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.

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!

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!

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.

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

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.

 

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!

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

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

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!