My Sunday Photo... Easter Sunday

We are still gripped by a frosty, crisp white spring up here.

I think our little feathered friends are going to be a little confused. 

I've seen activity in and around our nest boxes, but it still feels very chilly for baby birds.

I'm hoping that this might be my last wintery Sunday Photo.

One of our regular visitors who is particularly partial to meal worms!

He never ceases to make me smile. 

I hope the Easter Bunny has been good to you.
I painted this Bunny illustration for last Easter.
I hope you like him.

There's snow on them there hills... so it calls for some skiing!
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....

I'd like to take this opportunity before I go to wish everyone a Happy Easter.
I'm linking up with the 'My Sunday Photo' over at Photalife.
Enjoy your chocolates!

My Sunday Photo... Chatting Robins

Let me introduce you to Britian's most popular bird... The Robin.

As I carried out the laborious task of picking up the millions of fallen leaves in our garden yesterday, I suddenly became aware of some tiny cute bird chatter.

I noticed these two Robin's having a kind of conversation.
It sounded like nothing I've ever heard before.
Not the usual song or chirps... it sounded like a real conversation.

As they flew past me I dropped my rake and grabbed my camera only to witness something I've never seen before.

The one robin squeezed into the wall cavity and stayed there, whilst the other strutted his/her stuff on top of the wall. 

It was quite bizarre to watch and I'm not sure if they were having a territorial battle which the robins are renowned for...or whether one was not taken with the others advances! 

It didn't seem like aggression and really quite cute to watch.

They stayed talking to one another for a quite some time before the one inside the wall made a quick escape and flew off only to have the other quickly follow. 

As winter approaches the robin's song resonates around the garden and really is quite delightful.

Here's a video just in case you might not be familiar with our native favourite.

(Credit for video to Paul Dinning - Published on 17 Sept  2014

Robin Birds Chirping and Singing - Beautiful Video, Bird Song and Nature Sounds in HD

The National Bird of Great Britain)

If you'd like to see lots more photos, then click the link here to My Sunday Photo 

and Image-in-ing.blogspot.co.uk

Thanks for visiting my place and I hope to see you again soon.

Have a great weekend everyone

Summer Slips Away and Autumn Arrives

Summer has slipped quietly away and I for one will miss it, even though it wasn't a particularly good one for us up here in the North East of Scotland.

I'm hopeful that our Autumn will be spectacular... and so far it's not doing too badly. 

I thought I'd highlight just a snippet of what's happening around our place.

The fields of gold have been harvested with this beast!

It doesn't look particularly large on this photo but this was captured on my zoom lens... the machine is approx 250 metres away!

Trust me it's huge.

It must be a terrifying thing to see and hear if you're a little wee beast.

With all of the various changes with autumns arrival, our little elegant resident roe deer is in the process of changing his summer coat of reddish brown to grey.

I've done a little research and I believe he might be between two and three years old.

He appears regularly near our house and settles down to rest, which is a huge honour. 

He must feel safe.

I think it's pretty special having such a majestic neighbour.

 I'm not sure if I've mentioned in previous posts, but I've been trying to photograph one of the few wren's that frequent our garden. 

Yesterday I had a chance but oh my word he's a flighty little critter!

The photo below was taken from my kitchen window across to the decking steps... as you can see it was also raining, so not the best conditions for a photographic shoot.

But I'm happy that it's not just a blur.

The blackbirds are enjoying this time of year too with lots of goodies available.

This particular blackbird is enjoying the berry bonanza.

If I'm showing you some of our visitors, then how could I not include our new robin.

He's looking mighty handsome in his new red waistcoat and is still friendly.

Everyone knows I love to take photos of the busy bees and I'm including this one because who knows it might be the last visit of the year!

Oh how I'll miss them.

But there'll be lots of other wonderful sights to capture with the coming seasons.

I'll hopefully have my camera at the ready and be snapping away, so feel free to pop back anytime.

I'm linking up with My Sunday Photo over at Photalife.com

and Image-in-ing.blogspot.co.uk

Have a great weekend and thanks for popping over to my place.

My Sunday Photo...Baby Robin

Sometimes when you least expect it... up pops a wonderful surprise.

Take yesterday for instance, whilst being a contortionist crouching under our curly hazel tree to pull up weeds, a little baby robin hopped right in front of me. 

I quickly went inside to get my camera thinking that it was probably going to be a waste of time.

The robin would have moved on, but he was still there when I returned.

He wasn't in the least bit bothered by me being so close to him.

He was obviously a very switched on robin as he watched whilst I pulled and dug he waited for some tasty treats to appear. 

