Day 31 - Blogtoberfest - Goblet

A post and run night, I'm afraid.

I have a tension migraine.

#31 of 75 pen/ink sketches

A ceramic goblet.

Pencil-free sketch in A6 pocket Moleskine sketchbook
using ZIG Millennium, PITT, and Micron pens.

I just realised that this sketch
with its dramatic shadow would
qualify me for the 

Artist's Play Room challenge this week 

which is - SHADOW.

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 30 - Blogtoberfest - Otter sketch

It was another nice, cool day thanks to being mostly overcast. 

Bradley and I caught the bus to the plaza for a little shopping. 

We arrived back home just before lunch and, as always, 

were given a royal welcome by Cody and Jack. 

It's so nice to be missed ~ :)

Today's sketch - an Otter!

#30 of 75 pen/ink sketches

The reference image I used is credited to William Warby at Flickr.

Thank you, William.

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I finished the pink pair of bootees early this morning and 

have started a lavender pair.

Am I on a roll or what??!!!

I hope you had a lovely day!

Again, my thoughts and prayers are with the residents, 

human and animal,

on the US east coast.

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 29 - Blogtoberfest - Zigzags and bootees

It's been a sea of bootees around here this past week

as I've been busy knitting more for Michelle's second baby.

My second granddaughter could make her appearance in this world
any day even tho the official due date is November 10th.

Mikayla, Michelle's first child/daughter, arrived two weeks early.

One thing is for sure,
we are all very excited to meet our next family member!

And yes, there will be a pink pair which I started knitting today, in fact.
Michelle requested a lot of white bootees as they go with every outfit.

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My sketch for today is a part of my Zigzag Plant.

#29 of 75 pen/ink sketches

Pencil-free sketch in Moleskine A6 pocket sketchbook using
ZIG Millennium and Micron pens.

By the way, an hour after I applied the Aloe Vera gel
 which I bought and sketched yesterday,
there was a noticeable difference to the scar area.
The redness was reduced to a very pale pink.
I was RAPT!

Wishing you all a wonderful start to the week
and also sending my sincere thoughts and prayers to the people,
their pets, strays, and wildlife,
living on the US East Coast as they batten down the hatches
in preparation for Hurricane Sandy.


~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 28 - Blogtoberfest - Aloe Vera gel

It's been a nice weekend although
I had a terrible dose of insomnia last night.
Hopefully, there won't be a repeat performance tonight.

#28 of 75 pen/ink sketches

Aloe Vera Gel which I bought today to help

with the healing of my suture/scar area.
My upper right arm is still quite sore so
I'm hoping this gel will hurry the healing process along.

Pencil-free sketch in A6 pocket Moleskine sketchbook using
Zig Millennium and Micron pens.

I'm also linking in with this week's Sunday Sketches.
Click on graphic below to join in -

I hope you're enjoying a lovely and relaxing weekend.

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 27 of Blogtoberfest - Cody sketch

I think we have a storm moving in so

I'm posting this fast.

#27 of 75 pen/ink sketches

Cody, my fur-kid and best friend

Pencil-free sketch in A6 Moleskine sketchbook
using ZIG Millennium and Micron pens.

Have a great weekend!

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 26 of Blogtoberfest - Sunflower bud opening

It was a busy day with an appointment for Bradley in the morning 

and an appointment for me in the afternoon. 

Of course, catching the bus takes large chunks of time out of the day 

as the buses only pass through our area hourly
and it rarely fits in with appointment times. 

We came home for lunch and, an hour later,  

I headed off to catch the bus to my afternoon appointment only to find that 

the girls at the desk hadn't registered my appointment time 

when I'd arranged it last week. 

This was most frustrating because I then had quite a long wait 

while they squeezed me in even though I'd made a valid appointment.

They didn't even bother to apologise for their mistake.

This was not the first time the girls at the skin cancer clinic 

have messed up my appointment times 

and they've done it with my Mum too. 

To be honest, their attitude towards clients
leaves a lot to be desired!

Thankfully, the doctors are all lovely and my doctor
kept apologising for the mix-up 

and the long wait.
He felt terrible about it.

Anywhoo, I had my stitches removed today! 

The doctor is pleased with how it's healing. 

I then rushed to catch the late bus so

I could get home to start dinner because

Beau was coming over for dinner and a visit.

Talk about hectic!

So the busy day meant another rushed sketch.

