More Wildlife From the Rocky Mountains

I cannot describe how it feels for me to hike early in the morning and see the beautiful scenery Mother Nature created and the privilege of watching her inhabitants up close and personal. The mighty elks were rutting..what a magnificent sight and sound. Just like last year in Yellow Stone park.

Ground squirrel..much smaller than the marmot.

Finally the amazing blue Steller’s jay..not really rare but so hard to get in front of the camera!

Mule Deer, I love those enormous big ears. This is a baby.

Naughty chipmunks everywhere…this cheeky fellow ran over my shoulder , jumped right in my backpack and ran of with my plantain chips!! And ate them and stashed them right under my nose!!! I had a good laugh ;o) See how fat he is…also ready for winter!

Not sure what hawk this is…

The beautiful grey jay, they are so tame!

Uhm…sheep???

We also saw a bear..a black teenager bear, right next to the hiking path. It was beautiful and enjoying lots of berries. We startled each other…and it ran of quickly: that was beautiful too!

Love and Liefs, Johanna

Lately…

Well Spring has sprung and gave, next to work in the garden, lots of beautiful flowers in home to enjoy.

There was painting to be done, the kitchen looks nice and shiny again.

We had lovely warm days and I had plenty of time too, to just sit in the garden and watch birds and ‘our’ squirrels. They hardly left the owl box they live in and I suspected they had babies.

And indeed , we got some glimpses of them. There seem to be two…I am not always a fan of those greedy squirrels but this is so cute.

Knitting at the moment is this simple shawl but such a joy with this incredible yarn in the most beautiful colors. I so wanted to knit in colors after reading this book about Sonia Delaunay.

I watched the documentary on Vivian Maier and I am fascinated by her story. A sad story too in a way. I ordered her books from the library and I am enjoying it so much…what an incredible talent this remarkable woman had!

My sister was here with my brother-in-law for a whole week …such bliss. She spoiled me rotten and amongst the many presents she left me with, this lovely donkey for my collection. She shook her head…

Am I the only one who loves these??? Mr. Walker says, he likes them best in my studio ;0) …but I am still moping and sulking now my sister travelled back all the way to The Netherlands.

So best remedy for that: busy working again! For instance on a tea themed card set a lovey friend requested…it makes me very happy!

Aaaand Mr. Walker and I did also some very exciting traveling ourselves!! Can you guess where we were? More about that later.

Nou dat was een drukke tijd met veel werk in de tuin en ondertussen genieten ook van schattige eekhoorntjes, de keuken kreeg een likje verf, mijn zuster en haar man kwamen op bezoek vanuit Nederland (en gingen weer terug, snif!) Lekker breien en weer druk met tekenen. En meneer Walker en ik zijn op reis geweest…raad eens waar we waren?
Meer daarover later!

Love and Liefs, Johanna

RV Trip Part 3: A Hike in the Desert

Our RV trip brought us to Utah and we went to Dinosaur National Monument. We saw indeed lots of interesting Dinosaurs but I want to tell you about our hike in the desert there.

Can you believe it…only a few days earlier, we walked through the freezing winds in the Rocky Mountain and now we were in the hot desert.

I had never been in a desert before. I found it hot and harsh but at the same time I was really amazed at and impressed with all the colors, the variety of plant and wildlife, adapted so well. It was of a stunning beauty of a kind I had never seen before.

Love and Liefs, Johanna

Part two: Rocky Mountains at Denver, Colorado

We started in Denver, Colorado and made a beautiful hike in the Rocky Mountains. It was breathtaking!

Big Horn Sheep…it made me very happy to see them in the wild! They are so big and beautiful. Their coat seems so soft, their horns a work of art. And they can sit so perfectly still for such a very long time, I almost wondered if they were real. When one of them turned its head, it actually startled me!

It was cold, windy and together with getting used to the altitude, it made the hike a nice challenge;0) And yes, the white stuff is snow. I was quite pleased after the hot Cincy summer. And the scenery made it worth while anyways!!!

Love and Liefs, Johanna

 

RV Trip: Part One

Thank goodness, it was not all paperwork and chores in the last few weeks. Mr. Walker and I went traveling!

In Denver, Colorado we met up with Fabulous Friends from The Netherlands and together we rented an RV and we made a gorgeous road trip. We came home with thousands of photos and in the next coming posts I will share quite a few with you.

We drove through Colorado,

Utah,

Wyoming,

Montana.

And now, I will try and read up with friends in the Blogosphere….

Love and Liefs, Johanna

A Week in Toronto

I see many people making the most gorgeous photos with their smartphones…I am not one of them! This photo of Toronto, Canada was not taken with the smartphone, the others in this post are and I sincerely apologize for them;0)
So, Mr. Walker had to travel to Sweden for business and he discovered that it was easier to travel from Toronto instead of Cincinnati. “Why don’t I drop you of there with our boys and pick you up on my return?” The Walker Boys met the plan with happy yodeling and sending their wishes for the menu.
I love my sons and I love their apartment, so everybody happy!

Of course, both the Walker Boys had to work so I spent happy quiet hours with reading and knitting.

Left them with a freezer full of lunches and did some baking,which caused more happy yodeling from the Young Misters Walker.

Put up with the most spoiled cat of Toronto.

Met these jolly horses and discovered the most depressing art work…could not figure out what it meant or why it was there.

Both the Walker Boys managed to get some time of, and do fun stuff with mommy.
I went to the WONDERFUL new aquarium with the Youngest Mr. Walker and managed to make these rather blurry artful photos?

