MERRY CHRISTMAS

" DOES DOG URINE REALLY KILL TREES "

DOES DOG URINE REALLY KILL TREES

We love dogs, cats and trees.

We originally had a Chicago Hackberry Tree in our front yard when we moved to Equinelle, unfortunately the tree was compromised.

Repeated hits of dog urine peeled the bark off the tree and caused an open wound susceptible to disease. Then, a windstorm hit last year and the tree snapped in half. It was too weak and diseased to fight the wind and died.

A new tree recently was planted in place of the Chicago Hackberry, a Burrr Oak, but the problem remains. Dogs are already favouriting the tree. It will not be long before even the oak, known to live up to 150-250 years, can survive the burns caused by dog urine.

I would love this little tree to grow to old age. One way I can help it grow is to make dog owners aware of the potential harm of dog urine to trees.

Please, pet owners out there, take care when walking your pet.

Below is an excerpt from : MERRILL DOG PARK





"It’s easy to think, “a little pee from my dog can’t do harm to a huge tree.” Next time you go for a walk with your dog think about it. Your dog “marks” the tree, then another dog walks by smells your dog’s scent and hits it again, a few minutes later and another dog walks by, hits it again. This goes on multiple times a day 365 days a year. Some trees are hit more than others and the cycle begins. One dog’s scent ends up on a tree and other dogs just keep marking it, over and over until the tree is compromised."

Written by Christine MacLean



If interested in the article here is the link.



https://merrilldogpark.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/click-here-to-learn-more-about-why-dog-pee-is-harsh-on-trees.pdf

AH, NOTHING IS TOO LATE! — WIP OF SEASCAPE

Wip of Seascape -

' JULY 5TH, 1868: Today I have completed sixty-four Springtimes...and now here I am, a very old woman, embarked on my-sixty-fifth year. By one of those strange oddities in my destiny, I am now in much better health, much stronger, much more active, than I ever was in my youth... I am troubled by no hankering after the days my youth: I am no longer ambitious for fame: I desire no money except in so far as I should like to be able to leave something to my children and grandchildren...This astonishing old age... has brought me neither infirmity nor lowered vitality.

Can I still make myself useful? That one may legitimately ask, and I think that I can answer 'yes'. I feel that I may be useful in a more personal, more direct way than ever before. I have, though how I do not know, acquired much wisdom. I am better equipped to bring up children... It is quite wrong to think of old age as a downward slope. One climbs higher and higher with the advancing years, and that, too, with surprising strides. How good life is when all that one loves is as warm with life! '

Letter from George Sand to a friend 

George Sand

I have completed sixty- six Springtimes... and now here I am, embarked on my sixty-seventh year. Although far from great health like George Sand ... I desire no fame only maybe more hair : ) and enough money to move into the country or a larger older home and have that to leave behind to my children. Age has given me much wisdom and lessons learned. It's never too late - I Love painting ♥️, creating, learning. 

MUSIC - MARIAGE D'AMOUR

Mariage D'amour by Paul de Senneville

It is too late! Ah, nothing is too late—

Cato learned Greek at eighty; Sophocles
Wrote his grand “Oedipus,” and Simonides
Bore off the prize of verse from his compeers
When each had numbered more than fourscore years;
And Theophrastus, at fourscore and ten,
Had begun his “Characters of Men.”
Chaucer, at Woodstock, with his nightingales,
At sixty wrote the “Canterbury Tales.”
Goethe, at Weimar, toiling to the last,
Completed “Faust” when eighty years were past.
What then? Shall we sit idly down and say,
“The night has come; it is no longer day”?
For age is opportunity no less
Than youth itself, though in another dress.
And as the evening twilight fades away,
The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.
It is never too late to start doing what is right.
Never.

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Magic from Heaven

Magic from Heaven. We never thought we would witness something so beautiful. Glad we took the tiny ride to Domville. My son and daughter took the photos of the eclipse.
Solar Eclipse
Excuse the off focus family photo. Blind as a bat.: )

NIGHT DREAM SERIES ~ HEART'S DESIRE ~ A WOOD OF MY OWN

There is nothing wrong with dreaming a wish your heart makes. 

My heart's desire ~ own a woodland.

Heart's Desire ~ A Wood of My Own ~ Anna 2024

Inspired by the book I was reading, 'The Hidden Life of Trees', and my dreamscape, I wanted to paint another woodland. 

