We had trees trimmed this summer and, while I just could not watch them actually doing the work (because yikes), I did watch a huge pile of limbs just sit there for days. When they finally came to pick them up, I sketched it. Then I cleaned out the fatsia bushes and the view from my studio window changed a bit. 

We had a drought in the middle of the summer. My poor fatsia were not only getting more sun due to the tree trimming, they were just super hot and dry, so I researched what to do to help them. Everything I read said that I can trim them between late winter and "late summer," and again I am wondering what that means for us here in this hot hot place. As I am writing this, the 10-day forecast is still in the 80s and 90s, so I will consider late September to be late summer.
The fatsia bushes are so big and old that they all grow together and it's hard to tell where one ends and another begins. To help me with watering them, I made quick sketches of where each individual plant starts.

I love using my sketchbook like this, as a place to explore and keep information. It enables me to capture not just what I am seeing but what I am doing.

When I started my summer sketchbook, I predicted that I would sketch a lot of coffee cups and other everyday things, and I was right! I ended up with 20 coffee cup sketches in this sketchbook. I like to see how many I can sketch - it encourages me to sketch everyday things.

But not just coffee cups! I sketch a lot around my house since I work from home now, so my summer sketchbook is also full of sketches of plants, yarn, books, and cooking.

We watched all of the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World movies and I tried sketching the dinosaurs.

I'm slowly working on a "stash buster" granny square afghan.

My boudin was not good. I will leave that to the professionals.

This is the kind of prep I have to do just to buy a lamp shade.

Fourth of July weekend I went to my sister's house in Gulf Breeze, FL. Isn't it cute? I drew this one nearly in the dark as we stood in the streets with some neighbor kids and went through our remaining fireworks, mostly sparklers but also maybe a bottle rocket or two.

I sketched this very Florida scene - Highway 98 in pink ink - when we stopped for gas one day. When I think of Florida, I think of Highway 98.

We hung out at home a lot - I worked there for a few days - so a lot of my sketches look like what I would sketch at home. We drank a lot of coffee and tea while I was there, and discussed and traded and read books.

I was there for part of Blue Angles weekend - my first time to experience it. We took the golf cart to the neighborhood boat ramp and watched the show over Pensacola Beach across Santa Rosa Sound.

It was such a lovely, relaxed, fun trip and I can't wait to go back!