Designer - BrightNeedle
Fabric - 30 count R & R Iced Cappuccino
Fibers - Threadgatherer's Silk 'n Color - 1 strand over 1 thread
NEVER AGAIN!
Started - 11 February 2011
Completed - 13 March 2012
A year, a month, and two days later - I have conquered my "Over One Nemesis"! The last thing I stitched was the urn. I discovered after stitching vertical fourteen rows that I'd misread the pattern. Argh! (and lots of other strong Pirate Language). After some deep breathing and thought, I found a way to keep my mistake and maintain the integrity of the repetitive urn pattern. Ta-Da!
Let's continue on our walk along the Haul Road.
We had lots of good views of the river as we walked along the south bank. Ironically just a few weeks ago my sister and I walked trail along north bank as it is part of Clearwater Park.
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The pussy willows were in bloom and loaded with pollen.
One of the water-loving trees lining the 'Haul Road' was Red Alder (Alnus rubra). The bark of the tree is striking - red on white. This time of year the trees have vibrant red catkins.
Along stream banks Red Alder, is commonly associated with Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera). The willow-like dogwood glowed in the gray morning light.
I wonder whose house this might be...
And I wonder who left these track - some shore bird I expect.
The Wildish quarry operations created several large ponds. They've become welcome habit for western pond turtles, native frogs, and waterfowl. The long term plan is to create channels connected to the river so that the river is able to meander and expand in times of flood.
Look closely and you can see a pair or Wood Ducks. The male is especially pretty. I wish I'd been able to get a better photo, but they were extremely shy. Unlike other ducks, Wood Ducks nest in the cavities of trees close to water! They have sharp claws for perching in trees. According to Wikipedia, "After hatching, the ducklings jump down from the nest tree and make their way to water. The mother calls them to her, but does not help them in any way. The ducklings may jump from heights of up to 290 ft without injury. While Wood Ducks prefer nesting over water so the young have a soft landing, but will nest up to 150 yards away from the shoreline. The day after they hatch, the young climb to the nest entrance and jump to the ground. The ducklings can swim and find their own food by this time."
Here is a pair of Avocets - small shore birds.
Another part of the park management plan is to allow the river to collect brush and dead trees. Salmon and other fish love the quiet water trapped in the deadwood. The deadwood also helps to create gravel bars and mini islands.
I was pleased to see Osoberry in bloom - such a lovely surprise this early in the year. I thought it an interesting and pretty walk on a late Winter's day. A success in my book - a new to me tree - Red Alder. And two new birds: the Wood Duck and the Avocet.
I hope you too enjoyed the walk.
11 comments:
Your winter stitch is very pretty. I love the look of over one stitching; it's rewarding...until you have to unstitch! Good that you found a way to recreate the design to fit your stitches.
Love the photos of the ornate house and the bird tracks. The early life of a baby wood duck sounds kind of nightmarish to me.
Thanks for another great nature lesson.
Bobbi
A lovely finish, I agree about over one stitching. It's a nightmare to unpick and it's so easy to get the counting wrong.
Love your Sweet Winter - it's just gorgeous. I'm inspired! Thanks so much for sharing with all of us.
I haven't been able to get on the computer for the last several days, so I had lots of great pictures to see!
I love the finish! I LOL at "NEVER AGAIN"!!
I grew up on a lake, and we put up wood duck boxes (sticking out of the water on a pole wrapped with metal sheeting to keep the snakes from climbing in). Every year we had 4-6 nesting females. It was a very interesting process to watch. Every morning for about a month, the female would fly directly into the box (no hovering or sitting on the edge of the hole, just WHAM right in there from full flight) and lay one egg. Then after 30 - 35 days she would start to sit. One morning, she would fly down to the water and begin calling (we could see her head going back and forth). Then, the hole in the box would start to look like an air popcorn popper as ducklings would be leaping up to get out! One by one they would fall out of the box to the water and immediately scoot over to mama duck. When all were out, they would leave and we'd never see them again.
Beautiful pictures as always. One over one on 40 count- wow- that is not easy to stitch and pretty near impossible to pick out. You did a beautiful job - a love how the alphabet is tucked in around the urn.
Beautiful finish!! I was astounded upon reading the ducklings jumping 290 feet without injury. Simply amazing!!
Your finish is just beautiful! I'm very selective about over one stitching-it has to be very necessary! Thanks for the amazing walk!
Sometimes, in my lunch hour here at work I go to a beatiful place near my office called Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (a Foundation established by an armenian gentleman in the 30's because he felt welcomed in Portugal), a beatiful garden in the center of Lisbon with some beatiful ducks. I thought of that when I read you talking about the ducks, but the places you go walking are so beatiful!!!!
Oh, how pretty, Beth!! I love the colors in this... I actually like stitching over one on 28 ct. or lower, but anything on the higher counts is not fun. Give it a try on some 25 ct. some time--I'll bet you won't mind it nearly as much :)
Loved your duck pictures--ours have been waddling up from our pond to eat the food that falls from the bird feeder. They're so cute!
Congratulations on the over 1 finish! I kow it can be so frustrating, especially when you notice a mistake, but the end result is so beautiful. I'm glad you stuck with it and finished it.
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