Hopelessly Devoted April 10, 2023

On March 21st, I ended my blog post with the words "Stay Tuned"!  Since that day, I have been hopelessly devoted to spying my first crocus of this new spring season.  I searched high and low each day except for three days last week when I was away.  Finally today it is time to tune back in, I spotted my first crocus, actually it was this bouquet! They were barely visible and it took getting down on the ground and being one with Mother Nature, clearing away some twigs then snapping this shot.  These crocuses are about one inch high and as you can see are just mere babies.  Now as each day passes, more and more will grace the grounds around with their beauty and I plan to be witness to it! 

While I was on the hunt and having no success, I passed some time painting crocuses.  

buds bursting up through the snow

defying Mother Nature and thriving in the snow

Many sights captured my attention while on the crocus hunt these past number of days.  

While the moon was not full, it looked gigantic!  

Some Robins stayed local this winter but I am thinking this one did not.  

I spotted it at The Sanctuary and when I saw it was banded, 

I wondered what travel stories could it tell!

In a matter of a few days Nose Hill Lake goes from being bare as a bone to being full and overflowing.  I remember being curious in previous years wondering how does this happen when there has been no new snow nor rain!  

We eyed each other, kept our distance, then went on our merry ways in opposite directions.

The freeze/thaw was quite significant this year.  In the midst of a gorgeous thaw came a freeze!

Oh what a sweet song you sing!

Black-Capped Chickadee

In the past number of years, I truly thought I was in tune with everything nature had to offer!  I learned to "Remember to Breathe" and practiced that to what I believed was the full extent.  That was until I learned about nature journaling.  The more I learned about it, the more I wanted to do it!  I even made painting in nature one of the items on may "Vision Board" for 2023.  A little while back, I purchased this journal.  It has been sitting on my coffee table waiting for when the time was right to venture in and christen it.  

The back number of pages have instructions to help get you started with this art.

So, I read numerous articles about getting started with journaling for first timers.  The majority of the articles said, just do it.  I did not feel I could just do it.  Many people stated they were nervous about christening their journals. With the beautiful weather I had while caboosing last week, I thought this is the perfect time to take the leap.  I took the leap and as you can see, a page has been torn from my brand new nature journal.  My first project was the Red Breasted Nuthatch but the outcome was a mess.  This was my second go at it!  I purposely left two blank pages at the front of the journal in case I messed up and I went back to one of those pages for my second attempt.  I am very pleased with this page.  I think I might become one of those nature journalers who likes blank space.  

This is my second project.  It was done at my dining table and not from what I saw in nature nor from my photos.  I wanted to practice and took another leap and went with a two page spread.  Once again, I left loads of black space and I like it like that.  

Just like I stated at the beginning of this blog post about ending a blog post with the words "Stay Tuned" with regards to crocus hunting, I am now saying "Stay Tuned" for more nature journaling projects.