and that's September

Over the hedge and through the fog

 

the foggy dew on a morning glory

 

The hydrangeas in the evening light

 

now for October

last Sunday in September

What a perfectly gorgeous weekend.
We stayed at home today to get some work done and I took a few photos along the way.

This is Muji as if he could float through Space

 

This is our funny Babu who can't seem to grow up. Could he be smiling??

The afternoon light over the back yard and through the deck fence

 

Wally widens the side garden

as our rotting tree stump (probably a giant ash once upon a time) gradually wanes away.

Eventually evening falls over the back hedge- blump

 

The fading light plays tricks with my camera

 

So I play along

 

The view of the field's edge toward the southeast

 

The eastern sky all aglow

 

Autumn Symphony

 

It got dark all too soon and Wally called me in for supper

 

I took some parting shots of an Echinacea Seed Head

 

and the wilting petals as they fade in the fading light.

 

These last photos are a blurry batch but I have to admit I like them that way.

 

Tomorrow is another day.

 

hunting for apples and drawing boro and sashiko

What a lovely day here today. Summer clothes after succumbing to having the furnace on earlier in the week. Wally had the afternoon off so we went for a little jaunt before applying ourselves to the much neglected yard tomorrow.

I do love a beautiful poplar lined field. This one borders the organic farm we wanted to see.

Cucumbers at 75 cents and green peppers for $1 each; not too bad considering the price of most imported produce around here.

 

We drove by some beautiful apple orchards

Their boughs heavy with apples

There is something so heartwarming about a late afternoon on an Indian summer day

 

As beautiful as these apples were, it was "no spray" apples we were looking for

 

Gates family farm did have a row of a tart Macintosh variety next to the cornfield.

And look! Another row of poplars in the background.

 

"Give me spots on my apples but leave me the birds and the bees, plea-ea-ease."

(by Joni Mitchell)

 

A beautiful bin of squashes.

 

As for creativity, I've had my mind stuck on Boro, the Japanese art of mending. I am fascinated by the old garments that were patched and darned, peasant wear that was made of coarsely woven indigo-dyed hemp. I've been thinking about playing around with needle and thread.  Sashiko thread most closely resembles pearl cotton crochet thread but is twisted tighter and lacks a sheen. Sashiko is the running stitch that the Japanese used to mend and darn, once a necessity, now recognized as art.

 

Man in Boro Noragi with Goat

Last night I chose instead to draw a man in a boro noragi. The noragi is a farmer's work coat.

I was delighted to find I could draw the sashiko (running stitch) with white pencil and colour over it with navy blue, simulating the traditional indigo.

 

Man In Boro Noragi with Goat (detail)

The original is done in the same sketchbook of 9x12" drawing paper that my recent graphite drawings were done in. This is all done in coloured pencils and has been so much fun to do.

 

Again my photos are somewhat blurry and again I apologize. I have a somewhat ambivalent relationship with my camera which I've ironically grown quite attached to regardless of its faults. We've made a certain kind of peace.

 

I keep thinking about life's abundance, grateful that I can have such a thing as a camera.

Now for a fresh, crisp, tartly sweet, unsprayed apple.

Choose our blessings, and then be grateful.

 

exotic animal safari

 

A country drive, and of course I have to stop

 

when I see these Holsteins so close to the road. (Please forgive my blurry shots.)

The donkey was actually having her face washed by the big mama who is laying down.

 

These are young cows, not nearly as big as Holsteins will get at maturity,

with ribs that splay like a rowboat big enough for a couple of men,

like I once saw at the fall fair in Bracebridge a few years back



 

These young ones are curious but shy



They are content to eye me at a safe distance with their protector donkey

 

She's a raggedy girl; those scraggly bits make her itchy

 

She begins to take a tour around the cow that washed her

 

 

and that seems to start the cow up, rear end first

 

Meanwhile to my left a sweet girl is showing some interest

 

She is wary but curious

 

So is the donkey

who is lured by my pathetic offering of grass in a field of grass ... which she politely snubs

 

 this This gives the friendly cow some courage.

Meanwhile the cow in the upper right is making her mooo-ve and wanders in

as she arrives, Donkey wonders what she missed, and is disappointed again.

 

She gives me one last pose

 

So do the two curious girls

 

Girl #2, in profile, departs

 

Ah, and who is this pretty girl?

 

Shy as well but curious too

 

She poses for me

and chews her cud

 

then it's off to join the others

 

Friendly Cow #1 in profile

arriving at the group

 

and who is this who just popped in?

 

Miss Just Popped In still munching on a bit of herbage

 

Lined up neatly- for cows

 

and another line-up to the right, I observe observing and unobserving

 

and now for a game of dominos

 

here are my first two

 

Ok, a parting glance at that strange woman

 

a parting shot of the dear cow

 

and the view across the road, on a September evening

 

Thank you for bearing with me. Not everybody likes cows. Just a bunch of cows in a field.

But for me, there will be personality if one just waits a bit. Yes, they are only cows, not some exotic creature that people might go on safari to see, but for me, there is the exotic i.e. the mystery, in every living creature, every living thing. My case in point:

 

 

 

 

 And here is our Muji who was born for love ... and sleep.