A safe Halloween. Trick or treating at home

Happy Halloween everyone. Not what we all wanted but about what we all were expecting, huh? What a year. What a time to be alive.

The world goes round around us. Seasons turning, summer progressing to autumn, to winter.

And in the meantime, there is one in my family who has reached the age of understanding trick or treating for candy. Not our little Zephyr. He's still blissfully happy just to be cuddled by his cousin Isla.

But that one! Do you see him? The little hedgehog in the back. Nate, my little 2 yr old.

My children and I were wondering how to make this first Halloween, the Halloween of his understanding, special to him...to all of them; who we will not risk out in the hood, (no matter how safe our hood may be). And we came up with a Halloween at home treasure hunt. All my grandchildren were dressed in their costumes and they rang the doorbell. "Trick or Treat!!!" Then they came in and ran around the house finding groups of 5 treats which they could each pick one of.

There were candy treats of course, but also Halloween pencils, creepy crawlies, gamepads, glow sticks and necklaces, squishy balls shaped like sheep, hedgehogs and teddies. Basically a ton of $1 store fluff for fun.

And then! And then they could sit down, spill their treasures on the livingroom floor, and eat their fill. Until there was a pile of wrappers! I swear the look in out Nate's eyes was like, "What? Candy? All I want? What?"That's right. One day of sugar hell children, and then back to substantially fewer treats per day.

And after they couldn't eat any more candy if they tried, and after it was waaaay past bedtime for some... we lit sparklers in a spare pumpkin and had our own little light show. It was a magical Halloween to remember.

When in doubt, skate it out

I knew it would happen!I knew if I came to the Cariboo I better drive around with skates in the car because eventually, I'll come to a frozen, snow-free lake.And then it happened.Driving past Williams Lake I noticed people walking and skating around.So I found the right street to the city park and parked up and laced my skates up.And then I jumped tenderly skated right in!So it took me a while to adjust to the wobbliness and the melt, freeze, melt patches of lake ice, but once I decided I'd just have to bulldoze skate over the frozen waves at a good speed, it was the most amazing thing in the world.Cracks and all.I took a good hour around that lake. I skated to the middle, I skated back and forth along the shore, I skated over thin ice and thick. Over cracks and thru slush.It was the best, most glorious feeling.My advice is to skate every day!

Tracking the wilds

Afternoon walk.The weather has warmed up slightly. It's gone from -20 to -6 or so, so we went for a tracking walk.We took Duke the Wonderdog and of course Ruby...who just ran on ahead scouting for what she could smell.We rounded on the road around our friend's ranch......and headed into the woods.Ruby was wearing her Cowichan sweater but soon got it caught on a barbed wire fence so off it came.We followed coyote tracks all the way.At one point we saw moose tracks and possibly bear. Well, we thought it wasn't as big a paw print as a bear should be, but we know the bears are out now and it was a BIG paw print.We also saw a rabbit and deer, but mostly coyote.After about 20 minutes, we came out of the woods onto the meadow.And we looked over moose tracks paralleling Whitehorse creek by the ancient cabins.We let the dogs investigate a coyote party involving yellow snow and apparently delicious scents......while we took in the glorious panorama.On the way back, I found a bit of fur caught up in the barbed wire and thought about what that might be. Coyote? Fox? Too high for a rabbit.In my eagerness to investigate, I stepped into thigh-high snow.Duke laughed. Fatty human

