Gray Fall Days

 "The color of truth is gray."

Andre Gide

I went walking the other day before the rain got going, to look for sticks for a project. I love this old tree, it is down near the river bank. At some point it split in two and both halves, the one still vertical as well as that laying on the ground continued to grow. The one on the ground seems to have finally given in. Sad as that is, I am always intrigued with the weathering of the exposed wood. 

"Sketch" Books

 " What is possible in art becomes thinkable in life."

Brian Eno

Tiny books

I did some samples with the padauk sawdust I had soaking today, and of course ideas lead to other ideas, so I am not quite done with that in order to do a post. But if it weren't for these little books I might never have started the whole process. I have been reading Sketchbook Explorations by Shelley Rhodes and am really inspired by it. When I used to make a lot of clothing I doodled ideas down on random slips of paper, but never really kept a sketchbook. Shelley takes so many approaches to a sketchbook, it is hard to pick something and get started! I have had these little books forever, I can't even remember where they came from. I liked the way they looked so much, just as they were, that they became too precious and I was afraid I would "mess them up" somehow. It's a sketchbook for crying out loud-use it!

They are about four inches square, the covers are heavy pasteboard, like a children's book. They are held together with gunmetal gray binder clips. The first thing to do was to take the original papers out of them. I started with the one in the center. The paper was bonded, or had some sort of finish on it, so when I dipped it in that kind of sheen that is on the top of indigo dye it ended up looking like marbling. The one in the center back is a mixture of the original paper and watercolor paper. All the pinks, blues, and purples come from hibiscus tea. The more yellow looking paper is the original paper in the book. Both were allowed to soak in the tea and as you can see, the watercolor paper "dyed" and the tea tended to puddle on the original paper. The tea changed color, from pink to blue and purple, as it dried. The other two books are all eco printed papers. The brighter on the left is poinsettia. The one on the right is the more interesting parts of some ho-hum eco prints that I cut to size. As you can see in the two center books I used hole punches and stamps on the pages. I haven't decided what the next step is for the eco printed ones.

There is no pressure with this-they aren't "for" anything. Working in layers and letting something from underneath show through pleases me. I also liked machine stitching on the paper and may do more of that, or some hand stitching-we will see. These little projects lead to bigger projects.

Anyway, just letting you know that the results of the sawdust dye are on the way and I had hoped to post those the next time, but now I am soaking more sawdust as I want to try a different approach to the mordant.

Report from the Backyard

"If we built houses the way we build software, the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization."

Clifford Stoll

Can you tell I have been spending way too much time filling out online forms, surveys, and not to mention online financial stuff? And let me tell you how much I enjoy listening to a lovely recorded message about whatever I am calling about can be found on the callee's website. That would be the one I am staring at, and have been staring at-and clicking endlessly on-for the last half hour. BTW, I have no idea who Mr. Stoll is, but he seems a very wise man.

The backyard keeps me grounded. Watching what plants are coming back to life, keeping track of the birds and their goings on remind me that there is a bigger world out there. They just deal with whatever they are dealing with and then there is the next moment and the next and the next. The Flicker is busy trying to find a mate. I have start calling him Ruddy the Riveter. The other day he started out on the furnace vent pipe on the barn, taping away. Today, even in the blustery wind we are having, he was at it again on the peak of the barn roof. All these are metal structures, he is not looking for a meal. He is looking for a partner. He is say "Look at me!" "Pick me-I am the best!" in his rat-a-tat sort of way. He needs to find the substrate that will make the loudest sound so the girl of his dreams will come along and claim him. Kind of like applying for grants, but I digress.

So, since getting a decent picture of this is impossible, I asked a dear friend to send me one of her paintings. Her name is Linnea Tobias and her work is wonderful. So bright and beautiful, and in a lot of cases thought provoking as well. You can see many of her lovely works on her Etsy site and when the Pottery Place Plus opens up again you can see them in person.

Flicker with Dahlia by Linnea Tobias

I have been putting eco printing on my Etsy shop, and adding new buttons every day, be sure to check back often-Thanks!

Eco Printing on Gourds

"Inspiration exists, but it must find us working."

Pablo Picasso

Eco printing with walnut leaves on a gourd. I was messing around with eco printing on porcelain and then decided to see what would happen to a gourd, since I have a lot of them. I never had figured out exactly what I wanted to do with them-maybe this was the idea that was supposed to come along.

