Monday's painting...

...Woke in the very early dark hours. Went out to look at that snow moon. Took Android and old iPhone out. Took photos. Wasn't impressed. The old iPhone's last update must've done something different to the camera, because instead of just taking a straight photo (so to speak), it now has all the different preset edit settings on the camera screen.

Hang on, just looked at it now, and it is back to normal camera screen...and those preset edit settings are back in edit where they belong. It must have been because I was taking night time shots which my iPhone isn't geared for, but when there is a super bright moon combined with leaves and branches in my garden, I can take photos which I find interesting. But I couldn't do it in the dark early hours this morning with the old iPhone.

So tried the Android phone which does take night time photography. It didn't do quite what I wanted, and takes good detailed photos of a dark scene which my naked eye can't see, but it wasn't what I wanted from my back garden. I want to create some reference photos for an idea I have.

Went out in the garden for a few minutes with a cuppa just after dawn, it was quite light. And Mrs Blackbird was doing dangerous fly pasts in front of my face. Having a female blackbird doing stunts worthy of the Red Arrows within inches of my face is not my idea of fun. The cheeky so and so is looking at me through my bedroom windows and giving me a good taking to, well at least her beak is opening and shutting. I don't have my cochlear speech processor on yet. So, I have no idea what she is saying. But the gist of her body language is saying 'You're back in that cage where you belong'.

Great! I am not only under house arrest lockdown by the government (like the rest of us in Wales), I am also under blackbird house arrest lockdown until she has finished building her nest (and brought up her future babies) which by the way started exactly at 9 am yesterday morning.

I was in the garden yesterday, sitting on my chair enjoying the sun, when Mrs Blackbird spied me. She was not pleased, and wouldn't resume her nest building while I could see where she was going into the clematis. And her Mr Blackbird was doing those flying through the trees distraction techniques they use to keep predators away from their babies when they are learning to fly. But this pair have only got as far as beginning to build a nest!!! 

Many years ago I actually cat proofed that clematis, against my cats when Lynx was about to get the baby blackbirds at that time. I managed to shut Lynx in the bathroom while I covered the clematis with plastic covered wire netting that allowed mum and dad blackbirds to enter and leave to take care of their babies. (Or Lynx would have got them). Mum and dad blackbird, at that time watched me from the roof, and I was hoping by me removing my cat from harming their babies and me messing for an hour with this netting, that they would understand I was only trying to help. I wasn't sure I succeeded, but that next morning mum and dad blackbird were back with loads of worms feeding their babies and all was well again. And mum and dad blackbird at that time regarded me as a friend.

So, somehow I am going to have a discussion with the current Mrs Blackbird....it is a nice day and I will be out there...

Today's painting in Procreate was the old seedheads of the Teasel in my back garden, against the full blazing sun I was viewing out my front window yesterday afternoon, against the blue cloudless sky. It just didn't work...

So, I had a look at my photos of the moon against the dark night sky and changed it to Teasels in Moonlight!!!

Now, I need to have a discussion with Mrs Blackbird. She is dive bombing all the tiny birds in my garden. She sent Jenny Wren packing just now, and was trying to separate the two robins, but they just scatter and come back immediately. Mrs Blackbird is wasting her precious energies...there is enough room and food for at least 3 pairs of birds and their nests in my back garden. Mrs Blackbird has also commandeered the front garden for her exclusive use. She was there at dusk last night and looking at me through the window, giving me another talking to. She went on and on. She thinks she knows where I belong, in my zoo cage.


Now, it's jail break time...




UPDATE ON CAR KEYS...
Where were they?
Well I went through the motions of going through what I had done a few days earlier when I had come in from the car.


I put the imaginary keys on the table, and then putting the yellow box away, which was in my left hand.

Came back to the table where the imaginary keys were.

Picked up the imaginary keys that were on the table, and my hand automatically went to put them in my imaginary jacket pocket (as if I were going out), because I hadn't yet taken that outdoors jacket off. 


And I went and hung the jacket up. 


So I looked in the right jacket pocket and there they were. 

Because I had been wearing my jacket, my brain must have thought, ah, she's going out, I had better automatically pick up these keys for her!!!

Okay...Popeye needs a treat now...I shouldn't have  suspected him...