A my good friend posted this morning: ” Is there a selfish giant here somewhere?  Why will Spring not come to the garden?”

It has been truly the most wretched winter. Mother Nature made April fools of everyone when she spit ice and blasted wind and sleet at us for the last three days. I’m a Nova Scotian. I slide through our rugged winters accepting all that winter can throw at me as the “usual”.  We joke, we shovel and we endure. This though, THIS is getting ridiculous. We can’t even hope April showers will bring May flowers if they continue to fall in these frozen six-sided things! Enough already.

Spring lambs and easter bunnies and a wet-felted teacozy with needle-felted flowers.

If I cannot have Spring I will keep trying to create it.  Spring lambs, frolicking bunnies and the flowers on my tea cozy will have to do for now.  Regardless of the weather,  good things abound.  I’ve been busy filling orders, creating treasures for Easter.  I’ve made so many new pieces,  most of which have been featured in previous blogs.  I’m excited and inspired to push forward as the fun fuzzies have been getting lots of love on line and a few sales to add fizz to my Spring tonic.

Hannah and Seth coming down the path.

We found a small respite this past Saturday right before the three-day “snowmageddon”. On that gorgeous day the sun shone and the temperature was a balmy +9 degrees.  Seth’s gal, Hannah, and I walked amid driftwood, beach rocks and salt-sprayed bluffs as we watched my sons surf for four hours, capturing a few pictures to remind us of this sweet hiatus from winter.

Isaac and Matt getting ready to rock…

Another path of relief from these dreary days is to prepare for a sojourn to North Carolina with my children on the 26th. We will play by the ocean, collect shells at the pier and enjoy watching the more athletic of our numbers catch the waves that they dream will be there.

Isaac grabbing a good one while Matt paddles out.

Two weeks respite and relaxation in a sandy paradise will inspire textures of kelp and coral, sea foam and jellyfish.  Myriad  ideas are swirling in my head. Thoughts of  how-to’s and which-colors and how-best-to-builds are swarming like insistent bees.  The sights and tastes and smells of Nag’s Head will be a welcome muse for the Salty Hag.  Two weeks to soak up a glimmer of light to help in the wait for what seems a far distant summer.

A Moonsnail for Judith Brannen.

This year I can’t wait! I want spring to show up,  SOON, and then on to our tourist season. The lovely people that carry my creations are awaiting their peak periods as I am.  I want to fill every venue if they’ll have me. I’m still moving toward a consistent feel for my work, a brand or an image that invokes the Salty Hag. The natural world has always inspired me.  The ever-changing sea  its beauty and bountyis a balm to me. When people come to the Maritimes they are  left in awe and though I’ve been here my whole life I am no less affected by the smell of the salt air, the majesty of the surf , the call of  the seabirds. Creative juices are flowing..adventure awaits!

The product of a week of steady felting.