I soaked the gourds, the plant material, and the wrapping all in iron water and used leaves that usually work well with iron, kind of stacking the odds in my favor. Getting a gourd to actually soak is kind of trick-they want to bob around. As long as they don't have any cracks or holes they do not get mushy.

Trying to figure out how to keep the leaves attached until I could wrap the blanket around it. This worked pretty well.

Wrapped up and getting ready to steam. Needless to say the lid wouldn't go on the pan, so I made it a foil tent and steamed it for an hour. Since we have now officially run out of summer here (13 degrees last week-yikes!) gourds will have to wait until next year. I am getting some things together with the porcelain, pictures soon!

The holidays are coming! As promised I did put some scarves in the Etsy shop, along with many new buttons, pendants, and papers so be sure to check that out.

The Only Constant in Life is Change

"Man cannot discover new oceans  unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."

Andre Gide

Low tide

High tide

The Color Red

I came across a writing prompt that said to pick a color and watch for it all day, then write about it. Since this is the season of commerce (places you can catch up with me are at the end of this post) and not much in the way of creating in the studio goes on, writing will have to do. I have to make something every day or I get crabby.

A woman was standing in my booth one time and ask me what was the hardest color to obtain. Since I don't really think about what I do in those terms, it kind of took me by surprise, but after a quick glance around I said "Well, if you take a look there isn't much in the way of red, in fact, no red at all." At that point I explained that while there were several options in natural dyes to obtain red, not many of them grow around here. For the most part I limit myself to what is available in the area, I figure I have already used up my carbon allotment by working on imported silk and then I also avoid dealing with the question of how a given dye stuff was harvested and shipped. Madder root, a traditional dye plant, is considered hardy to zone 5 so in the right position in the yard it would probably grow here, but it is a pretty big commitment. If it gets going it has to be in a raised bed as it can be invasive and it takes at least two years for the acid in the roots to be strong enough to make the dye, three to four years is better. Since actual whole cloth dyeing is not really my thing, it seems like a lot of work. We have its obnoxious little relative here, Lady's Bedstraw, that to my understanding will make some sort of a pink. Considering how invasive this naturally occurring plant is in the garden, you would think I would be all over it. Trying to find its roots however, is pretty challenging. They are very fine and you end up plowing up an entire garden plot just to finally get enough to work with. I decided it was just better to rip the plants off the top and dry them for a tea that is supposed to ward off kidney stones, a malady I hope I never get again, so I am willing to do about anything.  

Here is the red I saw in the last couple of days. Eastern Washington has entered the gray time of year. The sky is very often gray with fog, and unless there is snow, the ground gets gray and muddy as well. It gets dark early, Google informs me that sunset will be at 4:21 PM today. Red pops out.

Hawthorn leaf in a pile of cherry leaves

Hawthorn berries that will be picked off by the birds all winter

Mountain cranberries, also bird food.

As I was walking across the yard I thought I saw a bright red piece of fabric stuck in the border garden. It was this little rose bush putting out its last effort for the year! I was so surprised as we have had some really cold nights already, I guess it just had one more thing to say.

Anyway, you can catch up with me in at the following shows, and of course my work is always at Pottery Place Plus, 203 N Washington, Spokane, WA

Tonight I will have jewelry and scarves at The Inland Empire Gardeners' monthly meeting at Centerplace 2426 N Discovery Place, Spokane Valley WA. The market runs from 6-7 PM, meeting starts at 7:00

The Spokane Women's Club 5th Annual Artisans and Crafters Show, 1428 W 9th Ave. Spokane, Wa This Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 10-4

Custer's Christmas Arts and Crafts Show

Spokane Fair and Expo Center 404 N Havana St, Spokane Valley, WA

November 16th-18th Friday 10-8; Saturday 9-6; Sunday 10-4

Urban Art Cooperative's Holiday Market

3209 N Monroe, Spokane, WA

November 30th-December 2nd

Friday preview 6-9; Saturday 10-6; Sunday 10-4

Just Be

"Clarice scrawled, 'A question from when I was a little girl that I can answer only now: are rocks made, or are they born? Answer: rocks are."

Benjamin Moser, Why this World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector 

Spokane lies in the path of an ancient flood plain. Most rocks in the river are ovid gray stones, worn smooth by centuries of water tumbling them around and about. I love it when I come across rocks that are different from all the rest. Pushed here by the forces of ice and water they tell tales of faraway places.

