Author Archives: makielb

Since quite a number of people who follow me on FaceBook had commented on missing the daily funny pages, I thought that I would try having a Friday funny pages weekly collection of cartoons and humor that I scoured from the Internet over time. So – here we go. Susan and I have followed ArloContinue reading “Friday Funnies – back by popular demand”

We were visiting friends in Petosky recently. They had been gifted lots of English walnuts by their neighbor. I immediately thought that this was perfect for my Sciartober challenge today which is “shelled”. We went to visit the tree that these were from. Nearby there was a tuliptree and a ginkgo. None of these nativeContinue reading “Shells and friends”

The other day I ended the art challenge for evolution with this drawing of the fossilized remains of this ancient bird. It is a great transition to the post for today – prehistoric. Brontops, an ancient mammal, drawn from a diorama at the Field Museum in Chicago. Smilodon, the skull of a saber-toothed cat. IContinue reading “Prehistoric art challenge”

The challenge for day was called “leafy.” As a result I first choose an illustration that I had done for Along the Huron, back in the mid-1990s. Then I thought about a sketch in the woody plants journal that I did in 1995. Finally, I’ll add a photo from the Baltimore Aquarium that I tookContinue reading “A leafy art challenge”

The squash is all in, and the last of the tomatoes and green beans will soon be in as well. There are still a few hot peppers in the garden as well as two small eggplants and some herbs. Soon the garden will be put to sleep for the winter, except for the kale. TheContinue reading “Art-challenge and the garden”

Today we had breakfast with Mike at Anna’s House, a place that none of us had eaten before. Every mug was different, and sourced from wherever they could get them. The art challenge for yesterday (I’ll always be a day behind) was “microscopic.” I went through old sketchbooks (used for teaching, or just for theContinue reading “Art-challenge and breakfast”

The idea that my friend Megan is doing for her podcast series is part of Sciartober 2021, an endeavor for scientific illustrators. Since i am not a medical illustrator in any sense of the word, I thought that I’d do the ideas for the day with older sketches, drawing and illustrations that I had doneContinue reading “A friend’s artistic challenge”

Yesterday, Susan and I, along with our friend Mike visited Goose Creek a Michigan Nature Association Preserve in Lenawee County, Michigan. And it was a delightful day. We went in search of interesting fall booming plants, and maybe even an insect or two. Our “targets” were Prairie Ladies-tresses (a small orchid), Grass-of Parnassus and FringedContinue reading “Goose Creek”

Walking through the neighborhood the past few days has proven how many people are looking forward to Halloween. The above photo of a woody skeleton pulling a skeleton out of a black kettle was impressive during the day, but more so in the evening. The same yard also had what might be described as aContinue reading “Our neighborhood is ready for Halloween”

Recently, we were visiting Mike and Deb in Petosky. They have several apple and pear trees. One evening, after a walk with a beautiful sunset Susan picked some apples and pears that we brought home. The next morning, one of the apples became part of breakfast. I peeled the apple, removed the core and slicedContinue reading “Food, the garden and more”