Not One, Not Two, Not Even Three....

....but 4 herons have arrived at the pond.

Can you spy the fourth?!

He wandered up the stream into the woods.

They seem to like the spot where the stream

enters the pond.

Only one caught a fish as far as we could see.

They must be wishing they stayed in warmer climes a bit longer.

It is so very cold here still.

One morning the Rusty Pups and I stepped outside

to photograph.  I was barefoot and really regretted that decision!

Brrrrr!

Stitching on six of the Stone Pathways is done.

Six more to go.

Stitching dots around dotty rocks!

 My little backstitched dots remind me of a dress I had

as a toddler many, many moons ago.

It was made of that cotton lawn Swiss dot fabric

covered in little raised dots.

Perhaps that dress is the reason I grew into a tactile person!

Don't you have to touch everything?

On-line shopping is difficult for people like me!

Have a tactile day!

In the Absence of Thread

 My thread order has arrived

Must say,  it's been fascinating watching it's progress

through the postal system

as it came northwards from Louisiana.

As I waited I worked on new beginnings.

Stitching together new pathways from scraps left over from

last year's stones.

Surprisingly the brown family of scraps seem to belong

with a few precious pieces of silk that I have been saving

for just the right opportunity.

And the greys seem to go perfectly with a couple of linens.

 One of last year's stones was cut out of a favourite grey silk.

I remember at the time being shocked that I would do such a thing.

Recently I came across the silk amidst the stone scraps

and was shocked once again to see a great big round hole in it!

So decided now is the time to honour it in it's entirety.

 I have been thinking a lot about darning and mending recently.

My initial thought was to just darn the hole

but then....

....I spied a square of ruching that has been looking for just the right home.

It fit perfectly over my stoney hole

and I like it.

Three new pieces to in their infancy.

But for now back to stitching Stone Pathway backgrounds.