Monday, January 9, 2012

I'm back with some seals and a cat

Oh my, how wonderful to be away from it all for a few weeks and how wonderful to be back again!

I missed you all, but I didn't really miss the computer all that much. I have not kept up on anybody's blogs, I have not kept up on any discussion groups and I have hardly checked things like facebook, so I'm behind on everything. Some people even started wondering where I was! ;-)

Here I am!

Well, blogsy people, I had a lovely vacation on my own island. Two weeks of sleeping late and living at my own rythm instead of the office life sure is good for a person. I only wish it could have lasted longer.

I spent my time mostly alone, apart from a visit from my dear friend Monk who came to stay at the island for five days, so of course we had to hang out together. I went on many hikes and walks, I spent some time in my studio, I read magazines and books (though not as many as I wanted), I journaled in ROD2 and I took hundreds of photographs! It seems that the vacation was a perfect time for me to try out my retro camera app on the smart phone. Fun fun fun!

And the occasions were plenty for taking pictures. There were many storms and high waters to admire. The landscape changed every day and the ocean was wild and loud one day and calm and content the next. Sometimes the beach seemed endless and sometimes the beach seemed to have completely disappeared! I really got to appreciate the place I live in all over again just by paying attention to the scenery and walking for hours taking it all in.

I think I will get slowly back into the groove of blogging by showing you some pictures I took during my vacation in the coming week. Just think of me as that annoying person that wants to show you all of their holiday slides, whether you're interested or not. ;-) It will give me a chance to show off this beautiful place I live in while gradually getting back into my daily routines. So bear with me, okay?

I'll start with something extraordinary, namely seals! Okay, seals aren't really extraordinary in this region, but they do not actually reside on the island but on a bank of sand several miles away from it. When the weather is really bad and there are young sometimes one of them will get swept away by the waves and get stranded on the island with its mother until the young is strong enough to swim back home. But this winter an entire group of seals decided to make the local beach their home and it was a wonderful sight! About ten of them have taken up temporary residence here and it was a wonderful opportunity to take some photographs.




There were three of these cute little babies. Don't be fooled by the cuteness of seals though. They have sharp teeth and a horrible temper, so it's important not to get too close, especially to a big one like the first picture (this one was huge!). I know he (she?) looks like he's smiling friendly, but he was keeping close watch of everybody who came by, ready to strike if necessary. Because they were all lying too far apart I couldn't really take a picture of the whole group, but it sure was a wonderful sight!

Now for another cutie. My new cat Peer and I have been getting better acquainted the past few weeks. He's a character allright. He is so fond of food he looses all manners and I'm slowly convincing him that in his new home this is not appreciated. But he also is so sweet and affectionate that a few minutes later everything is forgiven. He likes to be around me and keeps a close eye on me, which makes me feel very important and special, right until another person comes to visit and he showers them with the same attention. Peer is not a choosy cat. ;-)

But still, he seems pretty content to me living in my house, what do you think?


I'll share some more photographs of the island the coming week and of course I'll also show some of the artsy stuff I've done and pages from my journal. ROD2 is progressing nicely and I have quite a few pages to show. All in it's own good time though.

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season and I'm hoping we will join each other for another artsy year together! May it be a productive one!