What was your fasting blood glucose? (full on chat)

[ianpspurs]

@gennepher liked the result of your art exercise today lots of depth with lines a very good study and practice.
@dunelm a nice scene from you today. I know it's not because of the building but it did remind me of some parts of France A few hours South of the Loire but not as far as the Rarn Gorge.
@Alien Aspie I thing that humming bird needs to be coloured, will be a challenge to get that metallic green and blue.

My visit to Dorothy Clive Gardens was lovely. The type of cool Tuscany Hill Village Breeze blew across the sun baked boarders, bees everywhere and very quiet. We took a picnic and sat in the shade admiring the wonderful planting, here I be in full camouflage against Agapanthus, Salvia and Sea Thisles but the camera did not pick them up...
View attachment 43026
On returning it is too humid to sit in garden and so have started another abstract heathland, can I leave it alone this time, needs some work but how much. I have also started a more my style watercolour but only a yellow wash so no point sharing that yet...
Here is the start of the heathland, I have added some mist in the valley bottom, mainly because the blending of colours went wrong and adding mist was the easiest way to sort it out....
View attachment 43027

Your younger brother is looking very svelte and summery Was his visit relaxing?

 

[Muddy Cyclist]

Thank you @Muddy Cyclist

Your heathland painting is looking good.
It has the foreground, the valley where there is a path or a running brook, the hills, the trees in the distance, the sweeping sky...or at least that is what I see in your painting.

Thank you, that is what was intended, mist crept in later.

The River is a stream that starts as a spring at the top of the valley. It flows into the Trent crossing Shugbourgh Hall estate. The Ansons many years ago built a culvert for it to go across the estate. This culvert now protects all the fresh water clams and shrimps naitive to the UK instead of the Foreign ones that have invaded many of our rivers killing the native variety.

 

[Muddy Cyclist]

Your younger brother is looking very svelte and summery Was his visit relaxing?

Very thank you.

 

[geefull]

good evening all

was 4.5 this morning

up early and out dropping off the car, the garage is still trying to trace a niggling fault
then we picked up Mum and took her to collect her pension and some worm tablets for Katy.

After that we picked Katy up and brought her back home with us for the day, so, we've had lots of walks today finished off with a barbecue in mum's garden after we went back to pick up the car, very enjoyable it was too

hot here today and pretty close and humid tonight so I don't know how we'll sleep. Haven't seen so many visitors to the village on one day for a long time, so many people that they were parking on the church forecourt because the car parks were all full. We stayed out of the way

@gennepher - interesting new work using those strokes to build the depth, I admire Hokusai too, he had such a strong graphic style

@Alien Aspie - I like the 'woodcut' effect of your portrait very much and the humming bird is so delicate I think I would be tempted to make a couple of variations as @gennepher suggested, (but then I'm someone who tends to keep a copy at every stage when I'm photo retouching 'just in case' )

@dunelm - still going strong your mountain looks as if it grew out of the bones of the world.

@Muddy Cyclist - I like both versions of your painting but prefer the earlier version, I particularly liked the warm red in the foreground which tied the composition together.
The new painting looks very promising too

Knowing when to stop doing what my gran would call 'pickling about with it' is a thing isn't it

art bit -
I was having a bit of a shot with the small set of 'inktense' pencils I have and will do some more experiments too to see how they work in conjunction with watercolour - my bee wouldn't 'beehave'

 

[gennepher]

good evening all

was 4.5 this morning

up early and out dropping off the car, the garage is still trying to trace a niggling fault
then we picked up Mum and took her to collect her pension and some worm tablets for Katy.

After that we picked Katy up and brought her back home with us for the day, so, we've had lots of walks today finished off with a barbecue in mum's garden after we went back to pick up the car, very enjoyable it was too

hot here today and pretty close and humid tonight so I don't know how we'll sleep. Haven't seen so many visitors to the village on one day for a long time, so many people that they were parking on the church forecourt because the car parks were all full. We stayed out of the way

@gennepher - interesting new work using those strokes to build the depth, I admire Hokusai too, he had such a strong graphic style

@Alien Aspie - I like the 'woodcut' effect of your portrait very much and the humming bird is so delicate I think I would be tempted to make a couple of variations as @gennepher suggested, (but then I'm someone who tends to keep a copy at every stage when I'm photo retouching 'just in case' )

@dunelm - still going strong your mountain looks as if it grew out of the bones of the world.

