Spring is on the way...

Hi Adele,  I spent this afternoon making collages with my friends Sara and Olivia.  I've also done this with another friend, Catherine, who is a real collage-artist.  For anyone, it's relaxing and enjoyable, and a lovely way to take a break from the busy-ness of everyday.  It's great to see the patterns, shapes, and colours emerge as we cut and paste... and it is a wonderful activity to do with groups that I work with, too.  Here is one I made, a patchwork of flowers...bringing some colour and warmth to an end-of-January day.  We used calendars of flowers, as well as pictures of art, coloured paper, maps, etc.  (Colours aren't quite as bright in this photo as in the actual collage, but you get the idea.)
All the best,
Ellen

Hello Adele

                Sending my best  wishes, thoughts, hugs and prayers.                                               You were always so interested in what I was busy with.                                  January it turning around!!! I am working on a story gathering project 

"Searching for stories in the everyday" So, I am consciously and continuously looking for stories... and I am finding them!! Sharing are some ideas I got from rambling around the library just looking at books.

                      I have to confess I rearranged...for some fun.

                                      (read titles from right to left)

                    

                                          

a few paintings

Hi Adele,
I was just thinking about you today so I went looking through my photos to find something lovely to send you and I found some pictures of paintings I've done over the last handful of years. Wishing you rose-pink sunsets, faerie flowers and skies of butterflies.
Hugs,
Nicole

Hi Adele!

I want to say thank you for the kindness you've shown me over the years.
I want to tell you that I am grateful for the words of wisdom you have graciously provided me with
I want to declare that I am a better person for having met you and that you are the type of person I hope to one day be
I want to be just as inspiring and influential to young minds as you have been to me and countless others.

Much love Adele! xoxoxoxoxo

Kristy Molnar,
Co-Op student from Learning Through The Arts

Winter

hi Adele,

not much snow this winter, but here is a poem I wrote on one of the cold days this past week, and a picture of a bird in a tree taken a few years ago, plus a red amaryllis for its cheerfulness.  warm wishes, Ellen

Sun dogs follow me home,
racing across the sky.
Crows call
from the leafless treetops.
Underground, daffodils burrow
like sleeping moles,
The cat sniffs the air, tests the deck
delicately, with her outstretched paw.
Still winter, stay inside.
I agree... porridge, tea, back to sleep.
Winter -- to hibernate,
or to fly
full speed ahead
through the dazzling cold?

six pets - fer real

Dear Adele,

It is my last days staying up here at The Centre for Creativity and Learning.

You have received some posts about the people here and even the xmas decorations. Well this is an homage to the pets.

There are six pets living here. Yes six. Three cats and three dogs.

Let me introduce you to Red Eyes. He was named so after a child's superhero. He is by far the friendliest in the house. He gets along with all the other animals. His purr is a locomotive and his meow, loud as a whistle. He hangs out with the dogs sometimes and will even make a dive for one of their treats if I toss one on the floor. It's a brave act to get in the way of doggies' mouths but he is that adventurous. For a tough old cat he surprisingly likes to be carried about and gives the best hugs. 

This is Buddy Bob but I call him Orange Kitty. He is like a fluffy cushion stuffed with love. If he could crawl right inside your heart and cuddle you from the inside out he would. Unfortunately he has the most stinky farts I have ever smelled in my whole life. 

Maybe he is stuffed with something other than love?

 This is Mitzy and he has been Angela's cat for 14 years. 

He lived with Angela's mom for a good part of that time it was she who named him Mitzy in remembrance of her previous kitty cat. Mitzy is gentle and sweet, though less so when defending his territory of Angela's bed from the other cats. When Angela comes home it is Mitzy who meows at length to give her all of the household news.

 Ok on to the dogs. 

I am new to living with dogs.

I am not used to barking or to dog behaviour but I am learning.

This is Maya. She likes to sing. 

In the evening she she will come up to you and whimper a bit. This means she would pretty please like to sing with you and is now a good time. You must start to howl first and then she will let fly a howl that would combat the best opera singers. Often the other dogs and people in the house join in and we all howl together. Then we clap for her. 

Here is a video of one of her performances.

You really gotta see this to believe it:

https://youtu.be/CH6sECzybRE

This is Athena. She was Maya's litter mate and they do tend to operate the world like twins do. 

 Athena is a tad less wild than Maya and that is a good thing. She is very aware of all the deer and other animals around the property and always feels the need to go out at night to bark at them. 

She does a grand job at keeping us safe, even from the deer.

The above pictures make Maya and Athena seem docile but it is not so. 

They are quite something to see when they go out and play together.

And this is darling Mitaine 

That's Mitten in French and pronounced with an accent - like Mit-TEN.

He is the size of a cat but feels responsible for everyone in the house including the other dogs. 

When he wags his tail he is so small that his whole body wags with him. 

If he likes you a lot he will sometimes come by and throw up beside your bed. 

His favourite place to be is behind the xmas tree. This gives him a clear vantage point to peer out the window and bark at anything and everything outside
and it also protects him from the ungainly larger dogs.

Mitten gives good hugs too. 

I carry him around saying positive affirmations to sooth his sense of responsibility.

"The outside world takes care of itself, the other animals take care of themselves, the people in the house take care of themselves, Mitten too takes care of himself and everyone is safe and loved."

I bounce him like a baby when I say this and it is a kind of a lullaby. He likes it. 

It has been quite a learning experience to live with so many creatures.

As an empath it is a very full experience to feel all of their needs and hopes and happinesses and wishes. 

I offer up a little prayer of blessing to these furry creatures and to furry creatures everywhere.

I hope this little bit of storytelling has been amusing to you today Adele.

Thinking of you.

Nicole

Adele,

As I journey into 2016, I review my photos from last year...and I would like to share this one with you.
(I love the spontaneous moments out in the world when an image or a gesture or an act of kindness bring a smile to my lips and to my heart!)
Such sweet (if not lacking in colour, lol) graffiti
Erica

Happy New Year

Hi Adele

Looks like winter has finally arrived in Consecon. I spent a couple days at my friend's cottage on an old farmstead near Priceville. Besides playing ukuleles, we took time to do a comics jam and mysteriously everyone started a story about their cat. So I have been using the last hours of my vacation to put them together into a little book... Here's the art I drew for the title page.

Lotsa love,
Martha