Monday 21 September 2020

Coooooo-eeeeee! I'm back!

Hi everyone!

So I'm finally back after months away from Blogland. It wasn't intentional. I don't really know why except I just lost the urge to blog or post in my Social Media platforms. I don't like Facebook so I rarely post there anyways. The state of the world and this pandemic weighed heavily on my mind.  While Australia has done reasonably well in the face of Covid19, there have been far too many losses around the world. It's heart-wrenching!  

I do need to get back into the swing of things though so here I am — finally! 

I've done a little sketching here and there but nothing worth posting.  I also managed a couple of acrylic pet portraits on paper during my absence. Aaron, my son, wants portraits of all his pets so I still have 2 more to do.

Meet Arlo, Aaron's Sun Conure
Sorry about the glare on the glass; couldn't be helped.

A few of the stages in his progress below







Arlo was painted with Acrylic Gouache on 360 gsm Acrylic art paper. 

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Speaking of birds, the neighbourhood plovers have babies! There were 4 but sadly, there are only 3 now. Plover parents tend to inadvertently put their babies in harms way which is why their babies often don't survive. Out of four babies, they would be lucky if one makes it. The parents usually sit on the footpath beside the road and their babies go out onto the road and hang about there. Yesterday, I had to slow down two passing cars and warn them of the baby plovers on the road ahead of them. Thankfully, they slowed right down and the babies eventually moved onto the footpath beside their parents. 

The thing is that, when the plover parents see a car, they call out loudly telling their babies to hide —  and hide they do — by staying put and curling themselves up into a ball of fluff — in the middle of the road! And that seems to satisfy the parents. Thank goodness, those little baby fluff-balls didn't become flattened pancakes yesterday. I have been quite a worrywart over them whenever they are in our street. 

Not the best photo quality as it's taken from some distance away through a dusty window. Do you see the baby? Another one is nestled under the parent's tummy. You may notice the extra pair of legs if you look close enough. They were in our back yard. 

Again, not a clear pic, but this is one of the babies. It's covered in those sticky grass seeds. 

Then Miss Kya suddenly spots them and says, 
"What the heck is that?!!!"

Then settles herself on the windowsill for a closer look and some CatTV.

I'm so glad Kya is 100% indoors now otherwise I'd be a nervous wreck.

So that's it for today. I will fill you in over the coming weeks on things I did in my absence from blogging. 

Thanks to everyone who messaged and commented asking how I was. It's nice to know I was missed. I hope you all stay safe in these times of uncertainty.

On a side-note - It looks like Blogger is forcing us to use the new format. They took away the option to go back to the previous format. Not happy about that but it's a free service so I can't complain really. I'm grateful for this free blog. That said, I did try this new format a while ago and didn't like it because it was so sluggish and it took forever to upload photos. Hopefully, they've improved on it since then.

14 comments:

  1. I also HATED the new blogger interface when it first came out but since they updated it again, I like it just fine. It is much-improved.

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    1. It has definitely improved a lot compared to when I first tried it so I'm very relieved. I had no issues at all. :)

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  2. So happy to see you back! Love the photos of the plovers and of Kya!
    Baby partridges crouch down against the ground, too, when they are scared or warned by adults. The adults fly away so the young ones learn pretty quickly to do the same. I shouldn't say they are babies because by the time I see them on my patio they are more like young teens--lol! But when they first visit they do the crouching down on the ground thing for safety, too. ;)
    Glad you're back!!

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    1. It feels good to be back, Rita...thanks. When curled up, these plover babies are about the size of a golf ball. They do grow fast though so I'll be glad when they are less vulnerable. xo

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  3. Yes this COVID is awful...........so glad you are back painting and adore the bird!! as well as the Plover family and their story xx

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  4. It's fantastic to see a post from you!

    I know what you mean about things getting to you. It's been a bad year for many reasons for most of us... Some more than others.

    I'm glad you've so far been able to help keep some of the birds safe. Hope it stays that way. Silly things. I guess that must have been a popular nesting site long before there was a road there, so they return to it? I know that's a common reason for animals building nests and burrows in locations that aren't really safe.

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    1. Thanks, Tori...it feels good to be back. Already planning my next blog post.

      I never thought of that aspect....they would be different plovers, however, it could be an instinct thing. After all, we humans did encroach on their territory initially even if we've been here for 14 years. I just hope the babies make it. I noticed one was limping yesterday which makes it even more vulnerable. :(

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    2. That's what I was thinking: some kind of inbuilt instinct. Like the same kind of instinct that a bird follows when it flies South for Winter.

      Oh no! I hope the little baby - and the rest of them - will be OK, and the limping baby's leg heals.

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  5. Its not only you but I have been away from blog land as well. I wonder if anyone will bother to look at my blog now😄 but sometimes life happens and we all need a break to deal with things. This pandemic has taken over our lives but we have to battle on. Love your sketch refreshing to see beautiful art again

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