PEI, kayaking, swimming, sketching and stitching

Since my last post, I’ve been to PEI to visit my family, my daughter, my grandson and my mom. We went to the Island Preserve Company for lunch and a short stroll afterwards.

There are lovely gardens and paths along the river and beautiful views from inside the restaurant. The food is great too. I recommend it. Sorry, I didn’t think to get pictures of the inside.

Call me a biased mom but I think these two are pretty cute!

I was back home by the weekend when I enjoyed the weird fall heat wave by getting out in my kayak.

And even went for a swim in the Bay! Anazing on September 23rd.

After a trail walk Sunday, I did a watercolour sketch of a few found items.

This week, I’ve caught up with some much needed housework and  tended the veggie garden. The beans, Swiss chard, lettuce and carrots are still growing in the raised bed. We’ll cover them. Tonight, I picked a bunch of tomatoes, peppers and yellow zucchini.

Finally, today, I spent most of the day in the sewing studio stitching on the waterfall. There’s still lots of work left.

Around 3:00 I stopped to get ready to go to the pool for my swim. I wish I had energy left at night to do more stitching. My head really wants to but the body won’t cooperate.

I’ve got some paperwork for a submission to get done in the morning and a dentist’s appointment later in the day. In between I will be stitching.

The best kind of day--kayaking, sketching and stitching.

This morning, while hubby was golfing, I actually went kayaking along the Beresford beach and into the lagune to sketch. It's been a year since my hip replacement and 9 months since my shoulder repair. I'm so happy to finally be able to get myself in and out of the kayak!

The air was still, slightly cool and a bit hazy when I started.

It soon cleared and warmed up.

It was very calm and I paddled lazily with the tide.

I paddled along the beach, through the channel and into the lagune.

One of the best paddling days all season. Of course I say that every time, lol.

I stopped against the shore for an apple and some sketching.

Back home after lunch, I went straight to my sewing studio where I finished stitching some lace onto this piece that's been lolling about for a while.

I will trim it this week and cut a binding for it.

After lightly tacking with a basting stick all the little pieces I've been cutting for the rocky section of the waterfall piece, I finally got it to the machine and just had time to get started free motion stitching the black sections.

I've only laid out some of my thread lace to see how it might work for the water. I think it may be ok once I press it flat, shape it and stitch it down. The purple shows more than I'd like but I think will recede when I stitch more on top of it. I hope.

That was my Saturday. I'm feeling pretty lucky. I hope your weekend is going well too.

Stitching foliage

As long as the sin is shining, I feel it's a priority for me to get outside. We've been very fortunate to miss the terrible weather that the hurricanes have inflicted down south so I don't want to wish for a rainy day to stay inside. I went to my first yoga class this morning in a long time-- since before all my surgeries. A gentle flow yoga. It went pretty well. On my way home I drove out to a farm and picked up some greens and a bag of garlic. 

After lunch, I went for a short walk on the trail nearby. 45 minutes. Just a short time ago I would have considered it a long walk!  I love the soft colors and textures in this fungi.

My eye is often drawn to little details such as this old stump that is gradually being reclaimed by the earth. A microcosm. I've passed this stump by many times from when it was solid and have watched it gradually being eaten and broken down into sawdust with bits of fungi and foliage growing inside it.  

While walking I'm also thinking about how I'll proceed with my latest fibre art piece. The dilemma was what to do about all the small pieces I'd cut. I decided tomstart to stitch working my way from top to bottom. I thought about tacking it all down with dabs of glue but that would be a lot of dabbing! Instead, I rolled it all as tightly as possible and clipped it. Lol. The clips are inside the rolled part below.

I started free motion stitching most of the foliage at the top of the waterfall. Nothing was pinned or fused which is totally new for me. I was holding my breath until I got going. I plan to work my way down the waterfall section and go back to add small details like thread lace foliage later.

My window doesn't look out on an ocean or large vista but I appreciate my garden view just as much. It calms me.

Gardening and gathering

Transitioning from summer to fall is a bittersweet time. Im letting go of hot days (which I don't miss) and swimming in the bay and moving into slightly cooler days with more walking and hiking.

Since that 4 hour hike last weekend--I still can't believe I did it-- I purchased a small backpack with a water bladder and a new set of poles. I've got the hiking bug! It's also the time to move into the garden to gather the ends of vegetables, to pull out those that are done and to do some trimming.

Some fall blooms are truly showy, like the pink tinged hydrangea that actually need the cool nights to turn them pink.

All of the beautiful seed pods remind me that while many plants are  turning color (the spectacular part of a maritime fall) and many are shriveling and dying, that these wonderful little cases that are left behind are quite beautiful in their archetecture and importantly, they carry the seeds for next years plants. They represent hope and the eternal cycling of the seasons. After spending a couple of hours outside, pulling, picking, and pruning, it was time to come inside for a break. I made a tea and sat at the table with a few sprigs.

I got out a sketchbook and paints.

Lately, I've noticed that my hand is a little shaky but I still enjoy a detailed study sometimes.

Tomorrow there is rain in the forecast so I expect to be spending the afternoon in my sewing studio.