Tuesday 30 September 2014

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

Sunday 28 September 2014

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.
 

Saturday 27 September 2014

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.
 

Tuesday 23 September 2014

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.