I had an art teacher talk to me about the limitless greys you can see in the clouds.  This was during a still life painting we worked with a purely black and white palette.

Yesterday, I recalled this conversation after I came upon this dead gull on the beach.  I was quite dried and preserved and the feathers were an amazing variety of silvers and greys.

Grey is probably one of those tricky hues to capture with a camera, but I had to try!

Reptilian claws…

There were many dead birds on the beach this day, and many more alive in the skies and on the water.

In sorting out my work room I have unpacked some sketch books.  So exciting, some drawing projects as well as designs for other ideas, including set design for a sci fi play.  From AGES ago.

Above is the original drawing for my tattoo, I was making drawings of marine animals, here are some more…

I love tube worms.

Inspired by art work in some old undersea books.

Gotta love water colour pencils for vibrant drawings.

Pencil and ink..

Last night I took these photos of the monarch butterfly eggs as some had turned quite dark.  Anticipating they may be nearly ready to hatch, we checked early this morning and we have some tiny caterpillars creeping around the leaves!  Very exciting, I just hope they don’t demolish the plant entirely.

A few weeks ago we went to Kelly Tarltons, it was fun, the stingrays were amazing!  But I felt pretty bad for the penguins, such a small and indoor space for them, at seemed grim really.

But the smaller tanks with seahorses, eels and other smaller fish were cool, these were the most memorable tanks to explore when I was a kid, almost like real rock pools.  Above is a photo of a mermaid’s purse, the name given to the egg case of a skate, ray or small shark, I was so excited having only seen photos and dried ones from other people’s collections.  The cases are usually found tangled in seaweed washed up on the beach and it is so named as the oval case has a loops somewhat like handles on either end, that entangle the egg case in seaweed so it stays put. The one in the photo still contained the embryo, which amazingly was moving around, so cool!

Just a bit of an experiment here, I kept some patterns for this rather boring animal mobile I found a while back, and decided to make up the giraffe one.  Turned out pretty cute, I added the mane and stitched on the patches and the beady eyes.  I also discovered, all too late, that I did not give him a tail, still tossing up whether I should just safety pin one on, like a true punk giraffe would, as I’m sure it’s one of those big ‘don’ts’ when you live with a toddler…

I discovered a little Oxychilus cellarius, also sometimes referred to as Hyalina cellaria (kindly identified by one of my shell club colleagues!) sliming along the mulch under my parsley plants a couple of days ago…

It is not, as I first thought, a native, but was apparently introduced to New Zealand, originally from British Isles and western Europe.

The first time I have found a live one, and was amazed at how blue the animal is. The translucent wee shells are often turned up in under growth when fosiking around in the garden.

There’s not much info out there at the moment but it’s still pretty exciting stuff!

It seems that the tenticles were badlyy damaged and the mantle itself is approximately 2 metres long.

On the Reuters website there is a short clip of the animal as it is briefly examined.
And on the News.com.au….

I almost missed the news on tv.. but fortunately a friend alerted me to the news that New Zealand fishermen fishing for the Patagonian Toothfish in the waters of the Antarctic were fortunate enough to haul in a Colossal Squid as it was after their catch… so I was able to see a few images on the breakfast news (yes, there is news on early mornings don’t you know..)

So exciting, I just love squid, particularly these mysterious giants that populate the depths of our oceans… it is very sad that we know so little about them and we don’t know whether our destructive fishing methods are causing much damage to their habit or food supplies, let along hooking them up from the depths as they go about their business…

The amazing thing about the Colossal Squid are the swivelling hooks they have on their tentacles, making them a ferocious and truly terrifying hunter – straight out of science fiction stories…

Anyhow, more photos are on the following links, I have borrowed these images one from mongabay.com

www.ctv.ca

www.seattletimes.nwsource.com

You can read more about this awesome creature on the wikipedia

Fostering cats or kittens for Auckland Cat Rescue is a challenging but rewarding task. Since we do not have a Rescue Centre, we rely solely on foster homes to help us rehabilitate and rehome kittens & cats. Without these foster homes, we would be lost.

Providing a cat or kitten with much needed love, care and attention is the basis of fostering. The typical process of fostering involves picking the cat up from us, with some food, litter and bedding, then taking them to your home to settle them in. After a few days you will need to take the cat to the vet for a checkup and any vaccinations required.

To foster a cat/kitten you must be able to dedicate sufficient time and energy to play with them and care for them. You will need to be home most evenings and weekends to socialize with them as this is one of the most important aspects of fostering. Other important duties include feeding, defleaing (including bathing), worming and providing general care for them. The cat/kittens will be advertised for adoption on our website and on flyers. Your phone number and email address will be advertised on the website, and all queries from people wishing to adopt that cat will come to you. Potential owners for the cat will come to your home to visit the cat and it is up to you to decide whether the cat and family are compatible.

Food and litter will be delivered to your door, free of charge and all vet fees can be put on Auckland Cat Rescue’s account with two specific vets, or reimbursed to you with the receipt. Foster homes should be prepared to have a cat stay with them for as little as a week, to as long as 3 months.

If you would like more Information, please call Natasha on 021 752 333 or email foster@aucklandcatrescue.org

http://www.aucklandcatrescue.org/

Austin thinks it’s a good idea.