In the Green

Hi lovely people,


After nearly three months of lock down, it felt lovely to drive to another town, catch the breeze and feel the wind in my hair--sans a convertible.
And O the view. A sight to behold as the earth, once again, clothes herself in the vivid new green of spring.
 

A tanker with places to go.

 Next stop the Iroquois lock.

A lovely old church I happen upon. I adore stone buildings. Such character! I bet the stained glass windows are magnificent. Unfortunately, I couldn't step inside because the churches are still locked down.
Perhaps I will be lucky enough to find it open sometime.

Doors waiting to be opened. 
To me old doors are so inviting and never fail to make me want to turn the handle or lift the latch. What's inside? I have a feeling this church would surprise me.

 

Notice the Solomon's Seal against the stone facade. The only time I've seen it growing outside of the woodlands.

Heady blossoms and sunshine. Perfectly perfect! 

* * *

When I was sifting through my drawings, I came across a wildflower Bloodroot drawing that I drew about two years ago, so I thought I'd paint it.

They are mostly white but a few are a lovely pink.

The season was short this year for the Bloodroot.  They succumbed rather quickly to a frosty spring. 

For those who may not know, if you cut into the root, a red sap greets you. Hence the name.

Be well and stay safe!

'Til next time...

Cultivate Your Dreams!

Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. Do drop in for a visit. Thank you ladies for hosting.

Bright Spots

Across the river the beautiful Adirondack Mountains.

May 12, 2020

Hi there,

How's the lock down going? Over this way, luckily, we are not totally confined to quarters, so most days I strive to get out there to recharge.  But I know many people are confined, and, if you are, I hope you will be free to roam very soon.

I like the shape of this sumac. In the fall, when the seeds turn a deep maroon, I may paint this scene with a bit of artistic license thrown in.

 I've been scrutinizing the trees for signs life. As a species, they do not give up their secrets too quickly.  But it seems as soon as I turn my back, the leaves pop out.

Tiny promises of spring peek out as soon as the earth shakes off the cold. I love the reflections and the green shoots around the edges of the water.

* * *

Paintings

 Yupo paper and water colours.

         
             And recently, I was delighted to send a print of my pastel painting: "Fall In The Yukon" off to a new home.

 Thank you for your company!

  Be well and be safe!

Cultivate your dreams.

Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. Do drop in for a visit. Thank you ladies for hosting.

Hope

April 14, 2020

Hi there,

I haven't posed for sometime and since this is a diary of sorts, I will say something about what is happening in the world. It seems the world changed overnight. And here we are, a world full of people, in isolation, trying to cope with it all while striving to maintain a sense of normality. At this point, I'd like to say I do hope you and your families are all well and safe and sound.

I feel so sorry for those who are struggling, or stranded far from home, and for those who are sick and for the families who have lost their loved ones.

Like people everywhere, I hope and pray that a vaccine will soon be ready. I know that we all feel a tremendous amount of gratitude for our doctors and nurses, grocery store employees, truckers, and all essential service employees. Many essential service employees can't go home to their families until this is over. One is a friend of mine. They are brave, inspiring, and selfless.

I remembering reading somewhere that hope is a thing with wings and that hope floats ( the latter a title of a movie). I think that's true.

"Once you choose hope,

anything is possible."

Christopher Reeve

"Hope is the only thing stronger than fear."

Suzanne Collins

Sadly world emergency plans are woefully inadequate. But dwelling on that doesn't help. So I'd also like to focus on the inspiring folks who are putting hope to work by posting signs in cities and towns, offering to pick up groceries for anyone who may need help. People who give the gift of music and song and dance and praise from their balconies and door steps to uplift other people. For the people who maintain their distance in grocery stores and share with you a reassuring smile. And hats off to the man who paid for many senior citizens' groceries. And a hurray to the small business owners and other businesses who are working, or re-tooling to make respirators, masks, hand sanitizer, gowns etc. And, of course, praise goes to the researchers who are tirelessly working to find a vaccine. Good Samaritans to the core. And there are many, many more.

* * *

I began knitting this shawl back in November. There were several stops along the way.  I originally named it "The Trees of Shetland" because the designer said it represents Shetland's trees. Recently, I decided to re-name it 'Hope' because that's what I see at work in the world.  (Among other things, green represents renewal, new life, balance, and hope.)

Much larger than anything I've made before.

May hope light your way. 

Cultivate your Dreams



Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. Do drop in for a visit. Thank you ladies for hosting.

A Trek

Jan 28/20

Because of  freezing rain, I haven't been out to the woods for about a month. And I‘ve been wondering about the birds.

At the entrance to the marsh, I called out and the chickadees and nuthatches quickly flew to the feeding area. They remembered me, and, my, they were very hungry. 

A beautiful, moody afternoon sky.

Recently, I was looking through my photos of the Yukon Territory. For a few years, we lived in the Yukon in a house nestled down near a lake, where I could hear, as I lay in my bed, the plaintive call of the loons. We drove there from Calgary, Alberta along the, then, unpaved Alaska Highway.  Later we motored up the Dempster highway that begins south of Dawson City, Yk. to Inuvik, NWT. 

