Iris and miscellaneous rug hooking

Now the rush on the house is finished I can go back to keeping the gardens under control (or approximately under control). This time of year I love the variety of Iris that are in bloom.

Most are cream topped with pale purple lower petals. I don't know if they started that way or if the lack of nutrition in the sand has made them gradually more anemic.

These have darker purple lower petals.

This group are almost a brown purple and

may favorite, so dark that it is almost black. Only one flower stem  this year.

Cindy, a rug hooking friend, sent me a birthday present of natural wool, a couple of pieces of silk scarf and dyeing instructions.

You soak the wool for an hour. Jelly roll the silk and wool and tie it up with string. Put it in a mason jar covered with water and microwave (at 30%, otherwise it boils over) for about half an hour. Put white vinegar in it for the last 5 minutes. Carefully take it out, its hot, and drain it. Rinse the wool and dry it.

Hanging on the line to dry. On the right is the silk scarf (still some dye in it so I may be able to bleed it again). In the middle is the wool from the jelly roll and on the left a piece of natural wool I threw in at the end because there was still some dye in the water.

Different scarf (which bled out more than the previous one), same order as above.

This was dead easy and gave beautiful results. I can't wait to find a project to use these in. I have never done microwave dyeing before and as I was a bit nervous of the chemical dyes in something I use for food, I gave the microwave a thorough cleaning after.

Cheryl took my "Sheep Tricks" class last September at Apps Ridge and sent me an email and pictures. When she had finished the button sheep she found it was a bit concave and a friend told her that I had mentioned stuffing it. (Photos by Cheryl)

So she deconstructed him,

stuffed him

and now he is the star of her table runner. It is so exciting to see finished projects from a class I have taught.

The best 10km yet - Bruce Trail, Waterdown to Guelph Line.

Nicola and I took Saturday off and then hiked the Bruce Trail again on Sunday.

We started where we had left off on Friday, at the stile which is at the intersection of Mountain Brow and Flanders, in Waterdown.

The first section was criss-crossed with trails and we had to keep a close watch out for the white blazes. It was also well used by mountain bikers.

The title of this post says it all. To start with the temperature was perfect for hiking.

It was in the mid to low 20s and not humid.

Most of the trail was wide and some of it was even mulched, which made for a nice soft surface to walk on.

There were some views over Burlington Bay

and, way in the distance, Toronto.

A splattering

of flowers.

Many of them white.

The second half of the trek was on narrower, more wooded paths, but still with very few ascents or descents. This is the aptly named Shagbark Hickory.

Nicola caught me trying to get a picture of a Chipmunk.

I was unable to get a picture of that one. We saw many Chipmunks and most had much shorter tails than the ones I am used to seeing at home. I looked this up and found that the Chipmunks tail is quite delicate and they loose them easily, and they will not grow back, not even the hair.

The trail crossed a lot of roads, including Hwy 5 (4 lanes and busy)

A short walk up one of the roads took us past a horse farm and then into a lush residential area.

Nicola's App said this was a Japanese Snowball which I thought was strange because they usually have round flower clusters. Turns out there's more than one variety.

This section was more exclusively for hikers (and joggers).

There were some really aggressive tree roots. Of course I tripped and fell right in front of another group of walkers.

We asked a couple, coming from the other direction, how long it was to Guelph line and when they said "about 20 minutes" Nic promptly got on the phone to Dave as he was an hour away.

We couldn't believe how fast we had hiked the 10km.

A perfect combination of perfect temperature and terrain, hiking terrior.

There was a lovely spot to sit, in the shade, and wait for our ride

Until we saw these casings, various places on the tree, then we moved out from under it. We thought they might have been from wasps but a little internet research indicates that they might have been from Cicadas.

10km in about 3 hours is probably the best pace we have ever set. A lovely walk on a lovely day and a real sense of accomplishment from completing 20km in a weekend and hiking the whole of one of the Bruce Trail book maps.

On "the trail" again; Bruce Trail - Rock Chapel Rd to Waterdown

A little later in the season than last year, but Nicola and I resumed our hiking of the Bruce Trail. We met at the Walmart in Waterdown (only bathroom available) and then drove to park on Rock Chapel Rd.

It was warm as we started out and both of us opted to leave our jackets in the car.

This section is managed by the Royal Botanical Gardens.

This looks like a Honeysuckle to me and when I looked it up I found that they are considered a non-native, invasive species. Very pretty though.

The first of many sets of wooden stairs. Although we complained about them they were much better than

the rock (and tumble) stairs. "Ankle traps"

Not an abundance of flowers out now

but every now and then, little pops of colour.

It was hot and muggy and on more than I occasion we mentioned how thankful we were that the trail was mostly in shade.

The trail went under Hwy 6

through a mural and graffiti filled tunnel

and past an old homestead

where the spray paint was also in evidence.

Behind the Walmart, a restored quarry, with trails around the ponds.

Across a railway line. The rails had recently been replaced and there were no blazes painted on them

but luckily the entrance on the other side was not far along.

We stopped and chatted with a "blaze painter". He was a volunteer, responsible for keeping the white blazes, marking the trail, on the trees, bright and visible. He repaints them 2 or 3 times a year. He said that it was relatively easy to get volunteers down in this well populated part of the trail but, further up in the peninsular, there might be 3 guys maintaining about 50 miles.

A long span

across a stream and now the trail followed a beautiful valley up beside the water.

Beautiful, yes, but also exhausting.

Huge boulders had fallen from the escarpment rim and tumbled into the valley. The river rushed over them in chutes and waterfalls and settled into swirling pools between them.

One lone Jack in the Pulpit.

The exhausting part was that it was mostly uphill; steep inclines, wooden stairs

and a steep, wooden stair switch back that culminated in a view of these waterfalls.

From the lookout above the falls.

This part of the trail is twinned with Offa's Dyke Path in the U.K.

I had heard of this path and wanted to hike it. Nicola's comment; "You realize that is 28, 10km days, Carol". Hmm, I was feeling pretty tired at the 9km mark of 1 day.

The last km was uphill (of course!) and then through a residential neighbourhood to where Dave picked us up.

Just under 10 km. We started at 10:15 and finished at about 3:30. Very hot, very sweaty, very tired but happy to be back hiking again.

Lovely moon at the end of the day.