in June and opened my eyes to September. I have so much to catch up on in my blogs…
.
Spring held back her warmth this year and ice storms, snow flurries and frozen air
continued to the end of April and early May.
Dove inflates her chest for extra warmth.
Red Squirrel fills up on birdseed to terrorize the yard.
Fox Sparrow puffed up to stay warm.
One of my favourites, the female Cardinal.
Finally the bulbs magically emerge.
Dixie masquerades as a bird and chows down on sunflower seeds.
Trying to sort out the seeds from the windstorm debris.
Can that finally be the last patch of snow?
Grey Goderich Harbour
Indoor blooms of hope.
The weather and a lower back injury kept me focused on indoor activities.
House repairs and upgrades plus babyproofing kept us moving. We also
visited a Model Train Tour in London. They are similar to a studio tour
except the signs lead to someone’s basement where a train enthusiast
or group of model train aficionados have spent years creating miniature
worlds with trains as their focus.
The passion of these folks is evident in their attention to detail, realism, electrical
finesse, lighting and soundscapes. The size of the trains is generally one of
three popular scales and the settings and era vary. The locations and time
periods are chosen by their creators and highly researched.
I am fascinated by the many scenarios such as passengers waiting for
the train; rural activities along the rail lines; country-scapes filled with lakes,
rivers, trees, animals, bridges; town activities such a markets, schools, houses,
traffic, industry and people in various countries performing actions pertaining
to trains. If you are like me, your mind will start creating stories as you view
each scene.
Waiting for Spring, I spent many hours seeking out used frames, keeping the
black ones and spray-painting the others coffee brown. Then I framed all my
collages, titled and photographed the thirty in total. I was then ready for The
Makers and Mammas Show in Goderich. The venue was the fabulous
Huron County Museum.
My friend Linda, an amazing knitter and I were lucky to set up our goods
in front of Canadian Pacific Railway’s Historic Steam Locomotive.
I made up 20 kits for kids to explore the art of collage.
Sparse crowds made for time to explore the museum.
As I have proclaimed many times, I do not intend to sell my art again.
As the Spring temperatures began to climb, our hikes were longer. I
made my annual Clementine Marmalade, forgetting to flip over the jars before
they set and began buying brighter looking vegetables for cooking and some
annuals to plant outside when frost was finally done.
I’ll have you outside in no time little Viola!
Folks broke out their Spring Bonnets to celebrate Lauren and Kirk’s
Baby Remi’s first birthday in their new home in Waterloo.
Spring bulbs eventually bloomed and our baby Dixie,
celebrated her 13th Birthday!
Chip ‘n Dale celebrate the feast.
Gracie shows off her gray and brown Spring coat.
Ontario woodlands roll out their Trillium blankets in full patriotic glory.
Our Spring lawns display more Wild Strawberries than grass.
Fresh produce sprouts up in our wild gardens.
Spring is really here and even the eggs are happy. (smiley face happened by chance)
With my back feeling much better, I headed out with the rake and clippers and
spent a few hours tackling the lawns and gardens. With a cocktail of Tylenol and Advil,
I slipped into an Epsom Salts bath to soak my overworked muscles. As I reached for the
soap, I noticed that my wedding band was missing from my finger; the engagement
ring sat awkwardly without its partner. I realized that my ring was likely at the bottom
one of the many piles of leaves, pine needles and debris around our property. It was
helpless to begin a search at night so I hit the internet to find some strategies. Google
never disappoints! As I drifted off to sleep, my mind muddled the many tales of ring
loss and recovery methods into the perfect recipe for nightmares.
Images from Google Search
The most important advice that I read online was to avoid walking on the area
where the ring was lost to avoid pressing it underground, making retrieval
almost hopeless. I drafted a sign and posted it in our park’s mailroom to see if
a neighbour might have a metal detector that I could borrow. Meanwhile, we
stayed off the grass and paths outside. I actually had an inkling about which pile
of pine needles my ring might be hiding in. As I waited for a reply to my sign,
I thought about the design of my wedding band, as Chris had suggested, something
representing waves to symbolize the great times we had shared near or on ponds,
rivers, lakes and oceans. I knew that our artist-friends who had crafted our rings had
retired their business so having a new ring made would be a challenge.
By late afternoon, the phone remained silent so Chris ordered a metal detector from
Amazon for next day delivery. I eagerly ripped the package open, charged “her” up
and proceeded to the area in the yard where I suspected my ring had slipped off. With
the detector head silently leading the way, I walked a two minute path to the three foot
high pile of pine needles that I thought might be the culprit. Sure enough, the beeping began
and in seconds I found my “needle in the haystack”. Lucky me!
When Spring eventually arrived this year, she sprang forward into action
with fury. Leaves that had hung furled for weeks, magically opened
overnight in lush splendor, looking like fresh salad greens. Spring bloomers
joined the late flowering bulbs in a unique combination.
Our two male Red Breasted Grosbeaks and their mates are back again.
The Wrens began their annual twig nest building and daily serenades.
A pair of Pileated Woodpeckers frequent our yard.
Hmmmm…. Skunkirrel? or Squirlunk?
And…..the cute wee bunny is ready to devour anything and everything.
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