First Snow!

We woke up to this season's first snow and it was extraordinarily beautiful. These are crabapples on a row of small trees in our backyard. This variety is called Sir Lancelot. The tiny yellow fruit remind me of jewels. It is particularly nice at this time of year to be left with bits of colour after the leaves have fallen from the trees and shrubs.

Meeko was very excited to see the snow and did two crazy fast loops of the backyard in celebration. I was able to convince Chloé to accompany us to the forest for a morning walk before she headed downtown for her classes.

I'm so glad we went as it was absolutely enchanting. All of the trunks and branches of the trees were covered with snow. These photos were taken in colour (you can see a bit of colour in the leaves at the top) but they look like they were taken in black and white. The marshy areas border parts of the pathway through the forest.

As Chloé and I drank the beauty of the morning in with our eyes, Meeko dipped his nose in it. To each, their own form of celebration!

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Hello March!

Hello, March. We meet again...somewhere between snow and sunshine, ice and flowers.

There's a blizzard on the way tonight. Don't worry! I brought my vintage jar back inside right after I took the photos. I keep it by our dining room window and have been enjoying watching the bulbs' progress.

I also have a big pot of daffodils blooming just inside the back door. I wish you could smell them. They are wonderfully fragrant. Doesn't it look like they are huddled together looking out and talking about the weather? Like the rest of us.

Emma and Chloé both have their March break this week. I suppose it's not the worst time for a blizzard. They both have a huge number of assignments to complete for school although they've found a bit of time for baking too. I've been busy with my shop, when I'm not dreaming of snow melting and spring flowers blooming that is.

I recently organized my art by the season. If you are aching for spring too, you can have a look here.

Happy March, everyone!

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Ice and Tea

Not iced tea. Ice and tea. Sunday's weather was mild and weird. Pouring rain in January. Not normal. Then, overnight, winter decided to come back. Yesterday was bitterly cold with high gusts of wind. So all of that rain and melted ice and snow from the previous day froze--unevenly. Meeko's and my walk in the forest was 'careful'. I wore cleats on my boots as I do most of the winter. Meeko is agile but even he had to carefully avoid patches of ice and the odd pocket that wasn't fully frozen. We only met one other brave soul walking so we kind of felt like adventurers. 

When it's cold and rainy or cold and icy, tea comes to mind. I need coffee to wake up in the morning but I love to drink tea the rest of the day as I find it to be very comforting. I was very happy to sell one of my Time for Tea prints over the weekend to someone who was giving it as a gift to her best friend with English roots. Two of my grandparents were born in England so I have English roots too. I'm not sure if that's why I like tea so much but it is a nice connection. 

When I photographed my Time for Tea print to post on Instagram the other day, I used one of my grandmother Viola's teacups as a prop. I am lucky to own her Limoges china set and really should use it more often. Yesterday, I was finally (finally!!!) sitting back at my painting table in my studio but wasn't quite sure what to paint. I have a painting I need to finish from before the holidays but I really wanted to do something new, just to loosen up and gain confidence again. (Yes, it only takes a few weeks of not painting to lose it. ) My grandmother's teacup was staring at me, delicately, and seemed to be the perfect choice.

This is more of a sketch than the paintings I usually do. I tried not to get too caught up in the detail and or to feel that it had to be perfect. The metallic gold paint I bought on a whim a long while ago was perfect for the china's gold trim. I like how the painting turned out and want to paint this cup again. It's nice to have my first painting of 2016 done. I am over that hump and now on to the rest of the year! Happy new year, everyone!

A Green Christmas

I think we are heading for a green Christmas. It's so unusual in Montreal not to have at least a bit of snow on the ground at Christmas. It's what everyone is talking about here. The skating rink boards were installed weeks ago in the park across the street but there isn't a snowflake or a sliver of ice in sight.

There's not really anything one can do so, while dreaming of snow, we are going about our days and getting ready for the holidays. Today it is colder but the forecast for the week ahead is for mild, rainy days.

The photo above is of tiny rain-soaked crabapples in my garden. While I was taking this photo and others on one of the rainiest days of the past week, a patient, slightly soggy Meeko waited for me on the back porch. Such a good boy.

