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...a glimpse into life on Vancouver Island, needle felting, photography, food, gardening, etcetera...etcetera
"Happiness always looks small when you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and at once you learn how big and precious it is."
Maxim Gorky

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Fakin' it...

Wordless Wednesday featured her head.
I'm not a knitter so the sweater she'll be wearing is a bit of faux knitting.
Needle felted and made in pieces like a 'real' sweater and then needle felted onto the main body...
 ...borrowing designs from Nordic / Icelandic and Shetland knitting...
Soon to be adorned with tiny buttons, to keep the milkmaid warm on chilly mornings...
(to be continued!)


Friday, April 12, 2013

Song for Friday...late

My song for Friday is a bit late today.
Last night a loud crash, the house shook and the power lines bounced up
and down in arcs.
Next thing was that the top of the power pole down the road exploded and I called 911.
Seems that someone was driving too fast or swerved to avoid
a deer and slammed into the pole breaking it in half!
Luckily the pickup truck was a big one and the man, 2 teenage girls
and two dogs were all o.k but they had to sit in
the crashed truck for an hour and a half while
the power company had to come and make sure they got out safely.
Police, ambulance and the whole neighbourhood were out on the road.
Hence our power was out all night, no wifi either, just connecting early this morning.
So my song for Friday is about slowing down a little...
Have a great weekend all!
Take your time...

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Film review...Buck

This is a picture of Buck Brannaman doing what he does best...
Communicating with horses the only way he knows how.
With respect, dignity, understanding and compassion.
A friend of mine who had to go through a very sad time with her horse
lent me this film to watch...
It's a documentary of a man who suffered terrible abuse as a child
but who turned it around to do something profound and meaningful in his life.
Buck learned from the master horse whisperer Monty Roberts who Robert Redford
based the film of the same name on.
Robert Redford also directed this film for Sundance and it was
nominated for an Oscar in 2011.
If you love horses or any animals, this film will blow you away.
Buck shows us the lessons of teaching with love and understanding.
He denounces the idea of 'breaking' a horse to get him to do what you want.
Some people have called it voodoo.
Some people's lives have been saved by it and some people's
hearts have been broken by it.
This is a powerful and intense film not only about
fixing problems with your horse but about
picking up the pieces of a broken life to begin again.
It's about looking at yourself first.
Without a doubt, one of the best films I've ever seen.
(p.s have a few tissues handy!)
Here's the trailer...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IShjmWYuHZ0

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Force of nature...

One year I discovered something beautiful by accident.
Now every year around this time I happily repeat the process.
I love when the dogwood trees begin to bud out and so
I pick a few of the knobby branches and bring them inside...
To my delight I discovered that, like a lot of spring blooms,
 they began to grow in the warmth of the house!
Slowly the petals get bigger...
 ...and the little knobby bits on the centre buds become fuller...
...then the petals begin to turn the classic creamy white of a dogwood...
...after about a week inside, the centre buds start to open into these tiny, little flowers buds too!
How amazing is that?!
Nature always marvels me...I think that's why I'm so smitten with her!
Years ago I found this painting for $4 in the thrift shop...
It reminded me of the train rides I use to take up and down the Island to visit my folks
when my daughter was a little girl.
I love train travel.
In the springtime, the dogwood trees would light up the coniferous forest
as the train chugged along through it's corridor.
One day I was in the Victoria Art Gallery and I noticed paintings by this very same artist...
...to add further interest to the story, I was chatting one day to a woman I worked with
at the post office about great thrift store finds and told her about this painting
with the signature on it and it turns out it was her Grandmother!
I asked her if she wanted the painting back but she said to keep it since
it was clear to her how much I loved it and she said her Grandmother was a very prolific painter
and that they had hundreds of them amongst the family.
I like to imagine Isabel Hobbs out in the forest with her
paints and smock and easel, chatting with the wrens and jays...
Anyway, I'm going out to work in the garden to listen to the birdsong, in between the raindrops.