Feb 6 - Day 6

The rain stopped early and the sun came out by about 11am.
I found it very hot today.

I was the only one.

Everyone here is telling me it's winter, but my body felt woozy, like, I'd better sit down and rest a spell. Drink some (more) water. Rest. Relax. But how to label this... oh yeah.
It felt like the lazy days of summer to me: late July/August. I just sort of walked around with a silly glazed look for most of the afternoon. Hard to get work done.

So, I did some shopping and came across an outlet store filled with things I just simply loved.

Happy bright colours, inspiring prints in bold shapes and crazy mixes and matches of colours and patterns on everything from purses to dresses to table wear. I could have bought half the store. As it was I bought a small bag, a dress, a coffee mug, and coconut-lime 3-in-1 bubblebath, shower gel, &shampoo.

I should have known it would be my kind of store.
Just look at the sign on the door:

Sunflowers and Smiley

Continuing my quest to have something to show at my shows this summer, I worked from a.m. to p.m. and came up with these two.

The sunflowers are a rare subject for me. I hardly ever do flowers but I got a challenge from a friend to try it and so here they are. Voila!

Sun Worshipper
24 x 36 acrylic on canvas

Smiley the Dog is the kind of thing I really enjoy doing. Face on, direct gaze, big smile. Animals who know more that we give them credit for. This guy's very optimistic. Treats anyone???

Smiley
16 x 20 acrylic on canvas

UV 11 + Humidex 41C + full sun and no air conditioning

Like the guy on some movie I saw ages ago who told the other guy "hey turn it up to 11" cause he wanted to rock out, our UV index around here is on 11 today. I was wondering how high the UV could go as it's been steadily 8 or 9 and then 10's across the board and today: 11.

If I go out will my eye balls burn or will they just get silently damaged to show up as cataracts a decade from now? What's with the sun going to 11 for Pete's sake?

Apparently the scale goes to 11 and then they don't count it anymore.
What if it's really a lot more than 11?
Makes you want to retire to your damp cool basement and not come out until the sun and the mosquitos are gone.

Until then all my windows are closed *sigh*. I wait all year to have the windows wide open only to have to grudgingly concede that if I want to sleep a few hours at night then I have to close them during the day. We don't have an air conditioner and this year I can't hear the hum of the neighbour's units either. We're all either too poor to afford the hydro bills that come with them or we're all just putting up with it. Eventually the temperature breaks. But this week, we'll suffer.

Better find my hat. And my sunscreen. And wear both.

August and September Bones

So here it is, the 1st of September. The ancient Celts held this to be New Year's Day and it always feels that way to me, whether you are getting ready for another year of school, as I am, or just shifting gears from summer to fall.



I have lots to post and I'll start with this guy. This is August's skeletal offering
Fun and sun and summer outdoor activity...

And here we are, it's September



Back to it. The long shadow is very appropriate.

On the Fence

Looking out my back door I saw this kitty sitting on top of the fence. I snapped this gauzy shot through the screen door. I tried to get a better image through the window but she saw me move and took off.

I was working away and felt the summer heat rising. It's been a very tropical summer here in decidely non-tropical Ottawa. Pretty much every day we get a rainstorm. Usually thunder and lightning. 60%-70% probability of precipitation everyday. Every night the temperatures go below 20C. I love it. I know there are plenty of locals upset with all the rain. I know there are plenty of locals who'd like a day free of the rain. But for me, I am totally enjoying it. Since I have to work at home and make a ton of stuff all summer, I haven't had a string of days where it was too hot to work. Last year I was ready to buy me an air conditioner after a week of temperatures that didn't go below 28C. I'd rather have this.

So later on I looked up and saw this squirrel flaked out.



It's very weird to see these scurrying critters relaxed like this. Guess they feel right at home. I've seen plenty of them in the neighbourhood eating good stuff from the gardens around here; cucumbers, tomatoes and my hostas and the flowers off of my gardenia! A squirrel was crunching on that the other day so I brought it in. Curses!

I went back to work and the next time I looked up the sky was black, there was an rainbow and bright sun reflecting off the brick, and a minute later it was pouring rain.