Nib Creep and a New Lens

After over a month of waiting, I finally received my new camera lens.  It is a Sigma 105mm 1:28 macro lens.  I was anxious to play with it, of course, so I pulled out a few fountain pens and gave the lens a spin.

Here's a photo of my Parker IM fountain pen, inked up with Diamine Red Dragon.  The crystals/junk on the nib and feed are what is called nib creep.  Not sure why it happens, but it was neat to get such a close up picture of it.  

By contrast, here is my Cross Solo, inked up with Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses.  You can see that the nib has a slight amount of ink on it and the feed is clean. (Well, if you don't count the cat/dog hair that is dangling from it!)  That's how a fountain pen should look.

These four pictures were taken outside (natural light) and using a tripod.  I tend to be very over-confident of my ability to hold a camera still.  I really hate to stop what I am doing and drag out my tripod, so I'll hand-hold for shots way more often than I should.  That's a lot of blurry, messed-up shots.  Good thing film isn't involved anymore, or I would be wasting A LOT of film!  One of the first lessons I learned with this new lens is that hand-holding just will not work.  Get out the dang tripod as soon as you get out the lens, Lois!

More Doodle-igraphy

I have these cool watercolor pencils that I bought this past winter...

...and a watercolor pan set that I have no idea when I bought it or how many hundreds of years I have had it. 

I have fun playing with them occasionally.  But like many of the art/craft supplies I have bought over the years, I don't have a real talent or knowledge of how to use them.  They're just toys for me.  

This week, I was playing around, making some more doodle-igraphy.  This time, I tried making a playful version of Times New Roman font on the back of an envelope.  It came out kinda cool and was fun to do.  This was my first attempt, so please ignore the goof I made on the sarif of the R.

Then I got to thinking, what if I doodled it on watercolor paper, using a Sharpie to outline the letters and watercolors to fill the letters and wash the background?

And, violà!

I'm pretty pleased with it.  It is so playful and fun.

I have an idea to take this method a step further to make a gift.  I can't guarantee it will ever materialize, but if it does, you can bet I'll be bragging about it here.
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And now, for a Wren Report!

I don't think we have seen the wrens under the gazebo since January, but I know they're nesting nearby.  They are so vocal, it is hard to miss them.  I figured we wouldn't see them again under the gazebo until after nesting season was over.

Last night, when I was out with the dogs for their final potty break of the evening, I noticed one of the wrens in a teacup.  It was cool last night—about 60° Fahrenheit—and he (or she) was snuggled in pretty tight and his (her) feathers were fluffed up.

This morning, when the dogs were out for the first potty break of the day (5:20 am), the wren was still there.  The rest of the birds in the neighborhood were already up and chirping their heads off, but our wren was still fast asleep.  Five minutes later, he (she) was gone.

Flowers for the House

I picked these peonies and lupines for the house two days ago.  I wish I had taken a photo then, as they were tighter and more gorgeous then.  They smell heavenly!