A New Year's Wish for You

My favourite New Year wish for you

first posted on January 1, 2014.

May your day be filled with blessings

Like the sun that lights the sky,

And may you always have the courage

To spread your wings and fly!

May your past be a pleasant memory,

Your future filled with delight and mystery,

Your now a glorious moment,

That fills your life with deep contentment.

May your troubles be less

And your blessings be more

And nothing but happiness

Come through your door.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours

May the clarity of light be yours

May the fluency of the ocean be yours

May the protection of the ancestors be yours.

Blessings on you and yours this new year.

Bits and Pieces

 

April is coming to an end and yet still it snows

But loving the dots created by dripping trees as the day warms up

There is proof, however, that nature's critters 

know summer will soon be here.

One critter, Handy Hubby, 

had the foresight to build a shelf in case the robin's returned.

He thought they would prefer to use his shelf

A shelf is surely more comfortable than a hose

which we really need to use in the summer!

Hope you can see his very smart shelf!

For several days just a pile of straw sat on the hose

but several days later

a perfectly formed bowl appeared!

Looks like our Robins will bring us a new family.

I love my old Matriarch tree

She has been shrinking for seventeen years now.

Riddled with woodpecker holes

Not a scrap of bark left to protect her

Yet still she stands.

I really must stitch a piece about her.

My beautiful Rusty Pups and I love our break of dawn walks.

They always have to share treasures with me

 Treasures discovered in the woods....

....even rocks.

Sometimes they just wanna say hello

or show off the holes they have dug.

Our very messy front lawn is even messier nowadays!

I hope your walk inspires you today.

Growing Up Behind the Garage!

She was a great mother

though Handy Hubby reckons

that is the father.

All of a sudden it seemed

all four heads were covered in feathers....

.....One teetered on the edge.....

....and flew into the undergrowth by the stream.

Within four days the nest was empty.

And now we can't tell who is who among all the robins

bobbing about the garden.

In a flash

all grown up.

Makes me wonder how these two munchkins

are getting on.

We had the privilege of having them cross our path

way back in 2016.

Slowly Stitching

Slowly stitching in my island of calm

Weeping for injustices around the world

Praying that solutions will be found

Hoping that governments will prove themselves worthy

It is surely a time when drastic systemic change is needed

It is a time to invest in change

It is a time to invest in people

And talking of change

Our garden Robin decided to place her nest atop our garden hose

and we are very grateful to her for that

because they usually nest high above in spruce trees

but this year for a change we can get to watch her.

Eggs of new beginnings

Eggs full of potential for the future

It is hard not to have a heavy heart but

 Perhaps she placed her eggs in sight to remind me

it is possible to make a brighter world

and we are living through the time of change.

I hope you find some jewels in your day

When Beavers Move In

At dusk one fine evening

we spied three beavers grazing in our garden

(I didn't know they ate grass).

I thought it was parents evicting a three year old

from the network of dams further down our stream on the wetlands.

Evidence that they were finding more delicious

twigs to eat soon appeared on the shoreline.

Horror of horrors

the first big thing they chomped at

was my beautiful magnolia.

It tickled me pink that a bit of branch

had fallen next to a Rusty Pup ball

that had been hidden under snow all winter.

I love my poor magnolia

That very day Handy Hubby set about trying to protect it.

I found three branches from my magnolia in their first dam.

It is amazing

not even a trickle of water was escaping the pond.

We dearly wish we had the right property

to allow them to flood the place.

It would be fascinating to observe them

at such close quarters.

Because they come from an established family down the stream

we would rather discourage them

than have them captured and taken heaven knows where.

So we now have a daily routine of dismantling

whatever they have built overnight.

We have found two dams so far.

They really live up to the reputation of being hard workers.

  

We have counted as many as five in our little pond

since their arrival last week.

Very early one morning

I watched them working away on the dam

and finally two of the biggest ones

walked over the dam and down the stream. 

(Not enough water in the stream to swim down!)

I reckon they must have been the parents

who just come back up to help

redo all the work us terrible humans have destroyed in daylight.

I am taking the opportunity to collect beaver sticks.

More beaver sculptures are appearing every morning.

Geese and mallards and black ducks

visit the pond in pairs during the day whilst beavers sleep.

But when a lone heron arrived at dusk one evening

there was a big hullaballoo of splashing water

It didn't take the beaver one to scare him away.

 The deer aren't bothered

they are so relaxed with no Rusty Pups around

that they now rest among the trees

though keeping a close eye on our activities.

Meanwhile Spring has arrived inside

thanks to some pruning from a kind neighbour.

and needless to say

I have started on a beaver dam stitching.

Crazy Winter, Crazy Golfers

Last week for a brief moment winter took a few steps backwards

and so

Ted, Jean-Louis and Handy Hubby

took their golf clubs out of storage

and rushed to the golf course.

Someone else was at the golf course

and rushed (if porcupines rush! I reckon they don't have to!) to examine

Handy Hubby's golf ball. 

 Porcus Spina!

 Of course winter has come back with a vengeance.

Down at the beaver pond

I just about jumped out of my skin

at the sound of hundreds of birds lifting off from reedy perches.

Boy it was loud!

I hadn't even realized I wasn't alone.

Then I was treated to a lovely murmuring display.

Talking of golf balls....!

I have been turning messes like this....

....into much prettier balls!

Enjoyed the process so much

ended up with a whole basked full of them

all naturally dyed.

I try to remember to add a skein to every dye pot.

I hope you enjoy your threads today!