kerrykatiecakes

I am constantly seeing things that inspire me to try to stitch them - do you?  It seems like these ideas are everywhere around us and I am continually taking photos so I will remember them later. This feature wall on the exterior of the Royal Albert Museum in Edmonton has me thinking of stitching the ancient pictographs of the aboriginal people of Alberta. Perhaps a visit to Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park is in order to do more research!  At the EAC National Seminar this year, the fruit trees at SAIT were in full bloom but early in the week we awoke to a spring snow.  The juxtaposition of the spring blossoms weighed down with a blanket of winter snow appealed to me - typical Alberta weather!  What about the hinge on this door from the oldest builting at SAIT?  Don't you love the dragon?  I wish there was more of this kind of whimsical detail in modern architecture! I think a thread painted magpie will be a project in the near futu...

 There are a wonderful amount and variety of birds here by the river and I have been enjoying waking up to their song each morning.  My first thought when I noticed all the shavings around the base of this tree was that the beavers had been at work again but not this time. An obvious clue was this perfect whole in the tree trunk - obviously someone's home but much closer to the ground than I would have expected.  The shavings were much finer than those left by beavers as well - amazing that all this was done with a small beak.  The inside of the hole is quite large and perfectly carved out.  I tried for a photo of that as well but it didn't come out.  I think that the hole I found is the nest of a sapsucker.  I thought it was a woodpecker but my husband has corrected me and he is more of a birder than I am. Looking at this photo, you can see why I usually think beavers when I see any wood shavings at the base of a tree.  ...

This one is a winner and I am happy to recommend it to anyone.   the curious incident of the dog in the night-time  is written by Mark Haddon, who spent time working with autistic people.  The book takes the form of a journal of a boy with Asperger's Syndrome as he tries to solve the mystery of the murder of a neighbour's dog.  It provides insight into how this boy sees the world around him and how the autistic mind works - it is a revelation and one of the best books I have read in recent years.

My new internet hub gave up the ghost after only a month so I was stuck with no connection for a couple weeks until I could get to town to have the faulty cord replaced.  Frustrating to say the least! Back online now, but in the meantime, now the electrical system in the 5th wheel has gone haywire on me...  I am left now with three working plug ins and two lights that work - one in the bathroom and the other above the computer.  At least the receptacles I plug the computer into are still working so I can sit in the dark and be online...lol.   While I was out of touch with the world at large though, I did a lot of reading.  I don't know how I manage it since I am working between 12 and 16 hours a day six days a week (yes, this is when being on salary really sucks - it I was getting an hourly wage I would be able to retire soon!)  Anyway, here are the eclectic mix of books I have read the last couple weeks... Raven's Cry, written by Christine Harris...