8/31/2011

Last day of August...

18



This may not have been the summer to write home about
(did we even have summer here in the Pacific northwest?)
and it wasn't exactly a summer destined for the memoirs.
But it was bountiful, yes,
in its own way...


To say this summer had gone to the dawgs, well, that wouldn't mean what you might think...
literally, it was for my dawgs.
They'd waited out a long spring of inactivity,
they were deserving - my most loyal friends...hangin' with me through thick n' thin.
Being of four paws, they need to RUN.  It's not an understatement to say they require it
and if they don't get it, we all go a bit nutso.
 That is putting it mildly.


Our local 'Agility Gang' (do you like our name?) put on a small demonstration for the community
at the first annual Dog Promenade...
this is O, running her two year old border collie, directing him to take the tunnel.
O herself is eighty.
I hope to have one tenth of her tenacity when I am eighty...O, you're my hero!


This one went to her first 'Doggy Manners' class...
she was so fearful when she first came to live here, but now
she's learning that the world is not as scary as she thought and staying calm
feels pretty good.
I'm mighty proud of her ~ a smooch on yer sweet nose, black flash.


We fit in quite a bit of exploring...
mysterious forts had shown up on the beaches


and that perennial question, "what if?" seemed to follow us everywhere.
This is a question about possibilities...
what if you ask this question whenever you think you can't do something?


Getting around is much trickier here in the summer...especially in August
when it seems like the whole world is on vacation except us.
We spend a lot of time waiting around in
looooong lines at the ferry terminal...

so I stitched me some long lines while waiting in the car...


and was treated to a few of these while in transit.


Most nights, I headed upstairs to this gabled corner where I worked late, late, late.
Dawgs slept.  Baby great horned owls screeched.  I cursed at tiny beads.
Do not be fooled by the seeming austerity of this view

because this is what my corner table really looked like...
a huge beadiful mess!
One big beady project consumed almost every night in August...
but all fingers functioned properly,
praise doG.


So now it's on to September...I hope I'll remember to run with it, make the best use of waiting 
that I possibly can.
Make messes.
Kiss me some dawg faces.




8/18/2011

One thousand feathers...

11



...what if...?

This is a question that Jude Hill from Spirit Cloth never stops asking.
And this time, that question led her to create this...


...the Magic Feather Project is a collaborative effort
open to anyone willing to stitch one simple feather.
All the feathers will then gather at Jude's place, a flock of at least one thousand,
where they will be joined together into larger cloths...
for charitable uses...
for the greater good of children.

Feathers are already flying 'round the world!
The gathering is well underway and can be seen over here...
...all the info about how to participate, including a short video tutorial, is here.

There is no end to the possibilities of feather inspiration...

Double-crested cormorant
(c) Amy Marques

...the beauty of our winged companions is all around us.

Bengal eagle owl
(c) hawkgenes


photographer unknown, from my Tumblr collection

We need only to open our eyes.

unknown photographer, from my Tumblr collection

Many hands are needed and all are welcome to join...