What?!

"Hey! Wait a minute..."

"I thought spring was coming!"

(be patient Ruben...it'll be here soon enough)

Day trippin'...

Yesterday I took a trip into the city for roving at the wool store.

Yup...I went roving for roving.

It was grey and stormy.

Chance of rain...150%.

I didn't mind though...after i had done my running around I settled

down in the window of a bakery cafe, book and camera at hand and glimpsed 

at the wet world outside...

The book I just picked up is 'The Wild Places' by Robert MacFarlane.
It's an interesting study of his own search for genuine wild places.
His search begins in his own town of Cambridge, England and takes him
through Wales, Scotland and Ireland. He will climb, walk and swim in all sorts
of weather to understand the landscape and it's history in his search.
So far, so good. His writing is very evocative and full of the quest in understanding the natural world.

This day I was nowhere near the wilderness but in the hub of Victoria, a city I love.
If you live here on the coast, you must also certainly love the rain.

 It may seem strange but true.
Although we huddle under umbrellas and rain gear, it is part of our lives
and as the saying goes in Ireland...
"there's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing".

 Even when I was a letter carrier for 9 years, I didn't mind so much.
You get out there with your rain poncho, put up with silly comments and do the job.

But today I was glad to be inside, looking out...

...patio furniture left for a better day...

Oh, and the peanut butter Nanaimo bar for dessert didn't hurt matters!

The wind outside shook the trees...

...and the yellow cabs were busy, busy, busy. I counted 5 while sitting here...

Before I left for home, I decided to take a quick trip through Chinatown.
It was Chinese New Year a few weeks ago so some of the decorations were still up.
The weather quickly changed, as it does at this time of year, and the sun came out for me...

Love the silk lanterns!

 The beautiful Gate of Harmonious Interest frames our tiny Chinatown...

So many colours...so many details...
 At the top of every hour, a speaker plays Chinese music.

A look at the Benevolent Society from a different angle...

 The old and the new...

The Chinese Public School is over a hundred years old and still educates primary age children...it's one of my favorite buildings around...

Public wall art depicting the changing times at the school..

 A few of the old tenement buildings still inhabited...

...and a few not so much...

 More public art on the walls of Chinatown...

February is the kind of month where the weather wears many different coats.
Spring-like sunny days with the bulbs coming in and days where the wind
can blow bitterly to the bone, flapping flags like crazy kites...

...and then just when I got home...

 Another reason to love the rain!!

Song for Friday...sweet!

I'm so loving this band 'Elephant Revival.

They're out of Oklahoma and named their band after

two captive elephants who, after 16 years together, were separated

and both of them died soon after.

A sad story but this band tries to have happy endings by working closely

with several environmental and human/animal rights groups.

I think this is one of the sweetest videos around.

Hope you enjoy.

Have a great weekend all!

Wordless Wednesday...

Song for Friday....for all you sweethearts!

I've posted this song before, but I just can't help but post it for today!

Happy Valentines Day!

have a great weekend all!

Wordless Wednesday...

Book reviews...

Winter is definitely the season for reading.

While Griffin was convalescing, long, cold, rainy days by the fire made
for prime reading time.
Lets see if I can summerize the last few books I've read...



'The Little Giant of Aberdeen County' by Tiffany Baker
was a sad tale of two orphaned sisters growing up in
two different worlds in a small town.
The story spans over their lifetimes and how very different they are.
One sister, the perfect girl and the other, Truley, an enormous misfit.
Uncovering the secrets in a family hierloom, long a mystery in the town,
Truley finds her calling which becomes a blessing and a curse.
A tale of family history, love, murder, and betrayal.
Definitely worth a read.

'The Lost Garden' by Helen Humphreys

Gwen Davis flees the bombing of London in 1941 to the Devon countryside

and volunteers to supervise a group of young women known as The Land Girls.

Living together in the abandoned servants buildings on a large estate, 

they are there to grow potatoes for the war effort.

Living in the main estate house is regiment of Canadian soldiers waiting for orders

and these two groups become entangled in the confusion of wartime.

At the same time, Gwen discovers a garden that was seemingly left abandoned at 

the start of the previous war in 1917.

She begins to unravel the quiet history left behind in the head gardeners potting shed

but is haunted by the ghosts within the walled gardens.

I loved this short novel.

Both of them were picked up in the thrift shop for about $3 each.

I love when I can find good books for such a small investment!

My other two books I bought online with some birthday money.

They are both to do with felting....surprise surprise!

The first is simply called 'Felt' by Willow Mullins.

As the back cover states...

"From nomads to poodle skirts, from car parts to Christmas tree ornaments,

felt is one of the oldest and most understated textiles"

This book covers the wide-ranging history and development

of felt from the earliest of archaeological evidence in Siberia to

modern fiber arts and sculpture.

Largely a text book and chock full of yards of information but not without 

some witty writing, I love the lines from the opening pages...

"Unique among textile structures, felt does not rely on first turning raw fibers

into yarn as weaving and knitting do; 

rather felt harnesses the chaos of tangles. While those of us who weave

and knit may look upon the confused snarl of our yarn with frustration,

for those who felt, this confusion of fibers is a thing of beauty."

 The second book is a small 50 page gem called 'The Felt Industry' by Peter Walter.

Here we have a superb little book full of text as well as photos

of the story of the felt industry in Britain from 1840 to the modern age.

I had no idea what a huge industry this was and how innovative the 

pioneers of this massive movement were.

The impact of the felt industry both in its glory days and now as an art form

are documented very well in this small but mighty book.

Speaking of felt..just finished another 'experiment' in the 'lab'.

Just trying to get the felted bag to a desired state.

Miles to go, but getting there is almost all of the fun!