#26 of 75 pen/ink sketches

A sunflower bud starting to open up.

Pencil-free sketch in A6 pocket Moleskine sketchbook 

using ZIG Millennium, Micron and ballpoint pens.

Now, I'm off to relax with a movie.

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 25 of Blogtoberfest - Sunflowers

I babysat my granddaughter, Mikayla, today! 

She is such a darling and 

we had a lot of fun.

Another sunflower is in bloom now!

More to follow...

This prompted my sketch today.

#25 or 75 pen/ink sketches

A sunflower bud!

Pencil-free sketch in A6 Moleskine sketchbook 

using ZIG Millennium and Micron pens.

Only 50 more daily pen sketches to go for me

to receive my Artistic License from Brenda Swenson.

I hope you've all be enjoying a lovely week.

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 24 - Blogtoberfest - Ball

I had a fairly productive day.

I knitted up the third pair of white bootees and

sewed all of their seams.

I have one more pair of white bootees to knit 

and then, a pink pair.

After that, I can get back to 

weaving in the ends of the ripple blanket 

I made for my new Granddaughter. 

My sketch for today was quite 

a challenge.

A quarter of the way in, 

I was like, "Girl, what were you thinking??!!!". 

It had me going all googly-eyed but 

I stayed the course and 

it seemed to work out okay in the end.

#24 of 75 pen/ink sketches

A ball of bamboo-style twine

Pencil-free sketch in A6 pocket Moleskine sketchbook 
using ZIG Millennium and Micron pens.

It was a fairly cool, pleasant day which was so nice
after the hot, humid days we had previously.
What's the weather like in your neck of the woods?

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 23 of Blogtoberfest - Shells

I'm doing a post and run tonight.

#23 of 75 ink/pen sketches

A pair of shells!

Pencil-free sketch in A6 pocket Moleskine sketchbook 

using ZIG Millenium and Micron pens.

I think this also qualifies me for the 

Artist's Play Room challenge this week 

which was - PAIRS.

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 22 - Blogtoberfest - Pumpkin

Today was so hot and humid 

but I was able to get some much needed rest. 

I also did a little tidying up in my garage studio 

now that Aaron has moved all his study things 

into Beau's old room.
I finally have my studio space all to myself again
and I plan on making some changes.

For today's sketch, 

I settled on a pumpkin being that

it's Halloween month.

Pumpkin is an Aussie staple 

and we eat it all year round. 

My favourite pumpkin is the Kent variety and

I love it best, cut into pieces,
and roasted with the skin on and yes, 

I do eat the skin too.
Addition - I don't like pumpkin pie.

#22 of 75 pen/ink sketches

Pencil-free sketch in A6 pocket Moleskine sketchbook 

using ZIG Millennium, Micron and PITT pens.

With all my art and blog commitments on top of life distractions, 

I've been struggling to keep up with reading blogs. 

I am trying my best tho and hope to get around to 

visit YOU very soon.

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 21 - Blogtoberfest - Candle

We had Mum and Dad over for lunch and a nice afternoon 

of playing Yahtzee and spending quality time together. 

Brad had a lovely selection of older songs playing because we 

know Mum and Dad enjoy listening to them.

Well actually Brad and I enjoy listening to them too.

I became quite emotional at one point and 

had to sneak off to my room to shed some tears.

It saddens me to see my Dad deteriorate as time goes on. 

He seems so fragile now and it breaks my heart.

I am grateful for these special moments we share together.

I've been feeling quite tired this week with so much going on.

So, I only had time for a quick sketch this evening.

A candle.

#21 of 75 pen/ink sketches

Pencil-free sketch in A6 pocket Moleskine sketchbook 

using ZIG Millennium and Micron pens.

I hope you're all having a lovely weekend.

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 20 - Buddha - Blogtoberfest

It was a scorcher today.

So hot, humid and uncomfortable!

It's still warm even now at 7:30 pm 

and I have the ceiling fans going at full blast.

Beau popped in this morning and took us 

to see his house. 

They have it set up beautifully!

I finished off the second pair of bootees 

and have started a third pair. 

I'll leave the sewing part off until I have 

four pairs done.

My sketch for today is of the big Buddha head 

which currently resides in the dining room.

#20 of 75 pen/ink sketches

Pencil-free sketch in A6 pocket Moleskine sketchbook 

using ZIG Millennium and Micron pens.

Aaron's X-ray results were clear so 

this suggests that his back pain is muscular.

