It wasn't planned that way but my last painting of 2023 filled the last page in my water-colour journal. This is my first painting of 2024 and is on the second page of my new journal (I always leave the first page blank.) I skated three times this week and the scenes on January 2nd at The Lagoon were spectacular. The view (in the reference photo below) spoke loud and clear to me to replicate it in some way. This is my answer to that calling!
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The groomers have been working on the Ice Trail to get it back to being good to skate on after all the warm weather we have been experiencing. On this morning when I arrived, it was just flooded and looked so shiny and bright. The back side along the river is my favourite section of the entire Trail and it was in ideal condition. There were two short sections on the opposite side that were slush, I gingerly walked around them.
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While it is not the best for birding these days, I did not want the week to go by without a visit to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. On this day, the entire route the whole way around, in every direction, was sheer ice. I know better and should have brought my spikes. I did manage to spent a couple of hours admiring everything while staying upright the whole time. I liked how the trees created a frame around the tiny partial moon.
crystal creations framing the leaf
OH NO! This photo is zoomed in. I stood and watched from a safe distance. The coyote did nothing but watch the geese and ducks. I monitored the coyote for quite some time, it eventually turned around and walked along the ice away from the water.
OH MY I have so much to learn about knitting! In my post of December 22nd called "Welcoming Winter", I shared about taking on a new project of knitting a blanket. I purchased needles and a few balls of yarn after doing a tiny bit of homework, but as it turns out, I did not get a passing grade on my homework. This will now be a patchwork blanket somehow put together with many different sizes and shades of squares. I am now purchasing the same brand, weight and bulkiness of yarn yet in shades that blend OK together and will knit the same size of squares. This photo shows my progress so far. I will admit, I am enjoying this craft, I am learning as I go and I am curious as to what the outcome will look like. I have loads more squares to stitch and lots more yarn to buy! Oh what a tangled blanket I am knitting!
A wonderful painting and photos. Such beautiful colours in the skies. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteThank You for dropping in and leaving a comment! Your blog name sounds intriguing and I will be stopping in for a visit. Happy New Year to you!
DeleteLove the colours of your knitted squares. I’m glad you are enjoying the process. As ever I love your snowy icy pictures. B x
ReplyDeleteMore snow on the way this week with very low temperatures, so more snowy scenes to come. The more I knit, the more I enjoy it, especially when I see improvement.
DeleteHi Alexandra,
ReplyDeleteYou sure have another enjoyable post here. I learned some new things … the way you are incorporating your artwork into your journals is so cool. I give you high marks for your art created from the fire-pit photo. Excellent! Now, the ice trail … that is a gorgeous photo of the trail with the sun so close to the horizon. I am curious … from the video it sounds like you were walking on the trail … but from the looks of the trail it must be super slippery. You mentioned not having your spikes along … so maybe you were wearing those new snow boots you got a while back. Do you usually wear when walking that trail in winter? Do you skate on the trail?
The photo of the ice “wrapped” leaf is pretty amazing and the coyote watching the geese and ducks is another neat catch. Next, I missed your post of Dec 22 when you mentioned starting to knit a blanket. A neat project indeed! When looking back to Dec 22 I found a few other posts I had missed. You really put a lot into your posts and do a fine job with your blog. Best wishes on the blanket … can’t wait to see the final result.
Lastly, thank you so much for your comment on my last post “The Chief Invites You.” Comments like yours encourage me to keep going with my blog. I appreciate you! Have a good week ahead and take care!
John
I am skating on the ice trail in that video, it is only for skating on. It is swept of snow if there has been snow and flooded each morning. In the summer it is a dirt trail for walking on. I wear my spikes a lot for winter walking and hiking, more so this winter with all the freeze/thaw there is loads of ice on the pathways.
DeleteI enjoy the artistic side of creating blog posts. Receiving comments sure does help with wanting to keep posting so I can relate to your thoughts on that.
A wonderful painting of your excursion on January 2. What wondrous morning light! Then the sun glistens on the ice with a magic, blue sky, background. Crystal creations and a scavenging coyote also make for another magical winter's morning's excercise. Your knitting on the left is looking very even. Continue to enjoy. Winter is the best time for this activity.
ReplyDeleteYou have a way with words and I like how you describe what you see, your words add a nice touch of elevation! I am happy with the squares on the left and making more of those. I am leaning towards leaving the other squares and doing something else with them.
DeleteA very beautiful painting.
ReplyDeleteWinter has something of magic with all that ice and its colors: your photos enhance this magic.
The photo with the coyote is priceless!
More intense magic to come this week! I was wondering if the coyote was thinking about its next meal and how to catch one of those ducks!
DeleteIce trail! I'd love to skate that. This IA making me post as anonymous. Mary, aka mountains are calling.
ReplyDeleteThe Ice Trail is my favourite place to skate, wish there were more like it! I notice on other blogs that people are commenting about having to post as anonymous. I have been having issues with commenting on your Substack site, I was able to at first but now I can't. I still enjoy reading your stories.
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