Michigan | Change Is Hard

August 27, 2026
by dawnkinster 28 Comments

Magic of watercolor

I’m working on watercolor cards for the Truck Safety Coalition’s annual Gala silent auction. They’ll be getting 3 sets of 5 cards. I’m almost finished with them, but I wanted the last card to be a watercolor of a fall oak leaf. I didn’t find anything online that I liked particularly, though I did find a great tutorial about how to paint an oak leaf.

I watched the tutorial but I wasn’t sure about freehand drawing something similar. Three oak leaves plus acorns. Maybe I could do it but it sure would be easier if I could trace around a real oak leaf. I looked out at the oak tree in my back yard. The limbs were way too high for me to grab a leaf.

I decided to think on it a bit and went to collect the garbage can from the curb since the truck had emptied it and moved on down the road. And there, beside the empty can was a bit of oak tree branch….complete with the top part of an acorn.

Like it was waiting for me. I smiled and gathered it up, rolled the garbage can behind me as I pondered how things work out.

After I took the picture of my prize I went back out to the front yard to see what other treasures might have blown off my neighbor’s oak. I found several leaves to show me colors…

…and another bunch of leaves attached to their twig, to show me how the stick part might look.

Oh…and this ginkgo leaf apparently traveled inside on the bottom of my shoe.

So I got to work. I copied a few of the leaves…

…and traced that onto a page of my practice book.

Then I got to painting.

So fun….

Now, if I can just do it again on the actual card.

August 26, 2026
by dawnkinster 25 Comments

Wordless Wednesday

August 24, 2026
by dawnkinster 10 Comments

Taking the tent down

I haven’t gone on any camping trips this summer, but I’ve had the tent up in the backyard a few times. Today I took it down for perhaps the last time this season. It had been up for a couple weeks and last night when I slept out there I was freezing! It seems silly to sleep in the backyard and be cold when I have a perfectly fine bed in a heated home.

Right?

*My tent, tucked into a corner of the backyard with the rain fly already off.*

Still, I feel sad to put it away.

I’m also sad because I didn’t get Penny comfortable with the tent this summer, though we tried several times. Out of all our attempts to sleep out there together, she made it through an entire night only once.

I have great hope for next summer though.

Today as I disassembled the tent I found the usual daddy long-leg spiders hanging out. I always find a few of those, no matter if I’m in my backyard or at a campground. I don’t know what attracts them to the tent. I always move them gently to a shrub nearby.

Today, here in my own backyard, I found a couple more insects hiding out. I don’t know what either of these is.

The dark one looked kind of scary, and when I went to move it off the tent it leaped off on it’s own. I only jumped a little.

But the most surprising thing I found under the rain fly, but still on the outside of the tent, were four, yes four, tiny tree frogs.

They are adorable and about the size of a dime, maybe a little bigger.

I’ve never found tree frogs on my tent before. I wonder about these guys and what caused them to climb up the tent and hide in the folds and under straps.

I hope I found them all.

Next season maybe I’ll put the tent up in a spot further away from the woods.

*Next summer I’ll be older and more mature, mom.*

Until then I’ll dream of listening to the frogs and bugs and coyotes sing all night while I’m snug in my real bed nice and warm.

Wordless Wednesday, after the rain

August 19, 2026 by dawnkinster 25 Comments

August 15, 2026
by dawnkinster 29 Comments

A visitor. Or is it two visitors?

This week I was washing dishes and caught this Coopers Hawk sitting on my deck railing.

I quietly slid away and walked silently to the living room to grab my camera. Amazingly enough Penny moved silently next to me.

I didn’t really expect the bird to still be there when I returned. They generally don’t wait for me.

But he (or she) was still there, seemingly unfazed. I watch it for a long time, even moving to a better window. It picked up one foot and tucked it into it’s chest feathers.

And then suddenly it flew. I expected that to be it.

But it only flew about 3 feet, to the corner of the deck where it could inspect the ground under some shrubs.

We used to have quite a few chipmunks. I haven’t seen one in awhile.