At Lac La Hache at a friend's ranch

Chloe and I are visiting our friends at Lac La Hache.It's magical here in B. C.'s Cariboo; even if we've caught a cold spell of -20 for a couple of days.The horses here at the ranch don't care one bit.They have their beautiful velvet coats on.This is Duke. He's the ranch dog and the most obedient, friendliest, snuggliest thing on 4 legs.He loves chasing ice and snowballs. Actually, he'll play fetch forever.Just as we got here, Doug finished a massive hike thru knee-high snow back to the ranch because his snowmobile got stranded miles away.He enlisted Chloe as copilot and they rescued the wayward sled.This was the first time Clove ever drove a snowmobile and she loved it to pieces.We were originally going to ranch-sit for a few days while our friends went on a Las Vegas holiday, but the world being what it is, they decided to be safe and cancel. Instead, they went out for dinner and a movie and a lovely stay overnight in the nearest city.This meant that Chloe had the responsibility of holding down the fort ranch for a couple days.The house is heated via this wood burner which needs fueling every morning and night. This means 4 sledges of wood daily.But there's always time for tea.The horses need tending to and moved from one pasture to another.After their morning feed, Chloe has to try to move them.Happily, all she has to do is ask Duke for help.He barks and herds them to exactly where they should be.Ruby tries to help, but all she wants to do is eat the horse treats.I'm completely in love with these purple shadows cast on this gloriously white snow. I know that purple shadows on snow are a bit ubiquitous, (kinda like sunsets), but who can resist them? I can't.But just as I get a pristine shot lined up, one of the pups runs or digs thru it!Ruby has been a bit of a city dog while Bryson has been in UBC, and is not quite used to the temperatures up here in the North, so we make sure we run the dog around a lot to keep them warm outside.I did have a few hours to dedicate to a little sprig of ponderosa pine in my nature journal. (Note to self: get the photos up there on Instagram!)This is the first layer of watercolour. One or two more layers to go. Intricate little paintings like pine needle branches take so much time!Our first day went by in the blink of an eye.Soon it was sunset and time for all those stars not obstructed by city lights.Tell you something.I could get used to this.

Finding the footsteps of the those who came before

I've made friends with the Timbisha Shoshone people who've called this amazing place home for centuries. One of their elders told me stories of underground cities, of giants, of animal spirits who show the way to water if they accept you as one with the land.But before the Shoshone, there were ancients. Elders who came before them. The giants.I had it in mind to trace the footsteps of the prehistoric people who called this amazing place home.Now, there are a couple places in the valley which are publically advertised as areas of hyrogliphs, but I was interested in areas which are secret, hidden.In all these cases I needed my 4 wheel drive to get me over flood beds and boulders, and then, when I drove as far as possible, I had to hike another two miles or so.If you want to do this then remember you are on your own. I probably don't have to tell you, but be smart. Leave word with someone where and when, take plenty of water, know how to use a compass, bring a small emergency pack and know your limits.The trouble with finding areas like these is that sometimes idiots also find them, and these sacred areas end up defaced by the undying love of Kyla who hearts Zac.Tragic and devastating. How can people be so stupid?Unreparable, irreplaceable national treasure!So the only way to actually see one of these places is to make friends, do research, puzzle out clues, map the trail yourself, and hope for the best.Following these rules, I will show you what I found but will not tell you where, and will leave that to you to puzzle out.All the hierogliphs I found are chizled into highly polished granite.So I went to look for granite canyons.In one case, the clue led me to an Indiana Jones boulder completely blocking the way, and there was some bouldering.But mostly where were some small paths to follow.And then, the treasure!In this case there is graffiti here. Turn of the century, but graffiti none the less.Most of the permanent marks were made by hitting a sharp object to make a dot, and to chisel the image into the granite. You can see someone defaced this site with a scratched X and a huge J B.Here is one public hyroglyph. One of the repeating symbols is this "sun".Here are some more.No one knows what they mean, or, often, what they are meant to be.Some are possibly bighorn sheep, arrows, possibly human forms, snakes?Or just the markings of time.Many are on granite shot thru with beautiful quartz designs.Maybe this was somehow sacred.So go. I've spent three days already hiking and finding them and painting.And if you do go, admire them, take only photographs, leave only footsteps.And return to the floor of the valley.

