Tuesday 1 December 2020

Walking with Rusty Pups

After the rain or perhaps a morning fog



The colours become richer
The browns browner
the reds redder


I do love those browns
See two Rusty Pups?

Fast approaching

Galloping along


and here they are!

They do some pretty weird things
Like to carrying rocks
Whoever picks one up first carries it
Her sister doesn't try and grab it....not ever
but
as soon as it is dropped because something more interesting turns up
the other one will take her turn and carry it for a while.


 Wonder where they got their love of rocks from!
Well, they have always seen rocks disappear into my pockets.

I hope you find a beautiful rock today.

Sunday 29 November 2020

Time Passages

RP's Brandy and Ginger One Year Ago.... 


....and Today
Can you tell they have swapped sides!
and looking very serious too!

Mark the father 30+ years ago....


....and his daughter today
I suppose we all want to pass our passions down
to the next generation!
Can't say that fishing was ever a passion of mine
Handy Hubby and the boys
were always way more successful!

I hope your next generation is passionate about your loves!

Thursday 5 November 2020

Tree lines Moving into the Backwoods Piece


 Been photographing tree lines


Hoping they will help with the Backwoods piece
currently in progress


Work has begun on the woods
No rocks in sight yet!


Tree lines are starting to appear
Stretching high above the shoreline log clutter
They will be paler
I am following the changing season
Cooler weather is here
The sun, she is moving southward
Time for the woods to sleep their Winter sleep


This is what I call the shoreline log clutter!


The backside


Never the wrong side
Usually the best side.

Perhaps we should all show the world our best side today!

Friday 30 October 2020

Morning Walks as Winter Approaches

 


Rusty Pup Ginger
Ginger has turned out to be the mischievous one
Hole digger
Hunter
Excitable
Constant tail wagger
Loud barker
Overwhelming greeter of visitors


Our morning walks are getting colder and colder
I don't like winters
The Rusty Pups love them of course.


Rusty Pup Brandy has turned out to be the quieter one
Though she will follow her sister into any mischief
She just loves being with you
and often stays inside lying at my feet
instead of joining her sister hunting or digging outside


Mushrooms and fungi are a mystery to me
I have friends who hunt them down
who study them
who know which ones are edible or poisonous
I just think they are beautiful.


Some look like they have been baked
like an angel cake!


Others dance with Fall leaves


Some are iconic


Others can be mistaken for the strangest things
This one made me think of air raid wardens helmets
from WI or II comedies
"Dad's Army" anyone?

That is how my mind wanders as we walk the woods!

I hope your walk is a meditation today.




Tuesday 27 October 2020

Not so Blue About Blue Anymore


Had to go buy blue threads


Now I can continue working on my first all blue piece!
I have a problem
Don't like the two rectangles slap bang in the middle there
Need to decide how to eliminate them
That might take some time!

What I do love is the texture created by my couched stones.
There will be more stones
Surprise!


A crowd of stones
in a time of isolation


 Every isolated individual
forming a community.

Where will this piece lead me I wonder
There are several new blue ideas in my head

Hope your day is full of blue skies

Sunday 25 October 2020

Messy Beginnings


Beginnings for me are always a messy business
Boxes are rummaged through
for every potential colour and texture
and there are soooo many!


Fabrics and threads end up piled onto every flat surface
After all any change in colour or texture
affects the whole story.
I am not too precious about my fabrics
Always prepared to cut into them
well....that's a bit of a lie
There are some precious ones!


Friends interrupted my beautiful mess
They came around for a day of discharging
Had to tidy up as best I could
Piled everything on the floor beneath the design wall
'Creativity is not a pretty sight"


When I make a decision to get started
As you can see my starts are usually nothing
like my initial play on the design wall!
Just stitch and the story will start unfolding
But I have to go through that messy initial auditioning.
It's simply how it works for me.


I started by stitching messy shrubs along the water's edge
Didn't like that
Too literal
So then covered the shrubbery in a mass of tree debris.


This is a piece about the Canada that I love
The tangled backwoods
interrupted by hundreds of thousands of lakes and rocks.
Rocks
Lakes
Trees
Where wildlife can flourish if we don't mess things up.


 

Wednesday 7 October 2020

Thank You Josie


I'm no gardener
For years my huge flowerbed overwhelmed me
and so it became a jungle of grass and weeds.
Josie came one day to examine a lilac that wouldn't bloom
and to my amazement offered to come and help dig up my flowerbed
She simply loves all aspects of gardening!
We dug up weeds and roots
and rocks galore
Some rocks have had to stay 
because even Handy Hubby could not budge them.
We dug up plants and cleaned their roots
We sifted the soil
We fed the soil with sheep manure
which thankfully the Rusty Pups were not interested in!
We raked and levelled
After a month..... finally......


....it was time to go shopping!

As Thanksgiving approaches
I am full of gratitude for our friend Josie.
It takes a special friend to come and actually enjoy
helping a non-gardener to tame a jungle!

Thank you also to Joan who was very busy with her own garden
but who helped inspire and shared her plants.


Handy Hubby worked hard too
He replaced all the faded green boards around the front porch.


The flowerbed is kinda protected from wildly interested Rusty Pups!
Rocks are waiting to be placed in the flowerbed.
Mulch will be put down because we all know
I won't enjoy weeding!

What an accomplishment!
Thank you all so very much.

Perhaps now I can stitch again!


Monday 5 October 2020

Early Morning Inspiration


The best start to my days
Early morning walks with Rusty Pups
Always something new to inspire.

On a dewy morning
Spiderwebs billowed in the breeze
throughout the meadow.

Walking with inquisitive pups can be a problem
When one shows an interest in something
Of course the pups want to know all about it
and so
Apologies to any siders who lost their webs.


I reckon some spiders were still working on their skills!


Some were huge and perfectly crafted.


Some were kinda baggy.


Mist was still lingering over the Basin.


 A new day
A new beginning


Monday 14 September 2020

Happy Birthday Steven


 Happy Birthday my beautiful boy
though you would be 48 today
practically middle aged!
No matter what your age you are loved and missed so dearly.
We carry you always in our hearts
and treasured memories.

God bless

Monday 10 August 2020

When Trees Topple



After many months of avoiding it
 the pups and I walked what I used to call the 'Advanced Trail'. 
 After this latest walk I am renaming it the "Ankle Breaker".
We clambered over rock after rock
over moss covered roots
 and through muddy streams.
Every time we turned a corner we discovered a newly uprooted tree
So many trees toppled by wind and rain.


"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, 
but in having new eyes." 
 Marcel Proust

Every morning the Rusty Pups and I walk familiar trails
through meadows and woods
along an ancient railway line only identifiable because of their straightness!
through marshlands
Over streams
and over oh, so many rocks!
Every morning there is something new that shouts out to be noticed.
Through changing seasons and weather systems
there is always something new to discover.
Today it seems what we are called to notice is roots!

Mighty trees still manage to grow on ground that looks like this!
Amazing!

Root systems towered above us.

Lovely Messiness!


I hope you found something new on your walk today
or as Marcel Proust might say
 on your daily voyage of discovery!