@Muddy Cyclist - I like both versions of your painting but prefer the earlier version, I particularly liked the warm red in the foreground which tied the composition together.
The new painting looks very promising too

Knowing when to stop doing what my gran would call 'pickling about with it' is a thing isn't it

art bit -
I was having a bit of a shot with the small set of 'inktense' pencils I have and will do some more experiments too to see how they work in conjunction with watercolour - my bee wouldn't 'beehave'
View attachment 43032

Thank you @geefull
I have to set myself a time limit with these digital paintings or else I would be hours on them...

A lovely flower sketch with the intense pencils. Knapweed?
Your bee is 'beeuitiful'!

 

[gennepher]

Fbg 5.9

Temp 36.1

A beautiful dawn and sunrise today.
Had small portable fans on my face all night, and surprisingly I slept from 11pm to 4 am. Very unusual for me to sleep that long.

iPad yesterday did its usual 'I don't like the hot weather, leave me alone or I will overheat'. It needs its smelling salts aka the dog's old chill mat. The iPhone was copying the iPad, so that just left me with my Android phone which fortunately has no such indispositions.

So I downloaded a new paint app for the Android. I liked it, and so recharged my old Android tablet and I will download it on to that now , and attempt a Hokusai picture on that.

The app is free, but everything is unlocked for one week. And then if you like it, it is £7.99 one off payment to keep all the features. The app says it is not Procreate, not another well known app, but it will give you virtually everything you can find on Procreate for a fraction of the cost. There is the occasional advert on the free version.

Anyway, trying it now....
Back later...

Writing this on the iPad and it is already overheating. It has now got my chill mat to sit on. Blooming temperamental it is...I do have a fan cooled little desk it can sit on, but it is all this electricity and wires...

 

[Muddy Cyclist]

Good Morning and 5.8 for the start of this 8th month of the year, where did that time go?

A visit to MILs bungalow later but otherwise the day is all mine.

Take what you can from your day and use the time well. Keep safe.

 

[Muddy Cyclist]

@geefull Thankyou for your kind comments on my heathland watercolour number 2. I might just leave it at this as I have a new painting in mind. Also abstract is not suiting me as much as I would like to master it.

Your art is very good the Bees Knees! You certainly have the ability to capture natures forms and colours. The technique you used worked well in this piece.

 

[Muddy Cyclist]

iPad yesterday did its usual 'I don't like the hot weather,

Mine does the same, Mrs MCs does not.

 

[karen8967]

5.8 for me have a good weekend everyone

 

[gennepher]

Mine does the same, Mrs MCs does not.

It is a big nuisance for me when I need to spend time on digital work on the iPad @Muddy Cyclist

This Android tablet has been on an hour, resting on my bedcovers, and not a hint of it having heatstroke.

The iPad is still malingering between the folded chill mat, saying ‘Leave me alone...’

 

[SlimLizzy]

01.08.2020
6.45am FBG 6.2
MrSlim is up at the crack of dawn,( for him) I have been up over an hour. He has plans for heavy work today and wants to get started before it gets hot. We have been up to 32c and 33c last two days.
Our nearest neighbours are away and we already know that the opionated neighbour will not approve. "We like to keep weekends special"
However MrSlim has a digger arriving Monday and the preparation will continue. It will probably be 9am or later before he starts making a noise and they are two hundred yards away. This doesnt seem unreasonable to me.

 

[UserABC2021]

Overcast start to the day which suits me, 6.0 on the meter.

All achy-breaky-muscle-achy this morning so I think I had way too much sun yesterday. I think I'll just sit with my head in the fridge today

Enjoy the weekend

 

[lindisfel]

Will have to pay for my TV licence from today but waiting for an email to confirm. However, it is still worth the c.£150 it costs.
I guess a lot of you guys have not had this benefit, but see it affecting parents.

But I am really concerned myself today for the shielded who will be forced to expose themselves if they are still working.
The licence fee in comparison is inconsequential.

 

[gennepher]

Overcast start to the day which suits me, 6.0 on the meter.

