Testing new ideas: mandalas and more

It was so cold on our walk this morning, we weren't surprised to see five ducklings huddled together on the edge of the pond. They jostled and poked and climbed on one another until settling into mound of down ... fluffy, warm, and camouflaged.

Last week I mentioned my new project, Tinplate, No. 1, a summer activity book dedicated to hobbies, passions, and distractions. It's nearly ready, but before I can say it's done, I need to test some of the activities and take photographs. This morning I created natural mandalas from foraged materials on our walk.

This red maple mandala came about from the whirligigs (or helicopters if that's what you call them) that have littered the landscape for weeks. They've finally stopped falling and until today I'd only seen them as a nuisance.