Working backwards...

Ok. I seem to have a few unfinished stories out here...

People want to know where I am and why did I move to South Carolina.

Short answer: I'm here and I didn't.

And people want to know what happened to the pigeon!

Short answer: Pigeon is all gone and I'm sad, but Solenn's not.

Stay tuned!

For now, here's our now annual New Canaan St Mark's May Fair photo:

Anyone missing a homing pigeon lately?!

We found this today at Noel's baseball game.

Does it belong to you?

Send me an email!

It was sitting just on the inside of the outfield fence. I was setting up my little canvas chair just on the outside of the fence. I looked up and he was just staring at me. Not frightened at all. Just sitting there. And I had Moxie with me, maybe a foot or two away from him. He was huge. And very clean. And all by himself. No other pigeons around. Something made me think there's something a little different about this pigeon. Then I noticed the band on his leg. So I thought... maybe he belongs to someone.

But I was on the wrong side of the fence.

Noel was warming up with his team on the inside of the fence.

So I call him over. And I say- Go pick up that pigeon. And he says- What???

And I say- Go pick up that pigeon. I think he might be tame. As he gets closer I suggest he might have better success if he puts down the baseball mitt. So Noel puts down his mitt and walks over and gives a few shaky attempts to pick up the pigeon. And after strike 3, he (the pigeon, not Noel) flies off to a nearby house.

But a normal wild pigeon wouldn't give you three chances to pick him up. He wouldn't let you anywhere near him.

So I go walk around to the house where he flew. I ring the bell. No answer. I walk around the side of the house, and find the bird in a little alcove leading into a basement door. He's just sitting there. So I pick him up.

I ring the door of the house again. The lady comes to the door. But doesn't speak english. I show her the pigeon. She's pretty sure I'm a crazy person. I don't think he belongs to her.

So we bring him home.

And name him Nigel.

And look up the band on his leg.

It's a homing pigeon.

Solenn is in love.

We looked up information about homing pigeons.

Check out 

http://www.ifpigeon.com/

I think Nigel is a girl.

Solenn renamed her Athena.

I think she's associated with a homing pigeon club in Hicksville.

I'll send them an email in the morning.

In the meantime, if you know anyone who's missing their homing pigeon, let me know!!

ps. For all authors, librarians, editors and teacher--Sorry about the mixed up tenses.

pps. Yes, I still need to post about the rest of our road trip. Sorry about that. I'm easily distracted. By pigeons. I'll get around to it.

edit: This is the information on her tag- IF EMC 2013 715

Day 5 Crash course in forestry!

We head out to the woods with forester Tracy Knight and learn all about short leaf, loblolly, slash, longleaf, and bottomland hardwoods. We look for the elusive red cockaded woodpecker and learn about pinestraw harvesting. What a day! Noel was a champion question-asker as usual.

And we ended our day with a wonderful shepherds pie and some southern hospitality chez chef Buddy and former mayor Mary.

Day 4 Our destination: Camden, SC

We settle in at our new home in Camden, South Carolina. The kids enjoy their first ever experience at a Waffle House. We are treated to a deluxe tour by our friend Buddy Clark of the town where my grandparents lived and where my mom grew up. We have some refreshing ginger ale, a dip in the pool, and meet some lizards.

Day 3 Luray Caverns and the Blue Ridge Mountains

We start the day with some light spelunking. A mile of trails through these spectacular caves. Then a fun little maze. And we hit the road again! Heading south past the Shenandoahs and through the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Day 2 yogi bear and Old Rag Mountain

We started out the day with bouncing and the requisite Yogi Bear flag salute, complete with Yogi, Cindy, and BooBoo.

And then we followed that up with an 8 hour crazy persons hike, up a mountain, the likes of which I have never experienced before. We had to shimmy through crevices and out over rock ledges and through a cave. The moment I will never forget though, was when we almost had to quit 4 hours into the hike. We met a crevasse. The only way past was over. Noel jumped right across. It's was maybe a 3 foot jump, but a long,messy way down if you missed. Solenn sat and cried. And, I have to admit, I panicked. I mostly couldn't figure out how to get Carys across. So we sat for a while with Noel on one side and the three of us on the other. Until Solenn abruptly stood up, wiped her tears away, and took the leap. Yes, my heart skipped a beat. But wow, what a girl.

Then a long legged, rock jumping stranger wandered up and offered us his assistance. I said yes, but my heart entirely left my body as I watched him with a foot on either side of the world., slow motion style, pick her up from under her armpits, dangle her briefly over the bottomless pit, and deposit her safely on the other side. Then we continued our hike.

We met many helpful, kind, and patient people on that hike.

At the end of the day, there is only one time in my life I have ever been so tired. Will have to tell you about that one later. I don't know how the kids did it. What an amazing day.

If you ever get a chance to hike Old Rag Mountain, don't pass it up!

