Little signs...

Oh, it's on it's way.

Spring!

The birds have begun singing in earnest in the mornings which are getting lighter, earlier.
As usual the robin's are the first ones up, bleeping in the day.

The tiny grape hyacinth is coming up...

 I put some in this little, old shoe polish bottle I found on the beach last fall...

 ...it has a bit of a purple tinge from the old glass it's made of which does that as it ages.

My friend Liz who knows antiques told me that you can tell glass is old like this because

of something (I forget now what...mercury maybe?)

 they use to put in glass that they don't anymore, maybe pre -1910.

Yes, that's a bit of sunlight shining through the tiny vase!

 Such a sweet and cheery sign of the new season...like little singing mouths praising the new day!

 Tiny willow buds still coming out...

 These are not the same as the big fat ones I got on the beach, but slender

little ones from the woods...

 Outside the rattlesnake plantain is making an appearance.

So named for it's mottled leaves. I believe it's in the orchid family but

doesn't produce much of a flower. It's a wee thing which has leaves only about

4" long at the most. It pokes through the mossy undergrowth of dappled forest...

 The small but mighty honey bees were VERY happy floating around in the sun yesterday...

 They're busy spring cleaning, removing the dead bees who didn't make it through the winter...

The kale which has survived all winter is about to flower which will

help the honeybees until more spring and summer flowers are out.

So don't cut down the kale just yet!

The fish in the pond have been resurfacing and playing amongst the new lily leaves...

And the garlic is coming up nicely too...a few small pruning of the leaves
will be added to dishes for some fresh spring flavour!

So there you have it...some small but encouraging signs alive and well!

50 shades of grey...

Pewter, charcoal, ashen, dingy, heather, iron, lead, dusky, dappled, silvery, smokey...

that's the type of Monday it is here in these parts.

The kind of day to go out and play with wool in the studio.

A good day to be on the couch as well!

Staying warm and dry...top priority.

 



Weather, projects and bird weddings...

This morning the wind was dragging clouds across the sky.

The weather has been soggy and unsettled which makes for lovely skies...

 The rains come pouring down these days and with them the ideas

flow just the same. This kind of weather finds me in the studio, looking out at the deluge.

It's cozy in there with the fire on, full mug of tea and chocolate of course!

The wet felting bug has bit me hard so more experiments and projects have been taken on.

Last Sunday, Norene (mosaic artist extraordinaire) and I made yet more gauntlets...

These ones I made for someone for Christmas.

They are black with purple-grey accents and a few pretty buttons...

My other gauntlets I made, which were too itchy to wear, have become a few

different things, some of which are these wee mittens...

 ...available in my etsy shop...

 ...new life to fabric unwilling to be worn against human skin,

but maybe the fairies can tolerate the feel of scratchy wool...

I've also been burning the midnight oil working on a commission, this time

of a lady and her dog. Apparently she had the same sweater as the one I made for

Dr Paul and Cino

The dog, Mikey, is sadly gone now but hopefully this little sculpture will

be a bit of a tribute to a favorite family pet...

Anyway that's all the news from here...haven't had the camera out and about

because of all the rain.

Maybe today there'll be a break and we'll see whats out there.

Oh, one more thing...there have been a lot of flocks of pine siskins around lately.

They swirl and move as one cloud of tiny wings, chattering as they dive and dip.

When I was a kid, my mom always remarked when she saw a flock of little birds

"look! there goes a bird wedding!"

To this day I always think that when I see a scene like this...

 

 



March madness...

"It was one of those March days
When the sun shines hot
and the wind blows cold.
When it's summer in the light 
and winter in the shade."
Charles Dickens

Ah, yes, March...the kind of month which can have 4 seasons in an hour.
Much has been said of the Mad March Hare.

(illustration by John Tenniel)

(Tim Burton's fabulous updated version)

(Arthur Rackam's illustration from 1903)


Made famous in Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" where it seemed everyone but Alice was stark raving mad.
The term originated somewhere in Europe, centuries  ago, when people would witness
wild hares, seemingly going mad in March.

This is, of course, the beginning of their mating season and keeping in tune with most other animals, (including humans) they tend to get a wee bit crazy...
Hares, being usually shy and secretive, have been observed
boxing, flipping in the air and generally acting
Hare Brained.

(painting by Julia Cassels)

They aren't really going mad, but just cavorting to attract.
The boxing is done between male and female, a sort of lovers waltz.
Understandably, March is associated with power.
Named for the god of war, Mars.
When you witness a typical March day with weather coming at you from all sides, 
you can see why!
Mars was also the guardian of agriculture, which makes sense, since it's this time of year that gardeners start to get that itchy feeling 
of getting out there,
hands in the soil, foot on the spade.
We've had quite a bit of this wild weather in the past few days.
A kind of spring cleaning of earth and sky, with things blowing about and being washed down over and over.

 But there will be a time soon when calmness speaks and the crocus crowned maiden has closed the door on her northern gale cousin.
The wind will quiet down enough to hear the dawn chorus of birds again and pussy willows
will be felt across rosey, wind kissed cheeks.