After the storm

We recently had a whopper of a gale.  A long night,
then an even longer dark day of sideways rain and rattle-the-rafters wind.

The lull that followed meant only one thing - time for beachcombing - so four-paws and I

headed out to see what we could find.  I wasn't entirely sure there'd even be a shore left.

Predictions had been ominous but living as we do on a tiny rock out in the Pacific Ocean

 we know variables can be extreme island to island.  I needed to see firsthand how our
favorite spot had fared.

Thankfully, it was not so bad really.

Bull kelp was in abundance, having woven itself down the beach in dramatic ropes.  A few

boulders that support the edge of the two lane road had been displaced and
one or two megalithic tree stumps (from Canada perhaps?) had been dredged up & tossed ashore
like toothpicks.

The donations from the sea were plentiful.

I left this red one in place.  Figured a heart rock was better doing its good business under

a big sky, near a Big Puddle, than home with me in my pocket or on my windowsill.

This particular beach is in somewhat protected waters, with San Juan Island directly to 

the east & San Juan Channel in between, so it isn't like beaches that 

face the open ocean where lots of human trash prevails

(I'll pay you five dollars if you can even find a piece of sea glass on this stretch),

but it does hold a motherlode of natural detritus ...

driftwood

stones

shells

some feathers

and lots of seaweed ... especially during storm season.

And there was our "garbage" to collect and treasure.  Hadn't seen this around

for a whole year - a reddish seaweed that makes lovely rose-colored marks when wrapped in 

cloth (especially silk) if one is game to judiciously watch temperatures in the dyepot.

Worth the whole walk, was that.

:::

Have you ever heard of the British artist, Jo Atherton?

She weaves tapestries with the flotsam from her beaches & other coasts of the world

and tells some very interesting stories ...

Have a look.

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There's no place like home ...

string stone

bone

driftwood

owl feather

seaweed

beach pebble

granite square

: : :

Joining with the fine folks over at Kim's place

for Texture Tuesday ...

faved : used in multiply mode, faded 50%, center erased slightly.

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From the sea

It's been a fine, fine week

filled with many things

that just

make my heart sing

Pebbles were aligned,

tides were watched,

while in between

there was quite a bit of dunking.

I'd dyed a thrift shirt

in honor of my friend's visit

and much like in days of old

watching a photograph come to life

in the darkroom tray,

so too, my shirt's colors

after a dip in the salty brink.

Magic

pure and simple.

Kelp jewelry

and an abundant assortment of seaweed gifts

piled along the shore

inspired an experiment ...

what if they might give color?

Although I live by the sea, I have never tried.

So I waited, mustering patience

while my seaweed bundle

rested for five long days.

This morning, I unwrapped her

and I do believe a treasure trove of possibilities

await.

: : :

My  Friday Find ... joining in with the gang over at Kim's place

to celebrate life's simple pleasures.

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Taking our cues

Sometimes when I begin a post I have a fairly clear idea of where it's headed

and other times, as happened here, it veers off into another direction entirely.

This one has become an open thought, just some observations

about how connections can happen

and where they might lead,

so I'll leave it as that.

Backing up a bit, here's where my thoughts started ....

Michelle and "the boyz" had an impromptu practice session yesterday
so Isla and I headed over to the training facility to join them.
Working with our dogs is one of the great joys in our lives
and I'm certain it's the main reason M and I have became such good friends.

Sam, her Golden, is twelve years old now but still learning
new tricks.  This is a bit of platform training used in Freestyle
and Sam's just accomplished "four on" [all four paws square on the platform]
so he's been clicked for the positive behavior
and gets a yummy reward.

Benny, who's eleven, is learning verbal commands to understand

which platform M wants him on.  Here she's said, "Behind,"

and Benny has moved into position  -  M clicks

[clicker in her right hand] 

and will hand him a treat backwards.

Our dogs take turns - while one is on the floor working

the other dogs are enclosed in their crates or pens.

