Winter’s Finally Here

 Winter arrived over the weekend

Beautiful thick sticky snow

Just in time for my birthday!

It will be quiet here because

 one Rust Pup has been hobbling for a few days.

She has torn a ligament on one of her rear legs

So today we take her to the vet

She will be operated on in the morning

Fingers crossed.

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.

Living in an Ice Covered World

At break of day the sky was heavy with dark, dark clouds

Except for a brave sun trying to rise above the South Mountain.

Our world has been completely icebound for two days

Branches drooping with the weight.

Everything encased

Everything bending over from the weight

Broken branches scattered on the ground

Rusty Pups were able to walk on deep ice covered snow

Not me

but I tried

and after a second each step would suddenly break the surface

and I was up to my calves in snow.

Thank goodness the driveway took my weight

and so we walked back and forth

for half an hour

then gave up

frozen fingers and toes!

Relieved to get back in the warmth

prepare breakfast 

and....

....get down to a day's stitching on a new smaller peony piece.

Bringing colour back into a cold icy weekend.

I hope you too are all warm and safe inside.

A stormy weekend of power cuts

is no fun at all.

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.

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.

Marking Virgin Snow

It might not look like it but the RP's and I are the first ones here!

It has always astonished me how much one car, one human

and two Rusty Pups can disturb the ground they move upon.

One of the joys of early morning walks on virgin snow

is the visual proof of who has been there before me.

The Rusty Pups know all year long

with their noses to the ground.

rabbits live here

squirrels live here

A tiny jumper of some sort?

Bobcats live here

Mice headed for shelter before we got here.

If one takes too long to get a shot of new footprints

Rusty Pups come rushing over to help

and of course destroy any chance of a photo!

Wherever one goes....

 ....the other is bound to follow.

And finally remembering

the Beaver footprints from last year.

Huge aren't they!

Knowing that these creatures share this land with us

fills my soul with joy.

I hope you have a joy filled day.