The doctor recommended physiotherapy. 

However, I'm considering acupuncture as it 

worked wonders for Michelle when the 

physiotherapy didn't help at all.

I hope you're all enjoying a great start to the weekend.

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 19 - Baby Kookaburra - Blogtoberfest

A quick post tonight as I'm feeling very tired 

after yet another busy day.

#19 of 75 pen/ink sketches

A baby kookaburra!

Pencil-free sketch in A6 Moleskine sketchbook 

using ZIG Millennium and Micron pens.

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 18 - Teddy Bear - Blogtoberfest

Goodness, I feel like I've been living at doctor's clinics lately.

With visits and tests for Aaron's back pain.
We go back tomorrow for his X-ray results.

My melanoma drama.

I had to go back to Molescan again today for a dressing change.

Brad's regular check-ups for his assorted issues
are quite frequent of late too.

Doctors definitely seem to be a constant in our lives at the moment! 

All necessary but I'm looking forward to a break.

Thanks so much for all the well wishes!!
My arm is a little sore but it's bearable.
The pain medication helps, of course.

Anywhoo, my sketch for today is a teddy-bear.

Emily currently sits on the book-shelf in my bedroom.
I unintentionally made her a little fatter than she actually is
which I'm sure she doesn't appreciate.
Sorry, Emily ~ xo

#18 of 75 pen/ink sketches

Pencil-free sketch in A6 Moleskine sketchbook 

using ZIG Millennium and Micron pens.

I started a second pair of bootees for Madelyn 

my soon-to-be Granddaughter. 

Not long to go now before we get to meet her in the flesh
so I need to get cracking!

I finished her crochet blanket but I still need to 

weave in all the ends. 

For now, bootees are the priority!

What projects are a priority for you right now?

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 17 - Prickly Pear - Blogtoberfest

A quick post tonight as my arm is aching after 

this afternoon's procedure to remove the melanoma.

I did get some good news.

My melanoma is Stage One which means,

as long as he removed all the cancer today,

I will only need to go back for six monthly check-ups

over a five year period.

He removed a fair bit from my upper arm

and I'll have a nasty looking scar but 

my future is looking good!! 

I did today's sketch before I had the procedure 

and then, added the words later.

#17 of 75 pen/ink sketches

A prickly pear cactus!

Pencil-free sketch in A6 pocket Moleskine sketchbook 

using ZIG Millennium and Micron pens.

The prickly pear cactus is seen as a noxious weed here so I keep it in a pot.

This one belonged to Beau but he threw it out when he moved 

because he had another one.

I rescued it!

The doctor told me that I'd be in for a rough night

so I'm off to take some Panadol and rest.

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 16 - Bad news day - Blogtoberfest

A bad news day indeed.

The results from my skin sample came back and 

I've been diagnosed with Melanoma.

Definitely not the news I wanted to hear
although I don't think it's fully hit me yet.

I go back tomorrow to have a surgical procedure 

to hopefully remove all the cancer cells.

I guess we then wait to find out those results.

The doctor will tell me more tomorrow. 

Wish me luck!

We also saw the doctor for Aaron's back pain.
He is getting an X-ray tomorrow.

My sketch today is of a seagull.

#16 or 75 pen/ink sketches

Pencil-free sketch in A6 Moleskine sketchbook

 using ZIG Millennium and Micron pens.

Here's a pic of Cody and Jack 

catching some morning rays in my bedroom.

"A bend in the road is not the end of the road...unless you fail to make the turn."

-Author Unknown

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 15 - Daisy - Blogtoberfest

The weekend was so busy that it felt like 

we didn't have a weekend at all.

Aaron had to stay home from school today 

because of bad back pain. 

So not normal for a 13 year old so
quite a worry.

I think he will end up having to get 

the MRI scan after all.

On top of the pain in the mid region of his back, 

he also described a tingling feeling

which suggests nerves to me.

I did take things a little more easy today 

and it felt darned good.

I had a very restless night and didn't get much sleep so  

I plan on getting to bed early tonight.

My sketch today is of a daisy.

#15 of 75 pen/ink sketches

Pencil-free sketch in A6 pocket Moleskine sketchbook 

using ZIG Millennium and Micron pens.
(Reference image is credited to Stephie20 at WetCanvas)

Here's to us ALL having a nice, relaxing week 

with no drama.

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 14 - Putting my feet up - Blogtoberfest

It was another crazy, busy day.

