i think spring is a state of mind...

(i'm testing my computer. so far no blue screen of death. and i'm happy to report cullan now has the cleanest room in the house)
i've been seeing a lot of beautiful spring posts on blogs i visit lately. lots and lots of photos like this:

and this:

all i can think when i see these breathtaking photos is "wow." because i have a cherry tree in my yard also. it's a japanese cherry tree i planted as a twig 19 years ago and named bing. and here is what bing was doing this morning:
see him down there between the railings? i'm just not getting any "gosh i'm ready to bust out in blossoms" vibes from him today. in fact he's pretty chilly towards everyone.
my friend chuck the yard gnome is feeling pretty good about himself right now though, in spite of the fresh snow & bitter winds.

...because i finally finished his wishbone scarf. i'm not showing you a close up of it, because the majority of it was knit during the olympics, and the cables went kind of wanky during the half-pipe and snowboard X events.... i haven't yet reached the knitting stage where i can happily tear out row after row of my stitches. especially for chuck. i do need to tell you about this beautiful yarn though - it's another Noro yarn called Kochoran. it's 50% wool, 30% angora and 20% silk. so so soft! wonderful to knit with, and all my favorite colours in one ball!

you might be wondering if that's the eastie bunny back there behind chuck. nope. just another arctic hare.

enjoy your springtime, whatever the climate! and yay, i made it through this whole post without one cranky computer glitch.

i'm still here...

can you believe it, my under one year old computer crashed.

so for now, i am sitting in my youngest son's room using his computer. and let me tell you, it is not a pleasant place to be. how can one 15 year old boy be so....so...gah, smelly. dusty. have so many icky food containers laying around. i had to lysol my way to his desk.

how can this lair be home to my little boy who used to sort his legos as he put them away?? what the heck happened?

at any rate, instead of being able to show you my awesome cabled scarf i just finished (because my camera doesn't connect to this computer) i am going to put on rubber gloves and get a 40 gallon hefty bag in here, along with the rug shampooer.

so much for the creative buzz i woke up with...

where's your inspiration?

linda from a swap for all seasons asked what colour combos inspire us. yikes - what doesn't?? maybe my art life would be easier if i really only cared for one or two colours....as it is, when i start on a project there are always myriads of colours running through my head. a very big part of the "beginning" of a project for me is the colour interviews and rejections.

it sometimes bogs me down, i need to get past that.

here's a classic example of me & colour~ i couldn't decide on just one fabric for my dresser drawers...so i used all of them.
we are supposed to post a photo showing a grouping of colours that inspires us. i've spent all morning going from room to room in my house. those of you who have been in my house will understand...how can i settle on one small photo.

this is just one corner of my kitchen. the others are green, and orange, and yellow...
in an effort to get my husband and kids to embrace their inner artists, i have spent years surrounding them in every colour i could get from a paint can. our walls are covered with maps, mermaids, witty quotes, and stuff. nothing matches, nothing really "goes together"
and there you have it. that's how i find my inspiration.

phew, that really stressed me out...

...and for a fleeting moment, the sun shone bright

sometimes, after endless weeks of relentless rain and wind, i think all of us on the island fall prey to the "Why, Why Do I Continue To Live Here" Imp. no matter how sweet a person's disposition, when mildew begins to form on one's limbs, your bright outlook on life in general dims. i finally snapped last week. lately there has been a good amount of wind, which has blown branches, moss and other stuff into our gutters, filling them up. so when the rain turned from a slight drizzle to full out downpour the other night, the water from the roof had no choice but to overflow the gutters & hit the deck. the noise actually woke the high king of snoring up. it sounded as if we were living behind niagra falls. incredible.
but then, when mother nature knows she has pushed us all to the end of the wet and slippery rope, this happens:
sun! clear blue sky! this was saturday, in all it's glory. all it takes is a single day like this, and we all know we could never live anywhere but here on this jewel.

kodiak on a cloudless day can take your breath away.

there's no place like home. even if we only get one sunny day per month. or two months...

and then, in the blink of an eye, the clouds slipped back in

an hour after i took these last two photos, we were blanketed in big fluffy snow flakes...

we'll just have to focus on the fact that we are gaining daylight every day, even if we can't see it.

the view from the kitchen sink

i don't know about all of you, but i would sure like to see some springtime happen...