Wordless Wednesday...

Incoming treasures...

I always know when something special has arrived in the mail

when I see that big square gold stamp from the UK...

 ...this is what came to me late last week from  

Valerie Greeley, illustrator, writer, book binder,painter extraordinaire..

I've been a fan of hers for years now and own several of her prints.

These three children's books are now in my ever growing collection.

Valerie's sensitivity to flora and fauna is justifiably evident in all her work.

Of course attention to detail is one of the reasons I love her work so much...

Living in the English countryside has left an impact on her.

She pays homage to things as big as an oak and as tiny as a raindrop.

The first book, 'Down the Lane' is a lovely walk through the calender year

as well as the meadows and hedgerows of her native, rural homeland...

I have one of the prints from this book...I love foxes and the face on this one just tugs at my heart..

 The second book, 'Acorns Story' is told in the style of the classic 'Who Killed Cock Robin'

but in a much more gentle and optimistic layered tale of how the mighty

oak grows from it's humble beginnings...

 Opposite the illustrations are beautifully detailed headers for the verse...

I own a print of one of the illustrations in this book as well.

It hangs in my studio...

 The third book is a second edition of a book first published in 1990...make sense?!
 (hope that's right Val!)

 Like all of the books, its printed on beautiful quality paper 

with the most vivid colours...

 

...more lovely headers in this book too...

 Here is a book of verse about colour and creature alike...

 At the end is a little educational section on all the creatures within...

 Forgive my photos for they don't portray the richness of the pages 

but it can give you an idea.

Valerie has kindly signed my books and this one in particular  is

signed for my wee nephew...

I'm sure she would be more than happy to sign a copy for you too!

 Valerie also keeps a blog, acorn moon which chronicles her

adventures through book making, illustrating, painting

and general wandering through the beautiful countryside of the UK and beyond.
You can purchase these books and prints and cards in her etsy shop here

If you're looking for that something special for a little one in your life

and, if like me, you appreciate lovely children's books,

think of Valerie and her gentle, thoughtful pictures and verse.

These books are perfect for bedtime stories as well as

anytime of the day you want to engage children in 

looking at and imaging the details of the natural world in and around their doorstep.

Thanks Val!

Excite' !

Well it's official!!!

Exactly 2 months today I'll be on my way!

Where, you ask?

Here's a few clues...

Bon! oui!

 I'm off to Paris in July!

My daughter and son in law are living there and have given 

me the ultimate Mothers Day gift of a trip to visit them!

I've never been so I'm super excited and that I haven't seen them since last 

summer for their wedding in Toronto well, lets just say

I can't wait to see them.

We've already booked a little road trip down through Provence and Burgundy

(lavender and wine country!)

and onto Marsilees on the Cote d' Azur...how dreamy I feel!

Now to find the perfect, all purpose little black dress and

 try to recall some junior high school French and I'm set...

Enchante' je suis sur!

(Enchanted I'm sure!)

Two surprise visits!

Today while i was out in the garden I had a surprise visit from my aunt and uncle

who were out for a drive. They live about an hour away and decided to take

their little convertible for a cruise in the warm sunshine.

We chatted outside and when we came in the house, my aunt said

"whats that?"

Surprise visit #2...

Just in front of the screen door to the porch sat an Elgaria caerulea...

that's a Northern alligator lizard to us common folk.

I'm not sure how it got in, maybe the cat or it could have crept in while one of the 

other doors was open, but needless to say we were all quite in awe of the little guy.

It was about 6 or 7" long and after about 20 minutes we caught it

in a kitchen sieve and then it was kind enough to allow us to take a few photos

before we returned it to it's preferred environment on the mossy rocks.

...here it is still in the sieve...

 ...and after we put it out on the rock...

 It was quite calm, even though when I tried to pick it up it kind of bit me, more of a pinch really.

I didn't want to grab it and have its tail fall off, which is a defence mechanism.

The tail will grow back but never as long and skinny and it takes a lot to do so.

It's tail is it's fat reserve so it's an important commodity 

and will only 'release' it under extreme circumstances to escape.

The northern alligator lizard is Vancouver Islands only true lizard and is not

to be confused with a newt. They come out to sun themselves on rocks

and so with all of this warm weather it must have been out and about enjoying the heat.

They're quite secretive and spend the winter hibernating in underground dens.

They can have from 2 - 6 babies which they carry inside them until giving birth a few months later.

So there you go...another gift from the outside, another little miracle on the earth.

One word wednesday...babes

Wordless Wednesday...

Secret, sacred places...

I've been to this place many times but its been a while since I've visited

so I thought I'd give you a little tour again...

 ...down through the woods to the bend in the creek sits a little raft on a cable...

 ...we call it the pull ferry (its self propelled) and Griffs always up for the ride!

 ...it always feels like I'm passing through into another world...

 ...a secret world of childhood dreams...

The woods on the other side are deep and rich and full of life...

 Skunk cabbage grows big on these rain filled boggy paths...

 ...also called swamp lantern because of its gorgeous, strange, spiky flowers...

 I must cut through the farmers field to get around these spots...there's Annie's house where

I had tea that morning..."Hi Annie!"

In no time these grasses will be shoulder high and like tigers we'll sneak through in the summer heat..

 We went to Annie's this morning to see her pink fawn lilies ( you can read more about that here)

 and lo and behold there was some over here too just finishing up their show...

The false lily of the valley was a thick carpet all along the paths...

 ...just getting ready to show it's tiny white flowers any day now...

 ...meandering...

 ...nests of summers past...

Up onto the suspension bridge...

 Yes, that was where Wordless Wednesday was!

 Down by the swimming hole, the water is still too high on the riverbanks to walk

along the shore, but come July our toes will once again

be tickled by tiny fish in dappled cooling waters...

 For now we wander back through the woods...spotting evidence of the sapsuckers...

 ...witnessing the changing colours of the dying trillium...

 Instead of fading, her colours turn vibrant in one last show

...and if you follow an old road, past the weathered fence posts,

treading carefully across the rotting bridge you'll spot a tree...

...not just any tree...look closely...at the bottom...

 ...a sad tale of the woodcutter who loved his wife and child but lost them tragically and

carved his pain into the wood.

Actually I made that part up...they are my trees of mystery of which I know nothing

but I like to imagine him out here on a summers evening with

his tools and a beer...immortalizing those he lost

Heading back, I glance  once more down the secret creek 

and dream of warmer summer afternoons...

These places have become sacred, secrets to me and the few I choose to share them with.

They're worth the quiet whispers and unwritten maps, the places

where sometimes you just have to hold them close.