He wasn't in the least bit timid...I'd go so far as to say he enjoyed watching me working.

Obviously, he's not street wise yet, with being so young and as you can see from his plumage, he hasn't got all of his red waistcoat feathers yet. 

He's still a little fluffy and dishevelled.

I also don't think he's found his voice yet either....but we'll be in for a treat when he does.

As you can see he was watching me closely.

Gorgeous isn't he? 

With him being this friendly I may well manage to feed him some treats from my hand. 

Now that would be something to share.

I'm linking up with My Sunday Photo over at Photalife

and Image-in-ing.blogspot.co.uk
Please feel free to pop across to see lots more photographs by clicking here

Have a great weekend and thanks for popping over to my place.

Robby Red Breast... PPF

A very quick post today.

I'll maybe explain in a few days, but for now I'll just link up with the Paint Party Friday Link.

It's the sixth bird in my watercolour series.

It was obvious to me that I had to include a robin in my flock.

I thought I'd taken some wip pictures, but it appears I didn't. 

Apologies for the rush this week.

Thanks for your visit.

Have a wonderful weekend and make sure you hug the ones you love.

Thistle and Robin... PPF

Welcome to 2017

I'm hoping that this year my art can go up a gear... or at least get out of first gear.

I have lots of ideas, half hatched plans and masses of enthusiasm. 

I just need to prioritise now.

I started off this week painting a thistle. 

I used Windsor & Newton Cotman 111 round brushes (no 3 and no 5)

Why these particular brushes you ask? Because basically my daughter left them behind when she left after the holidays. 

I couldn't resist trying them out, but don't worry I've sent her new replacements. 

Something tells me she came off rather well in this transaction.

Brand new brushes for old ones... but I'm pleased because they worked beautifully.

For those who like to know details...

I used my Kuretake: Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour paints on Daler Rowney Aquafine smooth A4 Hot pressed paper (300g/m2) 

I'm pleased with certain aspects of this painting, but it was also yet again a learning curve. 

I have so many learning curves that it feels like once again I'm in a complete spin. 

I've decided to go larger and have another go at painting it.

I think that I should keep to one theme instead of flitting like the proverbial blue * fly. 

That way I hope that I might actually develop a style.

I'm linking up for the first time this year with the Paint Party Friday link. Click here

Happy New Year Eva and Kristin and thanks for hosting your fantastic inspirational link up once again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'd just like to add that I've had some success with my new camera zoom lens. 

As regular readers of my blog will know, I've been trying to capture the image of my camera shy robin for quite some time.

But at last I managed it...

How cute is he? 

I was doing a little tidying in the garden and he was very interested in what I was doing out there, especially as the ground was frozen solid.

As soon as I moved away, he hopped down into the dried leaves to check out what I'd unearthed.

I'm so happy with these photos, but as you can probably imagine I've got about 150 others of my new little feathered friend. 

Lovely to see you here once again and I hope to see you again soon.

Have a wonderful weekend

Robin Red Breast... PPF

There's nothing quite like the song of a robin... it's something quite beautiful and enchanting. 

I missed both the bird and it's song a great deal when I lived overseas. 

They are such a cute bird and sound amazing, with their little bobbing movement on such spindly legs, but there is a dark side to them. 

They are extremely territorial birds and will fight quite fiercely to protect their patch. 

We have four robins that visit our feeding stations, that are dotted around our property, but even though there is plenty of food available... sometimes the feathers fly.

Nothing shouts 'Christmas' more than seeing a robin on the bare frosty branch of a tree, but as you can see out of my window... we're in the middle of a grey, misty, foggy day.

I can't complain because we have had a fabulous, bright, sunny week up until now. 

Due to the weather being so good, I did manage to spend a few hours outside tidying the garden with a very attentive robin watching my every move. 

I tried desperately to capture a photograph of him...  but he's incredibly camera shy!

So I had to paint him instead. 

(I took inspiration from Anna Mason over at her blog... I can highly recommend that you take a peep at her beautiful website). 

I'm ashamed to say that this is the only Christmas card that I've produced so far... and that bow by the way, is only balanced on the top. It won't be appearing on the actual card... I know so tardy it's untrue. 

I'm trying to get into the swing of things and have requested the boxes of decorations to be brought out of the loft... so that's a start.

Are you all festive and ready to go?  

As usual I'll be linking up with Paint Party Friday
Have a wonderful week everyone.

Inktober Challenge 2016... PPF and Sunday Sketches

I can't believe that it is October, but the calendar tells me so.

