Round Up

 I packed my car with my arts supplies and my Bible, and head Upcountry.

Even though our study was full of joy and enthusiasm,  I limited our visit to an hour and half.    Coming into her neighborhood I saw lots of Jacaranda trees in full bloom and received a phone call from my favorite plein air buddy.  We decided I would join her at a pastoral setting.  

I took a wrong turn and ran into these gorgeous

horses.  When I got out to take their photo they come closer to greet me.

 I could not help pulling over to this pasture, and parking lot for a private high school.  How do they study?  If I had been enrolled here, I would forever be looking out the windows. I did anyway, I even remember the pretty birch trees in the courtyard between buildings at my elementary school.   I don't know if I ever put my drawing of them on paper but I painted them in mind so many times.

While walking back to my car I almost stepped on a Jackson Chameleon.  I didn't really want to pick him up but didn't want to run him over either!  They make great pets but really thrive here in the open country.

This is the pastoral setting my girlfriend chose to paint!  My photos do not do it justice and I again have not finished my own painting to post here.  While we were painting, the rancher had his dogs round up the 4 white horses and lots of cows and they put them into the upper pasture.  I found this so exciting to watch.  I could hardly paint, besides the peacocks which were hidden in the trees, calling to each other.  I caught sight of one of them or it could have been a pheasant, hard to say exactly since we were at the bottom of the hill, but it was a big bird that came out of the trees.

This fellow was singing aloud as he past by, a great day in the west!