Rain and Relaxation, and Tapestry for the Senses

It is raining outside as I write this cozied up in my writing cave and I am so happy I could cry. I am exhausted. I have been watering 6 gardens this month and bloody heck, I need a rest! Besides which, there are corners of the back yard where my hose will not reach and they are desperate for moisture. Hallelujah! I have also been taking photos of bees and hummingbirds almost every day this month. I have hundreds of images to sift and sort. My work is cut out for me.

It has been an amazing month of investigation, meditation and revelation for me. Now I have to sit and write it all out. There is an imaginary crocheted scarf forming in my head and then there's the scarf that I am actually crocheting. Every day I add a few loops and piece together a narrative out of my experiences over the last six years. This month has been very symbolic for me--returning home to Saskatchewan to loop back the beginning to where I have worked my way to the Pacific Northwest, doggedly trying to connect myself to its social and ecological fabric.

I have created a home with my family, colleagues and friends. Our garden in the heart of the home. It's such a pleasure to be able to sit in the garden and watch the bees in the flowers as we did last night after dinner. And before the day is over I just have to squeeze in one more bee photo: a little sweat bee hunkering down for the evening on a pale pink sweet pea blossom. Are those little bite marks on the  petals? Is she literally hanging on by her teeth? (Or mandibles in this case.)

It's raining, so the bee activity will slow down, but I still have work to do. Please join Rebecca Graham and I tomorrow, August 3 at the Roundhouse Turn Table from noon to 2 pm for some fun with bee and hummingbird plants.

Tapestry for the Senses

Join artists Madame Beespeaker and Rebecca Graham in creating a multi-sensory, multi-dimensional tapestry exploring the healing powers of bees and hummingbirds. Using a seasonal palette of herbs, plants, flowers and other natural materials, we'll create pathways and panels to appeal to the eyes, nose and fingertips, while discovering how the world appears to the senses of bees and hummingbirds.