Roadtrip with the SnickerDoodles Day 1

Yes, we're on a road trip!

We're already on Day 4, but here's what we did on day 1...

Amish country in Pennsylvania!
We visited the Amish Farm and House. The kids had a lesson with Teacher Kate in the one room school house.
http://www.amishfarmandhouse.com/

And were intrigued by Chris the whittler who whittled flowers for them and showed them how to whittle a little rooster from a stick.
http://www.whittlingwithchris.com/

Next stop was Abe's Buggy Rides.
http://www.abesbuggyrides.com/
Earl was our driver. We chatted about horses, cell phones, technology, lifestyles, and family. Fantastic little adventure.

And then a quick stop at Gettysburg. Wish we'd had longer! You could spend days here. It was fascinating.
http://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm

And then on to Virginia...

Photos are from my iPhone and unedited!

Happy Easter!!

We worked hard getting ready for Easter this year!

I'm happy the kids are as obsessive about Easter eggs as I am. This year Solenn made a pretty design on paper and I used it as inspiration for my egg.

I used to make these Ukrainian eggs when I was a kid. I can't remember when or how we started making them. I don't remember learning how to do it. I'll have to ask my mom if she remembers. I used to loooove making them. I made Easter egg Christmas ornaments for my grandmother. I won the high school art award with an Easter egg my senior year (Go Rams!).

Anyway... now the kids love making them too. A few years ago I started looking around for supplies and I called around to some local craft stores. And got awesomely insulted. I'm still trying to think of a good comeback. And when I called one (which shall remain nameless, but starts with the letter M) I said, "Excuse me do you have Ukrainian egg decorating supplies? No? Do you know where I might be able to find them?"

I can still hear her answer in my head. A little scratchy and nasal.  "Ummm... maybe back in the 70's?"

Let me know if you have any good comebacks. I'll call them back up again now.

These are some of mine from this year and the last few years:

These are some of the kids':

Here's the store in New York where I eventually found supplies. No one mocked me there.
http://www.surmastore.com/pysanka.html

And here's how to do it:
http://www.learnpysanky.com/steps.html

Rollerblading

Yesterday we went to the playground and the girls grabbed a bike and a scooter. I grabbed my 20, haven't been touched in 19, year old roller blades. Yes, our garage is a disaster. We went off, and at the park I made the kids stand next to me so they could break my fall when I wiped out. The middle one said, "Oh, Mom, you'll be able to do it. You're great at everything you try." So uplifting! And yet... now I just have to wonder when that sweet loving image she has of me will someday (many many many years from now) be shattered.

Here's a sketch from the same park a couple of days earlier. Someone else's kids...

More exciting news!

I now have a Favicon!!!!

Also known as I now have oneofthosefunnylittlepicturesthatgoesupinthebrowsertabswiththenameofmywebpage!

I can't tell you how excited this makes me and I have no idea why!

So exciting. Here is is:

Impressive, right?!

Even more impressive... it's a "multi-resolution favicon"!

Now I know you must be really impressed.

If it's a "multi-resolution favicon" that means if there's just a tiny bit of space it will show up tiny, but with a little more space it will look bigger. And it will look good at different sizes- all the way from small to teensy tiny.

You should see it in the tab at the top of my blog! Let me know if it works! I also put it on my website, so you should see it on the tab at the top of my website too: http://www.anikmcgrory.com


First I tried to make it myself. I used these webpages to figure it out:

http://voices.yahoo.com/10-tips-making-effective-favicon-7979814.html?cat=59
http://www.onextrapixel.com/2010/10/06/pixel-art-create-a-better-favicon-for-your-website/
http://www.sketchpad.net/1pixelbrush.htm

I discovered it was very difficult to make a tiny-little-image-so-small-you-can-barely-see-it look good. I spent several hours (days?) working on it and then gave up and went here:

http://smoothdraw.com/product/freeware.htm

I downloaded SimplyIcon and then dragged and dropped, and voila: instant magic multi-resolution favicon!

Further instructions for making your own multi-resolution favicon (yes, I like saying that) by hand on photoshop can be found here:
 
http://www.ehow.com/how_6511844_create-icon-file.html

I gave up after following the directions on how to use SimplyIcon.

OK... Now I want to see all those multi-resolution favicons everyone's making after reading this!!! Favicon away! I do think it should be a verb now.

My new toy!

... is a wacom tablet. So I can draw straight into the computer. I think for me it will never replace a pencil and a sketchbook, but it sure is fun. Here's my first wacom sketch...

Do you see the little guy in the bottom left corner?

His name is Logo.

Creative aren't I?

I'm going to use him to put watermarks on my photos and sketches that I put on here.

Look, here he is again!

Do you see him?

Bottom right?

Allright, here he is big!

