Cosy Punk ~ Happy PPF!

A few weeks ago I was looking at a post by a dear bloggerfriend Debbie of It's All About Purple blogspot showing her usually shy Cardinals whose colour really stood out in a snowfall mid January.

As I looked through them, I had a vision ---- 👻whooooo - lol.  Seriously,  I love it when inspiration gives me a nudge - so much better than whingeing around the place saying "I want to paint, but don't know whaaaaat".

"Cosy Punk"

Didn't have to think too hard for a name either.  I showed MD the finished painting and he immediately said "Punk"  - I knew little Punk would be cosy with that pretty purple scarf around his neck, so "Cosy Punk" it was :D)

Thanks to everyone for the great feedback re process pictures.  I've always loved to see them on others' blogs and kept it in mind for this little dabbling.

It was another attempt at using Masking Fluid (previous attempts ended in ... well, not good, lol).
I gained a lot of advice from a friendly art supplies lady.  She said a lot of people apply it with twigs, so I gave it a go - cool!
Also, it was a happy coincidence that
it had a colour so I could see where I was placing it.

Masking fluid dry and I pop in some watercolour.
Aw, cute little fellow's got a whole tummy full of seeds by the look of him ;D)

Background done, I used some watercolour pencils.
When I peeled the masking fluid off, the snow on the branches didn't seem to stand out very much so I used some acrylic paint for it.

I was too into it at this stage and forgot to take another pic, but it was more layers of watercolour over the pencils, and then in with the 0.1 ink pen.

🐦 Thanks very much for your visit, always much appreciated 

and thank you Debbie for the use of your darling Cardinals 🐦

I'm linking up to Eva and Kristin's Paint Party Friday.  

 Click on the image below if you'd like to have a look around, you'll be made so welcome :

Fantails in our Garden

We have a lot of Fantails in our garden at the moment and I'm pretty sure they are the Grey Fantail (always happy for confirmation or otherwise).

They're agile and extremely busy little birds who delight us with their antics.



Very easy to please ... they enjoy every part of our garden.

The ti tree is often a place to sit and wait for Mum or Dad to come back with a tasty tid bit.



This is a very popular  spot to bathe.

We see them more often here than at the pond.

This final photo is my favourite.  I love that little bit of fluffiness on its tiny body - oh so cute.

🐦 Thanks for dropping by and sharing some birdie happiness 🐦

Linking up with Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday

why not flit over there and see what everyone else has to show,

you'll be delighted!

Click on the image below

Definitely something fishy here... Happy PPF!

I do love painting fishies.

Having grown up near the sea, it was always fascinating watching the small silver fish darting and weaving just below the waterline.
Swimming amongst them was delightful... little girl fantasies of mermaids and so on ;D)

Back in 2013,  painting some koi,  in a pond, seemed like it might be fun and here's the result:

"Three Koi" acrylic on canvas board

I've always enjoyed looking at progress pics on others' blogs and, as I'd remembered to take some for this painting, thought I might do the same.

(I had a mad momentary thought, while taking the progress pics, that I could learn from my painting mistakes .... ha ha,  well, that still hasn't happened!  Never mind, onwards ...)

Progress Pic 1:

I started out intending to do abstracty waterlillies 
Had no idea how to start the fish so I had a play around ... acrylic is so forgiving.

Progress Pic 2:

Quickly changed my mind re the waterlillies and
used white as a second coat on the fish

Progress Pic 3:

oooooh having trouble with the fish, so whacked on another
coat of white paint.
Poised to do a complete paint-over .....uh  no,  one more try.

Progress Pic 4:

Ok, getting somewhere finally.  Squiggling in the fish scales with thinned paint and
long thin brush.  Went a bit crazy with the gold and silver paint too.
Then a second colouring in on the floating plants - yay, just about finished.

🐟 Thanks for your visit - always much appreciated 🐟

Very happily linking to Kristin and Eva's

Pretties because of a kindness (Impatiens balfourii)

Updated 22nd January 2017:  A lot of us, myself included, thought the little flower shown in this post was perhaps a type of orchid. I had no idea, and no one else did either, until fellow Blogger, Jenny Woolf suggested it may be some kind of balsam. 
I love researching things, so I set out in that direction and, yes, Jenny was spot on! 
Wikipedia, refers to it as "..being a species of the genus Impatiens known by the common names Balfour's touch-me-not, Kashmir balsam, and poor man's orchid.  It belongs to the family Balsaminaceae." 
So, thank you Jenny, you cleared up that identity crisis beautifully! Cheers :D)
Here's my original post of 18th January 2017:

These tiny, delicate flowers are enjoying their protected corner in our shadehouse:

This planter was a gift from a lady we'd met briefly when we lived in a unit for a couple of years.
She was moving out and popped over to say goodbye and that she'd left a couple of pots behind for us to keep.
She added that she was sure we'd get a nice surprise with one in particular that was newly planted:

... and we did:

They now live in our shadehouse back home and are a yearly treat:

~ Thank you for your visit... have a peaceful and happy week ~

Linking with much pleasure to Riitta's:

and to Nick's:

Recycled Pickling

We blame our Son ;D)

He suggested we try a certain brand of pickled onions and, boy, did we get hooked!

