". Arranged Words: seeds
Showing posts with label seeds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seeds. Show all posts

28 Jan 2020

A Trek

Jan 28/20


Because of  freezing rain, I haven't been out to the woods for about a month. And I‘ve been wondering about the birds.
At the entrance to the marsh, I called out and the chickadees and nuthatches quickly flew to the feeding area. They remembered me, and, my, they were very hungry. 



A beautiful, moody afternoon sky.

Recently, I was looking through my photos of the Yukon Territory. For a few years, we lived in the Yukon in a house nestled down near a lake, where I could hear, as I lay in my bed, the plaintive call of the loons. We drove there from Calgary, Alberta along the, then, unpaved Alaska Highway.  Later we motored up the Dempster highway that begins south of Dawson City, Yk. to Inuvik, NWT. 
 Not a garage, at that time, for miles on that unpaved, potential tire-shredding shale road, so we carried full cans of gas and extra tires on the roof. With only the vast remote wilderness for company, and the trepidation welling up within because the road sometimes does double duty as a landing strip,  we slowly motored on, in intermittent fog, for hours, with thunderheads of dust rolling up behind us, without passing a car or seeing a single living thing.  (From Dawson City to Inuvik it’s a two day journey: 478.5 miles/ 742km.)  Eventually, dust bitten and weary we stopped at the halfway point in an oasis named Eagle Plains / Rat Pass. Given its remoteness, we had reservations about the place, but it turned out to be a clean and hospitable place to spend the night.
While driving the Dempster Highway you see the rugged Ogilvie and Richardson mountain ranges and, of course, the tundra where ghostly cloud shadows, driven by the wind, mysteriously track over the land. Gorgeous at any time of year, but in the fall it is absolutely breath taking. 
The pastel painting below was inspired by those photos. 


A few years later, still eager for adventure, we drove from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk along the ice road on Mackenzie River and the Arctic Ocean.  (That may be a story for another day.) I do, however, feel fortunate to have made that trip, because the ice road has recently been replace by a highway.

Happy trails. 'Til next time...

Cultivate Your Dreams 


I am linking to: 
World Tuesday
Friday Bliss


20 Mar 2018

Planning Ahead


Dazzling sunshine streams through the windows and on the table potted daffodils help to ring in the first day of spring. The sun, the sun has returned. What a blessing! It has a bit of that wonderful radiating fierceness to it too, even though today is crisp and cold. But we have stepped over winter into spring and there's no turning back.

Out in the woods, they are busy at the sugar camp where the maple syrup flows. It's time for a hearty breakfast. (I am thinking tomorrow morning.) I have visions of eggs and pancakes dancing through my head.  Although I rarely have maple syrup, it does have a myriad of health benefits.  I recently read that they are thinking of using it to enhance the potency of antibiotics.




My seed order arrived, so I am making plans for my containers. These seeds are from the amazing floret flower farm. I am expecting great things, especially since I read that the sweet peas will grow from 6 to 8 feet. Wow! They require full sun which I don't have, but I do have morning sun and hopefully that will be enough to spark the process. If not, well I know a few people that might be persuaded to plant a few seeds in their garden. After all, who could resist?
Love-In-A Mist looks like another wonder, along with Icelandic and Shirley poppies and malope.

Currently reading floret's wonderful book. I'd love to take the gardening course, but then I would need at least an acre of land to cultivate that dream.

The pottery: a flea market find from the weekend.
                                                Along with these salt dishes or, salt cellars.
                                              As you can see, I've been working with paperclay again. I've made a few small dishes and these will be needle minders.

    I love to draw on small cards. I may get a few of these printed. I am slowly planning my order.



'Til next time... Enjoy your early spring or fall weekend. . .  
 
                                                                        Cultivate your Dreams.
                        

6 Mar 2018

Spring Forward

With March's arrival, we the Hyperboreans, or northern folk can officially begin to think about spring.  Just knowing it is on the way makes all the difference. But even though, in these parts, spring takes its time, longer days do lighten the mood. (You notice happier people where ever you go.)

For the people on the eastern seaboard, March roared in like a lion. Unfortunately, that roar was a nor'easter with fierce wind gusts that brought power outages and storm surges. Here, further inland, March skipped in like a playful lamb, and a light wind, seemingly from all directions at once, whirled the snowflakes about. However, the old adage usually holds true:  If March comes in like a lamb it will go out like a lion and vice versa.

More beautiful downy flakes and, surprisingly, each one is uniquely different.

Huddled down in my creativity corner, my snowdrop fascination turned into another watercolour painting, and, then, I moved on to carving stamps and other things.

Paper ~  Flip side of Molin du Roy 140 lb paper.
                                                         Blue tulips, of course.




                                 Sketchbook doodles. Stillman and Birn sketchbook ~ Zeta series.

Watercolour ink blot test. Care to tell us what you see?


Splashes of colour from a $3.00 set of washable watercolour paints. ( An impulse buy just for the fun of it.) Rather waxy, but the paint does not run together, thus no muddy colours.  Brilliant!
Great for kids.