I have been painting. If you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen my progress photos of a watercolour I just finished of a small winterberry branch. This is my favourite kind of painting to do--a study of a natural object. I have another step to do as this will be a special print, actually one that was suggested to me by a lovely customer.

When I was purchasing the winterberry branches to use as my painting references at a local garden centre, the sales clerk told me that their spring bulbs were 80% off. I already planted over 350 bulbs in November but the ground still isn't frozen and the price was hard to resist. So I purchased some more spring bulbs and added them to my garden this past week! Planting spring bulbs in the garden in mid-December! The silver lining of this odd weather.

A Spring Adventure

This morning when we woke up, I'm certain there was a collective groan. If the windows had been open, I'm sure it would have resonated for miles. After an unseasonably warm day yesterday when much of the snow melted and people flocked into the streets wearing light clothing and big smiles, it snowed again overnight. A lot of snow. After the initial shock of seeing everything covered in white again, I decided to make the best of it and see if the forest path was still accessible. I had my doubts after all of the thawing that had taken place in previous days.

There is a creek that we have to cross over to get to the path. A plank of wood serves as a bridge but it was under a half-foot of water and a layer of ice this morning. It wasn't even visible. I had to get a piece of wood to poke through the surface to be sure that it was still in place.

This is when I told Meeko my plan that we were going to walk across the submerged bridge. First he looked at me and then he started barking. Rough translation: 'You want me to do what? You are crazy'. (He fell into the creek a couple of springs ago when he sidestepped the bridge.) After some initial hesitation and more barking, he got brave and went across first.

This is taken from the other side. What was waiting for us was surreally beautiful. The thaw from previous days had created the swampy patches that are typical of this little forest during the spring and summer but everything, absolutely everything, was covered in snow. It was like a frozen moment between seasons.

I let Meeko be the leader as finding the pathway was not always obvious because there were parts underneath the water. He had a ton of fun running ahead and then racing back to check on my progress. We had the forest to ourselves because no one else was nutty enough to be there this morning. But oh what they missed!

I don't wear my glasses when I'm out walking. Somehow I hit a setting on my phone without realizing and the last few photos are in black and white. Still beautiful.

This is Meeko getting mentally ready to cross the watery bridge again to go home. I'm so glad that I decided to shake off my initial disappointment at seeing the snowy weather. I have Meeko to thank over and over again for getting me out into nature on a daily basis. We had a ton of fun together this morning.

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And Then It Snowed and Snowed

This morning we woke to a blanket of snow and it kept snowing. In fact, it still is. The first snowstorm of the year.

Despite the weather, well actually because of it, Meeko and I went for a walk in the forest in the early afternoon. We had the whole place to ourselves.

The scenery in the forest was absolutely enchanting. Snow covered every single tree trunk and branch. 

When Meeko runs in the snow, I have this song in my head. 

Look at the snowballs that accumulated on Meeko's legs. It was wet, sticky snow.

We are thawing inside now. It took over a half hour for the snow to melt that had accumulated on Meeko's legs but I think he would agree that it was worth it. We had so much fun!

Today, I was thinking of Emma's friends in her McGill University residence who will be experiencing their first snowstorm. I hope they are able to take a break from studying for their exams to build a snowman together! 

The winds have picked up and it is quite blustery at the moment. I'll be glad once Chloé's schoolbus arrives at the corner.

The beauty and challenges of snow.

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The Christmas Tree

Our annual trek to a tree farm near Sorel, Quebec about an hour from where we live.

My husband and my youngest daughter Chloé on their way. An excited Meeko in the lead.

A gorgeous but very cold day. -13C (12F)

Me and Meeko (photo by Emma)

Beautiful milkweed.

Chloé makes a valiant plea for the Charlie Brown tree.

Meeko with Emma (photo by Emma)

The one! We walked through three fields of the plantation to find it.

Sisters. 

Best to sit for long jobs.

When is this tree-cutting part over?

Crazy how early the sun starts dipping in the sky this time of year.

Last view of the tree farm as we drive away. See you next year!