Wednesday 25 February 2015

Winter Confinement


As we have been confined inside
from the flu
Snow has also kept us indoors


And outside the wind has played
shaping our world.


Too deep for the Rusty Pups to go out the front door.

Tuesday 24 February 2015

Stitching Winter


Finally painted the stitched canvases...


Sticking to soft gentle colours of winter.


I've been couching every day.
Well actually one day I unpicked most of it....
....It had started bulging outwards.
Going round and round in circles can have that effect on cloth!
I nearly gave up.
But spiralling round and round in greys and soft blues
is speaking volumes to me at the moment.
So I persevered and am now more able to control any bulging.


In the beginning the cotton strips
rolled themselves into tubes.


Then in my mind I thought pebbles on the Fundy shore....


....and I started creating lumpy bumpy couching....


....then I decided to make the strips lay flat and wider.
Working in cloth takes time
time which allows the mind to relax and wander.
In it's wanderings thoughts turn to 'what ifs'
and your hands simply follow.
This is why I choose cloth to work with.
I need time and reflection.
Oh, and this is going to be a large piece
so I will have a lot of time with it.
Now I need to go back to the dye pots
and create more greys.


Monday 23 February 2015

Scratching The Deep Mid-Winter


Handy Hubby caught a coughing flu
Thought I was immune


But no such luck.
As it happens when you have the flu
you create the ugliest stitching ever!
Red, white and blue...not my colours at all!


We felt so much better
celebrating a birthday.


Whilst on the mend
I returned to gentler, softer colours of winter....
for we are certainly having a snow filled winter.

Wednesday 11 February 2015

So What Does One Do On A Snow Winter's Day?


Stay inside in the warmth
and prepare for some Shibori.


Make sure the birds are fed.


Examine wildlife tracks.


Sit and wait for your mistress
along a neighbour's driveway.


Find beauty in simple things.


Look out at the world through treasured cloth.


Find beauty in snow crystals... 


that covered the trees...


down by the Basin one cold and crispy morning.

Tuesday 10 February 2015

Snow Days


Probably a blue jay
 took shelter n the front porch


Snow shoeing around the garden
catching the morning light.


A day of sunshine in a Canadian winter
always lifts our spirits.


Especially this year
when the snow keeps coming and coming....


....and coming.


The snowblower can't cope
but it did manage to make a path down the driveway.
Behind me is a mountain of snow about nine feet high
and twenty feet deep.
The driveway is getting shorter
and narrower!


But still it is beautiful in nature's simple honesty.

Monday 9 February 2015

Scratching White


We are wallowing in snow.
And still more is coming.


Even the Rusty Pups can't manage
the depth of snow in the garden.
They stick to the cleared driveway.


The local wildlife must be finding it hard to find food.
A bobcat walked right across the garden
then over the frozen pond
heading into the woods
and the mountain behind us.

Monday 2 February 2015

Snow Smothered Scratchings


The snow...and the wind...
just won't let us be


Monday was the day we had to go up the valley
Monday was the only day it didn't snow.
Lucky


Mountains of snow building up in the garden.
Snow-shoeing round the garden has been the only exercise this week.
Had to cancel play day with Diane
but fooled around with weaving.


Boring!


Getting ready for Super Bowl party all day.


Weaving was the most fun.