Happy Weekend

Hi There, I hope your having the most amazing weekend (we are fighting a flu).

 

 

 I hope that your comfy and cozy and warmly embraced by the amazing beauty of Winter.

Home On The Blue

More from the water...

 



Can I just say again, how much I adore my kayak and these views!

The Fresh Green Rushing Kind

Wherever you are in the world, no matter your job or age or sex...

I hope that you have a ready and steady source of soul refreshment always there for you.

 

 

This is my kind...the fresh green, rushing water kind....ahhh.

Thanks a million to all of you lovely souls who join me here, I'll see ya tomorrow I hope XO.

Breathing Place

If your lucky
you have a few places where you can go to too 'breathe easier'...

Special places you can run to to relieve stresses, even if but momentarily.
A place where your views can alter & shift if you care to tend to them...
Or a place where you mind & heart can take a break & breathe in some silence along with your lungs.

I have several such spots...
In the house snuggling with bunnies or outside watching them play is a top spot for me.

At the waterside watching sunsets ranks top priority often.
On golden country roads with my honey, with the top off our Jeep is definitely a favourite as well.

And, in the sparkling quiet of a magical forest is another favourite of mine.
(I took these photos at one of my breathing places recently).

As a child, I grew up running wild about the trees and water.

There was a large forest behind my childhood house and it was my 2nd home.

As long as we checked in with our parents occasionally and were back in time for dinner,
we roamed and played in that forest as comfortably as in our own bedrooms.

My big brother, my pals and I were always fooling and running around amongst the
trees & ponds like bare-footed carefree bandits.
It was full of bears, raccoons, partridges, beavers, foxes, etc but we were never scared.
Now as an adult, I am still always happy to run about my old stomping grounds...
though admittedly now some trepidation can't help but join me
since we do have cougars roaming around now!

Now these place don't just hold magical memories of childhood,
they are beautiful breathing places...
places to center ones self & remember what is really important in life.

Where do you tend to breathe deeply, where do your stresses slip away???

XO Mandy

p.s. I think I might be taking a tiny little blog break...so I'll be seeing you all again in early August.

A Foresty Guide Illustrated

Today I wanted to show you the black and white illustrations which I painstakingly worked on around this time last year. I was so very very happy for the experience. Working with 3 different authors via email, phone and fax was challenging and there were many many revisions before reaching any of the approved finals but it was a challenge and task I enjoyed. I started out not even knowing what a 'stub' was, but after working on the project for almost 4 months, I learnt alot and I am happy that the illustration will perhaps help loggers be more careful and aware when in their forestry profession and that the guide and pictures will help protect the wildlife that lives and needs trees, etc... Here are the illustrations that 'made' it into the MNR Forestry Guide.... This illustration depicts a forested area with different soil erosion's and the damage of trucks and too much cutting on the land.

This illustration depicts a tire rut made by the forestry trucks and how deep they should or should not be so as not to leave permanent damage to the forest bed.

This illustrations depicts and shows miles and radius of tree cutting allowed around marshland areas.

This illustration shows how much cutting and how far back cutters must stay from nesting areas found along shorelines etc...

This illustration helps to depict how streams and shorelines along the streams are affected by different types of cutting and what type of trees, shrubs etc should be left to ensure a strong bank, no soil erosion, etc...

This illustration is for eagle or osprey nests and the no-cut radius on cliff faces which cutters must abide by.

This illustration shows primary, secondary and 3rd nests of a bird species and how all nesting areas must be located and a certain radius/miles of no-cutting is enforces around these nests to protect the birds and its natural habitat.

This illustration shows different types of tree cavities and how different species use the holes as a home, so trees with large or even small cavities are suggested to not be cut so that animals, birds, etc homes are left undisturbed.

(This was one of my favourite illustrations, so I just wanted to show you the larger size so you can see the detail abit more...)

This illustrations depicts another cavity tree and how some cavities are born over time, whether it be healed over damage from burrowing or lightening strike...or a freshly fallen branch and the cavity it leaves on tree can become a quick home for a bird or little animal.

This illustration is of a stub tree...showing that cutters must try to leave stubs at 6 feet to allow for decay of tree and therefore future cavity function, especially suggested is to cut above any already present cavities.

I was commissioned and compensated for 23 Black and White Illustrations, where I retained copyright and usage for self-promotion etc, however only 10 illustrations made it into the book, 2 were dropped...and here's the other ones that were indeed approved but for reasons unknown to me did not make it into the book!....

This illustration shows a forested area and it's stubs. Some of the larger veteran trees with cavities are left behind to house local animals and birds and stubs are left behind for future cavity usage or decay which can also become a home. Larger trees are left behind because 10 years down the road....

