Real-time Update, March 16th

With the first day of spring only days away some of the plants are ready to burst.

The first lot of bulbs in the studio beds are flowering.

Much excitement - the deer fence construction has begun.

Once it is finished we will be able to begin planting.

The irrigation lines are being put in around the new garden beds.

While in the studio, I am working with leaf skeletons.

'Current Threads 2015: Garden Tapestry' Has Been Installed

Current Threads 2015: Garden Tapestry has been installed at South Shore Gallery, Sooke.

Here is the view as you walk into the Back Gallery.

The back wall

The lights haven't been adjusted yet but it was time to leave after spending all day installing the work.

The artists worked with the size restriction of 12" wide x 60" or 72" long.

The idea was to give a picket fence feel to the installation.

It appears to be currently a popular format to work in.

The artists also worked with a garden theme which they interpreted freely and widely.

There's my triptych on the left. 

Forest Flowers is about fungal flowering and fruiting bodies found in the forest.

It will be fun to meet up with lots of the artists at the opening reception, tomorrow, Saturday, March 5th, 1 - 3 pm,

Studio Construction: Cabinet Installation

I came home from the Dorothy Caldwell workshop to find the new garden bed has flowers for the first time. This inlet to the pond had been completely covered by blackberry. Once it was cleared there was nothing else growing.  

Last July visiting family members planted Japanese water irises and ferns. Almost to the day, a year later, the irises came out in bloom. They contrast beautifully with the soft horsetail, a native that has appeared out of the soil. It was such a lovely sight to come home to.

Meanwhile. back in the studio the built-in furniture had been put back after the plumber visited.

Can't wait to fill all of those drawers.

The tub is proving a challenge. It needs to be blocked so the edges won't move and break the waterproof seal. Ron and I are now searching the internet for the right faucet.

The Wedding

We had a wedding. On top of Kicking Horse mountain in British Columbia.

Our older daughter, Katherine, married Sebastian on July 5th.

Many guests travelled great distances to get to the top of the mountain.

Our first family meal together. 

At this time some guests were wrestling with car troubles, flight delays and diversions, and lost luggage. They were still to join us.

The Garden is Blooming

Our garden is most showy in the spring when the rhododendrons are blooming.

A couple of years ago, when my mother was visiting, she pruned and wrenched this rhododendron.

In the fall I moved it to its new bed.

This spring it has produced huge blooms telling me it is happy in its new home.

Purple french lavender and a red rhododendron - quite a colour scheme but the bees are in heaven.

A problem with the present garden is there is not much for the insects to feed on over the summer months.

I'm working on it.

Composting Up Close ....

We make compost in wire sleeves held together with twist ties - real simple

But in our winter-wet climate the pile gets a little too wet.

I need to make some winter hats for the piles.

We took 1 pile apart to feed the camellia at the front door.

 It is having a rough time this winter. With the 1st lot of heavy wet snow it had fallen over.

Luckily there is a sailor in the house who knows knots.

I think it is the engineer who added the containers full of water as a counterweight.

Its not pretty at the front door but it appears to be working.

The camellia needed compost & mulch because it has woken up already and is working on its flowers.

Once it has finished blooming we can prune it back so it can stand up on its own again.

Basilique Saint-Anne-de-Beaupre, Quebec

During Articulation's study week in Quebec we visited many churches but this was my favourite.
The Christian religion and the Bible are not big on acknowledging our natural environment.
Saint Anne's is different.

The ceilings are covered in mosaics with small ecological motifs.

I added more 'Tree Of Life' motifs to my collection.

Unlike most Christian churches, females feature prominently.
 A ceiling mosaic: working in the fields during the day, sitting by the fire at night.
There are lots of images of women with birds and flowers.

Dancing with abandon - on a church floor!

The zodiac!
The triangle in the 2D repeating pattern is an ancient female symbol.

A very beautiful, subtle decoration is carved into the ends of the wooden pews.
There is that triangle again, 

Every pew has a different animal or bird and a flower in a triangle.

There must have been several hundred of them.
'Saint Anne's is the oldest pilgrimage site in North America, beginning in 1658 as a shrine to the patron saint of Quebec.'
After several fires the present building was started in 1923.
If you click on the blue name of this post you will see a short video of the interior. Thanks Orangethingy for sharing.

Tree of Life in Saint Petersberg

When I travel I look for a number of reoccurring symbols, one of which is the Tree of Life.

I found some very interesting ones in the Church of our Saviour on Spilled Blood, in Saint Petersburg.

They are huge mosaics, high on the walls.

They are on all sides of the church and each one is different.
Working with this symbol is just at the percolation stage at the present but it may be time to put them up on my design wall and move on to the brain storming stage.

Cut Flower Bed

After the hyacinths, the next flower to emerge in my cut flower bed is the iris.

The flower heads look as though they will burst.

And they do...at night.

It is such a pleasure to check the bed each morning to see what has happened overnight.

I like looking inside the iris flower to see the complexity, the symmetry and the richness of colour.

I cut the best...

..to enjoy inside. The perfume is heady.