Kitchen decluttering and some sketches

The heat has been unbearable! I always find it hard to breathe when the heat and humidity get so high. Not sure if it's due to having asthma but it sure saps my energy.

I have been doing the daily sketches - some quite simple, some more detailed. If you missed my last lot of sketches, you can check the post out HERE.

The sketches below are the last two I photographed. I still have today's sketch to finish and take a photo of. First up is a special doggy comb I use for removing mats in fur. Cody's coat was getting quite long, and I felt sorry for him in this heat, so out came the scissors and combs. It takes me two hours to trim him back with scissors but I don't own dog clippers and it had to be done.  I'm sure he is much more comfortable now.

A quick ballpoint pen sketch of the big Buddha head I have in my lounge room

I'm linking up to Sunday Sketches again. To see the work of other participants for this week, click HERE.

Despite the horrible heat and humidity, I got stuck into decluttering my kitchen today. It felt so good to get rid of stuff I no longer use or want. I was amazed at how much stuff had long passed the Best Before dates mainly because things were pushed to the back when new things were added. The cupboards look so much neater now. I also down-sized on the amount of containers, crockery, and cutlery we had. I'm loving the more minimalist approach.

I could feel my back starting to grumble after all the decluttering so I will have to rest up a bit. I still have my art studio to tackle but all in good time.  

We had a good, heavy lot of rain earlier but it hasn't really helped cool things down at all. I hope we get some relief from the heat soon. 

Happy Sunday to all! 

Sketching and decluttering

We have been sweltering in high heat and humidity this past week. As we don't have the luxury of air-conditioning, it feels like we are living in a sauna. The nights have been hot and humid too so no relief there. Winter can't come soon enough for me.

I've been blending up some smoothies to help ease our discomfort from the heat. SO delicious!

Strawberry, banana with coconut milk

Berry, banana with soy milk

The daily sketching continues and these are the ones I have photographed so far. 

My tiny bag which is an ideal size for my mobile phone and keys. 

Ink and watercolour

My favourite character on Criminal Minds - Dr. Spencer Reid - played by Matthew Gray Gubler. 

Pen sketch with a wee touch of graphite for subtle shading

One of my Lamy Safari fountain pens which I had to soak and clean as it had dried up. 

Ink and watercolour

Refilled the Lamy Safari with Lamy water-soluble ink. 

Ink sketch

One of my small travel watercolour palettes. 

Ink and watercolour

It's been quite a while since I've been able to participate but I'm linking up with the Paint Party Friday group today. To see the work of other participants for this week, click HERE.

On top of sketching, I did more decluttering. I sorted through more of my books and donated quite a few. I have a lot of art magazines and instructional art books (some are pictured below) that I no longer want so I think I might put them up on Gumtree for sale. 

Tomorrow, I will be tackling my art studio/space. I organised it a while back but I have way too much stuff so I need to make some tough decisions. 

A trip to the wetlands, sketching, and decluttering

Well, I'm off to great start for the year, am I not? I completely forgot to do my Sunday Sketches blog post yesterday! My content was ready to go but it just slipped my mind. I'm kicking myself for not adding it to my digital daily task list as it constantly nags me until the task is done. My day was quite busy and productive in other areas so I guess it just slipped my mind.  Better late than never, right? 

On Saturday, as part of the Moment Catchers challenge, Bradley (son) and I went to Berrinba Wetlands so I could sketch on-location. It was an over-cast, gloomy day and it threatened to rain but we didn't let that stop us. Apologies that the images may appear a little dull and grey too. There is 120 hectares of protected bushland reserve and the man-made section takes up 40 hectares.

These beautiful wetlands were actually man-made. It was created by sand and mining operations after World War 2. It is now home to much of the wildlife in the area including pelicans, one of my favourite birds.

This piece of art was created by John Coleman in 2011. It symbolises, Mibunn, the sea-eagle, squawking and flapping his wings to once again protect Scrubby Creek. It has a solar panel and an electric motor so I'm assuming it can flap its wings at some point in the day. Something I have never seen. Apparently, there is a colony of sea-eagles at the wetlands so an appropriate choice of art.

If you're curious about the 'START' signage on the walking path, it's a marker for the Park Run Event they have every Saturday. It's where people can walk, run, and bike-ride through the wetlands on the walking path while they are timed. Read more about it HERE.

Some of the fauna residing at the wetlands. 

I love walking the path and being among nature. 

I especially like stopping at this circle of stones along the way. 

Some of the stone seats are marked with rune symbols. 

This one is Ingwaz which symbolises peace and harmony. 

I quickly got to work sketching while Bradley recorded the sounds of the wetlands. The birds and insects were creating a beautiful melody for us.

The completed sketch 

As part of my commitment to living a more minimal life, I took up the 30 Day Simplify Your Life challenge and, yesterday (Sunday), I got busy decluttering my wardrobe. I had already decluttered my wardrobe about two months ago and managed to rid myself of three extra-large bags of unwanted items but I was even more ruthless this time around. I managed to fill another two extra-large bin bags. One bag contains items for Donation and the other contains clothes to be thrown out. Those now-empty hangers used to hold clothes. I love opening my wardrobe now and seeing how roomy it is.  It's amazing how we get a build up of belongings over the years, some of which we never use.

After doing my wardrobe, I moved onto Brad's wardrobe and we managed to fill another extra-large bin bag of clothes to be thrown out. He was so happy to have more room in his wardrobe too.

TODAY, I tackle my books and art magazines. As with my wardrobe, I had decluttered a lot of my books already but there is definitely more to go. I'm a woman on a mission.

To finish off this post, here are a couple more of my daily sketches.

I was going to link up to Sunday Sketches but it's not up yet. I guess it is still Sunday in the States so I will keep checking throughout the day.

The link is up - click HERE to see the work of other participants.

I hope you have all enjoyed a beautiful and peaceful weekend.