in the past year.

 North Fox Island was a great get away for us this past summer. Only way to get there is by small aircraft. Check out the post from  3 years ago. We spent 16 days total on the island last summer. Got a bigger tent, better camp stove, good water filter, and more bug spray. This is our camp site next to the grass runway.

           We got to become part of the mowing crew for the runway. It's a huge job!                                     Rather gratifying & relaxing.

 This topic felt a great way to start off my  "what sparks joy for me" theme.

 An important thought to revisit every day over the past year

        I gotta get busy now with the rest of the alphabet. First one is always the toughest. 

Tomorrow will be food related.

Summer Snippets

Summer has come & gone. There was music, camping & art among the activities.  A fun ride. 

 Hard to believe it's been 4 months since my last post.

The above image is from "da UP". Flew to Houghton/Hancock for the Farm Fest music week end.  The venue was a delightful Farmstead down a long dirt road. Laid back, great performers, interesting food, a great cause.

We returned to North Fox Island a few times for camping, kayaking, butterfly watching and general merriment with other pilots & crew. 

 

Went blueberry picking 3 times to bag & freeze about 18 Lbs. 

Been making Blueberry Shrub with some of them. More on that in a later post.

 

As promised back in June, here are a few snaps from a wonderful class with 

Christine Mauersberger in Petoskey. I've been drawn to hand stitching lately

& was thrilled to be able to take a class with this artist I admire.

Some work by another student in the class.

This was an image in one of Christine's books used for inspiration. 

 

Recently I noticed this stump I see on may walks could be my own

 jumping off point for some stitch work.

 

 

In the days to come I'll share some things happening in the studio now that fall has arrived.

 Or is it winter? There were flakes in the air yesterday. 

There will be dolls, pin cushions, a deer skull, & a look at a fabulous quilt artist.

REI Camp Table A to Z Challenge

Purchased this wonderful little camping table last summer. From REI.

Perfect for trips in the plane to remote places to camp.

Folds up into a nice neat package. Bag included. 

 I have been a member of REI Co-Op (Recreational Equipment Inc.) literally for decades. You get a dividend each year on what you have purchased.

 

 One day, just one, last week when the weather got springish we pulled the table out so we could sit on the deck & plot our summer strategy. The "real" deck table was still stored away. 

As you see it holds beverages nicely.

We coveted these camping pillows another couple had on North Fox Island last summer. Got us a couple right away. They crush down to nothing but are nice & full when you are ready to sleep.
It's all about the comfort when camping these days with our older bodies. 

REI Co-Op has loads of resources for outdoor adventures, trip planning, clothing, & equipment.

Do you like to camp? Where have you been?