Then it flew away, and I figured that was it. But it showed up again about 10 minutes later, back on the deck railing, watching the back yard, inspecting the ground and the sky.

Turns out he or she was being harassed by bees.

When it left, being pursued by the bees, I was SURE I wouldn’t see it again.

Until about 30 minutes later when I walked through the master bedroom and guess who was on the bedroom deck railing? I didn’t have my camera with me, so these were taken with my phone.

Yep, our favorite (or perhaps least liked, depending on whether you’re a chipmunk) bird.

But…is this the same bird? Or a different one? Perhaps they’re a couple? Or parent and child?

Your call.

July 28, 2026
by dawnkinster 30 Comments

Happening on my deck this week

This juvenile male oriole learned all about bathing this week. When I first noticed him he was standing on the edge while a little brown bird splashed around. He stared at the brown bird. I went to get my camera. By the time I got back he was in the bath too.

He seemed a bit unsure, but it didn’t take long until he was fully immersed in the experience. Literally.

*Look! I can draw a heart with my tail!*

*Oh what a wonderful feeling, oh what a wonderful day!*

*A little more tail action. I wonder if any girls are around.*

July 24, 2026
by dawnkinster 33 Comments

It’s all fun and games

This morning I was headed out the back door when I saw, directly in front of me, a deer staring back. We both had that kind of ‘deer in headlights’ look. I quickly sidestepped out of sight and walked quietly over to the living room to get my camera. And then it hit me. It was a fawn I saw. By the time I slowly and quietly slid back to the door the fawn had moved.

*Nom, nom, nom. This hydrangea is very tasty!*

I felt disappointed that I had missed the beautiful, full faced, shot. But I was also very happy.

Very happy because in early summer we had seen only one mama deer with one baby. And a few days after seeing mama with her newborn, I came across a fawn stretched out in the road as if asleep, but clearly not. I have only seen mama once since, with no baby in tow. I silently told her how sorry I was.

All summer I haven’t seen the mama deer. I assumed she had left the area to grieve alone. But this morning, here was a large fawn, so maybe our little one hadn’t been killed? And where was mama during this visit?

Oh, yes, there she is. Watchful as always.

And then the baby took off across the yard so fast I couldn’t see where he or she went. I switched windows to watch the yard. And then this happened.

*I can’t stop my happy feet from running!*

*I’ll kick up my heels and release the joy!*

*I’m just a kid, mom, don’t you remember how fun it was to be young?*

*It’s my favorite time of the year. OK, it’s my only time of the year so far in my young life…*

Such joyful running, in big loops around the backyard. Racing from behind shrubs, circling the white pine, at full speed. Over and over and over this little one danced with glee through the yard.

I shot 300+ pictures. Some of them almost in focus.

He or she kept on running. I kept on taking pictures. Until finally he (I’ve decided it’s a he) stopped behind a blue spruce and snuck a peek over near where mama stood. I think he was tuckered out. He went over to mom who had come out from behind the bush to reign in her kid.

*I hope you got THAT out of your system!*

But what is this?

A 2nd mama? Is my little guy being mothered by two moms? Or is this daddy and mama and baby?

But wait….what’s this?

*You, little one, are a bad influence on my kid!*

Another baby! Two mamas and two babies!

The little group hung around in the shadows for a bit of time before moving off.

*It’s all fun and games until somebody breaks a leg. Let me check to make sure you’re alright.*

But not without one last look at the house.

By mama and baby. Just so I knew they knew they were being watched.

*I’m watching you too, lady. (Hope you liked the show!)*

Glad to have you in the neighborhood, family. You made me smile.

July 9, 2026
by dawnkinster 23 Comments

Got a little damp

I wasn’t going to post today. I’ve got lots of stuff I need to do and posting wasn’t high on my to-do list. But moving the images from my camera to storage was. And I promised myself I wasn’t going to look at them. Because I don’t have time, you know.

But I did. It was raining one morning this week and I was shooting birds (not literally) through the window. This one made me laugh out loud. You never know what you’ve got until you look at them on a bigger screen.