Wispy Snow White Rookery of the Audubon Swamp

The pond scum is thick and heavy already in May

A Little Blue Heron

Boxer Brown

This is Indie. About 3-4 years ago, I had painted a portrait of Levi, my cousin Michelle's boxer whom she had her whole life. Sadly, he passed away a couple of years ago, but they had acquired Indie shortly before. I thought since I was going to see her in Myrtle Beach, why not paint his portrait and deliver it, saving me a lot in shipping fees. So, here he is! She loved it.

The Snowy White of Canada Comes to the Yellow Funshine of Myrtle Beach!

April 27, 2014 found me in Mrytle Beach to visit my cousin Michelle, her husband Roy and their two boys, Keegan and Liam. It's been 8 years since I've seen them! Keegan was only 5 months old, and Liam not even a glimmer of a plan yet. I had taken Travis and Emory up to Burlington, Canada so that they could meet Michelle, et al. We are not a very large family, with just about everyone else way older, so I wanted Trav to meet the only cousins he had who were close to his age. They are fantastically awesome!!!!!!!!! They had recently purchased a pull-behind camper and decided to head down to Mrytle Beach- lucky for me! The GPS took them out of the way, so they drove for 19hours through mountains and storms to get here. A straighter route home would take them only 15 hours. We had the best time. Didn't see Roy too much. Their friends, Sue and Scott with their daughter Kylie, had also come down so the guys spent a lot of their time playing golf. We girls and the kids just kinda hung out at the campground watching the kids play in the pool or around the other side of the park where they climbed trees and scampered on the play ground. Lots of wildlife- we fed ducks, watched crabs, an eagle osprey and a young raccoon. I got up in time to see the sunrise- one of my favorite things to do.It was so great to see them all again. Nuts about the boys, great time spent with Michelle. I must return to Canada and see them before another 8 years go by!

More Furry Yellow Bodies With Black Stripes! Bees in Awendaw

What can I say- I love bees. My dream is to be able to snap one while it's flying and the photo be absolutely in focus. Good luck on that one! haha

Bzzzz! Furry Yellow Bodies With Black Stripes at the Bee Expo

On April 6, 2014 I attended the Bee Expo which was held outside the Cinebarre Movie Theater. Many tents housing vendors of honey, hives, honey products, plants that attract bees, mead, Trader Joe's had a stand with all the fruit and vegetables dependent on bee pollination, etc. Sermet's restaurant was even there with absolutely delicious fare. A documentary played in the theater mid-afternoon *sigh*. The one thing that really stood out for me was the segment about a farm in China. Due to extremely high use of chemicals, there aren't any bees. The owners of the farm have to buy pollen that has been collected by a local company and have their workers literally hand place the pollen on each blossom of each of their plants. I shudder to think of our future and that of the planet...

The Blue Water and Green Palmettos of Pitt Street Bridge

This was the first time that we went to Pitt Street Bridge without little Sophie (March 9, 2014). Shadows of a girl and her dog (I guess I'll be 91 years old and still refer to myself as "girl"- haha). The tide was low, allowing the willets to feed on the mud. I'm fascinated by how the waves roll in from opposite directions creating a basket weave pattern. Belle seemed a bit down- I don't know if it were the cool breeze hitting her face or she missed Sophie for she had tears rolling down her cheeks...