Beau called around to pick up the rest of his things.
I was grateful that Beau and his friend, Steven,
took some things to the local dump/tip for me.

Brad and I also reformatted Beau's computer

before he picks it up later tonight.

That took a good couple of hours with

reinstalling Windows and other programs too.

Reece, son no. 3, also visited too

as I helped him set up a blog.

Before we knew it,

the day had flown by.

It was 7:30 pm and I still hadn't sketched!!

I grabbed my sketchbook 

and quickly sketched my feet as 

I'm definitely looking forward to putting them up

for the rest of the night.

I can't believe how fast the weekend

has flown by.

#14 of 75 pen/ink sketches

My feet!

Pencil-free sketch in A6 pocket Moleskine sketchbook

using PITT Millennium and Micron pens.

I hope you all had a great weekend!

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 13 - Exhausted - Blogtoberfest

No. 2 son, Beau, moved out today so

it was total upheaval for the majority of the day.

I also decided to completely reorganise my own bedroom.

A momentous task in itself.
I had a set of drawers that were falling apart
for the longest time
so they are no more!
I replaced them with white
cube/shelf units.

I LOVE my bedroom now!

Aaron helped clean up Beau's room mostly

because he wants to claim it as a study for himself. lol

Funny that when no.3 son, Reece, moved out in July,

we had a major change of rooms then too.

The lounge-room, dining room, and my studio

were all changed about. 

Needless to say,
after today's efforts

my body is in major protest.

Pain all over,

worse in my back and hands.

I did manage a horrendous sketch of Cody.

You can tell my heart wasn't in it as 

I was/am still feeling SO tired, sore, and exhausted.

To be honest, I'm surprised I didn't

end up with another migraine.

#13 of 75 pen/ink sketches

My fur-kid, Cody, fast asleep.

Pencil-free sketch in A6 Moleskine sketchbook

using ZIG Millennium and Micron pens.

Beau has been doing a course in Horticulture at TAFE

and he has taken a keen interest in gardening.

He planted this creeper a few weeks ago 

and it's now flowering.

So pretty!

Yes, perhaps another sketch subject.

I hope you're all enjoying a great weekend!

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 12 - Fairy Wrens - Blogtoberfest

Brrrrrrrr.....there was a very cold and blustery wind all day!!

It certainly cooled things down.

Would you believe I'm battling yet another migraine this evening?

This afternoon, I was putting together a desk 

from a flat-pack for Aaron's room when, 

in a split second, pain shot through my head 

and it's been a battle since.

That's three migraines I've had in three consecutive days

Hopefully, tomorrow will be migraine-free.

I didn't want to flake out on the 75 sketch challenge 

so I sketched regardless of my head pain.

Yep, I'm a real hero...lol

#12 of 75 pen/ink sketches

Another of my top three favourite birds.

Fairy wrens!

Pencil-free sketch in A6 pocket Moleskine sketchbook

using ZIG Millennium and Micron pens.

And now, I'm off to take more migraine pills

and lie down.

I hope your day was better than mine.

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 11 - Brolly weather - Blogtoberfest

A very quick post today as I'm fighting off a migraine.

It was a rainy day and I had an appointment 

so got to use my new umbrella.

#11 of 75 pen/ink sketches

Pencil-free sketch in A6 Moleskine pocket sketchbook

using ZIG Millenium and Micron pens.

I hope you are all doing well.

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 10 - Medication - Blogtoberfest

What a start to the day!

I made a HUGE mistake.

My daily medications for blood pressure and arthritis
are organised in my pill dispenser.
So, this morning, I took some medicine for my cold.
Then, on auto pilot, took my daily medication dose
from the pill dispenser.
It suddenly dawned on me that
the medication for my osteoarthritis
contained extra strength paracetamol (acetaminophen).
While the medication for my cold also
contained paracetamol (acetaminophen).

I had pretty much double-dosed!

YIKES!!!

I phoned the Poisons Bureau
as instructed on the packet
which also included the phone number.
Thankfully, they told me I should be okay
being that it only happened this one time.

PHEW!!!

So, that prompted my sketch for today.
#10 of 75 ink/pen sketches

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The sunflower is progressing...
The last two pics were taken today,
one in the morning,
one in the afternoon.

Anywhoo, this head cold has a good hold of me now,
so I think I'll curl up in front of the TV for a little bit
and then get myself off to bed.