Green and black, hiding in a place where fairies must live.

A loaf of bread! It looks like you should be able to slice into it. So much so that I had to poke at it to make sure it was a rock.

Swirls and eddies, a liquid as a solid.

Creativity

"One gets into a state of creativity by conscious work."

Henri Matisse 1869-1954

Hope, 2018 collage: paper, felt

Merry Christmas!

I don't know about you, but I am ready to leave 2017 in the rearview and click the do-over button on January 1st. Normally I am more inclined to refresh my life in the fall and I am not a big believer in New Year's resolutions. I have some frustrating issues with my health and some other troubles that while they will pass, stole my energy and inspiration. I am at my happiest when answering the question "What if?" by creating something. So, I decided to take the advice of two great artists. Chuck Close said "Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work." Pablo Picasso said "Inspiration exists, but it must find us working." In other words, get off your butt whether you feel like it or not.

This time the spark came while standing in line at the grocery store. There were huge displays of poinsettias, and people are always asking me if they eco print, so why not give it a try? If nothing else it would be five bucks worth of entertainment.

Giving me a house plant is always dicy, I tend to enjoy them for a bit and then-off with their heads!

As you are aware, they have a reputation for being poisonous. The truth is they are more irritating than poisonous. The example given on various plant sites was that a fifty pound child would need to eat 500 leaves in one sitting to die. Cheery thought. Anyway, this would explain why a cat we used to have ate them on a regular basis and seemed just fine. The puzzling thing is they are reported to be absolutely vile to the taste buds. The reason is they contain (here are your big science words for the day) diterpenoid euphorbol esters and saponin like detergents, both bitter and mildly poisonous. The red color comes from red pigments called anthocyanins also found in red cabbage, blueberries, and raspberries. You can use poinsettia leaves to demonstrate ph just as you can with red cabbage. Since the white sap of the poinsettia can irritate the skin it is probably best to stick with red cabbage with young children, but high schoolers might get a kick out of beheading mom's house plant.

Wearing gloves to protect my hands as a precaution.

I used one scrap of silk crepe that had been treated with alum and one with steel wool which would also have been exposed to vinegar and salt as part of that process. I used both leaf colors and laid them face up and face down to see if one side printed better than the other.

I steamed the rolls for an hour and took them out for a rest, about four days.

I love peeking in the steamer to see what is happening, but I try to remember that they may not look the same at the end of the process.

The first one is the alum treated sample.  The red in the roll above changed to purple over the four days. Love the purple, the yellow is rather alarming. I may rip it in half and do a black bean dye over it to see if I can tone that down.

The leaves did make a more distinct print out the veined, or underside of the leaf, as most do.

The second sample is the silk that had been exposed to steel wool, salt and vinegar. These colors are much more appealing to my sensibilities.

I guess in all of this I was hoping for a pink or red, and if I played around with other mordants, I might just get it. Of course the next question is, "Is it permanent?". As much reading up as I have done, I can't answer that. Since it is the same pigment as red cabbage the answer might be that it needs another rinse in something else, and a possible color change, to make the resulting color last. The plan is to let the samples hang next to the studio window and expose them to our moderate (almost non-existent) winter sun and watch for changes. The best way to do that is to rip each sample in half and keep one in the closet while the other hangs out. I may use the rest of the plant in samples with other mordants or techniques and see what happens.

It looks pretty good even if its backside did get removed! Kind of like putting the bad side of the Christmas tree against the wall.

Merry Christmas and I hope 2018 turns out to be a year of wonder and inspiration for you!

Decluttering the Studio-Yes or No?

All I am doing these days is putting the final touches on work for the holiday shows. I can't imagine anyone wanting to see pictures of a woman doing bushels of laundry and miles of sewing. So what to write about? An article appeared in our local paper recently that was entitled something about decluttering and creativity. As it turned out the article was chock full of advise along the lines of buying lots of storage tubs and a label maker. 

I have noticed a gentle push back against Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. This would be the cleaning method where you hold something in your hands and if it gives you joy you keep it, if not, out it goes. There was a meme going around not too long ago that said "I tried that Japanese cleaning method where you throw out everything that doesn't give you joy. So far all I threw out were the bills and the vegetables." Then an artistic friend of mine put up a post ranting about how she liked having all her art supplies around her, and her other stuff, and poor old Marie could buzz off (paraphrase of post). She got slightly under a zillion likes and a truly mad amount of comments on this. It struck a nerve.

