Winter Beautiful xo

Right between the Winter Solstice and Christmas, my good Australian friend had family come visit her for the holidays.  The plan was for me to take them all out to see 'winter' on the prairie.  We've had such a very mild winter.  As luck would have it, the night before we went out had a thick fog just full of moisture in the air.  It stuck to everything, and we ended up with a world coated in hoar frost the next morning!  How lucky for the Australian visitors!  I decided Beaver Creek Conservation area would be the best since there's a lot of trails through trees there - things for the frost to stick to.  Last year we spent the morning at Cranberry Flats.

As we drove up to the parking lot, I was thoroughly fulfilled by the fields and grasses!  (You know me... who needs trees?)  The grasses and seed heads were gorgeous.  It looks like thick icing sugar dusted on everything,  People love to take pictures of this dead tree that just won't fall over.  lol

Truthfully - the above photo was taken on our way out, after the daylight had filled the air.  The first photos were so dark and so blue before the sunrise.  It was almost spooky!

There was really no colour besides grasses and the peeled back bark.  The chickadees were out full force and followed us where ever we went.  Here's my friend with her guest waiting for the birds to come and land (which they did).

It was so very fun that morning.  On the way back out, OH MAN!!  That field just made me SO happy.  ; )

Once we got to the city again, the sun came out at the sky turned blue.  The guests went out again for more photos.  It was never ended change of scenery.  It was magical.

Wonderful.  AND THEN...  my friend introduced me to some photo filtering apps. These is so great, and gives me so many ideas...

and THIS!  ...

Isn't that cool?  My husband hates it because it's a 'fake painting' so to speak.  Still... I spent hours putting loads of images through it.  My dog - trees - fields - sunsets - lakes.... so fun.  : )

I hope your holidays were lovely and memorable.  All the best to you and yours,

Things I Love Thursdays

I love Canada Day.  July 1st - we headed out for our annual floral photo hunt.  July 1st always seems loaded with flowers.  Even though we have had very little rain, I was surprised to see what I did!

Of course, the first to catch my eye were batches of Prairie Coneflowers.  It's pretty hard to walk past this on a trail and not break into a joyful smile!

Bergamot - oh how I love love love bergamot!  They were growing high up on a hill overlook the creek bed.

So darn pretty!  Here's a closer crop...

Aaaah - there's just something about purple.  I find it so soothing lately.

Deeper into the trails, I found these pretty pink and white bells on a shrub.  I'm not sure what they are but aren't they pretty!?

How do these flowers grow without water?  These next show-offs thrive on dry land.  Look at the big bursts of colour!

I'm so glad I finally took an entire day off with my family.  The bees and butterflies were quite happy - they were all over the place.  The wild roses are just finishing up.  The Blazing Stars are done.  But I found something interesting!  Here is Blue Flax.

And here is Yellow Flax.  !  I've heard of it but never happened upon any.  I love that they were so abundant for my treasure hunt.  : )  I happen to love the background in this next photo almost as much as the flowers that are focused on.

Had you noticed?  I had my big zoom lens on and the backgrounds gave the flowers such an interesting feel.  I'm so glad I brought the big camera.  I've been entirely lazy all year, snapping quick cell phone pics.  tsk tsk.

Here again is a really lovely crop of some Anemones growing in the wild.  (I have lots in my yard.)

And some bells - you tell me.  Everytime I name these, someone tells I'm wrong.  They are so special and so tender, aren't they?

Well there you go - I have lots more but I'll save them for Sunday.

I hope you had a  * * * HAPPY CANADA DAY * * * !!  xo  I'm so glad we went out to enjoy our little part of this big beautiful country.  Aren't we lucky!!?

Have a lovely Thursday,

Sunday Snapshots

Sunday was a BEAUTIFUL day.  It was windy which kept the mosquitoes from landing.  It was between 20C - 22C which is about room temperature: not too hot, not too cold.  There was not a cloud in the sky and the the air was so much cleaner after a few days of forest fire smoke blowing in.

I sewed nothing.  Nada.  I took the whole day off to play, hike, swim...  it was awesome.

Enjoy.

The above was taken at Pike Lake into the evening.

Below was take at Beaver Creek Conservation Area.  Bee Balm, right?

Oh it was GORGEOUS.  None of these photos were touched up or brightened.  It was just that pretty and bright out there today.  : )

High above the Saskatchewan River...  look!

joy

And Ooooh!  Look!  The Saskatoon Berries are ripe!  mmmmm....

high at the tops of the bushes

Is it me?  These photos make me want to cry.  They are so clear and colorful.  I can't take credit for them.  It's all mother nature.  The prairies seemed to be so vibrant today.  : )  It was really worth my while to head out and take a day off.

And then just as we were heading back, deep in the bushed in a remote trail I found them!!  Prairie Lilies - our provincial flower - in full bloom naturally.  *Those suckers are hard to come by.

Yay!

Happy Sunday.  I hope you enjoyed yours as much as I did.