...half of those will fall and again become hiding places and homes for various species, therefore responsible forestry which is considering the future of the forest habitats.

This illustration is of a pileated wood-pecker making it's hole in a jack pine tree.

This illustrations shows cavities and tells the forest cutters that they must be vigilant and observant, that not all cavity trees are easy to find and therefore mark for no-cutting.

This one shows a mast tree. Mast trees are often large veteran trees which have a good crown that are fruit or nut bearing. Mast trees can be spotted easily to the cutters because often a bear will leave marks either on the ground or on the tree it's in the way of claw marks, or damaged bark etc...These trees are not cut and left along because the cutters will know that a bear relies on this area as a food source.

Just another mast tree illustration, clearly showing damage to the bark, claw marks and yes even a small cavity near the base.

These 3 illustrations show Super Canopy trees, which are also not suppose to be cut because the are also veteran trees and serve a multitude of purposes in protected smaller fellow trees and are often home to many cavities/homes.

This picture shows a veteran tree...the cavity at the base is old and worn and most likely home to some animals. There are also 2 other cavities on this tree which I am sure by now you can spot yourself. The bark shows signs of a lightening strike that the tree strongly survived. Most likely this veteran tree would not be cut because it will eventually most likely grow into a super-canopy tree and dwarf all the others around it and continue to serve it's purpose as protector and home.

This is an illustration which was suppose to accompany one of the pictures that made it into the book, but it again shows the land after tree cutting...the left behind branches etc will become mulch and encourage future growth etc.

So there you have it...my first book illustrated and now universe...send me a children's book to illustrate, ha ha...Thanks for having a look today, join me next week, probably Tuesday instead of Monday for new inspirations, aspirations, illustrations and creations from yours truly, Mandy Saile of Bijou's Whimsy.

My Favourite Weekend Photos

Good Thursday Everyone...I hope this post finds you all having an excellent day. I've been in my studio all day so far with my favourite sky.fm station blasting, amongst my colour and inspiration and so I am having an excellent day myself...and yes even despite a small headache. I really wanted to share some of my favourite photos from the long weekend. It was busy and fun and we took well over 200 photos but I'll just share a few with you today. Firstly, we hit North Bay's Festival with our dear pals Lisa and Jon and their two boys Noah and Ben (I won't post photos of them, because I haven't asked yet if it'd be okay). I loved these two rides, they are so beautiful somehow...and check out the paintings of Venice on the roundabout one, they were just lovely...

I loved the fact that Jon was playful enough to climb the 30 foot rock wall, even though he's afraid of heights...

I debated for a while whether or not I'd post this following picture because as an animal advocate I am against petting zoos. But I found in this years version, the animals were not able to be pet or overly fed etc so that made it abit more bearable for me to see. Even though I know it's not possible nor will ever even remotely happen, I just believe every wild animal should be exactly that...wild and free. That being said, I was heart-wrenchingly drawn to the Patagonian Cavies from South America, and I was drooling and head over heels in love with them but also with their beautiful and mind-boggling special babies of which there were 3. The Patagonian Cavie has always been one of my most favourite animals...so when we were walking by the cages for the boys to see the bunnies (I won't even start here about my urge to jump in the cage and rescue all 4 but they did seem to enjoy the company of their cellmate...a kangaroo) and we passed the Patagonian Cavies and my head whipped back around, I couldn't believe that there 2 feet away from me was a real live couple and it's brood...I was overwhelmed, they were even more lovely then I thought they'd be. So the day was weird for me after that being a mixture of sadness at seeing these creatures out of their natural habitat and not being able to run their fantastic 40 mph...but also I was brought to me knees by their preciousness and beauty. Oh I am not expressing myself well here, but I am sharing this photo with you because I hope that they jar just even one person out there reading my blog to appreciate and love animals and care for them even more.

That same night we ended up spending the evening with my old pal Bruce and his fiancee Linda. They were house sitting and his parents have an excellent place on the lake, so we just b-b-cued, caught up, and sat by the dock, here was the view...

The following day Jon and I grabbed a delicious sub and falafal and went to one of my favourite parks...

The company could not have been better but I think the food was made even more delicious by the lovely view of our little city...

Then we went with Lisa and Jon and the boys up to our beautiful waterfalls. It's becoming a beloved tradition, to do this hike and spend the afternoon up there whenever our dear friends come to town to visit. We got so many beautiful shots of the boys and of the adults with the kids etc...But let me share some of my favourite non-human shots...

And with that...I shall say caio...I have yet another busy day, I want to get a new drawing finished up and transferred to the substrate and I must clean as my little niece is coming for a sleepover this evening and she's allergic to dust...like her Auntie Mandy! Be well everyone...and happy being (sky.fm's world station helps out).