Artsy-fartsy types tend to collect things. We all seem to have packrat tendencies. Although some family members may disagree, it usually doesn't amount to full blown hoarding. Just hoarding of certain things.

A few years ago, during the financial crash, I was doing some serious analysis of what we owned, why it was there and pondering how much it had cost us vs. how much it actually got used. This included the studio. The top layers of the onion were pretty easy to peel off and throw away, but then when I got into the heart of the matter it became more and more difficult to really slice into the issue. I started by simply going into each part of my studio, fabric cabinet, beading table, under the sewing tables, and on down the list. I really took a hard look at things and thought deeply about whether I would really pursue the projects for which the items were purchased. I thought about my freshly written artist statement-did this item pertain to who I said I was? With that in mind, was it practical to think this item would ever get used? If not, I thought about who might use it or enjoy having it. For instance, a mixed media artist had just joined the artist cooperative and was thrilled to receive all sorts of acrylic mediums that I had purchased that were now sitting there turning hard. She said she had a great rainy afternoon sorting through the box and figuring out how to work this new treasure trove into her work. This method of purging does make it easier to get rid of stuff, but I did finally decide that since I enjoy shopping at thrift stores it was perfectly ok to give some total stranger the gift of finding my treasures at a great price. Into the donation bag with it.

As part of this, I actually tried to get rid of all the plastic tubs or as many as possible. For starters, when things are hidden from view they are less likely to get used. It was astounding how many projects I came across, that I would have finished-if I had remembered they were lurking around to begin with. The other problem with plastic tubs is that when they get old, they seem to get weirdly sticky or get brittle and crack. If their molecular structure changes that much-are they off-gassing toxic fumes too? I decided that there were plenty of other ways to store things that were a lot prettier anyway. My studio, by the way, would never be described as beautiful or lovely, it is a practical space meant to get things done. The softer touches of baskets and old suitcases I already owned helped warm the place up a bit. My husband appreciated the tubs for hauling stuff around in the garden.

I think what turned this into a creative process was seeing all this stuff laid out together. I did think about the objects or supplies in different way than I may have when they were procured. It encouraged me to put things together in ways I had not thought of before. As it turned out, this was such a worthwhile activity that now I do it every winter when the shows are over for the year. It also provides a reminder when I am out "procuring" to think twice before buying. It helped me to actually use the stuff instead of being buried by it. The other interesting thing is that after 4 years of this, I haven't pined away for any of the things I gave away. No regrets.

Then again, there is something so intriguing about multiples.

What is a girl to do with over a hundred gray one inch buttons?

Morning Walk

I have been taking walks in the afternoon lately since it is a nice way to break up the day. By three o'clock I am pretty much spent. As far as the studio is concerned, I call the hours between three and five "the witching hour" in that whatever I am trying to do becomes possessed by demons. These malevolent spirits cause accidents that at the least waste materials and at the worst episodes that require a half a package of Band-Aids to stem the flow.

This evening I am hosting First Friday at Pottery Place Plus. Toni Spencer, one of my favorite fiber artists, is our guest for the month. She does stunning batik that you can see here. I will not have time later for my three o'clock walk as I will be driving into town to the shop. Don't worry-the late afternoon poltergeists don't seem to take over my driving skills.

This morning was so lovely I decided to share. 

The barn down the street

A robin

Another robin (look closely)

Inspiration for embroidery or quilting

Happy Monday

"Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and work."

Chuck Close

Throwback Friday

Just doesn't have the same ring to it as Throwback Thursday does it? I am not sure what it is about cold gray weather that makes me want to dig around in my book shelves, but here we are. I was looking for something else (of course) and came across these. I have kept them forever as they really inspired me at the time, to the point where I can trace the switch from my retail career to my art career directly to them. I have done embroidery of one sort or another since childhood and at one point, about 30 years ago, I was designing cross stitch patterns for magazines. By today's standards these are what you would call quaint, but after paging through them again I still think they have merit.

