Dealing with Mother Nature

Three ladders required

Two to hold up a fallen tree leaning on wires

One for a crazy Handy Hubby to be an arborist

Phew….Finally sawed through after two afternoons of work

The top of the tree is stuck in the branches of its neighbour now!

But with the skill of an engineer’s brain

It is down

And the telephone still works!

No more climbing in ladders…please!

Way too old for this kind of caper.

Don’t try this at home!

Colours in the Garden

 

Our one rame flowerbed 

 So colourful this year full

Full of joy

I love it

Though I'm no gardener

I am trying!

Red the colour of our Root Chakra at the base of our spine

Keeps us grounded and connected to the universe

Deepening our sense of belonging and trust

Reds that dance in Summery breezes

For red is the colour that energizes us

Calls us into action

Romantic, passionate reds

Sexy and attention getting

A wee bit of quiet greyness

The perfect understated neutral

The colour of intellect and knowledge

And the colour of wisdom acquired through age

as us grey haired ancients!

Respect your elders kids!

Yellow sunshine

The colour of the Solar Plexus Chakra

located in our abdomen

provider of vitality and personal strength

 Happy Yellow brings warmth and positivity

enthusiasm

enlightenment

Lavender is prolific this year

Purple the colour of our Crown Chakra

Connecting us to the universal consciousness

Deepening our spiritual understanding

But back to intoxicating, alluring red!

And luscious browns are simmering in the garden too of course!

Associated with all things natural and organic

Wholesome

Comfortable

Earthy

Reliable

Approachable

Hearth and home

Life giving soil

Wishing you a day full of colour

Tending Winter's Garden

Summer's Dance

I thought that using brighter colours
would help me through the winter months that I find so difficult
and, boy oh boy, last summer was glorious.
I wanted to record and celebrate that too
and forget the winter winds outside.

But then I read Rainer Maria Rilke's thoughts on winter

A time to care for one's inner garden

A time to mend

A time of growth for mind and spirit. 

A time of looking deeply inwards 

Learning

Healing

Reflecting

For so many Winters

I have said I should do a winter piece.

When the word 'should' comes out of my mouth

I now recognize it's never gonna happen!

Acceptance

 

So in this deep mid-winter stitching of the joyful dance of summer's dahlias

I hope I am learning to accept winter's edge

as a quietness

a retreat into deepening knowledge.

Now that this piece is finished

it fills me with joy and rich memories.

Winter's edge was harsh this year

So much so that the Rusty Pups could sniff the upturned top

of quite a few sixty foot spruce

At the other end I found inspiration in it's, oh so shallow, root ball.

There were many days when it was best to stay inside!

Even the RP's thought so.

In May the dahlia corms will go back into the ground

In August their blooms will be dancing and bobbing in summer breezes.

Getting Back into the Rhythm of Stitch

What a glorious Summer we had here in Nova Scotia

A Summer to remember

Everything grew and grew and grew

Wild apple trees drooped under the weight of apples the size of grapefruits.

Rusty Pups discovered they were delicious!

Bright, bold Dahlias grew as big as dinner plates 

Dancing through my flowerbed

They took my breath away

And were still going strong until Jack Frost put them to rest. this week.

Wanting to remember and celebrate this Summer

For me that is through stitch.

It will be a piece of joyful memories

Giant balls of colour and stitch.....

.... will dance across my piece with companions of every size.

And of course they will come to rest on the soil

which they will enrich in preparation for next years Summer.

The cycle of life.

I am content

I am joyful

I am dancing along with the dahlias in memory of this Summer past

and settling down to new stitchings with anticipation.

It is what I do.

When the Rusty Pups come and plonk themselves in front of me as I stitch....

,,,,and even shove their noses into my cloth as I stitch....

....informing me they feel neglected

So we stop for a cuddle

Or a walk

Or a meal.

They are very patient but there comes a time when they feel the need to interject!

I hope your companions of every kind allow you the time to create today!

Summer....My Favourite Time of Year

It's been a glorious Summer

A time to dye

with Madder and Cutch and Myrobalan

A time for the garden to grow out of control

Full of abundant dye material

A time for my wild child to explore the dried out stream

But not too far my dear

There is a black bear cub and his Mom around!

We have managed to maintain our new civilized flowerbed

and the dahlias are still incredible.... 

....and so huge!

Even the Rusty Pups have enjoyed the abundance of flowers

and....

....basking in the Sun has been pure joy!

For those of you whose Summer is coming to an end

I hope it was glorious for you too.

There are some whose Summer is just beginning

and I envy you.

Summer....my favourite time of year.

The Edges of Things

 

The snowdrops hug the warm edges of the house.

They worried me when they broke ground way back in December

It seems they still survived.

The Rusty Pups don't think of edges

just sizes.....

Their sticks are getting bigger!

There are melted edges of ice on the stream today.

I am on the edge of finishing these two.

'Walking with Dogs'

Each one 53"h x 12"w

Frayed edges.

Rusty Edges 

Rocky edges.

Leafy edges and rocky edges

We see the Sun and the Moon

We walk at the break of dawn.

The Sun in our faces

The Moon at our backs.

 I am on the edge of starting a new piece.

Leaning towards a yellow piece this time.

Hoping perhaps for more sunshine

It seems we could be on the edge of defeating this Covid invasion.

Let us hope so.

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!

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.