Autumn nature journal...

Page 2...

Adieu...

This river that we walk along is ancient and it has been here long before any of us.

It's floods and droughts, the salmon who've lived and died in her swirls and riffles,

the bear and cougar who roam along her banks, are all part of her story.

But I have only known this river for a minute.

It's a place where our dogs love to run...

The fields above her shores are a place I dream of living...

...a place where farmers used to keep their cattle...

This land has been bought and sold and now serves us as a wide open and lovely park...

During these crisp autumn nights and sun kissed shortened days, 

we walk through the maples shedding their summer dress.

...and peak into the beginning of the dying days before winter falls upon us...

The salmon have begun to swim upstream and with it the fly fishermen try their hand

at catching and releasing...

I am mesmerized by the sound of the reel and the quiet flash of the line...

These will be some of my last days of the year down here.

Although it is one of the most beautiful places to walk, the salmon will slowly start to

die after spawning and leave their rotting carcases on the beach.

This is something that some dogs (like mine and Regina's) can't resist and so

we stay on other paths where this can be avoided.

For now, for today, we soak in the beauty and the quiet that is

The River.

A visit with Annie...

Years ago I cut a picture out of a magazine of a pretty little house.

I put it in the first page of a new journal I was starting full of ideas, dreams and creative motivation.

Who knew that years later I would be visiting my friend Annie who lives in that same house.

Well, actually, it's her husband David's office but it's on the same property five minutes from my house.

To say that David is a builder is a massive understatement.

He is truly an artist of woodworking.

The 'big house' where they live is just a peak through the woods behind the office.

So off I went for tea at Annie's.

And delicious zucchini fudge brownies!

As much as David is an artist in his building, so is Annie in her gourd art and her garden.

Through the garden gate we take a stroll into the green house where it's warm and full of the gourds she'll use to make her beautiful works of art...

Here's one of her little gourd clocks...

..and more of her work can be found here on her website.

Inside we sat on the couch drinking in this view as well as the tea...

...the kitchen, warm and cozy...love the jade plant stand of the bronze figure...

I love to see where artists do their work and Annie's studio was no disappointment!

It is like a mix of mad scientist, alchemist and medieval watch maker with dashes of whimsy

and gobletfuls of creativity everywhere you turn.

Love it!

As if the garden and the house and the art aren't enough to keep them busy, Annie and David 

are building ANOTHER house on their five acres.

Actually they moved a log cabin that was built in the 1930's and are now, after 20 years,

putting the finishing touches on it so they can move in.

This house also looks out onto those beautiful pastures we saw from the living room of the 'big house'.

We wandered around a bit more...

 This lovely 'carriage house' is David's workshop...

All in all a wonderful morning spent amongst the creative forces that make up this

mix of fairy woodland, English cottage and true West Coast flare.

Thanks Annie!