Finished It Friday : )

Wow.  Do I ever feel like I've accomplished things this week.  I feel ahead of the game regarding deadlines (knock on wood!).  I did not love the 'Fields of Gold' that I made for a commission, so I started up another simple autumn scene.  The colors are much more subtle, based on a photo I took on the way to Beaver Creek.

auditioning fibres

It was the end of summer and there were Prairie Coneflowers growing by the roadside.  I stayed up all night adding the hand stitching to it.  I loved every stitch.

It looks quite stunning in the frame I have at home.  That was the problem with the other one.  I didn't love the color scheme.  This one was an after-thought and I really love it.  It makes me happy.

Roadside, 2013  (actual size)

I matted all my other work and dropped it all off to be framed.  (!!!)  We picked some really pretty frames!  I can't wait to see them all once they are back.  Before I headed out, I was sure to take high res photos of each one.  SO... since you told me this is not boring, here they all are once again.  : )

September Grasses, 2013

Fields at Floral Road 2, 2013

Autumn Blonde, 2013

Hills at Jackfish, 2013

Yay!  Now off to the Quilt Show I go!  I'll be the woman with the red shopping cart.  hehe

Things I Love Thursday

I love the heat of September.  I love how I can watch the season shift at a noticeable pace.  Things are still fairly green but slowly changing and going to seed.  It's been very, very dry.

I took my middle child out to Beaver Creek with his friends for a birthday party / nature hike.  The photo above is from the point of view of the 'green trail' atop a cliff overlooking the creek.  (yesyes I will be stitching this!)  Can anyone i.d. the grasses?  I knew them once but forgot.  Red fescue!?

Off to feed the chickadees!

I love taking photos and realizing creatures are hidden amongst the grasses! : )

Also, I saw my first sandhill crane!  I love when wild birds come close.  My gosh does it EVER look like a prehistoric creature!  Unbelievable.  It felt like a scene from Jurassic Park.  The lone crane walked up the creek very, very slowly - stopping to quirk it's head to the side as if to say, "really??"  It came all the way up to us on the bridge and then it took to flight.  It spread its wings and flapped them ever so gracefully.   It moved slow through the air.  It was weird!  It was hardly moving, yet it was flying.  My littlest and I were totally mesmerized (and far out of reach of my camera).  If you have time to google the Sandhill Crane, you should!  I found this little youtube video here.  They make a strange loud sound that reminds me of a cross between a turkey and a pigeon.  They dance too.  lol.

ps - if you are squeamish about grasshoppers, maybe don't head out there.  The place is LOADED with them.

Sunday Snapshots

: )))  Grasses from Beaver Creek, work (still) in progress...

Happy Sunday to you.  :)

Sunday Snapshots

Minus 30 degrees Celcius...  we headed out to Beaver creek to feed the Chickadees with our bare hands.  : )  Enjoy the photos I took along the way home as the sun began to sink around 5pm.

this photo makes my heart skip a beat!!  : )

I accidentally headed down the wrong road.  Saskatoon was east.  I went west.  I turned around and saw this lovely bright red facing the setting sun.  It was so striking as everything was a soft pink & blue.

The blue winter shadows on the prairie are SO long when there's nothing in the way.  : )

It's not glaringly obvious, but if you'll notice, there are all the primary colors in this next photo - soft blue, yellows, and pink (light red).  I thought that was kind of neat.

I love my new camera!   : )

Speaking of photos - congrats to B J Elder!  Your name was chosen for a 2013 Calendar that I have a photo in.  Send your mailing address to me at mysweetprairie@gmail.com and I will mail it off to you first thing.  : )

Happy Sunday Everyone!

A Bird in the Hand

Between company, classes, presentations, and paperwork... I have not been sewing much this month at all.  I have a gazillion photos for inspiration as soon as the season settles down.  I did finish Steffi's quilt for her late son.  She came a week ago to pick it up.  It was a pretty great moment for both of us when I could finally fill her arms with that great big quilt made from Aaron's clothing.  She wrote to me later and said, "thank you from the bottom of my broken heart".  I don't even know how to reply to that.  My heart goes out to her.

It's fall now on the prairie.  The official Autumn Equinox is this weekend!  We have friends in town for a visit, so we'll be having our big turkey dinner tonight.  We do that every year - say what we are thankful for on the first day of Autumn, share food, and drink wine.  The kids are excited to come home from school today!  It's going to smell so good.  It's been so long since we've had turkey with all the fixings.

I took them out to Beaver Creek.  There's just no way I couldn't let them experience this!  They loved every second of it.  The chickadees are soooo tame, they actually follow you around out there.

So happy Autumn to all of you.  Enjoy the weekend.  It's a time of balance where night and day are equal.  It's a time to reflect on the accomplishments of the summer, and to think about settling in with new dreams and projects through the next seasons.  At least that's how I see it.  ; )

ps... today I'm linking this to Friday Felicities.  : )

Things I Love Thursdays

I love autumn.  I took a friend whom I haven't seen in about 20 years out to Beaver Creek this morning.  WOW.  I can't believe I haven't been out here before!

I love the way the grass turns red.  From afar, it looked pink!

I love these bouquets of goldenrod at the turn off by the highway.

What a beautiful place it is right now.  Thank you Donna for inviting me out!  : )

: )  Happy Thursday!