The Oldest Young Mr. Walker and I went to the Textile Museum of Canada and saw this great exhibition : Artist Textiles: Picasso to Warhol. All our favorite artists and we never knew they created all these wonderful designs for textiles. It was glorious!!! Here you see me in total bliss, admiring designs from Calder, Matisse and Miro..it made me very happy. You can also see that I am truly capable of flapping my ears with joy…

We also bought a new couch at our lovely Swedish friend Ikea and managed to assemble it with little problems. ( Yes, that Christmas Star hangs there all year…)

The result is stunning and comfortable!

Nogal wazige fotos van een wel heel gezellig weekje bij de Walker Boys. Meneer Walker moest naar Zweden en kon t gemakkelijkste reizen via Toronto. Hij zette me daar af en pikte me weer op. Ik had een heerlijke week met lekker breien, lezen, koken en een arrogante kat. Maar ook met gezellige tripjes naar t Aquarium, t Textiel Museum en Ikea!

Have a lovely weekend!!
Love and Liefs, Johanna.

Toronto, Canada…11mm to 16mm

We had a great Easter weekend, we were invited by The Walker Boys to spend the long weekend at their apartment! So wonderful to have the family together, sigh. We went for long walks, played board games and had a few very good home cooked meals. The weather was quite cold and no sign of Spring yet, all was sepia, grey and bare. Mr. Walker and I thought that was the perfect setting for some ‘different’ photography using the 11mm to 16 mm lens we gave each other last Christmas.

We went to The Beaches this time, explored the R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant and loved taking the subway. Well..how do we call this kind of Photography..Documentary Photography?

Ach het was weer zo gezellig om t lange Paasweekend bij de Walker Boys door te brengen. Omdat alles nog zo grijs en grauw was besloten Meneer Walker en ik om de 11mm to 16mm mee te nemen en eens een ‘andere’ vorm van fotografie uit te proberen. Hoe noemen we dit: documentaire fotografie?

Did you have a good long weekend?

Love and Liefs, Johanna.

 

A Gentlemen’s Apartment, Part Two: the Details.

  

Well, after my thrilled, happy yodeling yesterday, you guessed right:I really like the new dwelling of the Young Misters Walker.

  

Here some details, that make me very happy. These candles are made out of wax but work on batteries…so clever!

And how about this original Underwood typewriter from about 1927, next to a very modern printer?

And smart 1960 traveling case for a whiskey decanter with some Star Wars collecties.

And the Lads sure like their espressos

This Fox protected the Youngest Mr. Walker from drafts in his former apartment. Read all about it on my previous blog, if you are interested that is ;0)

Oh look, real Johanna’s on the wall..the college funding is secured ;0)

  

That pumpkin pie was Thanksgiving dinner’s dessert and soo good!

This chair is a design by Karim Rashid for Umbra. Not very expensive to buy new but I paid only 3 dollars for it in a thrift store some years ago. And it is remarkably comfortable. Leo the Cat agrees and more about him tomorrow!

Och hemel, t is wel duidelijk na mijn vrolijk gejodel van gisteren dat ik erg blij met t nieuwe appartement van de Walker Boys. Hier nog wat meer kiekjes..en meer over de kat morgen!

Love and Liefs,

Johanna.

A Gentlemen’s Apartment, Part One and a Winner!

Last weekend, it was Thanksgiving Weekend in Canada. Mr. Walker took some extra days off, we packed our suitcases and went to Toronto where both our Walker Boys live. A few weeks ago, we helped them move to their beautiful two bedroom apartment. And now they had invited us for Thanksgiving! Uhm, before we go further: my wide angle lens is absolute rubbish, but we all are going to pretend the following photos are perfect and ready to star on Apartmenttherapy.com ;0)

I still cannot believe, we found this gorgeous apartment so close to downtown. Shops around the corner with bus stops and subway stations. From the balcony a view to stately gardens and a little park: shade in the summer, sunshine in the winter and a feel of nature all year round…I sound like a real estate agent here!

After moving from one to the next ‘student-settlement’ for a few years, Young Mr Walker and the even Younger Mr. Walker decided to look for a decent place to live together ( they get along very well) and after a long, very long search found this lovely, lovely place. ( can you tell, I really like it?)

Aaaaand, Mr. Walker and I do not have to stay in hotels anymore when visiting our offspring. There is room enough for us for a couple of days and we can relax, cook and share meals and have quality family time.

I think, these Young Urban Gentlemen did a very good job in decorating this place.

More tomorrow.

So now about my Giveaway: it turned out that Anne from Ottawa, Judith from London and the lovely Milk Maid from Christchurch had the right size. Oh, agony, who to choose??? I know you are all good sports, so here my decision:  since Judith already owns an example of my knitting, and in New Zealand Spring is well on its way…it seemed so fair to protect Anne’s feet from the harsh cold winter in Canada…which I know from experience, is very cold indeed!

So Anne, my dear, email me your address at colorpencil.2014@gmail.com and you will have them before the snow flies!

We hadden een geweldig lang weekend in Toronto, op uitnodiging van the Walker Boys, die sinds kort in dit prachtige appartement wonen. Mijn groothoeklens is tamelijk waardeloos maar je kan toch zien dat het een bijzonder leuk en erg fraai ingericht Herenappartement is!

De slofjes zijn overigens gewonnen door Anne in Ottowa, die in Canada de grootste kans op erg koude voeten heeft!

Love and Liefs,

Johanna.

Seven Days in North Carolina, Part Seven and a Gothic Finale…

   

At the local library book sale in Blowing Rock, NC I found this great magazine and I happily started reading all about murder and mayhem. All of a sudden our somewhat Gothic decorated cottage gave me the chills…

  

  

Terwijl ik dit detective blad las, gaf ons nogal duister ingericht vakantiehuisje me de bibbers…

   

Love and Liefs, Johanna