some short stories

first crocus sighting of the season

When I looked outside and saw the steady drizzle that was sideways at times then checked the forecast to see it was just above freezing, my sofa quickly became inviting!  I knew if I went anywhere near it, that would be where I would land. That is not how I wanted the day to start.  I turned a blind eye to the sofa's direction, geared up for the weather and exited my front door. Not long thereafter I arrived at Nose Creek with my head down against the wind and drizzle. While quickly moving along I suddenly stopped in my tracks when I spotted a crocus, then another, then a pair and another pair, then a bouquet! I believe March 26th is the earliest in a season that I saw a crocus.  Lesson learned: When the going becomes not pleasant, it pays to keep your head held down!      

2026 Calendar

This is my latest water-colour painting and it will represent a spring month in my 2026 Calendar.  The theme of my 2026 Calendar is "nurtured by activity" and I want to include words of positivity and a piece of sporting equipment. While brainstorming on creating a birdwatching painting, I came upon the topic of whether bird watching is a sport to which I also learned it is a hot topic which creates heated discussions.  Walk a mile or many of birding in my shoes and you will realize you completed a physical activity.  Now back to the painting, I did a pencil drawing on scrap paper before laying lines in my watercolour book. I then painted the background and added the Bokeh effect. The bird came next using wet on wet technique. I was not liking what I saw. I let it dry, removed the clips along with the tape around the edges. I was ready to rip the page out of the book but thought otherwise.  The next day I came back to it, painted the binoculars, added the branch the bird is perched on then found a quote to include. I stood back to look at it, I smiled, I said to myself "This is a keeper!"  Lesson learned: When the going gets disappointing, it pays to second guess yourself!

transforming a heap of yarn

While in Lake Louise last week, I shared with you this photo showing the progress I was making on my then current knitting project.  It looked like a heap of blue, brown, green and white yarn.  There was method to this heap!  I found and followed a pattern to create a bag until I got into the "intarsia" technique section.  I motored my way through until it became a true messed up heap.  Enough was enough, the scene on the bag was not looking like it was intended to.  I unravelled the "intarsia" section and worked on a way that I could make this bag still be a bag containing the scene in the pattern. Instead of using the "intarsia" technique to include the trees, snow capped mountain and clouds, I needed to find a way to make this work. It felt like I was getting in over my head! I knitted each piece separately, plus a sun, and attached them once the bag was knitted.   Lesson learned:  When the going gets confusing, it pays to make things more confusing!

birding

It was rush hour traffic on the Deerfoot 500 and I questioned whether this was a smart idea to head to Carburn Park on a weekday at this time of the morning.  I packed my patience and went with the white-knuckled crazy slow go. The Park was a pleasant place to be on this morning.  I was interested in seeing how the American Bald Eagles were doing with their nest building but did not scurry over to the location as other sights and sounds were attracting my attention as you can see in the collage.  While meandering along, I did see one Eagle fly over but it was heading to I don't know where so did not follow it. I eventually arrived at the location with a view of the nest that was used last year and that the Bald Eagles did some renovations on recently. I was not expecting to see what I saw!  Two Canadian Geese took over the American Bald Eagles' nest!  I smiled! I chuckled!  Lesson learned:  For this lesson learned, I am keeping my thoughts to myself!