It's a great way for them to learn discipline while in close proximity to other dogs

and the crates also become their "safe spots" where they can always feel secure

and chill out if they need to.

We keep the exercises short & fast ... that way, the dogs stay fully engaged

and it's easier on the handlers, too, in the long run.

The dogs seem to love the practices as much as the humans.

We're building a mutual language through teamwork but perhaps best of all,

we're building comaraderie across species.

Here's the newest addition to M's doggy household, the spritely Border collie, Craig.

A youngster by comparison to his "old men" brothers,

he's barely three and believe it or not  HE  has become Isla's first boyfriend ... 

oh my, is she ever so sweet on the Craigster ... shamefully so.

They look like brother & sister - must get some portraits of them together soon

[more of that story another time].

Although he arrived with sheep herding skills under his withers,

M has some   additional plans   for this fine fella ...

as in

her next Agility companion.

So how might one teach a herding dog new tricks?

Practice, patience, practice, determination, patience, practice,

mixed together with a lively batch of hand signals,

verbal controls, body language

and endless amounts of positive reinforcement.

Taking the cue for "bow."

So far so good.

M is nothing short of focused & dedicated ... as for Craig,

OH what a happy dog he is !

After we finished, Isla and I headed to the beach.

I needed some stones for a project and anyway,

the bright afternoon was excuse enough to head outdoors.

We walked and walked 

and as the little stones clinked into my bag

I rewound thoughts from our day; 

about training, and learning ... how much dogs and humans have in common,

thoughts about how all of us take cues from our surroundings,

from what inspires, excites, 

and also from those who purposely or not

encourage us towards new directions.

Like Craig.

The beach experienced some leveling over winter which made for easy rambling.

Piles of driftwood were displaying their silvery lines

in the chilly sunshine, exposing their story, 

showing what they're made of ...

which reminded me of some lines back home.

This piece is finished now

and this stone is my next cue ...

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The next leg

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Shekels and rubies

and pearls.

Beachcombing

with needle & thread ...

stitching the tides.

~ December Views ~

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Weaving a tideline

Today I constructed a makeshift loom

done the old way from things at  hand:

a basket ~ just the right size, long and narrow ~ and a warp of leftover jute

from the bean trellis.

I first wrote about this simple style of loom-making back HERE,

with gratitude for learning.

The next ingredient: castoffs from the scrap pile, stuffed in a holdall where every leftover bit 

from every project I've ever sewn resides in one big chaotic jumble.

Seams.  Refuse.  Hemlines.  Offcuts.  Selvage.  Lots and lots of fray.

Flotsam and jetsam of the textile variety.

I need to create a tideline for some completely ordinary stones

that are in the process of becoming

something else entirely.

You see, one thing led to another after my earlier  *choosing of the stones*  with dawg.

Stones came home with us.  They sat on the kitchen counter.  Then they sat on the bed.

And before you ask, no, they did not start to talk to me  ;>]

But something was brewing ...

an idea, another story on cloth,

carried by the weight of stones and the glint of thousands of tiny beads ...

somewhat autobiographical ... the only way I seem to be able to stitch a tale these days.

No matter how sidetracked I become (all the naturally dyed fabric I can't seem to stop churning out ... 

so beautiful in it's own right, but will it sit folded on a shelf for eternity?) I always come back to 

my one main truth ...

whether woven or boro-ed, appliqued, pieced or patched, 

textiles are the landscapes where my beadwork will live.

: : :

I'm inspired today by this video, sent by Barb from our merry band of dyers (thank you!)
It's for all us who haven't been satisfied with our creative work at one time or another ...
or now ...

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

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Tricolors

Definition of tricolored ...

a.  of a dog: having a coat of black, tan and white.

b.  having, using, or marked with three colors.

First known use:  1795

... seen today by the shore, 2012.

: : :

Playing with the theme, 'from above,' in Beyond Layers,

Thanks to French Kiss for her fabulous textures in the Glorious Grunge Collection ...

and to my dear woofie for her patient paws.

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