Outdoor Hour Challenge: Clouding Around

I am writing this post with my left foot propped up like it has been since the day after Christmas when I was discharged for breaking it at the end of the holiday. That was five days ago, and the house is going to pot. Nothing like taking Mother out of the house-keeping picture. The dog just keeps looking at me, his faithful walker, and wondering why I've abandoned him. Even when Mei does the job herself, he has to be carried over the electric fence line before he will continue, which she is definitely incapable of doing with 35 pounds of dead weight. While Father Robin is on vacation, it works out, but no telling what's ahead after New Year's.
  Our nature walks pivot around exercising the dog (if you want to keep in shape and eliminate excuses for getting outside, get one). But we do have lots of windows to observe from and lots of pretty views outside them. And being winter, there are plenty of changing weather conditions to enjoy from a warm seat with a mug of hot chocolate. Add in some field guides and our nature appreciation needs not take its own holiday.
  The last 24 hours or so have seen dramatic weather changes, from snow to clear to partly cloudy at sunset, providing us with plenty of cloud observation fodder. Mei and I set up our painting supplies on our school table in the sunroom and began painting the snowy scene outside our window.
    Imitating the great idea that Barb shared, Mei set out to collect some of frozen precip to paint with.



She was fascinated with the way the paint interacted with the snow.

Here is my interpretation of the stratus clouds' impact on our backyard. 

And how much the sky changed in a couple of hours

   Mei wants to practice a bit more on watercolor painting.  In the meantime, her science studies on weather have perfectly meshed with the Outdoor Challenges lately. This "cloud detective" page is from the chapter on Weather from her text "Considering God's Creation." by Eagle's Wings.

So, until I'm walking again, we look forward to more window-shopping for clouds.
Thanks to Barb at  Handbook of Nature Study's for sharing this on her Blog Carnival. Click over for more ideas on cloud study