Weekend Post

Hi Everybody!

I enjoyed today. It started out frosty, and stayed quite cool, but we had sunshine all day, and I enjoyed a walk to Nord Park and came back on the tram, so another adventure. It was lovely to see all the flowers and trees again. I took lots of pictures, but they're still on the camera, so I will show them in my next post.

I made another hybrid journal page using one of my old water-colour studies which went very wrong as I made it too wet. Placing them on a neutral background and adding some digital goodies makes them usable. I am linking to Mia's challenge at AJJ:

A cloudy morning sky:

Some of my balcony flowers:

These bushes and trees are all along the paths leading down to the Rhine:

The castle ruins are still closed, pity:

This little bird was chirping happily as I went by, I think it's a finch of some sort, but I'm sure David will be able to tell me:

I love these quiet corners which invite you to sit and take a rest:

The flower beds between Königsallee in Düsseldorf and Hofgarten are looking good:

I don't know what the huge building in the background is going to be, but I'm pleased to see it's being greened up:

Walks along the Rhine are always a joy:

The flowers were in the hospital gardens:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

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!