Collage

  "The sun is coming down to earth, and the fields and the waters shout to him golden shouts."
                                                                                              (George Meredith)

           "My heart and I lie small upon the earth like a grain of throbbing sand." (Zitkala-Sa)

                        "Every cat in the area will come round to try out your new fitted cat flp.
 Your own cat will continue to climb onto the window ledge and demand
                                                                     that you get out of bed to let it in." (B. King)

                 "If I take the wings of the dawn, if  dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there they hand will hold of me." (Adapted from Psalm 39)

                   "The sea is calm tonight, the tide is full,the moon lies fair upon the straits,
       for the world, which seems to lie before us like a land of dreams."            (Matthew Arnold)
                                  
                                               "Hitch your wagon to a star." Ralph Waldo Emerson)

        "The only mystery about the cat is why it ever decided to become a domestic animal."
                                                                                                           (Compton MacKenzie)

                  "Cats could have ruled the Universe, but couldn't be bothered ." (P. Gray)

                       "Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." (R. W. Emerson)

(Supermoon Aug 2014)

"Go for the moon. If you don't get it, you'll still be heading for a star." (Willis Reed)

      "Among human beings a cat is merely a cat;                  
                            among cats a cat is a prowling shadow in a jungle." (Karel Capek  1890-1938)

           "Everything in nature invites us constantly to be what we are." (Gretel Ehrlich)

                           

                 "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him...................." ( Voltaire)

DONNA's TWISTED STARs

Spencer approved: 6 ft table runner, complete with floral backing and pearl fringes that dangle for cat paws to bat . Sewn in solitude and possibly some quiet."Solitude gives birth to the original in us, to beauty unfamiliar and perilous." ( Thomas Mann 1875-1955)

 Tea table rectangle with more fringes.
                              Squares made from fat quarters of  autumn hued cotton quilting fabric.In the end it will go across the miles to Donna, a friend I have known for over 30 years. Even though the "World is so wide and each of us so small, yet bound by friendship we are giants." ( Pam Brown)

                     Cut and pieced into twisted stars. Layered and placed "just so", ready to be sewn into neat little packages. Ironed seams then sewed into each section, pressed again, squares evened off.

 With help from Bo; quality control expert.              
                                                        Then time to hand quilt. About  2 weeks worth of thread.And band aids for the fingers to help grab the needle.

Finished product of  runner. The table is about 7 feet long, give or take.Border is done in white table cloth fabric and gold patterned upholstery fabric.  Backing is floral quilt cotton.
                   Fringes are a nice touch. Perfect for cats. Perfect for Donna's cat Simon.

  I think Spencer is tuckered at last.                                 
                                                       All that fringe batting can wear one out.....

AUGUST DAYS

    "Now came still evening on, and twilight gray had in her sober libery all things clad."
                                        (John Milton)
And the last of the sweet peas, disheveled, ready to be torn asunder  for compost. Ready to be chopped up. Sad. But it's time.

       "Silence was pleased; now glowed the firmament with living sapphires. ( Milton)

             And those darn sweet peas. Staring mournfully out from their bed of dirt and mulch, as they are finally chewed up. I must be brave.  But I will miss them.

 "Wherever water flows, or birds fly, wherever day and night meet in twilight, wherever the blue heaven is hung by clouds, or sown with stars......" (William Wordsworth)

                                               

 "All this that love the sun are out of doors, the sky rejoices in the morning's birth.." (Wordsworth)

 "The cry of gulls at daybreak ocean bound, always a wind is slinging in their ears, always they lean to catch a drift of spray, or reef-blown water tossing in a bay, or drift of ebb tide around salty piers." (Harold Vinal)

    And then there are the cats. Those funny things that come to visit and dance around in the morning, and night, wanting to see, wanting to chase snakes, birds and bugs. Or you. Or hid in the compost bag and pat at things.

 
      "What nature delivers to us is never stale. Because what nature creates has eternity in it."
                                  ( Isaac Bashevis Singer)

 And there is still so much to prune and cut back, cut back and prune. August is winding down. Just hot muggy days left, where everything looks wilted and scraggy. The sweet peas are all gone now. The apples are ripening, the grapes are getting fat. Not yet fall, yet a hint of fall to come. "The sea is calm tonight, the tide is full, the moon lies fair upon the straits, for the world, which seems to lie before us like a land of dreams." (Matthew Arnold)

SUPERMOON

(Aug 10 500mm. appears smaller here cause of blog template)

 Don't you just want to howl at it? Awoooooooooo. Huge. Bright. Incredibly super.Apparently it is 14% bigger and brighter than any other everyday moon.The actual technical name of the Supermoon is " perigee-syzygy of the Earth-Moon-Sun system". Yes, I looked it up;it seems to have a  pedigree.

 It is one of three  massive supermoons. First was on July 12th, and the next will be on Sept 9th.
                             (Aug 8th photo)                                                       (Aug 6th photo)

(Aug 7th )

 This super moon is closer  to the Earth because the orbit is kind of crooked or one sided.
                 (Aug 6th photo)
 The Supermoon is 356,896 km away, and shows best when it is close to the horizon.Send your Supermoon photos into yournews@cbc.ca

                                        (Aug 10th)

 I still say  go ahead and howl at it. It's close enough .
                                             And the moon may just answer.     Awoooooooo.......

QUINSAM RIVER in the PINK

 This morning we decided to go down to the Quinsam River and see the thousands upon thousands of pink salmon that had returned. It is being said that there are over 160,000 salmon and more to come over the next three weeks. They were not exaggerating.

 It was amazing. Pink  upon Pink  sloshed together, flopping, writhing, scrunching together in the river. So many, that you could just "walk across their backs", as the saying goes. It was hard to resist the urge to just reach in just to touch them. And no, you couldn't just get a net and scoop them up.....

 30 years ago the salmon run all but disappeared. And now it's back. Anglers  flocking to fish in the stream, swarming with fins.

  When we were there today, people were leaning over the water to see the salmon, some to fish, others to just sit on the banks and watch the Pinks smack against the water.

  The smell of fish and the smell of animal.....large animal....was incredibly strong. Bears have been here , stuffing themselves silly.Carcasses of salmon were strewn all over. Bear scat on the river banks.

                  Trails lead from one river point to the next, and  all swarming with salmon.

 Quinsam River is a tributary leading to the actual Campbell River. Standing on the edge of the gate, is probably one of the best viewing areas to see the Pinks. The Hatchery gates are open at 7:30 every day and locked at 4:30pm. Lots of parking. Lots of trails. Lots of Pinks.

 Some of the species that are managed here are the Pink,Coho,Chinook, Steelhead and Trout.

      The Hatchery is 5 km west of downtown Campbell River, a really easy drive if you live in the area. Today was a very noisy day on the trails.....birds , a jungle of them, making a cacophony of sound. Probably all talking about the Pinks. The eagles were positively shrieking.

                                       

 Pinks have been known to travel thousands of kilometres.And there were thousands of them today. They looked a little frantic to me, but I would be frantic too, if I was stuck in a stream with a thousand others.Knowing that this was probably the end....eventually.

                And at the same time,I noticed  the first signs of fall were showing.....the maples starting to turn golden. Six more weeks of summer.......give or take. But meanwhile, there a Pinks to watch.