Watercolor Washes

Today I continued with several more quick watercolor washes, and worked on  one of yesterday's.

Here is a little painting developed from yesterday's spring palette wash.

Spring Wildflowers

red and turquoise wash

yellow-orange and green wash

Pastel color wash

I also did a wash in my watercolor journal using shades of blue and added salt.

Blue wash with salt added

So far, I have turned it upside down and made an angel by painting the negative space around the wings.  I may add some scripture to this one.

Angel from blue and white wash

These paintings are loose, fast and fun.  

Another Baby Gets His Quilt

 

 

Here is my sister's new grandson, Lucas, enjoying his quilt from Great-Aunt Jeanne.  I think he really likes all the bright colors!

 

We are up at our place in the North Carolina mountains for Mothers' Day weekend.  The weather has been a little iffy...but not a total wash-out.  In fact, we have had lots of good rides across the tree farms on the mountains.

 



I wish I could capture the intoxicating scent of the Christmas trees after a rain.  It smelled so good!

When we were last up here just two weeks ago, the trees had no leaves, and there were no wildflowers yet.  Now we have leaves and flowers galore.  I took a little nature trip along our creek, searching for flowers. 

There were a few trillium plants. 

These are ferns in the "fiddle head" stage, before they unfurl.

 

The lady slipper orchids have come up, but they are not blooming yet.

 

 

These common yellow wildflowers grow in abundance everywhere there is sunshine, including here next to the dam.

 

 

These little guys are called bluets.  They look kind of white in this picture, but are actually a light blue or lavender color.

 

 

I bought some Knock-Out roses for my sister's birthday, and got a few for my little flower bed up here.  Poor Kasey had to ride in the back with six ouchy plants competing for space.

 

On the way home we will stop at our son Dave's house and enjoy a visit.  It will be Emily's very first Mother's Day.  Happy Mothers Day to all of you!

Mountain Beauty

We are in the North Carolina mountains, soaking up as much natural beauty as we can!  The native "flame" azalea is in full bloom, lighting up as the rays of the sun find it in the hidden mountain glades.

We actually arrived here Wednesday night, driving up through a thunderstorm.  No more rain is expected until Sunday.  The mornings have been chilly, and the afternoons warm and sunny.  We had a wonderful ride across the mountain on our Gator yesterday.

Of course, our little dog Kasey is full of joy as she runs freely on the mountain trails and through the Christmas tree farms. 

Charlie got her a North Carolina State bandanna.  I'm not so sure she likes wearing it, but isn't this a happy looking dog?

In addition to the flame azalea, the wild native orchids known as lady's slippers are in bloom. 

 I was elated to discover one growing on the mountain trail about five years ago.  I had not seen one since my childhood in New York and New Jersey.  Later I discovered several growing on "the point" of land where our driveway forms a switchback.  I about went crazy yesterday when we were coming up the driveway on the Gator, and I spotted this large "colony" of lady slippers!

Yesterday we met with Riverside Log Homes in Sparta, North Carolina.  They are the company that built our little garage apartment.  We are ready to add on and build an adjoining house.  I got so excited as we went over the plans.  Now all we have to do is sell our house in Wake Forest.  We have been working hard to get it ready to list on the market.  Any one want to buy a five-bedroom home with mature landscaping on a very private lot?

Later today, our son Dave, daughter-in-law Emily, and grand-dog Roo are coming up to join us.  We are greatly looking forward to spending the rest of the weekend with them.

Mountain Weekend

Charlie and I went up on Thursday to our cabin in Ashe County, North Carolina, for a weekend of fun, family, and friends.  It rained on the way up, but Friday was gorgeous.  We enjoyed a great ride over the mountain in the sunshine.

Friday night our son Dave and DIL Emily arrived, as did our friends Tom and Pauline.  On Saturday, we headed out to Todd for an outdoor concert featuring two bluegrass groups, and then the beloved legend Doc Watson.

Here I was while we were waiting to the acts to begin.

Here is what happened about an hour later.

Yep, it started raining hard.  We were game for quite awhile, but it just did not let up.

Finally, we were getting soaked, and just went home.  Too bad!  The first group of young ladies called the Forget-Me-Nots were very good musicians.  Two are sisters, and their dad accompanies them on guitar.  So cute, and they performed many of their own songs.

So, of course today was bright and beautiful again.  We took several rides up the mountain.

The wildflowers are huge and colorful.  These are asters and goldenrod.

Our granddog, Roo, was along, and had a wonderful time.  Here he is cooling his feet in the creek after we came back down the mountain.

Just look at all that bright sunlight on the wildflowers in front of a neighbor's barn.

You can't win them all.  It was too bad about the concert, but you can't really complain when you have such a beautiful place to visit on weekends.

Mountain Wildflowers

It was fun to walk or ride along the mountain last weekend and try to spot some of the many wildflowers that are blooming now.  I was happy to see two lady slippers on our hill, and then Charlie found a clump of about twelve of them growing along the drive.

All of the trillium I have seen have been a crimson color, but I found one on our hill that is white with a pink center.

There were little blue irises growing along the creek.

But the star of the show, by far, was the flame azalea growing wild at the top of the mountain.  The plants grow tall, more like trees than bushes.

On Mother's Day we ate breakfast with Ricky and Mary, and they surprised me with this planter made from an old wooden chair.   Mary painted the chair white, and Ricky removed the seat and wired in the basket.

And on Sunday night we stopped in Cary for dinner with Dave and Emily.  I was treated to a beautiful supper, a gorgeous orchid, a new decorative flag, and a soak in the hot tub!

I hope you enjoyed your Mother's Day as much as I did.