Problems solved or losing the battle?

In my last blog I think I mentioned that I had been having trouble with my old computer, well I  made the decision to not only get a new one but also to switch to a Mac.

Problems solved ..... well not really, just a whole new set of problems and challenges. I have had an iPad for years, how much different could an iMac be??? Well, very, very different it turns out.

Why don't computers come with manuals these days??? When I asked this question at the Apple Store I was told to sign up for an Apple class and/or go to YouTube for answers. I did sign up for a class and I did learn a few things before the class was hijacked by someone incensed because her mail wouldn't do what she wanted. So is YouTube the answer... actually it is. I found some great free classes offered by David A Cox at Tech Talk America.

One problem I had was that after I had transferred my photos from my old computer to the iMac I noticed that for some reason I had two or even three copies of almost every picture, no idea why this happened. I looked online and apparently I was not alone, there were pages of forums and videos addressing this problem. I tried a free app to resolve the problem, no luck, ended up having to download a duplicate finder online that cost me about $30. Why should I have to pay to fix a known problem? Why didn't I go through manually and delete the duplicates, well it turned out there were over 11,000 of them.

I am finally getting used to the computer and winning most of the battles now.

So for a change from my new computer woes, I go outside; after all the good weather and diligent watering the garden is producing all kinds of great fruit and vegetables.

But it turns out that the critters seem to like what I am growing too. Bites out of tomatoes, beans and strawberries and entire branches of raspberries eaten. But by far the worst "theft" has been from the fig trees.

I love figs and look forward to the crop: we have Italian Honey (green) and Dessert King (red) Figs this year. I lost most of the first crop of green figs in a wind and rain storm in the early spring but the red figs grew really well. We had our first figs and they were wonderful then the remainder of the figs started disappearing.

The critters were getting more figs than we were, so I put netting over my fig trees, problem solved?

Well, no. The first couple of days that the netting was on the trees, we witnesses a couple of daring daylight robberies and chased the culprits away. But since then...

Have you seen these suspects:

Wanted for:

break and enter,
theft (under $500)
and
disturbing the peace

Warning hide your food!

 It's enough to try the patience of an ....

You guessed it the critters have gotten almost all the figs, I definitely lost that battle.

.....................................................

So I have finally managed to load my pictures, sort them, learn to use the editor and get the blog to work, sigh. Next, if I am feeling brave, maybe I'll try to edit movies with iMovie.

😅 😂 🤣 😜 😥

I have not had time for much painting, just these two:


 "Purple Clematis":

and "West Coast Sunset":

That is all for this week, happy Wednesday, with whimsy,

Gillian

Plenty

It is summer and we have plenty of sunshine, which leads to plenty of flowers,

 

plenty of fruit,

 

(Yes I love raspberries and the garden is producing plenty this year.)

 

and vegetables.

 

(these are Japanese cucumbers-delicious)

 

(lots of green tomatoes promise a good yield later in the summer)

 

I have been busy keeping the garden watered but I have also been busy in the studio.

 

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First, great news, not only did my painting "Watchful" win an award at the Delta Artists' Guild "Oil and Water Show" but it also sold!

 

Here is another look at "Watchful":

 

 

 

Here is a  painting of a bearded iris that I call "Blue Beard":

 

 

 

"Seagull over English Bay":

 

"Canada Day Crow":

 

 

 

"Stone Bridge":

 

"Island Sunset":

 

Also having plenty of problems with my old computer - time for a change!

 

Not surprisingly I have been "plenty" busy!

 

 

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That's all for this week,

 

happy Wednesday, with whimsy,

 

Gillian

 



Bitter Sweet

It has been a bitter sweet week, I won an award at the "Oil and Water" show but one of my "art buddies" past away this week.

I dedicate this post to her.

 

Here is a "bouquet" of early summer flowers:

 

 

"How very softly you tiptoed into our world,
almost silently, only a moment you stayed.
But what an imprint your footsteps have left upon our hearts."

 

 

 

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Art News:

 

I am excited to report that my painting "Watchful" won an Award of Distinction

 at the "Oil and Water" show.

 

The show is at Gallery 1710 and is on until June 24, 2017

 

 

 that is all my news for this week,

 

happy Wednesday, with whimsy

 

Gillian

 

 

No Vacancy

A few weeks ago I hung up my birds nest. It is a fixer-upper but I was hopeful that it would catch someone's interest.

 

Well by the end of the day, within a couple of hours actually, I saw a Chickadee checking it out.

 

Now there is a young family of Chickadees and much coming and going and chirping.

 

 

 

seems to be a bit of a tight squeeze:

 



 

there is a cheerful chirping sound every time one of the parents visits the nest

 

very soon I suspect the small birds will leave the nest

and take tentative flights around my back yard

 



and I look forward to that day

 

until that day there is no vacancy here!

 

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Two more watercolours of Gargoyles from my studio before I go onto something else:

 

 

 

"Watch the Birdie" is a gargoyle from the Paisley Abbey in Scotland:

 

 

 

The second is from Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland, one of the chapels mentioned in the da Vinci Code.

 

I think this one looks like a lioness, I think that is what I will call it: 

 

Well that is all I have for this week,

 

happy Wednesday, with whimsy,

 

Gillian.