Summer Time





As July becomes a realty I finish up a new-to-me punchneedle design.  Obviously it is not geared to summer -- but I do love this autumn design and had to get busy on it, even though the Fall months are no where near. 

This design is from Doreen Frost's imagination  and skill.  I have heard people say that they prefer to create their own designs and I would have said that myself at one time.  BUT these days the idea of starting from scratch just does not appeal to me. 

As I stitched this piece the only change I made to the design was to use reverse PN so that instead of the loopy finish I ended up with a textured, almost drawn piece.

 
It so pleased me to sit here in my studio punching each stitch and watching the design become real.  Where is your creativity taking you these days?

"Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair..." - Susan Polis Schutz

The Winter Garden

As we delve deeper into winter I spy this beauty outside my studio window.

The Oakleaf Hydrangea never fails me.  From one season to another it gives me beauty while reminding me of time passing. 

When I took this picture the sun was shining, the air cold (but not freezing) and all was right with the world.  Entering a new year, this beautiful plant reminds me that everything has its season and some are able to remain beautiful throughout all four seasons.

"January is the quietest month in the garden...but just because it looks quiet doesn't mean nothing is happening.  The soil, open to the sky, absorbs the pure rainfall, while microorganisms convert tilled-under fodder into usable nutrients for the next crop of plants.  The feasting earth worms tunnel along, aerating the soil and preparing it to welcome the seeds and bare roots to come." - Rosalie Muller Wright, editor of Sunset Magazine 1999

The Green Wall

It is during this time of the year, here in Western North Carolina that I get hit by 'the green wall'.  Everywhere there is green -- and not just in lawns but in shrubs, bushes and trees - by the millions.

Each year I go through a semi-claustrophobic period.  Most people would say I'm crazy - what's not to like about all the beauty around me?  I think my feelings are based on being a 'western' girl.  I grew up living on the beach -- I spent much of my adulthood in desert areas.  I value the sight of the sun rising and setting in all its splendor.  I value the night sky with the stars spread from horizon to horizon.  I like knowing exactly where I am at any given time.

The first time we moved to the east and I made a drive out of my neighborhood, I got so lost.  I must have passed the same place three times before I realized I was going around in circles.  There was green everywhere.  It all looked the same and it was quite unnerving.

I love the feeling of standing in the desert and seeing and feeling the world spread out before me.  Its no longer about 'me' its about this incredible planet that we inhabit and the vastness of it compared to my smallness.  

For now I'll try to push my 'green phobia' aside - because fall and winter will soon be here and then I can complain about the cold and the leaves to rake - but by gosh I'll know where I am at any one time. *smile*

"Any landscape is a condition of the spirit." - Henri Frederic Amiel

Hydrangeas

 

Summer is here and the hydrangeas in our yard are celebrating.

 

I love their passion for life.  Are they not the Mae West of flowers?  Blowsy, outgoing, colorful -- you cannot pass them by without stopping.

As the morning sun hits them I can see the new ones, just coming on, with their very delicate flowers, and the full blown flowers with drops of last night's rain on their petals.

I celebrate along with them -- with a full heart of thankfulness.

"Flowers...are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Summer Coming

 

The trumpet vine sings its own song against the fence as I walk around the yard.

The grasses are showing teeny, tiny blooms.

The Sweetspire bushes bow under the weight of their blooms.  Soon their fragrant aroma will fill the air.

 

The Dahlia's are beginning to reveal their opulence.  Their lushness is such a treat to see.

At this time its still quiet in the garden because the bees and hummingbirds haven't quite appeared.  But they will be here soon - to add their summer songs to the mix.

"I am going to try to pay attention to the spring.  I am going to look around at all the flowers, and look up at the hectic trees.  I am going to close my eyes and listen". - Anne Lamott

Summer Blues

Its a hot August afternoon.  No relief in sight.  The plants are starting to droop and the humidity is rising with the temperature.

And then these images appear online Blue Hole of the Bahamas.
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There is magic and mystery.  Instantly a silent and deep world beckons me.  I feel cool, calm and collected.

"I feel we are all islands - in a common sea". - Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Goodbye Summer

Summer days – discovering a hidden waterfall by traveling up a ribbon of long and winding pavement. There was Shunkenwauken Falls, right along the road. The water pouring over the rocks making a warm summer day seem cool and tranquil.


Summer days - A multitude of frogs living in a small pond outside my studio window. My in-house biologist/ecologist contributed this picture of resident “Big Bubba”. DH has the knack of walking right up on the frogs whereas when I approach all I get are plop, plop, plop as they jump back in to the water.

And so I bid goodbye to summer by walking behind the waterfall at Bridal Veil Falls. There is nothing more welcome than a waterfall on a summer day.

Goodbye sweet summer and welcome fall!

"The summer song sings itself." - William Carlos Williams