Inspiration for Some New Beginnings Perhaps

I am finding the landscape the Beavers have left behind fascinating

Sometimes the Rusty Pups and I

visit the old Beaver territory on our morning walks

Because they are no longer here to maintain their dams

the water had receded

Revealing chewed off stubs of trees and bushes

Jutting up and out at every angle

I love the randomness

Back at home this Groundhog boldly

walked across the front of the house

right under excited Rusty Pups watching his every move 

from the safety of the kitchen window.

Apologies for the photo

it took me ages to find the camera and so got his backside!

Exhausted mighty beaver hunters

and groundhog observers!

New beginnings don't happen suddenly for me

I have to absorb and ponder

and understand 

before I can decide what story I want to stitch

but there is a point, as Meister Eckhart says,

when I do dive in and trust the magic

of new beginnings.

And suddenly you know:

it's time to start something new

and trust the magic 

of new beginnings

Meister Eckhart

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.

One Thing Leads to Another

When stitching on this piece nowadays

What comes to mind is

Every Stone is an Island unto Itself

I also thought shoreline rocks would "swoosh" between them.

Spent a few days stitching swooshes.

Decided this weekend to undo all those swooshes

Spent two days so far unswooshing

Just going with the flow!

Thinking of adding hints of islands....

....on the distant horizon.

 Just going with the flow.

With on piece coming to it's completion

Need to firm up plans on what to start next

Playing around with colours.

Just going with the flow

I learnt something this winter

In past winters I assumed snow tunnels we discovered

were made by mice.

But no

It is the squirrels.

We watch this little bird food devil

slide down his tree

straight into a tunnel at it's base

and pop out of one of three

tunnel entrances at the base of the bird feeder!

Cheeky

Happy Birthday Mark!

I hope one thing leads to another in your studio today.

And as Peter London says

in "No More Secondhand Art"

"... begin the initial phase with the open-ended statement 

Let's see what happens"

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!

Around the Beaver Pond

When the cold came

Little islands of ice

started forming on the beaver pond.

Beaver sticks jutting up from the pond

the ice islands

and then the reflections in the water.

There is stitching inspiration here.

On my walk that morning I noticed

a new beaver highway.

It drops down into wateriness

and they obviously just slid down it.

A toboggan run!

 Above the toboggan run

was a mass of beaver footprints

They had been busy the night before.

And, yes, then I noticed all the chewed up alder

beside the path I was walking.

They did all that in one night.

They really have earned that expression

"as busy as a beaver'.

Out in the open on the driveway

rabbits hopped along beside a line of beaver prints.

Another beaver path going down to a burrow

that goes into the beaver pond.

You can see how worn it is.

Beaver footprints next to mine.

Big aren't they!

 A piece I called Beaver Moon.

 I am having so many beaver experiences this year

I think I should stitch a beaver series.

And just a few dots I am enjoying stitching at the moment.

I really need quiet for stitching.

Alone time.

Lately I have been busy like a beaver.

Hanging shows and going to openings.

Times like that I can't settle into stitch.

Too much left brain activity going on!

May you find time to quietly stitch today.

Mornings in July

Streamers of fog move up and down the dike

Our little fox friend waits at a safe distance as usual.

One morning a field became striped....

....and the next day it had turned to dots in the mist.

We spied a couple of crows scavenging

on the edge between dike and water.