Some Favourite Things from a Slow & Natural Dye Week

A gift of lightweight wool cloth from a Toronto girl

took the dyes beautifully.

Dress weight wool not easy to find

but definitely worth the hunt. 

My favourite colour combination is now soft greys and tans.

Leaves transferred their colours beautifully to a gift of raw silk from Judy.

This small corner of shibori lines is my favourite of all.

Surprising because of the tangled mess 

I always manage to make of those long tails 

from gathered threads.

And I was finally able to buy one of Margi's dolls.

They always have a story.

This is Beatrice, princess from an exotic land, 

who feels that her giraffe frock and feathered fascinator are perfect for weddings, 

whether royal or common.

Must get back to stitching this week.

I've missed the feel of needle pulling thread through soft cloth.

...And What a Week it Was

A week of brewing....

A week of mornings spent unwrapping wondrous gifts created with the help of Mother Nature.

It was so much fun learning what our local flora and fauna were capable of.

A week of tiptoeing through washing lines.

As we brewed and wrapped giant cruise ships parked outside our window.

As we played with rust inside, huge pieces of rusty things sailed by outside.

My favourite piece of all was Kathryn's beauty.

Thank you India for sharing your wealth knowledge.
'Twas a very special week for me.

I learned so much.

A New Tool of the Trade

Handy Hubby has a new camera...

Just look at that glorious moon out there in the heavens.

A bit closer to earth but still quite far away

you can see the individual needles atop a spruce.

Even I got the play with it...but my focus ain't so good!

One gallant rose still working at being beautiful

even though thoughts of lighting winter's fiery logs

often occupy our minds nowadays.

It's been raining cats and dogs here

so the poor mourning doves are looking a bit bedraggled.

Pity they can't order take-out  in this kind of weather!

It's rained so much that the stream has decided to go over the bridge!

I'm in Halifax for the week and class is about to start!

Will be back at week's end

when hopefully I can get back to some stitching in the studio.

It's been a long time.

Thinking of Mark

We've been thinking of Mark this weekend

who is participating in a show at the wonderful McMichael Gallery

in Kleinburg..

If you're nearby

do go and drop by.....you'll love his work.

I love these trees on a rocky shore.

And just look at how he makes that water sparkle.

Mark is brilliant at bringing water to life....

Mark is a Pisces.....

You'd think that his family would have put two and two together....

But no, it took a stranger wandering into Mark's gallery

"The Artist's Den" in Collingwood

to point that out!

A Puppy Creation

As I rummaged around for materials to take to India's dye class

I stumbled upon an old skein of beautiful wool

that had been changed into a very messy bird's nest

by a certain rusty pup two years ago.

I won't name any names....

but she knows who she is!

Because I'm feeling a bit brain dead after my trip

I sat down

and two hours later 

that skein now looks like this.

What next?

I'm one of those people who really doesn't knit

but finds wools so seductive

that I buy them 

not knowing what the heck to do with them!

A Day of Travel

Back from Toronto...

 where I had so much fun.

Where visuals, noise, smells and energy bubble up around you constantly.

That's not a negative, it's just different from my tangled woods.

Thank you Toronto

where Kiyomi, Carole, Kaite and many others looked after me so well.

Thank you Toronto

where I reunited with Anne-Marie, Gordana, Christine,

Sandra, Jeannie, Wendy, Helen, Anne, Pat,

and so many others.

I had forgotten I knew so many people!


I'm back but not really!
I have two days to prepare for a lovely week with India Flint.
Oh, and Mark.....we forgot the maple leaves....they're somewhere in your rusty car!

Stuff of Woodlands

Twisting and twirling...

Painfully ingrown....

Leaning tower.

Those of you who drop by here know of my rusty pups...

Mark, my baby boy, has a rusty car!

Woodland carpet.

River Life

Rivers run through deep woods in these parts.

Mark has been a keen fisherman since the age of eight.

He already knows every river here

and they are teeming with salmon and rainbow trout.

Sometimes the rivers have to dive over tall escarpments.

Surely an impossible jump for the salmon.

Sometimes they are blocked by dams

and so we provide fish escalators.

The salmon are moving from way out there in Georgian Bay

up the rivers to spawn.

I've never seen a salmon run before

There are so many fish

and they are huge.

Quite fascinating to watch.

The Rolling Hills of Ontario

There is nothing like the colours of autumn in Ontario.

Driving north from the airport rolling hills melted into the distance...

and rusty woods formed protective shields around farmers' fields. 

Beautiful old barns in every state of repair dotted the countryside.

After two hours of driving straight up the airport road
finally we see that faint soft blue strip of Georgian Bay water.
A beautiful place indeed.

Strangely Grateful

The thing is, my oven gave up the ghost as I cooked dinner last night.

Couldn't help but be thankful it wasn't Christmas Eve when the house will be full of hungry lads and lassies!

So on this Thanksgiving Day I am thankful for handy hubby who threw our dinner on the BBQ,

apple crisp and all!

I am especially thankful for my three boys

and for Donna who loves one of them!

And of course grateful for the rusty pups who rule our lives.

'Thank you' to you all for visiting here.

Thanks to those of you who share your thoughts on blogs, I so enjoy visiting with you.

I have to apologize for not being very responsive lately....

I've been so busy

and the day after tomorrow I'm off to Ontario.

Will post when I can but probably won't be back in full swing until November.

Gee whizz that's a long time!

I will miss your company.

Happy Thanksgiving

Feathered Beauties

Thanksgiving is just about here for us Canadians.

I'm grateful for the birds who share my space...

for the brilliant red Cardinal who carefully guarded his little ones this summer...

the jittery Pheasant who dares only visit the feeders in the depth of winter,

woody the woodpecker

and the Evening Grosbeaks who will soon be back to denude the crab apple tree...

for the American Goldfinches who always bring friends

and the humming birds who swoosh around our heads all summer long.

So happy the cardinal babies are growing strong

and another Goldfinch.

Grateful the two geese didn't choose our pond for nesting!

The Chickadees who are always here willing to gossip

and the little sparrow whose name I've forgotten

Most of all I'm grateful for the mighty Eagle who soars overhead.

Thankful for the Blue Jays who clown around my feeders

and even the squadron of pigeons....

for the seagulls riding the winds above

and the noisy crows who thankfully decided not to nest in the tree on the driveway this year!

For the beautiful Northern Flickers

and the Heron who spent most evenings in the pond this summer.

We enjoy their company so very much.