All achy-breaky-muscle-achy this morning so I think I had way too much sun yesterday. I think I'll just sit with my head in the fridge today

Enjoy the weekend

The fridge sounds good @Alien Aspie Looks like you are like my iPad wanting something cool. I would lend you my chill mat, but the iPad is clinging on to it...

 

[gennepher]

Will have to pay for my TV licence from today but waiting for an email to confirm. However, it is still worth the c.£150 it costs.
I guess a lot of you guys have not had this benefit, but see it affecting parents.

But I am really concerned myself today for the shielded who will be forced to expose themselves if they are still working.
The licence fee in comparison is inconsequential.

I don't have a TV. Not had one for coming on for 20 years now. I was/am totally dependent on subtitles. Sometimes they were bad/mediocre. And more than sometimes they were not there at all when they had been promised, and a little notice on the screen, said sorry we cannot give you subtitles at this time.

Finally I threw in the towel and gave TV away and cancelled licence.

It is ridiculous, you cannot expect people who have been totally shielding these last few months to leap outside and carry on as 'normal' i.e. go straight to work. In my view, there needs to be a acclimatization period in many ways. They have not been exposed to 'normal' outside bugs and germs these last few months, for a start.

 

[ianpspurs]

Good morning after yesterday's overly mild weather. Great art @geefull - I like that best of all you have done, strong field though it is. Great fbgs @gennepher , @Muddy Cyclist, @karen8967 and probably loads more who either haven't posted yet or I have missed. @Alien Aspie sounds as though you need some downtime today - take it easy (other Jackson Browne songs are available) My fbg is somehow mixed up in the 4.4 @ 60.3, 4.8 @7.12 or 5.1 by 8.10 . Whatever it is Libre seems to want to assure me that part of my life is fine. Cooler today so relax folks and no need to fret much about Christmas shopping now.

 

[gennepher]

Okay, painting for today.
New app. Infinite Painter. (Because the iPad is having a heatstroke and is malingering on my chill mat).
I have never used this old Android tablet (it's only 16 GB) for normal usage I use the iPad Pro for. It is covered with acrylic paint, because I was only using it for photos and source material for my acrylic paintings last year.

First painting on Infinite Painter.
From Hokusai again. A frog.
It has taken me 2hours but a lot was figuring it the brush strokes.
The app is free. All features are free for one week. Then it is a one off payment of £7.99 for everything.
There is no Procreate for Android, so this was the nearest I could find.


Bonus, it automatically saves my painting as I go along. It saves stroke by stroke. There should be no way you can lose anything. Cat got interested and brought up menus with his paw that I have not managed to bring up with my paw...

I 'borrowed' the cat's paw, but the screen was unresponsive. It only works when the cat does it if his own free will...

Now, see if I can upload. Oh another bonus is this old device only used up 25% of battery life for this painting, and did not heat up. iPad would have had barely 35% of battery life left by now.

I will get there in the end, think I have sussed the upload from this old Android device....

 

[ianpspurs]

Okay, painting for today.
New app. Infinite Painter. (Because the iPad is having a heatstroke and is malingering on my chill mat).
I have never used this old Android tablet (it's only 16 GB) for normal usage I use the iPad Pro for. It is covered with acrylic paint, because I was only using it for photos and source material for my acrylic paintings last year.

First painting on Infinite Painter.
From Hokusai again. A frog.
It has taken me 2hours but a lot was figuring it the brush strokes.
The app is free. All features are free for one week. Then it is a one off payment of £7.99 for everything.
There is no Procreate for Android, so this was the nearest I could find.


Bonus, it automatically saves my painting as I go along. It saves stroke by stroke. There should be no way you can lose anything. Cat got interested and brought up menus with his paw that I have not managed to bring up with my paw...

I 'borrowed' the cat's paw, but the screen was unresponsive. It only works when the cat does it if his own free will...

Now, see if I can upload. Oh another bonus is this old device only used up 25% of battery life for this painting, and did not heat up. iPad would have had barely 35% of battery life left by now.
View attachment 43034

I will get there in the end, think I have sussed the upload from this old Android device....

Loving that thank you for creating and sharing.

 

[gennepher]

Loving that thank you for creating and sharing.

Thank you @ianpspurs