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Saturday, July 12, 2014

My Favorite Hawk.... Hudson...

Before we go on to anything else, I would like to introduce you to my favorite predator...

This is Hudson Hawk. He has been coming into our back yard to hunt(Pretty much unsuccessfully) for a couple of years.

I am sorry that this is not a better photo, but it is really hard to get him to sit still.  This was taken through the screen from indoors.

Every once I a while I catch him rolling around in that tray of water and splashing like the little birds do.  I have yet to get a photo of that though.  I am going to keep trying.  For a hawk, he's pretty cute.  That tray that he is sitting on the edge of is about 15" across.  That will give you some idea of his size.  He is NOT a small bird!

Now, on to business... I decided to make myself a board of samples of some of the laces and braids that I use for architectural features, so that you could get some idea of what can be done with trim, glue, gesso and paint.

I glued a bunch of different stuff to the board.

Then I gesso-ed it all.


After that was dry, I painted it all with the paint that I have been using for the bath and bedroom.

Some notes to self.... The first one on the left is crochet.  It works, but needs another coat of gesso to make it look like part of the wall

The one on the top right is a piece of regular Victorian trim from Houseworks.  It adds a little something to put some trim on the top of the strip.

The bottom right is two examples of what lace can do to plain old cove molding.  I am going to try some lace on crown molding and see how much fancier that can be made.
 
I added some more #3 pearl cotton to the doorway.  I may not be done yet... It just depends on my mood... Please pay no attention to the drunk passed out on the bathroom floor.  I didn't even notice that Zar was there until I uploaded the photo. 

I guess I should drag him out of there and give him some black coffee.... It must have been a bad night...

Anyway, the morning shift is on duty in the back yard, so I had better go and play lookout for the squirrels.  Hudson pays no attention to the "Keep Out Hawks!" Sign that is posted over the birdbath.

See you tomorrow.

8 comments:

Phyllisa said...

Hi Casey. Interesting playmates you have............a hawk and a squirrel. It is also interesting how we don't realize the size of an animal until we see it up close and personal. Like the hawk. In my former house, I had bird and squirrel visitors reqularly because the house was surrounded by trees.The birds that stole the squirrel food were stellar jays. There were also common garden birds like robins. But I have seen woodpeckers and once I saw a goldfinch.
Phyllisa

Caseymini said...

Phyllisa, we have a whole family of woodpeckers that live here. They are around all the time.

12Create said...

It must be wonderful to have so many critters visiting your yard all the time. I think I would spend half of my days just sitting watching, especially Hudson as I love birds.

Mereknits said...

We have a lot of red tailed hawks around here, a bit smaller than your fellow, but awfully beautiful.
Hugs,
Meredith

Caseymini said...

Meredith, Hudson is a Harris Hawk. No red tail. That probably accounts for the size difference.

Lucille said...

Interesting visitors, Casey! They are sweet company! I love what you did with the lace and Gesso. Thank you for sharing that concept! I will surely try it on something. I am, at the moment, working on a bed. I will send you a pic when I'm finished.

Caseymini said...

I would love to see it Lucille!

Giac said...

Hello Casey,
It looks amazing and is such a fantastic way to get architectural detail onto a project. thank you for the instructions.
Big hug,
Giac