Reason No. 6

Reason No. 6
of 55 Reasons to Take Care of Mother Earth:

photo copyright 2010 Susan Faye

Cheeky Little Chickadees

The Nature Conservancy has a great selection of free e-cards to send to friends and family. Click here to see their selection of Bird e-cards

Over the next few weeks I will be posting photos or artwork of 55 reasons why I think it's a good idea to take care of Mother Earth. If you find any of my 55 reasons compelling, please consider making a small donation if you can: 55 cents, $1.55, 5.50, or $55.00 (you get the drift...) to the Susan Faye Double Nickel Birthday Fund for Mother Nature to benefit the Nature Conservancy

Your donation will support the many programs of the Nature Conservancy, an efficient and effective organization that has been working around the world for 60 years to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. My goal is to raise $550 to help with their important work.

If you would like to donate, please click here:
Double Nickel Fund

Thanks for visiting!

Reason No. 5

Reason No. 5
of 55 Reasons to Take Care of Mother Earth:

Very Tall Waterfalls

This is one of dozens of magnificent waterfalls in the Columbia Gorge. The Gorge was formed by the Columbia River between Washington State and Oregon. Just east of this waterfall is the Tom McCall Preserve. The preserve is named for Oregon's late governor, Thomas Lawson McCall, whose commitment to conservation in Oregon remains an inspiration. The preserve is maintained by the Nature Conservancy, Mayer State Park and national forest lands.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting photos or artwork of 55 reasons why I think it's a good idea to take care of Mother Earth. If you find any of my 55 reasons compelling, please consider making a small donation if you can: 55 cents, $1.55, 5.50, or $55.00 (you get the drift...) to the Susan Faye Double Nickel Birthday Fund for Mother Nature to benefit the Nature Conservancy

Your donation will support the many programs of the Nature Conservancy, an efficient and effective organization that has been working around the world for 60 years to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. My goal is to raise $550 to help with their important work.

If you would like to donate, please click here:
Double Nickel Fund

Thanks for visiting!

Reason No. 4

Reason No. 4
of 55 Reasons to Take Care of Mother Earth:

photo copyright 2010 Susan Faye

Duck Moms in Camouflage

(There are two more ducklings hidden somewhere under her wings!)

The Lower Mississippi Valley is the largest wintering ground in the world for mallard ducks. To find out what the Nature Conservancy is doing to preserve this vital ecosystem, click here: Freshwater Conservation

Over the next few weeks I will be posting photos or artwork of 55 reasons why I think it's a good idea to take care of Mother Earth. If you find any of my 55 reasons compelling, please consider making a small donation if you can: 55 cents, $1.55, 5.50, or $55.00 (you get the drift...) to the Susan Faye Double Nickel Birthday Fund for Mother Nature to benefit the Nature Conservancy

Your donation will support the many programs of the Nature Conservancy, an efficient and effective organization that has been working around the world for 60 years to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. My goal is to raise $550 to help with their important work.

If you would like to donate, please click here:
Double Nickel Fund

Thanks for visiting!

Reason No. 3

Reason No. 3
of 55 Reasons to Take Care of Mother Earth:

photo copyright 2010 Susan Faye

~~~Japanese Maple Leaves in Autumn~~~

A wonderful place to enjoy Mother Earth and Japanese Maple leaves in autumn is the Japanese Garden in Portland Oregon. "One of the most authentic Japanese gardens outside of Japan, the Portland Japanese Garden is a 5.5-acre haven of tranquil beauty nestled in the scenic west hills of Portland, Oregon". Where is your favorite haven of tranquil beauty?

Over the next few weeks I will be posting photos or artwork of 55 reasons why I think it's a good idea to take care of Mother Earth. If you find any of my 55 reasons compelling, please consider making a small donation if you can: 55 cents, $1.55, 5.50, or $55.00 (you get the drift...) to the Susan Faye Double Nickel Birthday Fund for Mother Nature to benefit the Nature Conservancy

Your donation will support the many programs of the Nature Conservancy, an efficient and effective organization that has been working around the world for 60 years to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. My goal is to raise $550 to help with their important work.

If you would like to donate, please click here:
Double Nickel Fund

Thanks for visiting!

Reason No. 2

Reason No. 2
of 55 Reasons to Take Care of Mother Earth:

~~~Insects That Look Like Space Aliens~~~

photos copyright 2010 Susan Faye

For more informations about mantids, including this Praying Mantis, visit this link: European Mantids

Over the next few weeks I will be posting photos or artwork of 55 reasons why I think it's a good idea to take care of Mother Earth. If you find any of my 55 reasons compelling, please consider making a small donation if you can: 55 cents, $1.55, 5.50, or $55.00 (you get the drift...) to the Susan Faye Double Nickel Birthday Fund for Mother Nature to benefit the Nature Conservancy

Your donation will support the many programs of the Nature Conservancy, an efficient and effective organization that has been working around the world for 60 years to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. My goal is to raise $550 to help with their important work.

If you would like to donate, please click here:
Double Nickel Fund

Double Nickel Day

Please join me as I celebrate the completion of 55 orbits around the Sun on this crazy space ship we call Mother Earth!! [Yes, it's my birthday.]

With each passing orbit, it has become increasingly clear to me how important it is to take care of our Mother Ship and our fellow Earthings, including ALL of the incredible life forms we share this planet with (although I'm a little ambivalent about slugs and mosquitoes if you must know...)

