Thursday, June 27, 2013

Ontario Vacation and Painting Retreat!

We're back from our trip north to the Lake of the Woods. We had a wonderful time doing absolutely anything we wanted without a timeline or expectation. I spent lots of that free time painting, but also doing some exploring, canoeing, and plain relaxing. Here are the first pics, with some scenic views and in-process shots of the art, including my first attempts at stamp-making. I have more new work to share than seen here, so I'll be back soon with a few prints to add to my shop and some more pics. Enjoy! 


 
 
 

In the middle of our trip we had a really unforgettable nature moment. Brad walked down to the dock one morning to discover that a female snapping turtle had come up from the lake to lay her eggs on the edge of the beach. She took about 2 hours, so we were able to sneak down and watch the process. We used a zoom lens, so don't worry that we were disturbing her too much. They lay about 50-80 eggs, and she did this meticulously, scooting them out one at a time and covering each one with sand. When she finished she had a little rest and then walked off the edge of the dock to get back in the water. I am still shocked that we had this opportunity - definitely felt like we were on an Animal Planet special. Hope you enjoy!
 
We made a little sign so that no future visitors would disturb them. :-)

4 comments:

Mark said...

Looks like fun; Scout is a photogenic animal :-) Very neat about the turtle too! Hope you and Brad are doing well!

Splendid Little Stars said...

It looks so idyllic. How wonderful that you got to see the turtle laying eggs!

Sharon said...

I love the deep gold photo of the water and sky!

Pamela Bates said...

we had a snapper that'd come to our yard every year (assuming from the fire pond at our neighbors) and do her thing. never saw any eggs but she sure acted like she was laying. didn't see her this year and I think she may have relocated to the river. they are so prehistoric looking aren't they? I even got video of ours once. looks like a perfectly wonderful spot for a vacation