AEDM - Day 22 - Pelican

I love all birds but Pelicans definitely rate in my top 3. 

A couple of years ago, we got up in the wee hours to drive to The Spit at the Gold Coast to watch the sunrise — an hours drive there. I was so happy to see a pelican there early, most likely to catch his/her breakfast. Thought you might like to see some of the pics I took.

Below is the same pelican in the image above 

after the sun had fully risen. 
He/she let me get quite close.

I sketched a Pelican for AEDM today. 

I did a rough freehand sketch with graphite pencil first, 

then followed with watercolours and a bit of white gouache.

To see what the other participants did for today, click HERE.

8 days to go! 

It's going by quite quickly. 

I will be back tomorrow with another sketch. 

Love, Light, and Peace to All.

Sunrises, carrot cake and an imposter

It's been over three weeks since I last posted on my poor old blog. What can I say — not much has been happening of late apart from bad pain days, rest, and lots of reading. Sadly, not much sketching.

OH, and I've been doing some baking — banana cakes, ginger cakes with lemon icing, and even a carrot cake — the latter being my latest triumph in veganised recipes right down to the vegan 'cream-cheese' icing.  They were all delicious! I only managed to get a pic of the carrot cake because, when it comes to home-made treats in this house, I can tell you they have a habit of disappearing very quickly.

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Yesterday did not get off to a good start when Bradley alerted me to the fact that someone was impersonating me on Instagram. This unscrupulous person had created a fake profile using my own profile pic with a similar username. They then Followed all the people who were Following MY own Instagram feed as, more often than not, especially if people think it's you, they will Follow you back. Well, some did follow the impostor back as they thought it was just me starting a new account. The impostor then sent out Direct Messages in the hope that people, thinking it was me, would click on a malicious link within the message.

Luckily, we got onto the issue quickly. I alerted my Followers via a post on Instagram. A few of my followers blocked and reported the offender to Instagram, as did I.  To Instagram's credit, they promptly removed the account before any real damage could be inflicted on my friends. It pays to be alert to how these impostors work.

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Yesterday also happened to be Father's Day here in Australia. It's hard to believe it's been over three years since my Dad passed away at 82 years old. Father's Day just isn't the same without him here. I still miss him terribly. Here he is with Mum back in 2010.

We've had a few foggy mornings of late —

Taken on August 29th at 6am

An hour later with the sun making an appearance through the fog. I love the eerie feeling that comes with fogs.

This lovely pink sunrise was taken at the end of July

I love a cloudy sky too — especially a cotton ball sky. These were taken early August.

Some rain has been forecast until Friday which we do need. The gardens and lawns will love it! 

I hope you all have a beautiful and blessed week. 

Stay tuned for some upcoming book reviews...

Scribble Picnic - Tie It Up

Hello friends,

I'm running late but I had a good excuse — explained later.

As hard as it would have been, I very nearly let this Scribble Picnic pass without doing anything. I went off to bed very tired after a long day but — an image came to mind and I just had to do a very rough scribble of it — straight from my imagination. I'm so glad I managed to do something after all. Obviously, lots of refining is needed as the rectangular shapes on the roof-racks will be turned into suitcases...but I think the idea is cute and will look better with ink and some watercolour.

The theme for this week was 'TIE IT UP' but for some unknown reason, my tired brain was thinking 'TIE IT DOWN'. Both can pass for the same, I guess.

After making sure all their belongings were securely 'tied down/up' on the roof-racks, these two besties were off on an adventure to the big city — a new life awaited. How exciting!

To see what my fellow Picnickers have done for this week, click HERE.
To find out how to join in on the fun each week, click HERE.

I had a bit of an adventure myself yesterday when my two sons and I decided to take a trip to The Spit, Main Beach at the Gold Coast to capture some photos of the sunrise. We woke up at 1:30 AM to get organised and were off on our adventure by 3 AM. It takes just over an hour to get there. It was dark and cold when we first arrived being that we have only just started spring.  I was so grateful that Aaron had packed some blankets for us. Plus I had taken some Thermo mugs filled with hot coffee. It was heaven!

So here is the sunrise in sequence, taken with my Samsung Galaxy Note 5.

I was so excited to see a couple of pelicans on the beach so naturally I had to get a pic of one

Isn't he/she beautiful?! I adore pelicans! There were lots of seagulls about too waiting at the waters edge as the tide moved in.

We had a beautiful, fun morning! I was a little worried that the fine, dry Aussie sand would have caused my hip and back to flare up but, while I experienced a little pain later, it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. The physiotherapy must be helping. YAY!  Walking in soft, fine sand can be very hard on the legs and hip, particularly uphill, and especially when you're not used to it.

While the sand looks dark and reddish in this pic, it's purely from the glow of the sunrise, as the sand is actually a white-grey colour in the dry sandy parts of the beach.

We will definitely do that trip again. Needless to say, after a spectacular start to the day, the lack of sleep caught up with me by evening so I went off to bed around 9 PM — and did my Scribble Picnic sketch too before lights out.

I hope you all enjoy a beautiful week!

Catching the sunrise at The Spit, Main Beach

We woke at 1:30 in the morning, got ready, and

 left home at 2:50am to head to The Spit at Main Beach, 

determined to catch the sunrise. 

I LOVE the beach 

and the last time I was at the Gold Coast 

was way back in 2007! 

Far too long and, after our visit this morning, 

we plan to do it more often.

The Spit was still in darkness when we arrived around 4am.
Note the star in the sky

The sun started to rise around 4:50am

The clouds on the horizon meant we had 

to wait a little longer to see the sun fully. 

And it didn't disappoint...

Bradley is on the left; Aaron and Eliana on the right.

It was amazing to see the rich colours 

It was so beautiful and almost blinding...

I was in awe....

Getting sand between my toes...hehe  

There were lots of seagulls about. 

We had a great time! 

It's now 4 o'clock in the afternoon 

and I'm feeling quite tired after our early morning start. 

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I have been sketching but haven't taken photos yet...

I hope to be back tomorrow to show you them.