resurrection fern

a tiny celebration with tina and the ferns

I want to share a little treat I discovered thanks to google alerts. A lovely young lady with a gorgeous voice, an adorable ukulele and a name that fits perfectly ( tina verbena). You all have to stop what ever you are doing and have a listen to this.  Tina and the picture perfect ferns I observed unfurling themselves in the forest this week are my way of celebrating hitting one million views. I thought typepad would have had a little snail brass wind orchestra playing a marching tune but perhaps that will happen when little old RF hits a billion. 

 

Time to harvest some fiddleheads and enjoy them with dinner.

a million thanks

m    

what if

What if there were two suns, one in the sky and the other in the water.

What if they spoke in colorful language

just before dusk

and then darkness fell

like the last leaf from the ancient oak tree

what if

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a music video that my daughter,  shared with me this week. It reminded her of Iceland, the arctic, Nova Scotia and me. I loved it.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

like a bird on a wire

I had a "tiny happy" sort of morning. If you know the lovely melissa and her always inspiring blog you will relate to this. The other night as I was driving home I had to pull over a take a picture of birds, power lines and sky.

I got out my blue linen, made some white sponged areas for the hint of clouds, black embroidery thread and stitched up this. One of the things I love most about melissa  is how she sees something that inspires her and in no time flat she has translated it freehand onto fabric with a needle and thread.

TIP: How to make a tiny little bird with two french knots and three tiny stitches. Make a french knot wrapping the single thread 5 times for the body. Close by make a french know for the head wrapping 3 times. One little stitch for the beak and two in a chevron shape for the tail. There you have a tiny little bird.

Related links :

>powerlines mini trend scroll down to the post on the 11th of september

repeat fabric

my second favorite leonard cohen song

(the first is suzanne)

this new flickr contact and amazing artist

this flickr group

"I have tried in way to be free" 

free to wander,

free to observe,

free to create

thank you summer of 2009

 

lines of latitude : a musical giveaway today

Today's post perfectly comes together with music and lyrics from the self titled first album by lines of latitude (Rebekah's boyfriend) and photographs of Nova Scotia by Rebekah. His lyrics are so hauntingly beautiful and I love that he enunciates his prose so clearly while his fingers dance over his guitar. I asked him to tell us a little about the influences and inspiration for his music and his answer was traveling, biographies, clocks, nick drake, antique furniture, handcrafted

instruments and woodwork. 

The First Quarter

I remember when the clouds hung low above the beach,

Like suspended heirlooms for the meek.

And by the crown of the mountain, the moon shone through,

And glazed the tender shore.

But for every mess I have left behind,

I will return for.

I just hope that I'm claimed before I am placed aside

Roll my eyes skyward,

at the moon and at me, it makes faces.

I'm under old-fortune and I can't object to anything worthless,

Or unkempt.

Maybe this time I will recede with you,

As you wax your cracking skin.

My fermented memories I have seemed to have lost,

In the time of passing.

I just hope to reclaim them before I am forced, to re-map

Roll my eyes skyward,

at the moon and on me, it leaves traces.

Time's Arrow

At night, I think there might be something more.

By the sounds I'm insured for any loss, be it bound or not,

to return.

And what I save, oh what I have sent away I will leave for the shore to devour.

Or cast my hook, through the pairing brook.

Kiss the river's mouth.

Seconds wade, across where you swim.

And then render you down.

It's the timing, that I can't ignore,

The constant rowing of arms.

Over time, your stone will become weathered and dry.

Soon you will be sure.  

As trade winds confirm, that what you've just learned, 

Is no longer true.

Minutes stay, for longer than you wait,

And then count you down.

But it's of timing, that I am composed,

The arrow will always behold.

Heartsease

Here lies a sound, like a sullen vase.

It used to sleep outside, next to the whispering bells.

Where the amber coats claim, that they can't be seen. 

But only dear Thyme, care for how they dress.

They know more than they say.

Because they hear it all.

Though they can't begin to see, 

How they lend for some space to breathe.

