collecting...

My friend, Devavati and I braved the fridgid winds yesterday to go out collecting things for winter decorating...this is her west coast painted van...

A short walk from my house, about 10 years ago, there used to be a 30 acre patch of forest, until the lumber company came in and mowed it all down. Then the tree planters came in and replanted the area and all was quiet on that front...it finally started to green up and the little trees were now 6 or 7 feet tall and the birds and animals were happy here..then the developers came in and mowed down about 2/3rds of the young trees to make way for acreage plots to sell to future homeowners...its all very ridiculous and all for the sake of money but at least they've left some trees standing...among them are some lovely pines with big sappy pinecones...

We went and delicately took some gifts from the trees...

....and brought home the scent of the woods...

There have been some amazing patterns in the ice...

Looks kind of 'bird' like...

We brought home some teasel seed heads that have been slowly naturallizing here and are now scattered everywhere...

 

...there's me and Griffin with our bunch!

So as the trucks roll on past me with loads of gravel, preparing to pave the road in here, I see that  another pretty little spot of green will slowly disappear...I cherish these walks and hope those who build houses here will appreciate the trees around them and hope that they can look up into the hills behind them and still see the forest...

...but for now I look into this pretty winter sky and enjoy the time here...

Favorite site of the day....

No snow yet but cold enough to be out for brisk walks and in for some gift making projects...Today I will have to seriously limit my time on the net...you see I've found a great site for hundreds of projects for all levels of expertise...peek through this door to find some fun... On the toolbar there are many options, but I suggest you check out the 'Handmade Holidays' section...I think its important to find some time to make things for those you love...it can even be as simple as a tin of yummy cookies or a frame with your childs wintery drawing...go ahead...make something! I'm going to attempt the homemade marshmallows and pair them with a nice cocoa mix in a pretty cellophane bag.........

....dreaming of that winter wonderland.....

BBRRRRRR!!!

When I woke at 6 this morning the power was out...we were having a wicked wind storm all night and it was only a matter of time before this happened. We're used to this kind of thing but after the hurricane we had here 3 years ago, everyone is a bit nervous when wind warnings get posted on the weather channel...The wood stove is our best friend during these dark days and it is not only our heat source, but also a cookstove if we are without power...

This past October, I was lucky enough to have a pair of Anna's hummingbirds start coming to the feeder...

...the Rufus hummingbird stays from about April to August, then flys south but these little guys are here year round...I try to take pictures of them at the feeder like I do with the Rufus....

...but the Anna's are much more shy. The zoom lens is a great thing for birdwatching....

It has been -6 at night now and the winds today were fierce. I wonder where these tiny creatures go at night and how on earth do they stay warm?  I imagine the pair of them cuddled up inside the knothole of a big tree..shutting down for the night...side by side so they look like one fuzzy ball of feathers....I'll help them along through winter with the sweet sugar water they need to survive...

And me? I'm happy inside with the wood fire glow and candles burning...

Chilly morn..

Well we've had some pretty chilly mornings here in Sooke and although its a bit shocking when I step outside for the morning walk, it is such a blessed relief from all that rain. The moon has been full too, which makes everything that much crisp and clear...I can walk out to the henhouse at 6 a.m without the need for a flashlight and see all the shadows from the moonshine, still high in the sky...

I am crazy for frost...the way it puts a sugar coating on things is magical and it seems can transform the ugly duckling into the swan...

The van windows become works of art after a cold night...

We haven't had snow yet this season, but hopefully we will get a little for a short time...here on the coast it is a bit of a novelty when it snows...I grew up in Toronto, so snow and winter just go together although I don't enjoy driving in it, I love to crunch through the woods when the first snow comes...part of the magic of these cold, dark days...

simple things

This is a tiny little bowl made in Scotland. It measures about 5 cm across. It holds a few little acorn caps and sits on my windowsill. It is old and smooth and I love it for these few reasons...there is a beauty in such things...

When I first started this blog, I thought it would be used as a journal and to publish the many pictures I take...after all, why let them sit in a dusty corner of my folders on my pc. It wasn't intended to make me famous or to sell my artwork or even for others to read but just as notes to myself to record the simple things in life that make it all beautiful. I walk my dog every morning, rain, snow or shine and this is the time of day in which I can reflect on things around me...The first soft light on the tops of the trees...frost sparkling on the edges of leaves...blackbird songs in early spring...I am not solving world peace or inventing the next miracle cure but the tiny things in my life are great to me and I feel they deserve to be obsevered.
Maybe someday a great grandchild will wonder what I was like and will find these notes as an insght to what interested me, what provoked my  thoughts and how I saw this world....Now that I have been blogging and peaking into others blogs, I find it is the simple ones about daily life which I enjoy and how people live and learn...how they observe the bits and pieces which gather their lives together...what touches their hearts and minds. For when we all know a little about one another the world becomes a smaller, more intimate place.

out and about..

Out in the garden for a look on a rare sunny day...it's been raining for something like 23 days in a row so when that big yellow orb appeared, I thought I would see whats up in the dying days of late fall...

 

Then up to the barnyard and time to let the chickens out...

Ready...Set....

GO!

The chicks have, it seems, all of a sudden gone from this...

...and this...

...to grown chickens out and about on their own....brave new world...

bath season!

Here on our little patch of the earth our water comes from a well. This means that during the dry months, usually end of June through to October, we have to be careful with our water consumption...sometimes it can be a bit trying but it also makes you much more aware of the  precious value of water. It can really make you think when, on a hot, dry August day and you go into town (where water is easily obtained) and there's some guy power washing his asphalt driveway! I want to scream or run out with a bucket to gather up all that's being washed away and use it for my carrot patch...I think of places of drought where people walk for miles to get a load of water for the day, EVERY DAY and I am once again in awe of the struggles others face while we are"water rich" , even in my neck of the woods. BUT....come winter with the deluge of rain it is once again BATH SEASON! I always have something to read in there and Tom bought me a lovely book caddy for the tub one birthday...speaking of books...I just finished this one...

Such a great story set on the east coast of Canada in the early 1900's

And I just started this one of a womans search for the truth behind the mutiny on the "Bounty". So the bath is full and I am happy and have written my ...     

'Ode to a tub'

A long day

A hard day

A cold, wet day.

A dark day

Of chopping wood

Or cleaning out the barn.

The candles are lit

The taps are open

The bubbles rise and foam

A good book

A glass of wine

Soft music down the hall.

It is only a large container

But a vessel if you will;

Which holds my aching body

And soothes a busy mind.

It brings me peace and solitude

And sails away the time.

Oh my tub, my lovely tub

You keep me sane and warm

I'll take the wrinkled fingertips

And praise your white walled love

While the moon peaks through the window pane

In the winter sky above.