The Ocean.

For this painting on a birch panel, I used Tri Art's liquid glass and acrylic paints. It dries with a shiny hard finish--no need for spray varnish.

I did cast on a hat with Brooklyn tweed yarn. Click here to see the pattern. I am not sure how well the pattern will show up in this colour--time will tell. I do dream of knitting lace though, so I may put the hat away until fall.


                                               A gift that will stay in bloom for weeks to come.
                                                                       I love this colour.
         
                         
                                                  And greenery...Ferns are my favourite.  

When I was a child, I often tiptoed away to the head of the woods to stare at the lush green ferns. For me, they were then and still are a feast for the spirit.

Speaking of greenery, mail order seed packets are on the way. I am determined to have a bevy of blooming sweet peas this summer.  Wish me luck!

 And the good news: this weekend we move the clocks ahead by an hour.
 
Thank you for reading along...  

                                             Cultivate your dreams, girlfriends. 
                                                  They really do come true!

                                                 







23 Jan 2018

Taking Time


Hello again,

On Saturdays or Sundays, I take time out.  I call it a spa day for the spirit. If you have read The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron she calls the time out an "artist date."  I think a lot of people do, now and then, take time out for beauty and renewal. And after reading the book, you understand how important that time is and how it works to heighten creativity.

Sometimes, I take the time to look at beautiful blogs, but if I am not careful I can get lost there. But even if I do stay longer, I always come away feeling better. Here are two of favourite picture blogs:  Ana-rosa  (for A.R. click on the archive) and The Little Hermitage. 

Depending on the season, I find other things to do such as walking or driving along the river, visiting gardens/greenhouses, bird watching, a walk in the woods, museums, etc., or I might flip through beautiful books. In January when the longing for spring strikes, (way too early I might add) I turn to gardening books.

So last Saturday I made a pot of tea and settled down to admire books that I borrowed from the library as well as a few well-loved ones from my own stash.

O blue! No need to say more.


As you can see, in a simple way, I've been playing with the Apple Pencil. The surface on the iPad is very slick--a whole different medium.
I like the Procreate app; there you can paint/draw/write (Calligraphy) with all mediums and textures.  Also good, Adobe Sketch, Brushes, and there are many, many more. 

It amazes me what some people create with these apps and how quick they learn.

Moving on to Monarch butterfly beginnings, with black, yellow, and orange watercolours.


Finished the Calla lilies and a few flowery doodles.
After another hour or so spent painting and drawing, (with temperatures on the plus side--definitely in my favour), I decided to take my time out seriously and go visit the birds. I've been missing them.


~ Last summer, I met an elderly lady in line at the hardware store. Cupping a small bag of seeds in her hand, she proudly pointed out that the seeds were for two sparrows who visit her every evening. "They know me," she said. :)
Mr. Dee Dee Dee. Dressed to the nines in his tuxedo. (Pic from the archives.)

(A bit of data. This little Chickadee and his mate have the capacity to remember hundreds of places where they have stashed seeds to get them through the winter. Next season they can erase those memories to make room for new ones. (No, the birdies are not bird brains.) For details, visit birdnote.org - Old and New Memories of Black-capped Chickadees Fernando Nottebohm. ) Remarkable I say!  

(Apparently if it gets too warm in winter, their stashed seeds will rot, so if you are out in the woods, please carry a few seeds with you.)
An older sketch. 2015, I think, with fall leaves and Milkweed seed casings.
I only saw this hungry sparrow and a few chickadees on Saturday, but I was pleased to see them.     Birds always make me smile.








11 Oct 2016

Water Lilies ~ Time Slip

October 11, 2016
Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day in Canada. So if you are in Canada, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

My the seasons have moved fast this year. So fast that I feel like I'm in a time slip.  Spring, although late, (it always seems late ;) and summer...so lovely.  And now slipping through the cracks: autumn: a blast of gorgeousness and refined beauty. What luck, this year, to have such wonderful seasons.
Clearly, I haven't mention winter. It, of course, it's not without beauty, but since I lived in the Arctic for many years, with winter arriving in October and leaving the end of June, or later, I do so appreciate spring, summer, and fall. And I wish, each year, that they could linger just a little longer.

White Water Lily

If I could capture the reflected light, I'd love to paint these lilies. Oil paints would work, but I  don't own any oils, nor do I know much about them. ( Monet comes to mind. He could make a painting sing.)

 Yellow pond lilies.
What a wonderful pattern on the water and O that reflected light.

Going to seed in a beautiful way...



It's always a treat to see something you haven't seen before. What an unusual colour.
Friends:
Red squirrel.
A cooperative leopard frog.

Collage:

Would a smaller pumpkin work? Perhaps I just need a larger doily.

On the Needles:

The Flora Cowl with about 29 inches/73.66 cm to go.
. . .
I'm off to enjoy a cup of Matcha.

'Til next time...do have a lovely week!