Goodnight all!

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 9 - Blogtoberfest - Trimmers

One of my favourite plants 

'Dracaena massangeana'

known as a 'Happy Plant' in this neck of the woods.

It was a pet grooming day again today.

You may remember that
I trimmed Cody on Sunday

and complained mercilessly about the new trimmers.

Well, today, I managed to get them working for Jack.

Jack's fur is quite coarse so I'm not sure if this made the difference.

I guess I won't know until it's time to trim Cody again.

Anywhoo, after bathing, drying, and trimming Jack,
my back started acting up and

I was so NOT in the mood to sketch

but sketch I did.

My VERY quick and loose rendition of the pet trimmers.

#9 or 75 pen/ink only sketches

66 more pen/ink daily sketches to go!

At the moment, I feel all clogged up like I have a bad head cold
but I'm not sure if it's a form of allergy because I felt this same way just
the other day and was totally clear again within hours.
Weird....

I'm off to have some home-made vegetable soup for dinner.
We had it last night too and it was delicious!
I LOVE home-made soups!

Enjoy your week!

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 8 - backpack - Blogtoberfest

We had some relief from the heat today.

It was overcast and felt like rain

although we didn't actually get any.
It did cool things down which was great!

It was a bad day for back pain unfortunately.
Mid-torso on both sides of my spine.
Not good. :(

Beau planted sunflower seeds a month or two back

and they are now starting to bud!!

Quite exciting!
They will make great sketch subjects.

Okay, if you haven't already tried this cool 'Scribbler' online site,

you may want to pop on over and have some fun!

When the page opens,

just scribble away!

Here was one I 'scribbled' some time ago

My pen sketch today is of a little back-pack 

I specifically bought to carry my sketch supplies.

#8 of 75 pen/ink only sketches

I'm off to have some apple crumble with ice-cream for dessert! YUM!


Have a lovely day/evening!


~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 7 - Pelican - Blogtoberfest

It was another scorcher today!!

I decided to clip my dog, Cody, with the new, but dirt-cheap, trimmers I bought online a few weeks back. Let me just say that, in this case, I got what I paid for. They wouldn't even cut Cody's fur! They kept jamming up from the get-go even though I'd followed the instructions to the letter.  Needless to say, I was not happy and had to resort to Cody's usual scissor-trim which I was not in the mood for, considering the hot day.  I had bought the trimmers to make it easier on my hands as the scissors tend to cause arthritis flare-ups.  I also wasn't impressed that the so-called bottle of oil they included in the kit was totally empty and looked like it had never seen a drop of oil in its life. Beau gave me his trimmer oil to use before I discovered how useless the trimmers were.  Ah well, a lesson learned but at least Cody is happy to be rid of all his fur.

Below are a few pics of lantana flowers growing near the creek close to where we live.

Hard to believe that these beauties are considered a noxious weed here.

The lantana flower always makes me think of a mandala.

I sketched this 'lantana manala' last November

My pen/ink sketch today is of one of my top three favourite birds.

A pelican!

68 more pen/ink sketches to go!!

Do you have a favourite bird??


~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 6 - Garlic - Blogtoberfest

We had a very hot and humid day!

It seemed we jumped straight from Spring 

right into Summer!

Temps were around 35°C/95°F

with over 75° humidity.

I've got a migraine hanging over me

thanks to the heat.

Yep, I've been drinking lots of water too.

This morning, 

we walked to Michelle and Alex's house.

I snapped this pic of the poor, old creek-bed.

Not much water in it.
We need some rain.


My sketch focus today was on 'garlic'.

Sorry the photos aren't the best.
It was fairly late by the time I took them
so not much natural light.

What did you do today?

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 5 - Spoon - Blogtoberfest

When I opened my bedroom blinds early this morning,

the sunlight washed over my bed.

It felt so nice and summery,

even though I'm not really looking forward

to the dreadful hot, humid heat of summer.

A pic of my two shadows.

Well, Cody practically follows me everywhere

just like a shadow. :)

Aaron and I went shopping for the morning with Michelle and Mikayla.

We had McDonalds hotcakes for breakfast. YUM!

The day flew by before I knew it and then, by mid-afternoon,
it was panic stations deciding on what to sketch for today.

I ended up settling for a spoon!

I made a delicious salmon vindaloo curry with rice for dinner tonight.
One of our all-time favourites.

What's your all-time favourite meal?



~ Love, light and peace ~