Edit:  Some more info. How to make a logo and turn it into a watermark...
I used mostly these 2 links to figure it out. I've never used illustrator before so it took me a while to figure out how to do anything. It's so different from photoshop!

this had some helpful basic illustrator stuff:
http://www.newthinktank.com/2010/07/adobe-illustrator-cs5-tutorial/

and this was very useful to learn about watermarks:
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/watermarking-your-photos-in-photoshop-7-and-cs-4881

Yes, definitely my child.

Breakfast at our house a few days ago.

And yes, that is her drinking glass she has turned into her brush rinsing glass. I am a good enough mom that I confirmed she had only drunk out if it before she had rinsed her brushes. Not after.

How has this come about?

My new morning routine. I've been reclaiming time. 5-7 every morning is mine. All mine.

The only problem?

The other early riser is... You guessed it... Carys.

Sleepy Sheepy (her nightlight/anti-alarm clock) tries to keep her in bed, but he doesn't always succeed. 

Hence, painting and breakfast.

This is a photo from the following morning pre breakfast...

She likes mine best.

I like hers best.

2 Books You Should Go Read

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
I randomly came across this at the library a while back. The audio version, which was terrific. I thought it might help me pull my self together! Do I look pulled together yet?? This book could change your life (my life?). I think. Also, even if it doesn't it's fascinating!

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary Schmidt
2004. Newbery Honor. Printz Honor.
I don't know why I had never read this before. The kids and I finished it last night. The ending was a little rough. I think my just turned 8 year old may have been a little young. Maybe. This is a book that I think will stick with me for a long long time.

The Next Big Thing: A Global Blog Tour

I was tagged by my friend Liza Woodruff to participate in a blog tour! I'm supposed to answer some questions about a recent or upcoming book and then pass it on to some author and illustrator friends. So here goes...

1 What is the working title of your next book?
2 Where did the book idea come from for the book?
3 What genre does your book fall into?

 I'm going to answer these together, because I feel like it!

I'm going to write about Magical Monty, written by the fabulous Johanna Hurwitz and illustrated by Me! It's a chapter book for early readers and it's the fourth and final book in a series about a slightly shy first grade boy named Monty. The ideas and the writing for the series is all Johanna Hurwitz, but it's funny that many of the events throughout the series felt like they were mirroring my own life. When I was working on the first book, Mostly Monty, my son was starting to get ready for first grade, like Monty. He was an excellent reader and had asthma, just like Monty. Monty's baby sister was born, and my son's baby sister was born- two, actually, over the time I was working on the series. We've had pet birds, and, of course, lost teeth. Monty has identical twin friends. And Noel has identical twin cousins, who look mysteriously similar to the girls in the book. And just this year, my daughter, now in second grade, joined an after school magic club at her school. So it's been fun to illustrate all of these things and be right in the middle of it while I'm drawing it!

4 What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
hmmm... I'm not good at actors and actresses. I think that boy from Nanny McPhee would be just about perfect!! But he'd be too old. And he's got that whole british accent thing going. I'll get back to you on that. 

5  What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
A sweet boy grows into himself and discovers the world.

6 Who is publishing your book?
Candlewick. Love them!

7 How long did it take you to write the first draft?
Infinity. I didn't write it. T
o sketch and draw and paint the illustrations? I forget. 9 months?

8 What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Maybe a little bit like the Ramona books, but for a little bit younger.

9 Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Illustrate the book. The kids, of course. I love to draw the kids. I love to watch them figure things out in the world.

10 What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
Maybe these?!

Thanks for checking this out!!

And don't forget to take a look at Liza's book, "If it's Snowy and You Know It, Clap Your Paws!"

And finally, next on the blog tour, available next Thursday, two Jennifers!

A fantastic new children's book author and illustrator, my friend, Jennifer K Mann!!!

 

And the magnificent author and illustrator, my friend, Jennifer P Goldfinger, who is just starting her brand new blog here!! Welcome to blog world, Jen!

Barbara Firth

I just saw that Barbara Firth died recently. 

She's one of my very favorite illustrators.

That makes me very sad.

Little House on the Prairie and other stuff

We've recently taken the whole of season 1 of Little House on the Prairie out from the library, and we've been watching it episode by episode. They don't make tv shows like that anymore!

Carys on the drive home from school yesterday:
Mom, why doesn't Ma ever yell at her children when they're late for school?

Show is definitely a bad influence.

Another favorite recent Carys quote...
Carys On Skiing:
Mom, my hands have a headache.

Here's an sketch from early in the morning on our recent ski vacation while the kids were still sleeping:

The 2 little ones were snuggled in the same big bed. (Sorry snuggling not shown.)

They always remind me of hamsters when they're sleeping. 

I don't know why.

Carys at Work

Carys draws with her face so close to the paper,

you can barely tell what she's doing.

 

I used to draw like that.