I began the painting with tall trees and a path. A hidden spring rushed from behind the tall branchless trees down to a velvet green meadow where violets secretly were beginning to bloom in early March. Hearts followed me with every brush stroke, popping up in the most unexpected places. Even when I took my blood sugar this morning, one flowed out of my finger in a heart. And the angel #4, well, that too magically appeared only I extended the cross line.

Illuminated by a starry night sky, the woods show their secret hearts in Spring.

LOVELY ARE THE WOODS IN SPRING ~ THE HIDEOUT

 LOVELY ARE THE WOODS IN SPRING ~ THE HIDEOUT
One month is past, another is begun,
Since merry bells rang out the dying year,
And buds of rarest green began to peer,
As if impatient for a warmer sun;
And though the distant hills are bleak and dun,
The virgin snowdrop, like a lambent fire,
Pierces the cold earth with it's green-streaked spire
And in dark woods, the wandering little one
May find a primrose. Hartley Coleridge
I believe I'm done. 

 

 

 

 

There Be Ghosts

There Be Ghosts
There are no ghosts to see, just a feeling of loneliness in the stillness of the woods. The faint chirp of a single bird echoes in the lonely grove.
First coat of paint. I shall take my time with this painting.
I love watching Columbo and Perry Mason while I paint. There is something magical about my old favorites; they help me focus on my work. 

WIP 20 X 14 OVAL STRETCHED CANVAS

Vintage Wood

“If you have never had a garden you cannot understand, and if you have had a garden you will know that it would take a whole book to describe all that came to pass there.” 
We saw a deer yesterday; I think she brought us good luck
Poor thing couldn't find a way out of the maze. I sure hope she found a way to her home.

I miss the trees, the birds, and the wildlife. 

WIP 20 X 14 OVAL

“Perhaps it is the key to the garden!” 

― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

I seem to be quite captivated by this fellow ~ The Scarecrow

The Scarecrow

- Walter de la Mare

No filter, just my phone, the garden, the scarecrow and, the sunflowers in the snow.

All winter through I bow my head 

beneath the driving rain;
the North Wind powders me with snow
and blows me black again;
at midnight 'neath a maze of stars
I flame with glittering rime,
and stand above the stubble, stiff
as mail at morning-prime.
But when that child called Spring, and all
his host of children come,
scattering their buds and dew upon
these acres of my home,
some rapture in my rags awakes;
I lift void eyes and scan
the sky for crows, those ravening foes,
of my strange master, Man.
I watch him striding lank behind
his clashing team, and know
soon will the wheat swish body high
where once lay a sterile snow;
soon I shall gaze across a sea
of sun-begotten grain,
which my unflinching watch hath sealed
for harvest once again.

PICK ME, PICK ME, PICK ME, PICK ME

PICK ME, PICK ME, PICK ME, PICK ME...Four baby squirrels, likely around 5 weeks old. We picked up all four, literally.....Remember Kathy Bates in Rat Race? lol Well, these came free.

They showed up in our neighbor's driveway, three sitting on the pavement next to the running board of the neighbor's truck and then the fourth one jumped down from the tree by the driveway and joined his siblings on the ground. Their mother apparently had gone missing a few days prior so the four little ones were left to fend for themselves. Dehydrated and hungry they followed us around and so we gave them the essentials, 1st water and then tiny bits of apple and broccoli. 

It wasn't long before we got the call we were waiting for. We were fortunate to find a home for them @ https://www.rideauwildlife.org Rideau Valley WildLife Sanctuary in North Gower. 


So happy they took these little babies in.
Thank you so much, Linda Laurus for helping us out.


Oh, and we discovered two of the four are girls. So cute.


It seems we are in an area for rescuing animals but barely out in the countryside, imagine if we were lol .

P.S. To our cat friends, sorry we missed Caturday. Saturday was quite an eventful day.

