Feathered Youngsters

Young noisy blue jays are everywhere

and as usual we have one bald youngster.

Not to worry, his feathers will come soon.

A speckled young robin learning to hunt for worms.

The speckles will grow out and his breast will turn orange.

Actually he looks a bit bald too.

The cardinals bring their youngsters to the feeder every day.

These youngsters have the most changing to do.

They have to fill up with red and orange.

even their beaks turn a brilliant yellow orange.

Been drawing blue jay feathers for Jude.

Soon to be in the mail.

Walking Repetitive Paths

Woodland paths

a joy to walk

and touch moss covered rock and tree.

The rusty pups scout ahead

but turn to check that

I'm still following.

Wonderful woodland paths.

Paths formed from of repeated step upon step.


Repetition plays an important role in the life of a stitcher.
Threading and re-threading a needle.
Stitching row upon row of stitch.
One stitch leads to another.
Just like one thought leads to another.
And so a whole body of work can but be a repetition of the same story.


Repetition does not mean to continually walk the same path.
New paths can be trod through repetition.

Funny how things fall into place.

This Henry David Thoreau quote flew into my laptop and seems so appropriate.

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives." 

Shoe Tree

Ever seen a shoe tree?

Carving animal totems into dead trees is something you will see in these parts.

I can understand that.

But I used to pass this on the road to Haliburton back in Ontario.

Strange.

why?

I don't see any self respecting critter moving in.

Poooooeeee!

Stitching Samples

Back in the day one of my favourite things to do

was stitch samples.

We were told to explore

thick and thin...

matt and shiny....

and a few other things long forgotten!

I lived surrounded by quilters.

Not an embroidery thread to be found!

I can see I managed to get a hold of some of mother's tapestry wool...

she made many a kneeler for the village church

back home in England where embroidery abounded

and not much quilting was seen.

The Tree

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way.  Some see nature all ridicule and deformity, and by these I shall not regulate my proportions; and some scarce see nature at all.  But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.  As a man is, so he sees.  As the eye is formed, such are it's powers.  You certainly mistake, when you say that the visions of fancy are not to be found in this world.  To me this world is all one continued vision of fancy or imagination."

Written by William Blake to the Reverend Dr. Trusler who had commissioned a drawing.

The Reverend took an instant dislike to the finished drawing and wrote

"Your fancy seems to be in the other world, 

or the world of spirits, which accords not with my intentions".

The words of William Blake just say it all don't they.

I found this tale in a book I turn to for inspiration.

"Cathedrals of the Spirit" by T.C. McLuhan.

Those words have filled me with resolve to finish my oak.

.....I've been procrastinating.

And perhaps I'll call it

"The land of the Mighty Oak".

I proceed with new resolve to trust my eye and my imagination.

Thinking Cool

Cool shirt found at Frenchy's all ready to rip apart and stitch on.

This must be how pelicans cool down.

 Actually we met him in Florida one Christmas.

so he was probably trying to warm up.

And so were we

This haughty looking seagull keeps cool in my studio

alongside feathers from the real thing.

A tree in the highlands of Scotland

kept cooler than cool by father wind.

What's cool about this small piece of the gardens of Montacute house?

To me it is the contrast.

Contrast between a perfectly trimmed giant hedge

and the untamed raggedness of a mighty tree. 

The rusty pups are outside barking at 

a thunderstorm cell stalled above us

trying to cool things down.

Actually we're not that hot here

but boy is it hot elsewhere.

Crow's Home

Crow's home is developing.

Sometimes the stitches seem like feathers

and other times like bird footprints.

I like that.

I've been avoiding the area where the shadow or spirit of Crow appeared.

It always takes time. 

Time to think of why he's there and what part if any he should play.

Time to think of how to develop him.

I'm thinking he is the spirit of crows who went before.

Crows who know the dangers of standing beneath a chestnut tree!

I want him to come and go among the surrounding stitches....not too obvious.

Not sure how to do that yet, but this is what he looks like now.

I'm tempted to give him a blue dot for an eye...don't know why!

As I ponder...

...lots of stitching is scratching it's way across the background.

Just because I love backs.

Replacing threads can be a problem when the nearest store is miles away.

So, when it was too hot to stitch.....

to my surprise I organized myself....

by making a colour reference guide.

Now I can order over the phone or on-line with confidence.

Of course I've since discovered that DMC have an on-line colour chart!

But at least I know my colours are true.