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.

Walking Muskoka Woodlands

Walking Muskoka woodlands 

Rustling layer upon layer of Maple leaves

The grand girls filled the woods with giggles and brightness

Fallen trees criss-crossed the ground

Nature at work

I wasn't the only photographer

and

 I wished I had bright yellow boots too!

Lakes are strewn all over this land of trees

Rocks too

Magnificent rock walls can stop you in your tracks

One thing for sure you won't find either one of these

in Muskoka!

But you might come across a few of these

And you will for sure come across folk with a sense of humour!

Water is never far away

And big sticks abound for small dogs to test their strength with!

Learning to fish is a serious business in this family!

Ashley actually caught a fish
and used the occasion to practice her big fish tale technique!

Brett and Amber have chosen a beautiful environment to call home.
Thank you both.

On the Shores of Georgian Bay

The shores of Georgian Bay were crowded....

....Geese were everywhere.

Swans, geese, mallards and seagulls

floated and soared....

Brett and Amber and I had a lovely afternoon walk

people watching and bird watching.

Scratching Under Water

November ended with a flood

but first I had to go back and add stitches.

Last week's moon just looked naked

lost in a sea of flat muslin

In my humble opinion

you can never have too many stitches.

The cloth comes to life

valleys and hills 

shadow and light

send the eye on an exploratory journey

around the image.

Then there are the regular 

neat

lines of samples from years gone by.

You don't see blue in my work very often

but

the rains came

the most rain we have ever seen.

One stream broke it's banks

If you look carefully you can see

it swooshing through the woods

and flowing into the vegetable garden.

Trouble is it didn't stop there.

It worked it's way into the basement

which, by the way, is fine again

but was very wet for a couple of days.

We thought our little bridge would get swept away

but it stood strong.

I wonder how the beavers did further down stream.

Living in a Country of Lakes

Wherever I have lived in Canada

there have been lakes

reflecting bold and beautiful skies

Tannin colours the waters here in Nova Scotia

drifts of pine needles line up along waters edge

and huge rocks sunbathe in family groupings.  

Islands crammed with trees inhabit lakes

and leaves sink beneath the waters looking like copper pennies in a city fountain.

Rockbound Stream Above a week of Scratchings

The babbling brook wends it way past

many a rock

sometimes passing by slowly and calmly

Some boulders case it to speed up and rush on by

Sometimes whole gatherings of rocks

force it to squeeze through nooks and crannies

Bursting from those crowded tight space

it rushes wildly into the open face of this

handsome fellow

who has been kept warm all winter long with a blanket of green and silvery grey.

scratchings tell the tale of a week that couldn't make up its mind

raining cats and dogs one day

blanketing us in snow the next

then another day of rain

A green strip for the Irish

Then silver bellied fish for a Pisces birthday.

Watery Influences

Painted page

marked with stitch lines

just wondering what it would look like.

The end result brings to mind the marshland down by the dykes.

Funny how unintentionally my surroundings influence just about everything.

Down at the stream yesterday

it looked like the ice was melting

but it was so cold

perhaps it was freezing over again!

The Freeze is Settling in

Stitching on the Rusty Gate continued yesterday

and as the textures grew...

...beachy textures came to mind.

The lakes are forming icy skins

and yesterday it snowed.

Think our heron has finally flown South

but one day his presence around the pond will be

stitched into cloth.

Perhaps I'll record the day we found him way atop

the dead spruce tree

checking to see if rusty pups were around.