Anyway, with MD's onion patch bearing nicely... and two jars of leftover bits of pickled onions in the fridge, we both came up with the same idea that perhaps we could re-use the pickling liquid. It was very tasty and too good to throw out.

Turns out Mr Google said that, as long as the liquid hadn't gone cloudy, we could!  So we did:

First off, the picking/lifting of the onions.
⭄Note the handy onion-lifting thingy MD crafted... finger knotches and all!
He's always coming up with these nifty type of things - love my dear inventive man 💘

Into the sink for a quick clean-up:

OK... here's where the whinging starts!
Did I say "quick" clean up.  Oh goodness, I kept breaking into new layers. Clingy thin annoying sticky layers,
which then required more and more skins to be removed ... oh will this torture ever end, what was I thinking... blah blah

Finally,  all cleaned, topped and tailed, pickling brine gently
simmered for a little while, jars sterilised... pack in the
onions (hooray I calculated amount correctly - go me!!)

So pleased... even Froggie who watched on, fairly sceptically,
can't believe his eyes!

I'm getting a bit carried away here I know,
but I've never been one to bottle or pickle things
so it's a kind of a first in Susanland!
Two whole jars!!! and it only took ... um... a few hours (heh heh) ;D)

We've been eating them since I made this post.  Most delicious and very near to the originals. The onions had a lovely crunch too. 

~Thanks for popping over and reading this post ~

⚘ My proverbial hat off to those who bottle and pickle regularly ⚘  

(If anyone has a favourite pickled onion recipe - any hints, tips etc.  I'd really appreciate a link.  Would love to give it a try from scratch)

Eucalyptus Blossoms from my paintbrush... Happy PPF!

It's still Friday, and now I'm joining in to 🎨  Kristin and Eva's Paint Party Friday 🎨

Eucalyptus Blossoms, some photographs of which were the subject of my previous post, have always inspired me to paint.
I've included some pieces that I've done over the past couple of years. They're in watercolour with inkpen and a dash of gold here and there:

"Gum Nut Blossom"

"Eucalyptus Gems"

"Eucalyptus Lovelies"

"When the Gums Bloom"

I claim no botanical correctness... lol,  as can be seen!    

Instead I go for my own interpretation of those bush beauties.  

This enjoyable, loose and free approach suits me just fine - no pressure.

💝 Thank you for the great welcome to PPF 💝 

The Beauty of Eucalypts in our Garden

It never ceases to blow me away when the Eucalypts' blossoms decide its time to show themselves.

Those cute little capsules that first appear,  jam-packed tight with prettiness:

The bees get all excited too!

The capsules start to push and shove and one by one off pop their tops:

Such an incredible sight... yep, blows me right away...

~  Thank you for popping over and taking a look ~

Linking up with:

 Nick's Floral Friday Fotos

Riitta's Floral Bliss

Spoon. . . er, Beak Fed!

🐦 The Little Wattlebirds have had a few breeding sessions this year in our garden.

We enjoy watching the babies being fed while we drink our morning coffee on the verandah, and I managed to capture a full feeding.

Here's a little one on the branch just across from where we sit:

🐦 The baby is showing its brush tip (tongue) to tell Mum, or Dad, to hurry up and get some food.

Now baby has flown on to the shadehouse roof and is getting all excited because food is coming:

🐦 Both parents take turns to feed the baby

It's a bit blurry in some of these pics, but the action happens real fast so I keep my finger on the shutter button!

🐦 Open wide 

Here's a closeup of the previous photo:

🐦 Contact!

🐦 Must've been tasty, baby is "licking" its beak

Off goes a parent for more food:

The time between each feed that morning was 5 to 6 minutes -  and I kept watch for just over an hour... lol, exhausting or what, no wonder the parents both tend to baby. I'm not sure how long this frenetic feeding routine lasts, but feel it could be a couple of days and then things seem to calm down a bit.

We particularly like the Little Wattlebirds for their friendly and quiet nature, as against the Red Wattlebirds who, in our yard at least, seem to be in a constant bad mood!

I got all inspired and painted this watercolour (with inkpen) last night... to add a little dash of colour at the end of the post:

~ 🐦  Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog  🐦~ 

I hope you've enjoyed sharing our morning fun with the birds as I join in with 

Stewarts Wild Bird Wednesday.  

There are lots of other birds to be seen if you'd like to click on the image below: