The Crows Know

The crows know Spring has sprung

Driving toward the southern shore

One flew overhead

The biggest twig he could manage

Casually dangling from his beak.

The South shore trip was to support Chris and Sarah

at the hanging and opening of their show at the Rhubarb Cafe.

X's mark the spot....where paintings should hang!

First beach walk of the year

with Chris, Patricia and the lovely Belle

and just about everyone else on the West Dublin shore!

Just turn the camera slightly

you lose a lot of cars and people.

Back home at the tail end of the week

whilst Chris, Diane and I explored possibilities in the studio

Harold came round

and took down some precious but sick trees.

Now we have have one huge clearing up job

to keep us busy throughout the Spring.

So

The Was The Week That Was

(Does anybody else remember that David Frost show

from the early sixties?)

Criss Cross Scratchings

I have always been drawn to 

the ancient symbol of the cross

Only once have I used the cross in a piece of work

and that was at a devastating time in my life.

Laid on it's side....love

I just went criss cross crazy

Wondering when

I might use the cruciform again

perhaps simply as a design form

Because it is very pleasing just as a simple shape

with no symbolism applied to it.

Fingers crossed that Winter is on it's way out!

Unfinished and Homeless

Sometimes a piece of cloth speaks out loud

telling you what it wants

It was about five years ago..perhaps longer

that I was driven to work on this small piece.

But it has remained unfinished all these years.

It's not that I don't like it.

Wonder why it is hanging around patiently waiting!

Birds of Summer Scratched

Harry the Heron has arrived at the pond

Summer must surely be on her way

for Spring is surely not coming at all!

The pond is slowly defrosting

and refreezing overnight

Then a pair of black ducks arrived on the pond

causing much excitement from the Rusty Pups.

He Greets Me Every Morning Now

Harry stands for ages in freezing cold water

where the lilly pads grow

All puffed up

Somehow his long, long neck is in there

being kept warm amidst the feathers.

I know, two days in a row on the same bird!

My apologies

but he is so gorgeous!

Harry, Our Summertime Bird

First morning ritual

is to look out at the pond and the woods

just to see what, or rather who, might be up.

To my surprise on Thursday

I spied Henry.

The first heron of summer

looking really cold

and desolate

So handsome is he

in his feathery scarf.

I hope he is finding fish and other delicacies.

Just a wee bit of the pond has defrosted.

Lovely to see him back.

People here are buying worms to feed the robins

because no worm is moving in our frozen ground.

The song birds or summer are coming back

and having a really tough time finding food too.

A New Scroll Started For April, Not a New Season Though

Enough already!

It is April

That means scratching the beginnings of a new scroll

It is snowing

That means Winter still doesn't want to leave.

As I stitched the beginning of April

I was thinking Easter

Easter egg hunts

But today I am once again wondering if the snow plough has been

allowing me to get into town for Tai Chi.

Scratching Month End

Scratching the end of a month

Scratching the end of a scroll.

I started the week wanting to scratch

the trees of winter.

For the ash tree I imagined how it would hold a snowball.

But then Diane, Grace and I

went on an excellent adventure

up to Halifax and St. Mary's University

to see Dorothy Caldwell's show

'Silent Ice/Deep Patience'

and to

attend a "Conversation" between

Dorothy and Sandra Brownlee.

There is something about darning

even if my mother and grandmother

would have a fit at this being called darning!

What a treat it was to walk among Dorothy's huge pieces again.

The lands she explores are huge...

the Canadian Arctic and the Australian Outback.

Her respect for those lands

and for the people and cultures that inhabit them

is humbling.

In honour of Dorothy I continued to end the month

with discharged scraps

and 

and bits and pieces of red

A colour that is beginning to creep into my psyche for some reason.

Using up scraps and bits and pieces.

Stitching loosey goosey

and changing to running along.

March has been a lion all month long

and for the three of us it certainly went out

with an inspirational bang!

Happy April Fool's Day