Don't sit on the...hedgehog?

Monday morning on the other side of the world from my usual location, and I'm about to start drawing some fish for a field guide. But first, here's a little gem from my weekend adventures. On Saturday, we took a field trip to a "botanical garden" that was more of a "botanical amusement park." Very beautiful, many orchids and rare palms, but also extensive exuberant topiary and a mini-zoo where you could hand-feed ostriches. This sign was in the section full of small woodland creatures made of boxwood, and I can understand the temptation for great photo ops with the topiary.

Laura and I spent most of Sunday walking around inside the moat in the old part of Chiang Mai, checking out lots of peaceful, ornate wats and playing at tourist at the Sunday Walking Street (a street market of several blocks, very fun shopping) where I gleefully supported the local economy and upgraded my "I'm an artist" wardrobe at the same time. There was some excellent art as well, and gorgeous handmade tribal textiles.