Saturday 30 July 2016

The Mighty Rock Work in Progress


Summertime stitching carries on with this large piece.
As I stitch my thoughts turn to
The leeward side
The sheltered, protected side colonized by moss and lichen.


This piece also reminds me of my need to for a strong, firm foundation.
I like to have my feet on terra firma both physically, 
emotionally and creatively.
Therefore my rock balances comfortably on another.
The sunlit side, the side that faces the world,
is bold and confident.


The leeward shadowy side more subtle and retreating.
Perhaps full of secrets and surprises.


Friday 29 July 2016

Early Morning Life on the Basin


As we walked along the dike
a heron came in to land flew on the marshlands beside us.


Looking down at the salty puddle
 I realized two herons were there.
Can you see one nearly hidden behind the tree?


And then just beyond the puddle I saw there was a third.
Perhaps Mom and Dad teaching youngster the art of catching breakfast.


The morning sun glistened off this one when they eventually decided
it was time to leave.
Unfortunately at the end of our walk I was unable to entice 
RP Kayla into the car.
We had to phone home for Handy Hubby to come and assist!
Poor Kayla's Lime Disease seems to have returned 
despite all our precautions.
She is aging faster than her sister because of these last
two summers.


Early Morning on the wharf 
where I go nowadays after walking the Rusty Pups
to do Tai Chi with a group a lovely group.
They do it in all types of weather all year long!
Don't forget this is Canada!


Wednesday 27 July 2016

Gentle Giant


An injured flicker spent time in the garden


Rusty Pup Kayla found it fascinating


and examined it from every angle.


Tuesday 26 July 2016

A Frayed and Jagged Crumb for Week Thirty


Everyone has weeks in the year that are more difficult than others.


Weeks of Jarred irregular stitches


Frayed edges


And somber moods.

Monday 25 July 2016

A Summer Green Crumb for Week Twenty-Nine


Woven summery green


And always beneath everything that grows in our garden
the pebbles.


Some silk crosses marking meeting places in the garden.

Tuesday 19 July 2016

Wednesday 13 July 2016

Shadow Hands


I have also been working on another piece.
Lots od couching and cretan stitch
running away from a gathering of graffiti.


The sun was bright
my hands kept getting in the way
so why not have some fun!


In there I intend adding
something
but what is not quite clear to me yet.


Stitching spontaneous graffiti-like squiggles
is a favourite of mine.

"From the manner in which a woman draws her thread at every stitch of her needlework, any other woman can surmise her thoughts."
Honore de Balzac

Monday 11 July 2016

An Anniversary Crumb - Week Twenty-Eight


Since we both forgot to celebrate our 47th wedding anniversary this week
I thought I had better stitch it into
this week's Crumb from the Cutting Room Floor!


The cream cloth was once my white wedding dress.
In the nineties I tore my precious dress apart
and since then a scrap of it has appeared in much of my work.
My dress was made by my grandmother, Robin and my mother, Ray.
I love that the overcast stitch on the left
and the seam on the bottom
are still there
to include them in this small piece.


Week 27 done
For those who weren't here at the beginning of the year
I am doing one of these for every week of 2016.
The size is 4 1/4" x 6".
Because they are made up of scraps
and for that reason I call them
"Crumbs from the Cutting Room Floor"!

Friday 8 July 2016

Two Little Treats


Do you see him?
His mother had just crowd the road
and as we crept forward hoping to catch another
glimpse of her
this little head popped up!
Of course it popped right back down again 
when he spied us.
But we decided to stay put and wait.


Eventually he grew brave enough
to make another attempt.
So tiny
so healthy looking.


Then all of a sudden there were two!
A precious moment.

My second treat of the day...
...that morning I had to stop 
for two tiny spotted fawns to cross
another road and join their mother.

Thursday 7 July 2016

It's That Time of Year


I am cooking up black Walnuts
and fighting off the squirrels
who consider them a great delicacy.
Hanging on the bird feeder to dry are
an old doily
some overdid pink linen
and cheesecloth.
I like to remember to put in a piece of cheesecloth
in my dye pots
because I often stitch it to the back of my work
so that people can just get a glimpse of the 
stitching on the reverse.


Diane and I have also been pressing leaves
and steaming them amidst bundles of papers.
This one...a bit yellow for me
but love the blue curve.
I tried to keep notes but can't remember!


Now, this sheet is my course!
Love it.


I remember the tiny leaves were blueberry leaves.


Do you see the Maple keys?
Nice clear prints of them and the Japanese Maple Leaf.

Wednesday 6 July 2016

Deep in the Tobiatic Wilderness


Diane and I took a trip to her and Harold's cabin deep in the Tobiatic.
We drove over logging backroads roads..more rock than road
then walked a woodland trail
then came to Sixth Lake where we canoed


across to get to their lovely remote cabin.


first things first...We took tannin water from the lake
and got some fabric soaking.


Next we went exploring the forest floor
for leaves and flowers


such as Cornus Canadensis or Bunchberries


Monotropa Uniflora or Indian Pipe


Coptis or Golden Thread
named for the threads of gold yellow roots
that lead from one plant to another.
And we found so many more.


That evening we canoed to the marshy end of the lake
and watched three rare night hawks
and some not so rare (in these parts) beaver at play.


 The lake was like a mirror
and covered in pollen
which of course is making it a fun year of allergies for moi!


In the morning we woke to a beautiful stream of mist
travelling along the lake.


Despite the temptation of taking another canoe trip
we got straight to work


wrapping bundles
steaming some
and dyeing others.

A great two days of discovery.

Tuesday 5 July 2016

Mighty Rock


Those of you who have seen this before
know it is a mighty big piece.


I have been working in the shadowy
Leeward side of the rock
and now that section is done.


The leeward side where I imagine
moss and lichen take root.


Today I hung it on the design wall
and stood back to take it all in.
I needed to square it up and
decide how to stitch the background that surrounds the rock.

Funny... I suddenly realized that my mighty rock is in fact
balancing on another rock.
An area that, when I started, I took to be water.
Me thinks it is telling me it has to be another rock
giving my mighty rock something to stand on.


The discharged dots that divide this piece into sunshine and shadow
represent the pebbles that are everywhere in this part of the world.

Back to work on bringing to life the new rock.