I've been a lazy blogger!

I'm back, after almost 2 months without blogging.  This is the first hiatus of this amount of time, since I began the blog in spring of 2010!  YIKES!!

It's been a busy couple of months.  We took our annual trip to Kennebunkport Maine, and this year we drove from there to Bar Harbor and our first ever visit to Acadia National Park. 

I've been working on healing my shoulder from an injury in early July (that I mentioned in a prior post).  I've had a root canal, and I've taken a hot air balloon flight (my first ever, a gift).

The balloon flight ended in a farmer's overgrown field, where I discovered the most incredible spider webs covered in morning dew.

I've taken lots of walks, I've doodled and painted (I'll show you the artwork in a future post), and I've taken tons of photos, of everything from great blue herons and butterflies to mushrooms and spiders. 

And, in particular, my son married his love just a little more than 2 weeks ago. 

 That's the happy couple, above, and me and my hubby below.

And me and my baby at a dual family dinner the night before the wedding.

It was a great time for my family to get together from different parts of the country.

Below, my brother, astrologer Rick Merlin Levine, his talented daughter Faythe, and me.

 And this - my whole family - two brothers, two nieces, one nephew, and their assorted spouses and children.  The last time we were all together in one place was for my dad's funeral, 20 years ago.  This was much much better!!!

And now, my DragonWing Arts class is back in gear, and I'm trying to catch up on everything I've been putting off for the last two months.  Below, two 'teaser' pics from DragonWing Arts.  I'll be blogging about both of these projects as we make more progress on them!

I apologize for making you wait so long for a blog post from me. I promise that I'm back, and that I will have art lessons and more to share in the months to come.  Stick with me; hopefully it will be worth it!

A few weeks of nature photos and such

Ugh.  I'm failing at blogging.  Here's a bit of an update on life since my last blog post.

We made a visit to Boston to visit our son and his fiance on Mother's Day.  Behind our hotel was a nature park where there was a pair of nesting swans!

On Mother's Day, we strolled around "Porchfest" in Somerville (where our son lives).  Lots of live music of all genres on porches and front yards all through the neighborhoods.  Free and fun. 

We took a leisurely drive home (ever since our car accident on the Mass Pike two years ago, we prefer the 'scenic route'.)  This time we made a pit stop at the lovely Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls MA.

Since then, I've been in my kayak a few times, and of course brought my camera with me.  I've seen loons, both real and wooden, and a brand new dragonfly emerged from it's nymph casing on my kayak.  That's the dragonfly below, and also at the top of the post.  It is brand new!

And I happened on a nest of redwing blackbird eggs, when I was rescuing bottles and cans I saw in the reeds near the lake shore.  I hope mama comes back to these eggs!

 On a walk near our camp, I came across this oddity, below.

I've taken some strolls around Hovey Pond, a mile from my home.  

And a few days ago, my husband discovered a baby bird living in a tree in the abandoned house next to our home.

We saw it's mama feeding it.  But as of today, it appears the baby has spread its wings.  The tree is vacant.  I hope the fledgling is doing well!

Moose sighting in North Bennington Vermont....

Meanwhile, I set up my easel in the backyard where I've been experimenting with my oil paints, trying to get to know the properties of my colors better.  It isn't done.

Winter Interlude: Frozen Bubbles and Frosty Snow

 My DragonWing Arts classes have been on hiatus, and are back in gear tomorrow, so I'll be sharing some art projects again very soon.  In the meantime, I've been making the best of winter weather and cold temperatures, by attempting to freeze bubbles and photograph them, and taking walks tromping through freshly fallen snow.  So I thought I'd share a few pics!