I did wonder whether it would be good for my creative mind to take up the Inktober Challenge once again. I took up the challenge last year, but I didn't quite complete it, as I missed the odd day here and there. I have to admit that the process of trying to come up with an illustration idea everyday was a good one for me. 

So nothing ventured nothing gained... I'm participating once again.

Inktober challenge is to hopefully improve inking skills and develop positive drawing habits. 

There is an official prompt list for 2016, but some of the subjects are not really what I'd favour.
More about that later.

This next illustration should possibly come with a warning according to my children... (and they're grown up!) 

I thought a troll might be fun to draw, as I used to collect then way back when I was a toot and I see that there's a new film about to be released... so here he/she is...

After sending a day in my garden planting 800 bulbs... yes 800!

I had mentioned that I had 100 previously, but when I opened the box there were actually 800 of the little darlings.

It's amazing how long that can take a person to plant, and how busy suddenly everyone else is, so couldn't possibly help!
I just hope after all this effort they give me a wonderful surprise in Spring.
There was a cheerful chappie keeping me company though, who serenaded me beautifully.
Mr Robin Redbreast!

Day 4's theme was 'Hungry'... and immediately I thought of a dog requesting his dinner.

Day 5 is where I began to think that I'll not be following the official prompt lists at times, because the prompt was 'Sad'.
I always try to remain positive and I think with so much stress, worry, conflicts etc out there today that it's important to keep positive and smile.
No one wants to come to a blog and leave feeling down... but I'm afraid my next illustration might just do that. 

I must apologies to all the jolly clowns out there, and also for the fact that I've never liked clowns!
Nothing personal... there must have been an incident back in my childhood that set this precedence.
I promise that after pushing myself to come up with this last illustration, I shall try to keep it light and cheerful. The next two days prompts are 'Hidden' and 'Lost' so that may be quite a challenge.

As it's Friday I'm going to link up with PPF as usual, and Sunday Sketches
Thank you ladies for hosting once again and I hope you'll join me over there.
There are some amazing artists sharing incredible work.
Have a fabulous Friday and great weekend.
Keep smiling and pass it on...
 

Reading, robins and reminders

As soon as I saw Tracey Fletcher King's instagram illustration recently of her comfy reading chair, I knew that I needed to draw my own reading corner. 

It's been incredibly neglected over the whole summer, so it's time it got a little attention. 

Now winter is coming towards us, I hope that I'll be curled up here with a mass of great books to plough through. Bliss!

Obviously with the roaring fire toasting my toes... ahh... I never thought I'd say it but now I think about it... roll on winter if that's the case. 

(by the way if you have any recommendations please just pop them into the comments below)  

I'm still managing to add to my Inktober Challenge, although I'm still not up to date. 

I thought I'd take a photo of the reading corner so that you can see what I was using as a reference. 

I've not drawn it exactly, otherwise I'd be here until October 2016, so let's say it's my artistic license. 

Here are a few other sketches just in case you didn't see them on my Instagram or Facebook accounts.

If you did, then I apologise... you must be fed up seeing these designs yet again, but we're near to the end of the month.
I'll leave you in peace then.

I've got a thing about Highland Cows.
This one isn't Hetty (drawn last year) but maybe Hilda perhaps?

I had a request to include a grapevine in this challenge... I'm pleased with this one which if you know me is unusual. I think it would be better with a nice glass of red, but maybe I'll have one later!

I like the swirly whirly grapes.

Now here's a very simple design of a fuschia that is still actually blooming in my garden. 

It's a beautiful pink puffy ballerina tutu.

And finally, I wasn't going anywhere near Christmas but I've got a few robins in my garden and they're singing beautifully. 

I think they want to be drawn.

I'm heading off to the PPF party now to check out other artists and they're amazing work. 

If you'd like to join me then click on the link below. 

Have a brilliant weekend everyone

Happy painting too xx

My Sunday Photograph... Robin learning new skills

 I'm aware that my blog name is Neesie Natters but I have hardly said a word all week 

(which is a phenomenon in itself)

andcan you believe it that here we are in March already?

I thought I'd share a few photos of my garden friends today. 

I watched this particular robin perfect a new skill... hovering whilst trying to feed.

He's obviously seen the other birds and thought why not?

He worked so hard it made me think that it was a lesson for us all.

Don't worry he received a bigger reward later... I placed new flat sticks into the holder and he was able it stand on one whilst indulging.

It's obviously his favourite treat.

 

If you'd like to see the photos in more detail then carry on skrolling down...

Have you got a favourite wildbird and do you have bird feeders?
Have a great day everyone.