Stitches, Patterns and Projects for Needlecraft by Wanda Bonando and Marinella Nava

Copyright 1981, Harper Colophon Books

I was surprised that the copyright for this was from the 80's as it seemed older than that. This book covers about every sort of embroidery there has ever been since the beginning of time. While the projects in it are really conservative, it was a jumping off point for me. I used to check it out over and over from the library and then one day came across a discarded copy at a library sale and just had to have it for my very own.

Mary Martin's Needlepoint by Mary Martin

Copyright 1969 William Morrow and Company

Yes, that would be the Mary Martin of Peter Pan fame. In fact, the picture on the back of the dust cover features her in her costume all stung up for flight. I not only really liked her designs, I got a kick out of how her needlework lived right along her theater and movie career. This was another library book, but then I found a copy at Aunties Books and had to have a copy of it for all of $1.95.

Sylvia Sidney Needlepoint Book

Copyright 1968 Van Nostrand Reinhold Company

Again, I really liked her artwork as well as the fact that she did all or most of her own drawings for the patterns, and showed you how to do it too if you were so inclined. While not particularly interested in needlepoint, I did use her methods to start doing my own cross stitch patterns. This one is also peppered with stories about her career in Hollywood. Again, it was a library book I checked out long ago, but I bet whoever traded in the Mary Martin book at Aunties also traded this one in too, so I had to get it for old time's sake-at a $1.99 who could resist?

The Yestermorrow Clothes Book

by Diana Funaro, copyright 1976, Chilton Book Company

You could say this book inspired my entire art and craft career. I got it while in high school just about the time I learned to drive and was off to the thrift stores in Kansas City! I loved taking vintage clothes (real vintage, from the 20's, 30's and 40's) and rebuilding them. This book had great ideas and great general directions for taking stuff apart. When I look at it today, there are plenty of things in it I would still wear, and in fact, I see on sites like Etsy everyday. She had timeless vision.

Needlework to Wear

by Erica Wilson, copyright 1982, Oxmoor House Inc.

Called the "Julia Child" of needlework, Erica may have been one of the first women to be a "craft powerhouse" long before the quilting girls got going. I remember doing her patterns as a child in the late 1960's and as a teenager in the 70's. Again, I came across this in a library and then found a used copy years later that I had to have just because. I think I found this one fascinating because she did fiber jewelry-and not macramé either! She used very traditional techniques to come up with really modern designs-for the early eighties. Now the clothes in particular look really dated, but at the time this book was ground breaking in that she was not sitting around doing stuff out of the past, she was making contemporary wearables using traditional techniques. 

Ok, my tea is cold and whatever I originally started to do still isn't started, so I had better get back at it.  

Fall at the River

Gray fall days are my favorite, the colors of the leaves seem to glow against the sky. It is good to get out and think about nothing for a bit.

Books About Eco Printing

I like lists, so here is a list of books that I have found useful for learning eco printing.

1. Eco Colour by India Flint; 2008, Interweave Press.                                                                                    This book changed my life. While causing me to grow as an artisan and craftsperson, it also brought me full circle to a place and time where I was a lot more comfortable in my own skin. It is not an instruction book or recipe book per se, so if you know nothing about natural dyeing, it could be a bit confusing-or the perfect place to start. To have somebody tell me I didn't need to order exotic dye stuffs and that using what I had thought of as toxic mordents was completely unnecessary was exhilarating. It threw out all the notions I had about natural dyeing and opened a whole new world for me.

      Some of it is hilarious, the part where she talks about the pros and cons of using cat urine as an adjunct cracks me up. Since I haven't known any cats willing to pee in a cup, I wondered how in the world she got enough to experiment with!

     The text is accompanied by lovely photography, making it a beautiful object in and of itself, a place where dreams can grow.

2. Harvesting the Color by Rebecca Burgess; 2011, Artisan.
     The author leads you through the seasons while guiding you to plants that for the most part are found or can be grown in North America. The book is geared towards those that work with wool roving (as most seem to be) but much of it can be used or adjusted for dying natural fiber fabrics. It did make me want to travel the country to try out many of the plants she uses. She also uses ecologically responsible mordants etc. This IS a recipe book for those that must have one to follow, but it is not about eco printing-the dye stuffs and mordants she uses are very helpful however.

3. Wild Color by Jenny Dean; 1999 and 2010, Watson-Guptill Publications
     This is a great technique and recipe book with a bit of history and back ground thrown in. Many of the dye materials are plants found in North America and she gives good little color swatches along each page with the plant. Again, not about eco printing, but playing around with the pre-mordants and modifiers in a eco print setting can be loads of fun!