 Not a garage, at that time, for miles on that unpaved, potential tire-shredding shale road, so we carried full cans of gas and extra tires on the roof. With only the vast remote wilderness for company, and the trepidation welling up within because the road sometimes does double duty as a landing strip,  we slowly motored on, in intermittent fog, for hours, with thunderheads of dust rolling up behind us, without passing a car or seeing a single living thing.  (From Dawson City to Inuvik it’s a two day journey: 478.5 miles/ 742km.)  Eventually, dust bitten and weary we stopped at the halfway point in an oasis named Eagle Plains / Rat Pass. Given its remoteness, we had reservations about the place, but it turned out to be a clean and hospitable place to spend the night.

While driving the Dempster Highway you see the rugged Ogilvie and Richardson mountain ranges and, of course, the tundra where ghostly cloud shadows, driven by the wind, mysteriously track over the land. Gorgeous at any time of year, but in the fall it is absolutely breath taking. 

The pastel painting below was inspired by those photos. 

A few years later, still eager for adventure, we drove from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk along the ice road on Mackenzie River and the Arctic Ocean.  (That may be a story for another day.) I do, however, feel fortunate to have made that trip, because the ice road has recently been replace by a highway.

Happy trails. 'Til next time...

Cultivate Your Dreams 

I am linking to: 

Our World Tuesday 

My Corner of the World

Skywatch

World Tuesday
Friday Bliss

Mixing It Up

Jan.14, 2020

Hi there,

I hope you all had a lovely holiday. We did and it flew by. Now back to reality with plans for
painting, hiking, knitting and reading to add creativity to the hours and bolster the spirit.

Checking over last year's reading list, I didn't read as many books as I hoped, but I so enjoyed the ones that I did read. Cold Earth by Sarah Moss stands out in my memory, along with the very popular A Gentlemen in Moscow by Amor Towles. And Pachinko by Min Jin Lee was a definite eye opener.
Several more come to mind, but I will leave it there for now.  Since I am always on the outlook for good books, I'd love to hear what you enjoyed reading.

Feathered Friend

A bunny recently passed this way.

From the oasis corner.

In case you missed it, yesterday was national clean your desk day. That makes me laugh although I can make a hot mess in no time, and since I have limited space, I find it difficult to paint if things get out of hand.

So to help tame the upcoming chaos, I raced off to Ikea to buy a set of office drawers which hold, among other things, my watercolour paintings. 

 Although I drew the mistletoe and wreath, I must credit the wonderful botanical painter, Billy Showell, whose free you tube videos I watched as I tried to mix and match her colours.

A trillium line drawing added to my list of flowers to paint.

Recently, I also bought drawers for my pastels. Unfortunately the width of the drawers are too small for Unison pastels, but the Rembrandt's fit nicely.
So this year, among other things, it’s all about organization. A place for everything and everything in its place. 

'Til next time...

Cultivate Your Dreams

Linking to:  Our World Tuesday

                    My Corner of the World

                    Friday Bliss

Silhouettes

Hi there,

'Tis the season! I hope you are all having fun with your Christmas preparations, or other holiday planning.

Not my usual Tuesday post, but the good Elves won the debate and decided to post early.

Sunset

I love the beautiful shapes and silhouettes of the bare trees.  As a bonus, once the leaves have flown away, you can sometimes see the intricate nests that birds have left behind.  Often overlooked, I, for one, love the beauty of a world laid bare.

 Speaking of Christmas, what would Christmas be without the redemptive tales? A Christmas Carol  and The Grinch come to mind. Tales that prove that kindness changes everything.

In my recent travels I saw the Grinch in a yard pulling the Christmas tree lights off the roof of the house.
Although I don't have a picture of that scene, I am including the Grinch that I enjoyed painting a couple of years ago for my brother-in-law who really does enjoy the tale.

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!”

Dr. Seuss

 Have a very Merry Christmas!
And if you do not celebrate Christmas, enjoy your holidays!

I hope to see everyone in the New Year.

Best Wishes...

Cultivate Your Dreams

  I'll be linking up to parties. Please see my Link Parties page.  If you have time, please drop by these wonderful blogs for a visit.

                                                                         

Thank you ladies for

hosting!

Golden Light

Hi there,

The golden light and beauty of fall can be difficult to leave behind, and since we are in the blogging ethereal realm, and I am the captain, I've decided to extend fall, at least, pictorially.

Pretty Crab Apples

 

Tanker with its russet bow—Kingston bound.

A Pumpkin with an attitude.

* * *

Pastel

 Sometimes I enjoy the spontaneity of sitting down without a plan,  reaching for a pastel and beginning. These two paintings I fashioned from bits of memory. The second reminds me of the boreal forest of Canada. When I lived in the north, I was surrounded by black spruce with a spongy carpet of reindeer moss covering their roots.

A fact of interest: Canada's boreal forest extends from the Yukon to Newfoundland and Labrador, covering 55% of the country and, at this time, is the largest intact forest in the world!
 It covers approximately three million square km.  

I own a limited pastel palette, but I am searching, most especially, for beautiful blue pastels for the sky and for lakes and the ocean.

On the needles...

Winter companion knitting.

A lovely pattern designed by Gundrun Johnston depicting the trees of Shetland.

'Til Next time...



Cultivate Your Dreams

I'll be linking to: 

Wandering Camera

My Corner of the World

Our World Tuesday

Many thanks ladies for hosting.