Well, it's been a few weeks... Where do I start?
What a difference a year makes! Last few years, our summers have been horrible. We never really had a summer quite honestly as it was just a long cold wet spring that became fall. Last summer my sister arrived from a 2,000 km drive with her two daughters in the middle of July and our temperatures had not hit above 15C yet! And it just rained and rained and rained prior to her arrival. Though it got somewhat better after she got here, not by a whole lot. The summer continued like that but I admit we had the most glorious fall.
This year has more than made up for the last few summers. To the extreme really. It has been a very hot dry summer to start off with and then about 3 weeks ago it turned humid. Today, we have our first serious rainfall in a few months and conditions will be much more comfortable after that. Temperatures with the humidex were in the mid 30's almost every day, not cooling off much during the night as there was little or no wind. This long spell of hot humid weather is unusual for us as we usually get cooled off by ocean breezes so needless to say, very very few houses on the island have central air or air conditioning!
Anyways, Mom has been and gone and we had a lovely time. She is getting on in years and needs the help of a walker or rollator to walk. She managed to get around quite well on her own, leaving me to remain splayed out in my recliner numb with the heat and humidity while she sat in the back yard listening to the birds and enjoying our "cool" temperatures. You see, she comes from Southern Ontario, where the summer has seen temps in the high 40 's C with the humidity!
I have done absolutely no stitching whatsoever! I did pick up the Mary Wigham sampler the other day in the hopes of stitching while a small fan was blowing on me, but, the fabric was dampish and almost swollen in the humidity and the floss struggled to get through it so I left it for a drier and cooler day.
So what to talk about? Well, I thought I might think on something I've noticed lately. My husband and I like to go for drives and walks and so there is alot of opportunity for picture taking. What I've noticed for about the last year or so is that when I have taken a photo that I especially like, I take a big breath and expel air when I have finished taking the photo, as if something quite extraordinary has happened. I'm not sure I can explain what this breath is all about, but know it feels very satisfying and it is a good thing.
It usually comes when taking a photo like this.....
It was taken on the Homestead Trail at Cavendish National Park. It's hard to explain what I feel at a scene like this. The colour of the grasses are glorious and are made even more spectacular against the blue of the water and the sky. It was such a lovely afternoon, not a soul in sight, nothing to hear except seagulls calling over the water and singing birds in the trees. When I look at the photo, I can remember the smell of the grasses and seaweed in the water, and the salt in the water. Taking the photo was like trying to capture a moment in time and keeping it forever.
One of my favorite things to try to photograph is light and shadow. There is something about the light and the dark that fascinates me. These are two examples.
When I sit as a passenger in the car, as my husband drives, or as I walk trails, the cliffs of our island, I am attracted by the colours around me. If the scene before me is not dramatic because of light and dark, then it may be dramatic because of the colours, usually complimentary colours on the colour wheel.
I hope to capture that same excitement in my stitching and sewing. I keep my colour wheel with me always and hope to create something dramatic and moving. I am always turning my colour wheel back and forth to see what might be the best colour to use for what I want to do next. But, sometimes, you just have to go with your gut.
I sit here now, the sun having gone down, listening to the rain gently falling to the parched ground. Our grass has long since dried up and I'm sure I hear it joyfully laughing, lifting its arms up to capture as much of the rain as it can.. Perhaps a little melodramatic on my part but it has been a long hot summer and I am feeling a bit melodramatic and out of sorts!
I hope to get back to stitching soon and perhaps bring a bit of sanity to my next post!
Hope you are all well.
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