4. A Dyer's Garden by Rita Buchanan; 1995, Interweave Press
     This is a great guide for growing your own dye plants. She gives a lot of information about the plants themselves and color swatches down the side of each page. She also has a helpful section on what not to grow yourself and why.

5. Craft of the Dyer by Karen Leigh Casselman; 1983, 1993, Dover
     I found this book used and almost passed on it and now I am glad I bought it. While she does use mordants I would not use (I tend to convert things like that into "pot as mordant" in one fashion or another) it is a fantastic list of plants, both wild and from the garden with great commentary about extracting color from them. No photos, but she does give the scientific name for each plant so you can do a quick search to see what it looks like.

6. Plant Guides
     I am a geek about plant guides-I have tons of them. I really like the ones from Lone Pine press as they have good images and descriptions and a notes section that tells you all sorts of weird fun facts about the plants, including whether anybody used them for color or not. I also own weed, tree and wild flower guides for the Inland and Pacific Northwest. All of which live mostly on the back seat of my car to be used when needed. Many state and county weed boards have come up with weed ID apps, which are great if you have a cell signal, not terribly useful if you don't. Low tech as it may be, books on the back seat very often work out the best!

     Please note, I did not provide links to purchase these books on line on purpose. It would really help out your local independent bookseller if you went to them first. No local independent bookseller left in your area? Then at least go to the local version of the big box bookstore and buy them there-the folks in your town that work there need their jobs and the way they get to keep them is if big companies know that a real book store is important enough for you to shop there. Thanks!


   

Spring Cleaning

With half a foot of snow and ice outside I guess calling it spring cleaning is a bit too optimistic. I decided to warm up my studio with color by painting three walls orange. It worked! In order to do this I had to do a bit of cleaning, sorting out and tossing. I came across a lot of good intentions that I decided to pass on to others but I also found ideas and projects that I need to get on with.

I also dusted out the cobwebs and quite a few of the critters that made them, at one point there was a very exciting hobo spider round up behind the laundry hamper. Thankfully, for the sake of my dignity,  there are no pictures of that.

It may be winter outside, but spring is in the studio!

Nesting

Birds nest in the spring, I nest in the winter. The art fair circuit is done for the year, and it is time to rest and reflect. The days here are very short, it gets dark around four in the afternoon. Since there is nothing that has to be done outside there is time to nurture ideas that have been waiting their turn. It is also a good time to look back over what ideas I did make come into to reality and decide if they worked, or if they could be expanded. Several years ago I decided that I would also use this time to experiment with new materials and it has turned out to be a good decision. Even if I don't pursue any of them to a great degree, I always learn something or am inspired in some way. This winter's experiment is with ceramics. I have no interest in making my own coffee mugs or dinnerware at this point, but I have been searching the world over for earthy buttons, beads and pendants to work into my scarves and accessories. I am having some success (pictures coming soon I hope-ceramics can take as long as eco printing) and have had many insights into my fiber work; not to mention meeting an inspiring group of artists.

On this morning's walk I found this little nest resting in a branch over the Spokane River. It does remind me that I should also probably think about cleaning and reorganizing my own little nest. After a year of eco printing, my studio does resemble a pile of sticks!

Zen Books

I read Cheryl Stayed's Wild last year and then read it or parts of it over and over. I can see why they are making a movie out of it, the story is astounding. Hope they don't screw it up, the book is incredible. It gives new meaning to "walking the path".

Coreopsis Verticillata, Part Two

This is what happens when you use alum as the mordant! Cha-cha-Cha!

The End of Summer is Near!

     For the last few days I have been up early. I have been surveying my weed sites and picking what I need. As you can see, the knapweed is toast at this point, as are some of the garden plants I use. With those plants I now wait for them to reseed themselves, sleep for the winter and start again next spring.

     Yesterday I went to my favorite place to collect driftwood, alas, it is blanketed in a luxurious coating of poison ivy! That will have to wait until next year, when again, the pile will be floating in a bend in the river. I did see a lovely little snake, we traveled together for quite awhile before he turned off into the grass.

     Today I saw some silvery minnows and when I got home I discovered a pair of quail decided to have a late season brood!  I hope they get a chance to grow up before it is too cold. They were out for a stroll across the lawn. While the temperature says otherwise, the change of season is near!