It's been some time, my how you grow.

You seem inspired, what have you done?

And please forgive me for the unmade beds, on which you rest. 

But save for the rain and the soil, you're in this on your own.

The wind comes in and wakes, 

everything in it's way.

And the tress begin to shake, 

And leave all they've got to leave.

I hope you enjoyed that. The last photograph shows some wonderful smooth sea stones and it just so happens that Rebekah hauled a few home for me. You might have already noticed them on my new porch dresser but this next picture with that magical setting autumn sun shows them in a new light. Thanks so much you two for thinking of me on your east coast adventure. Of course I did drop a big hint about taking payment for loaning you my car in stones:)

So today I have 5 CDs to giveaway and one lucky commenter will also win a crochet covered stone with their musical prize. You have until Monday at midnight to leave a comment. I would love to hear what your line of latitude is either literally or figuratively. 

My coordinates are :

Lat: 43 42 00 N  degrees minutes   Lat: 43.7000  decimal degrees Long: 079 25 00 W  degrees minutes   Long: -79.4167  decimal degrees You can find yours here.  Of course the other definition of latitude is : " Freedom from normal restraints, limitations, or regulations." For my life this means having the freedom to pursue the "slow movement" in my art, craft and nature explorations. I am planning a longer discussion of this in a future series of posts.  Now its your turn. Comment away!!!

Tomorrow another day and an amazing giveaway to end the week. 

Ode to Magnolia

Oleander, Oleander
Will you bloom again this spring?
I adored you, then I ignored you,
And now to me you're everything
And those white blossoms that you gave freely
Are now just twinkles in your eye
Oh beholder, Oleander,
Grows on the inside.

She will forgive me for I bring water,
A sunny window to sit by
Oleander, I understand her,
She's just waiting for the time,
To say it's alright,
Another season,
Has brought us another chance,
We're together, in this hot weather,
To dance.

Oleander,
I think you'd better,
I think you made it through another winter.

Well nothing has ended, it's all been mended,
It's the way that it should be,
You're coming back, you're coming back,
It was so lonely here just me,
This time no promises of what's to come,
We'll just live it for the day,
Oleander, I see you stand there and I know you'll be okay.

Oleander,
I think you'd better,
I think you made it through another winter.

Oleander,
I think you'd better,
I think you made it through another winter.
This is a song by the wonderful canadian singer songwriter and environmentalist sara harmer. I want you to go back and read the song substituting the word magnolia for oleander. Their now, that makes more sense . We have a beautiful large magnolia tree growing beside our wrap around porch. A few weeks ago a huge chunk of ice slid off our metal roof and broke a huge branch off my this favorite tree of mine. I decided to bring a large part of it into the house and placed it in a vase with water. I was planning to hang some easter decorations from it but never got around to that. I forgot about this branch after easter until a few days ago I noticed some bud casings on the living room floor and when I looked at the branch closely I was excited to find that it was starting to bud. Today when I came home from work there was a special surprise waiting for me the first two magnolia flowers on the branch had bloomed.

I am so glad I didn't give up on that branch and leave it out in the snow and ice or toss it into the compost. It has given me so much joy to observe the beauty of these flowers so closely.

With a little bit of care the magnolia branch was resurrected , an important lesson for us to learn. We should never give up on things even if the situation looks hopeless.

I have to share with you a little story about the sara harmer song above and one of the most romantic public events I have ever witnessed ( not including my own marriage ceremony) . Last summer we had a folk festival for the first time in our area and sara harmer was invited to perform. It was a beautiful warm summer day ( I am so looking forward to some of those) and she was in fine form singing her heart out in front of the audience. When she started singing the song oleander a gentleman in the front got down on one knee and proposed to his beautiful partner . Sara could see what was happening and she herself got very caught up in the moment asked everyone else to sit down and then continued to sing oleander with the couple waltzing in front of the stage. Looking around you could see a lot of tears of joy for this couple. It was a very special moment and a wonderful song for this soon to be wed couple to call their own. I wonder whether sara will sing at their wedding?