Getting Back Into The Rhythm

It takes longer nowadays

to get back into the rhythm of daily life

Driving up the valley to a Doctor's appointment

then an evening treat...

...the art critique group

 with a talented group of artists.

Some days just slip in between others.

Those of you who have seen the movie

might recognize this Lunch Box!

I have been stitching broken and whole circles elsewhere.

I do enjoy couching

sometimes in lines

sometimes in spirals both tight and loose.

Paper from my sketchbook for Mark and Donna's

first wedding anniversary.

High tide walk

Watching him waiting for the tide to turn

Breathing in the quiet.

Around the Lake

Roads in Ontario are straight as an arrow

going on and on for ever towards the horizon.

This was where we parked to walk a little bit of the Bruce Trail.

Grasses edged the lake

Grasses that were even taller than an elephant's eye.

Grasses that stretched and swayed in gentle breezes.

We walked the shoreline at sunset

watching seagulls fly overhead one after the other

flying from the mainland to their roost on a tiny island.

They streamed by one by one

going home after a day of scavenging.

I didn't know seagulls did that.

Walking an Ontario River

There is something about the sound

of water dancing along on it's way to somewhere.

There is something about a tree leaning out from a pebbly riverbank.

The ravages of Winter had uprooted some trees

but even fallen trees

were coming into leaf one last time.

I know someone who has a passion for fishing

I also know someone who has a passion for golf.

Don't understand either of them!

Well camouflaged babies stayed close to Mom and Dad

nearly blending in with a tiny island of pebbles.

White Encounters

Feathered white

White fingers reaching out.

Is this from the honeysuckle family?

Woodland carpet

of Ontario Trilliums

White lacyness

flowing atop the river.

Really quite beautiful when you ignore what it is!

White edges breaking up

flowing lines of stitch perhaps.

A Family Week Scratched

Time with my youngsters

so important to me.

Friday... I am with the parents to be.

Saturday... a day of celebration

when another young couple came round

to announce they too were pregnant.

Mark and I bought tomato plants at the market.

Monday was foam insulation day in the kitchen reno.

Tuesday... Mark and Donna and moi went to

hypnobirthing class

where I was honoured to be used as a model!

Mark fished...

we walked woods blanketed in trillium alongside the river.

The winter damage was amazing

Whole trees had fallen

forming dams across the river.

Forced to find a new route

the river was eating into it's banks. 

A heart of threads is meant to show the busy everyday

lives the young lead when

earning their living as artists

and renovating a kitchen in an old, old house

practically all by themselves.

Thank goodness for big brother Brett

who came up from Toronto to help with drywalling.

Sometimes of an evening we played Boggle

a family favourite despite the fact

that Mark always wins!

Then

all too soon

it was time to wing my way home.

Scratched Travels First Week

Travelling and teaching

Before I left

I spied the osprey nesting on the causeway

and often saw

an eagle flying close by

I arrived in Ottawa

where the lovely Doreen and Marie picked me up

and showed me Ottawa's beautiful tulip gardens.

We drove through Smiths Falls

where we could not resist a stop for silk threads and tops.

That evening my slide show and talk

was done from my ipad for the very first time

...only one or two glitches!

Then Bethany, and Peta and I had dinner.

Oh, I forgot to stitch the incident of the suitcase that wouldn't open

.....Thank you Linda for saving the day!

So much activity in the next few days

Two days of sharing my approach to design.

My hosts were the adorable puppy Liesl,

handsome ginger cat Rupert and shy Small Cat.

There were of course humans in the house too!

Thank you so much for your hospitality Peta and Gauvin.

I so enjoyed my time with you.
Every morning cormorants streamed past as they left
their roost for feeding spots among the islands.
There was a trip with Bethany to see up close the wind turbines of Wolf Island.
Then a special day's outing with Hilary and Patrick to the Thousand Islands.

 I have to mention the delicious morel mushrooms

that Gauvin prepared on my last evening there.

Bur before I left some of us spent two days

making beautiful discharged marks on fabric.

It was such a fun week with inspiring people.

Bethany who runs Fibreworks is simply the best.

She is an organizer extraordinaire

and a great supporter of all textile arts.

Before Bethany could get rid of me

she generously drove me and Hilary

to Peterborough

where we saw Dorothy Caldwell's show

'Silent Ice/Deep Patience'

Such a thrill for me

Everyone should go!

So many treasures fitted into a week.

Travelling

I am leaving this valley

where the heron are settling in

just for a couple of weeks.

First to Fibreworks

for a week with wonderful quilters

then to Mark and Donna

for a precious week with family.

See you in June.