More birds

Hi Everybody!

Hope you are all keeping well and fit! We were expecting rain this week, but we got nothing worth talking about. It's been cool and windy, but with lots of sun, so it was good weather for walking-

Today I have some more of the strange birds which can only be seen in Balconia-by-the-Rhine. I am showing a pair of wire-legged post birds. These birds have thin feathers and cover themselves with stamps and  scraps of paper or cloth to keep themselves warm. They watch the postmen when they are delivering letters and often steal stamps from them. They are not shy,  and have a loud call which sounds like co-ffeeeee, co-ffeeeee. The male and females look alike, and like the long-legged spotted stargazers, the  female usually stands on the back of the male:

I am linking to AJJ and Paint Party Friday

Okay, back to reality! The birds were cut from a stamped envelope sent to me by Elizabeth in 2016. The background was made from an 18" x 12" sheet of black paper which was stenciled with distress oxide ink and doodled:

I got sticky fingers layering them with more scraps and stamps:

Here you can see the fastener from the envelope and the sewing:

The 'male' wrapped in gold thread:

The 'female' with her legs wrapped with wire:

This was a fun project, and I will surely make some more!

And I have more photos from my visit to Hofgarten and the water fowl on Wednesday:

I love watching them clean their feathers:

This little group was making a heck of a noise:

And I loved seeing this pair of black swans with their cygnets safely between them on their swim over the lake:

And this one couldn't believe that the lettuce was all gone....

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Historical events

Hi Everybody!

Rain's theme today is historical events, so I am doing a tongue-in-cheek take on it this time, as today was a historical event for me. For the first time in 2 months I got my act together and traveled by tram into Düsseldorf, although I was a bit scared beforehand. The tram was almost empty, so that was good, and I felt safe with my mask and nitrile gloves and hand-sanitizer in my pocket. Everybody MUST wear a mask in the buses and trams.

I walked a bit though the town centre, and there were not a lot of people about. Then I walked through Hofgarten, which was the aim of my trip, and enjoyed an hour walking round, visiting the ducks, geese and swans - who enjoyed the lettuce I took for them - and of course, taking photos. I know it is a bit of a risk traveling on the tram, but I was very careful, and it really did me good to get out and about again. 

As I said at the beginning - it was a historical event for me!

For Michele's Haberdashery challenge at Tag Tuesday I have a last tag. And the invention of sewing machines was also a historical event for mankind:

And now for the photos of my 'historical event' today:

Handsome Canadian geese:

 I love the pink legs of the Nile geese:

The black swans are nesting, so I hope they don't get disturbed again like last year:

Nile geese and goslings:

I always love this ramp for the water fowl:

The ducks and ducklings swam faster than I could look:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Midweek Post

Hi Everybody!

Hope you are all fit and well. Here it has been sunny, but cold, and good weather for walking. Nathalie visited me today, and we ordered our meal from the Chinese restaurant. In March I got a small refund from the electricity company, and promised Nathalie we would go out and 'eat' the money. Then Corrina arrived....Anyway, today we decided it would be better to eat here and ordered from the local Chinese restaurant. It was very delicious, and I have enough for a good meal tomorrow, too, as does Nathalie, who took her 'doggy bag'  home with her. The food was brought by a very friendly Chinese man, clothed in white cap, coat and mask, and with gloves on his hands. He kept his distance, set the bag down at the top of the stairs, gave a little bow and was gone. It's good to see that people are taking 'Corrina' seriously. 

For Mia's flowers challenge at AJJ I have another hybrid piece. I used another of my water-colour and ink sketches, placed onto a grey, hand-painted background. I put it all together using Serif:

And I have lots of flower-power pictures to share:

We've had some wonderful skies:

These flowers were taken in the park of the Diakonie:

And I always love to watch men at work:

Love the window boxes:

Nile geese at Kalkum:

Ducks at the Rhine:

And at Kalkum:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!