Sunday Morning Moon Through the Trees~ Melon ~Like! 🌚

Over the top of the mountains the moon

Rose unexpectedly In the sky, it drifted, A bird, a fairy! Blown out, round and sweet Melon~ Like! ~ Patrizia Gattaceca

LILIES OF THE VALLEY

When at the end of spring I pick for the last time
My favourite flowers— a yearning fills my breast,
And to the future I urgently appeal:
Let me but once again look upon the lilies of the valley.
Now they have faded. Like an arrow the summer has flown by,
The days have grown shorter. The feathered choir is still,
The sun more charily grants us its warmth and light,
And already the wood has laid its leafy carpet.
Then when harsh winter comes
And the forests don their snowy cover,
Despondently I roam and wait with new yearning
For the skies to shine with the sun of spring.
I find no pleasure in books, or conversation,
Or swift-rushing sledges, or the ball's noisy glitter,
Or Patti, or the theatre, or delicate cuisine,
Or the quiet crackling of smouldering logs on the fire
I wait for spring. And now the enchantress appears,
The wood has cast off its shroud
And prepares for us shade,
And the rivers start to flow, and the grove is filled with sound,
And at last the long-looked-for day is here!
Quick to the woods!—I race along the familiar path.
Can my dreams have come true, my longings be fulfilled?—
There he is! Bending to the earth, with trembling hand
I pluck the wondrous gift of the enchantress Spring.
O lily of the valley, why do you so please the eye?
Other flowers there are more sumptuous and grand,
With brighter colours and livelier patterns,
Yet they have not your mysterious fascination.
Where lies the secret of your charms? What do you prophesy to the soul?
With what do you attract me, with what gladden my heart?
Is it that you revive the ghost of former pleasures,
Or is it future bliss that you promise us?
I know not. But your balmy fragrance,
Like flowing wine, warms and intoxicates me,
Like music, it takes my breath away,
And like a flame of love, it suffuses my burning cheeks.
And I am happy while you bloom, modest lily of the valley,
The tedium of winter days has passed without a trace,
And oppressive thoughts are gone, and in my heart in languid comfort
Welcomes, with you, forgetfulness of trouble and woe.
Yet now you fade. Again in monotonous succession
The days will begin to flow slowly, and stronger than before
Will I be tormented by importunate yearning,
By the agonizing dream of the happiness of days in May.

And then someday spring again will call
And raise the living world out of its fetters.
But the hour will strike. I shall be no more among the living,
I shall meet, like everyone, my fated turn.
And then what?—Where, at the winged hour of death,
Will my soul, heeding its command, soundlessly soar?
No answer! Be silent, my restless mind,
You cannot guess what eternity holds for us.
But like all of nature, drawn by our thirst to live,
We call to you and wait, beautiful Spring!
The joys of earth are so near to us, so familiar—
The yawning maw of the grave so dark! ~ PYOTR LLYICH TCHAIKOVSKY

Spring is late this year but on a good note, it gave me a chance to pick my favorite flower...LILIES OF THE VALLEY and I was ☘️ to find this painting "Lady of Shallott" by Waterhouse.

“What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that's gone forever, impossible to reproduce.” ~ Karl Lagerfeld

These are the memories we will never let go. It seems like it was just yesterday we were treasure hunting with Grace. We discovered Geocaching and M and I went on some wonderful outdoor adventures around our region like Merrickville and Kemptville searching for the secretly hidden geocaches. Grace helped us find them all. Although there are mixed views on the game and I understand the dangers associated with it, we still love playing the game. The clues, the puzzles, the mystery and stories, the thrill of the adventure of finding the cache in the most unexpected secret location are all part of the fun of geocaching and besides that its a wonderful excuse to take a walk in nature, breathe in the fresh air and bring your dog out for a walk, sadly we will miss having Grace on our next hunts.

“Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal***From an Irish Headstone” Richard Puz

SNOWCAT

Home Sweet Home is especially nice in Stormy Weather. While hubby and daughter watched Monk, I listened to music and played on the computer forgetting all about lighting the fire even though my husband had brought more than enough wood inside to last us the entire night. I found a picture of a Snowcat, “SnowBall The Cat” someone built out of snow and it reminded me of the Snowcat I made a long time ago made with felt, applique, and embroidery. In the past when the kids were little we built a real SnowCat and although it would be great to have a Snowcat in the front yard now, I really don't want to venture out in the cold and build one all by myself, not much fun.

The painting, “Michetto Hill” that you see at the back of the SnowCat Pillow, I painted a long time ago but it is different than the one I have posted online, it's missing Michetto, so eventually, I'll need to paint him in and fix a couple of mistakes I forgot all about.

The good thing about stormy weather, it makes me spend more time on my art.