Monday, October 25, 2021

Watercolor Orchid


Dave and I walked Olga to the cemetery yesterday afternoon beneath a sunny autumnal sky, complete with vapor trails. That sunshine felt great. Olga chased pigeons on West End Green and found a wrecked soccer ball in the cemetery that she determinedly carried around for a while, until she got tired of it.

Still no word on why that mysterious police helicopter was buzzing around over our house. I suppose we'll never know. Lots of people complained on Twitter, including some with much better video than me and even a route map of the copter's flight path, but no one had any answers.

I finished another Newbery -- "Flora & Ulysses" by Kate DiCamillo. It was very cute. That's not a word I often use to describe a book, but it definitely applies to this story of a "cynical" girl who rescues a squirrel after a household accident that seems to give the squirrel mysterious powers.

I also cleaned the house and watered all the plants. I discovered this:


Those are buds on a Cambria orchid that I rescued from Homebase when they gave away all their plants just before lockdown in spring 2020. The flowers had already faded by that time so we've never seen it bloom. I know they'll be red but that's all I know. Stay tuned!

I painstakingly painted that watercolor (ha!) using the Waterlogue app on my phone, because my original picture wasn't that good. Photo processing conceals a multitude of ills.

37 comments:

  1. Oh dear, someone complaining about being woken by a police helicopter in the sky enforcing the law or catching criminals. Just wait to hear them sound off about the lack of police resources when their house is robbed.

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    1. I know! You'd think they'd be thankful to have some law enforcement response! (Although that helicopter IS loud.)

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  2. I would have believed that was an actual watercolor. Beautiful. Why, I wonder, would people complain about a police helicopter when they have no idea why it was there.

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    1. I do wonder what the police threshold is for calling out the helicopter. It can't be inexpensive to fly that thing around, so there must be a pretty serious offense involved.

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  3. Such a beautiful sky and I love the watercolor.

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    1. I loved that sky too! And yes, Waterlogue always does a good job, even with a bad photo. :)

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  4. I have a cousin who believes that vapor trails are the US government dosing us with some sort of mind-controlling chemical. Did I already tell you this?
    Your photo with the vapor trails is beautiful. Love the color of the sky.

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    1. I've heard of that "Chemtrails" conspiracy theory, but just like most conspiracy theories, it seems completely insane to me.

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  5. Your watercolor isn't bad! Why would anyone complain about a police helicopter? Tis better to be safe than sorry. You have a super day, hugs, Edna B.

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    1. Well, it's really not my watercolor, since I made it with an app on my phone -- but no, it's not bad!

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  6. it will be fun to see what the orchid looks like.

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  7. That sounds like a lovely day! I'm very interested in why the helicopter was there - probably to look for an armed & dangerous fugitive who has taken over Mrs. Kravitzes house.

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    1. There's still nothing in the newspaper this morning so I guess we'll never know. Unless there's a shootout next door!

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  8. Beautiful skies there and a lovely ap-painting.

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    1. It was an unusually nice sky. (Since most of the time at this time of year our skies are gray!)

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  9. Okay, you have a mysterious helicopter flying around at night and then you have vapor trails and you don't know anything about them! Yes, the helicopter is a more immediate issue.

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  10. Usually if I hear a helicopter at night, I know it's someone being airlifted to a hospital in the big city. Otherwise, I think it's fun to hear/see them. I always wished I'd learned to fly one. (I did have my single engine pilot's license at one time)

    I like the watercolor!

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    1. This one was definitely a police copter as opposed to an air ambulance -- but either way someone was in trouble!

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  11. I am amazed at what your phone can do with that watercolor app! Interesting and pretty!

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    1. Isn't it amazing? I'm always impressed by that app.

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  12. The watercolor app painting looks great.

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    1. It does, doesn't it? Waterlogue is a very good app.

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  13. The watercolor is beautiful, app or no. I rarely hear police helicopters and might be concerned if I did. (but certainly not angry) Some people are constantly upset about everything.

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    1. It's true. I once heard a commentator lamenting how easily offended everyone is these days, and I think he had a point. We all need to be a little more resilient.

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  14. I've been remiss and had missed your post about the lockbox and the helicopter. Perhaps the po-lice were looking for the person who swiped that lockbox!

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    1. Well, after you see my post today (the subsequent post) you'll agree that's unlikely. :)

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  15. The one thing I loved about lockdown
    Skies of blue without vapourlines

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    1. Yeah, we noticed that too, although the vapor trails have their own weird beauty.

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  16. Stoked About You And Mr Dave Walking The Olga Girl - Well Done Humans

    Cheers

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  17. The watercolour app photo is lovely.

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    1. Thanks! It's a great app, and the beginning photo was so terrible. LOL

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  18. When helicopters hang around the hood I know they're looking for someone. Most recently it was because of a shooting at a nearby gas station. It's frightening.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. If I had to guess, I'd say there was probably some sort of robbery or knife crime -- which is basically the London equivalent of a gas station shooting!

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