With that in mind, I have created the Susan Faye Double Nickel Birthday Fund for Mother Nature to benefit the Nature Conservancy.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting photos or artwork of 55 reasons why I think it's a good idea to take care of Mother Earth. If you find any of my 55 reasons compelling, please consider making a small donation if you can: 55 cents, $1.55, 5.50, or $55.00 (you get the drift...).

Your donation will support the many programs of the Nature Conservancy, an efficient and effective organization that has been working around the world for 60 years to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. My goal is to raise $550 to help with their important work.

Without further ado, here is
Reason No. 1 to Take Care of Mother Earth:

photo copyright 2010 Susan Faye

~~~Rabbits with See-Through Ears~~~

If you would like to donate, please click here: Double Nickel Fund
To find out what the Nature Conservancy is doing for some special rabbits, click here: Pygmy Rabbits

Thanks for visiting!

Bee Inspired

photo copyright Susan Faye 2010 all rights reserved

"In every walk with nature
one receives
far more than he seeks. "

John Muir

Dahlia Bee

photo copyright Susan Faye 2010 all rights reserved

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread,
places to play in and pray in,
where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."
John Muir

Star Gazing

Illustration Friday

(theme:"star gazing")

The best kinds of stars to gaze at are the shooting kind, especially those with fancy stardust tail-trails! Happy gazing to you!

Don't miss out on the Go Green Garden Cat Giveaway going on now at my other blog!

Thanks for visiting!

Flora and Fauna on the Canyon Creek Meadows Loop

On Monday I had the pleasure of visiting the lower meadows of Canyon Creek near Sisters, Oregon, thanks to my intrepid personal hiking guide--Globe Trekker Mary.

This moderate 4.5-mile loop takes you on a tour of a high alpine meadow of wildflowers, with bubbling Canyon Creek flowing through it. In addition, there are spectacular views of the jagged spires of Three Fingered Jack.

The wildflowers were a few weeks behind schedule but we still saw plenty of flora and some fauna too:

A fuzzy Cat's Ear flower...

A male Oregon Junco...

Indian Paintbrush...

Mountain Heather...

A tiny Silvery Blue butterfly...

And Bear Grass--something I had never seen before! It was EVERYWHERE and looked like giant fairy wands :

At first we thought this was a female Northern Flicker, but upon closer inspection we think it is a female Williamson's Sapsucker...

There was a merry band of Gray Jays...

And lots of lupine, paired here with manzanita...

Possibly the prettiest of all were the Shooting Star flowers!

At the highest points of the trail there were patches of snow! In July! Can you believe it? Here is my artistic interpretation of a snow shelf melting over a creek:

Thanks for visiting!

Directions to the trail: Drive Highway 20 east of Santiam Pass 8 miles. At a "Wilderness Trailheads" sign near milepost 88 (1 mile east of Suttle Lake or 12 miles west of Sisters), turn north on paved Jack Lake Road 12 for 4.4 miles. Then turn left on one-lane Road 1230 for 1.6 miles to the end of pavement, and finally turn left onto Road 1234, climbing 6 miles to the trailhead at the primitive Jack Lake campground.

My Favorite Satellite

Illustration Friday
(theme: "Satellite")

satellite n. Astronomy: A celestial body that orbits a planet; a moon

Craftsmanship

I'm thinking about my dad today, who has been gone for 10 years now...

The best gift I ever received was a wooden oven that my dad (a carpenter) hand-crafted for my 4th birthday. It had knobs that really turned, burners made out of coffee can lids, and a door that would open and close so I could put Bingo the Cat inside to "cook" him a little (hey, I was only 4!). It was a thing of beauty and I loved touching the wood--sanded to silken smoothness, with every corner and edge rounded to perfection. And thus began my appreciation for fine craftsmanship and artistry... Thanks Dad!

Many years later the tradition would continue when he hand-crafted this exquisite Sam Maloof-inspired child-size rocking chair for my son Chris who was 1-1/2 years old at the time (he's 23 now!). Some of the wood in this chair is from an old Chinese elm tree from our family home that was cut down when I was 11!

I have the pleasure of being the keeper of the chair until Chris has a place of his own where he can display it. It is a thing of beauty and I love touching the wood--sanded to silken smoothness, with every corner and edge rounded to perfection.

Thanks Dad!

On The Trail...Morning at Mosaic Canyon

Illustration Friday
(theme: "TRAIL")

Another one from the files...

This watercolor was painted a few years back after a trip to Death Valley with Dave. This scene is from a morning hike up Mosaic Canyon. If you look closely, you can see a bit of the trail winding up this exquisitely sculptured, colorful canyon; but you will have to imagine the rest of it as it winds up from the valley floor in the hazy distance...

Thanks for visiting!

Lizards are Lovely

Illustration Friday
(theme: "SLITHER")

I've always been fascinated by lizards, especially the part where they would lose their tails when said tail was grabbed by a cat. With lots of lizards and cats in the neighborhood while growing up in Southern California, there were always plenty of tailless lizards slithering around...!

This watercolor painting is from the files and is called "Twig Lizard"--he was quite certain that I couldn't see him as he held very still and blended in so beautifully with the surrounding twigs.

My fondness for lizards grew considerably when my then-16-year-old son acquired a Bearded Dragon lizard named Ziggy. I was surprised by how lovely it was to hold a lizard in ones hands.

Here is a favorite photo of a tiny baby alligator lizard that was found sunning itself on my car tire, just as sweet as he/she could be!

Thanks for visiting!