Happy New Year and new art inspiration

Happy New Year everyone!I arrived home a couple days ago to a very quiet house.Too quiet, especially after the last few days!But it was also a really good time for me to do some reflecting and make some decisions about what I would like my life to look like in 2019.And so, with the final sunset of 2018,I lit my candles and made a list. Came up with a plan. Well, not a plan as plans go, just a bunch of random ideas expressed as words on said list.Then, this new year, this new morning, I began putting some of my ideas into action.I think that I would like to keep this blog going and with greater regularity.I also am committing to more art, more inspiration, more of and a better Instagram presence, also, more time to answer all you dear friends who leave me comments, and come visit you. Just be more around.So, one of my ideas, more isnpiration, that was easy.I went to the beach and wandered around.Right now I'm loving these winter beachy colours.And I'm also loving the way the winter storms beat up the tree bark.I collected a bunch of beach finds and brought them home.Then, after a few trial and Edison moments, I made some lovely monotypes with the beaten up bark.Happy New Year dear friends. I wish you all a year of abundance, joy and treasured moments.

A winter walk in these liminal days

I love these days.I love holidays and not knowing...and not caring what day it actually is.It's been snowing all day today, but before today's snow, I went for a walk on my daughter's property to gather some winter weeds for reference for new art pieces. (Don't ask me what day it was...lol)It looks like there was someone here earlier.I hiked all the way to the top of the 22 acres.So calm and peaceful here. Just some birds flickering in the pines.I gathered handfuls of last summer's plants,twigs, pinecones and grasses...anything interesting I could find.Then I found some deer tracks and followed them back down the acreage.When I was back at the car I dedided to drive to the beach.Oh my gosh I love it down here.I walked along the beach to the spot the kids and I were swimming at last summer.How calm and cold it is now.This is the dock we were jumping from. This is the place Ruby took her first plunge.I sat for a while and noticed that I picked up some hitchhikers somewhere on my hike.So I freed them to seed down here, looked forward to next summer's swim, and headed back up the hill.Hope you all have beautiful liminal days between now and the New Year. I wish you loads of winter joy.

ABOUT TIME! I know.

A new short shift for my TVR and a rare birthday in Oxford (not at RBG Kew)Hi everyone,I meant to post this ages ago!You know me...lol...life gets in the way.As a matter of fact, so did a certain orange maniac.Can you believe it? On the one day I go into London and visit Kew...the one day which has happened every year for the past 15 years, the orange one comes to town.Nevermind the though of tainting my special day, the traffic getting into and out of London was enough for me to back out of my tradition.So we went into Oxford instead.The first place we stopped in was my most favourite store Scriptum.Scriptum is so amazingly beautiful. It's like a little jewel box of papers, inks, pens, beautiful journals, vintage books and every other kind of old world library fancy your little heart desires.After having spent a very long time there, we headed off to lunch at our friend Will's restaurant The Vaults Garden Cafe . This is an amazing place in the old vaults under St Mary's church. Will makes the most delicious organic food.After lunch and a lovely chat with Will, we went to the science museum to see the ancientThen off to the Ashmolean Museum of art and archeology in a huge building with five floors to explore. You could easily spend days and days there and still not discover everything there is to see.Actually, the reason I wanted to come here today is because on the third floor the Ashmolean has special exhibits which they change every few months. Right now they have a large and beautiful exhibit called America's Cool Modernism, and it features early 20th-century modernists. There was a no photo policy :( but there is a small link here with a little video from the Ashmolean site.I couldn't help it. I bought the book with all the paintings on exhibit. It's just so inspirational.In other news, I'm back in my TVR.Man, I love this car!However, it does have its challenges.One was the old and clumsy shift which took all my strength to push it down and wrench it into reverse.So this spring I bought a bespoke short shift and Robert and I installed it.Out with the old!and in with the new.That's better. Now it feels like a racing car.I took it for a test drive and I love it to pieces. So much easier to shift.(I must admit to feeling a bit silly when I put it into first instead of third because of the very short distance between them and tried to drive off in a sexy yeah-I'm-all-that-in-my-hot-car sort of way in front of the local village gas station crew, and the car goes "splutter, clunk, clunk", you tend to find first gear really quickly after that! LOLAnd then Robbie did the sweetest thing.I took off the bespoke silver top of my gear shift because it had the previous owner's initials on it and was thinking of what I wanted to replace it with, when R made me a disk made from a real Williams Formula 1 car Inconel exhaust, which has actually been in an F1 race and that's why it changed to all those rainbow colours.Then he stamped out a beautiful scrolled V freehand with a pin punch.Lucky girl.That's me.

Hello from Sunday night...finally!

Hello everyone, I'm back in England.Which may seem like a strange thing, because if you read my posts, it looks like I never left!I did leave England for almost 2 months, but the day I left, my computer left me.That is to say that the hard drive on my pc packed it in.Just like that.The black screen of death.So the past two months have been a bit of a nightmare trying to recover data, trying to see if my old PC (still under warranty) is fixable or replaceable, and getting a new pc for the meantime as it became apparent that the company who made my old pc would take their time, (and need gentle encouragement in the form of an all-out rant on social media by my brilliant SIL), for me to get any recourse.In the meantime, I've been back to Vancouver, became a family dog owner, went to see our little ones in Kelowna...twice, had a garage sale, taught my last journal course before my summer break, collected millions of photos....and had no computer and no Photoshop to share.So, while this is where I am today, I do have a second pc that now has Photoshop, and I will share a sort of back and forth mix of posts, but for now, I'm back in Oxfordshire five fields away from my river.The earth is sun-scorched.I think I got here just in the nick of time to save parts of my garden.But the river is beautiful.I've been walking the jet lag off and my most favourite walk is the Thames right here.It's such a Wind in the Willows area.Any minute it feels like Mr Toad could come paddling by.As a matter of fact, each time I get close to the water, I frighten some creature which immediately splooshes in.In the fields here is a pill box from WWII, looking now more like a relic from some tiny castle rather than a strategic military bunker erected in uncertain times.On the river is a large flock of geese.These guys tend to fly over the cottage later on in the summer.The day is hot, but finally I come to my destination.Today I wanted to come sit under this foot bridge.Those cement footholds are perfect for sitting on and dangling your feet in the cool water.To my left is a metalic green-blue damselfly.He flutters around after some prey or to ward off other damselflies and returns to his perch again and again.On the right, the river bends some reeds which give the stillness a small bubbling sound.I stayed for a few minutes just taking it all in, and then turned back for home.By the time I walked down the field, the geese were fed up wih doging boats and waddled up on the shore.I don't blame them.Even though the river is quieter than normal, there still is a lot of activity.I realised that everyone just might be indoors watching the Fifa World Cup when I walked past this narrow boat and heard a "YESSS!" and a "WHAAAHOOO!", and glanced inside to see the brightly lit screen of the TV.LOL,Back down the river, back home to the cottage and about to send some more posts your way.

Bluebell heaven

You know, it's pretty rare for me to get here at the turning point of the seasons, but this year I managed just that.Four weeks ago, the trees were bare and the ground covered with frost, and today suddenly it's practically summer!One thing about a warm British spring are bluebell woods.Do you guys know about British bluebells?They're slightly more delicate than the typical Spanish garden variety and must be protected in the woods because the Spanish variety is invasive.Anyway, I asked Robert for a day out wherever there are bluebell woods and he took me to his childhood village Stoke Row.We set off in my TVR, I drove there and got to Stoke Row just in time for lunch.We found the Cherry Tree pub and parked up.Pretty car!Robert was really happy to be back in Stoke Row and I loved that he kept telling me stories of his childhood and of the people who lived there.After lunch, we parked up the TVR on the village green and got on our walking shoes.This is R's childhood home, The Oak. He stripped back the paint on the Tudor beams himself and that dark building beside The Oak was his father's surgery.So we walked past The Oak and into the beech woods.The beech woods are so amazing. It feels like Robin Hood and his band of merry men could come out from behind any tree.Or possibly fairies and goblins and elves could be living in any little nook.Soon we got to a greener part of the forest and I was starting to get more excited about bluebells.All around us bracken was just starting to unfurl.Bracken is so huge and so beautiful when fully grown.And then, we came upon the first little clump under a beech tree.And then a few more.And then great swathes of them!I've never seen anything like that!The whole forest floor covered in bluebells!I was in bluebell heaven.Too soon it was time to go.Actually, R did ask if he should leave me there and head off to our friend's alone...lol.Alright, alright, I'm coming.We jumped in my TVR and hooned out of Stoke Row, past the bluebell woods and off into the afternoon.