Quentin Quail is back

We have lots of Quentin and Queenie pairs of quails running around the neighborhood right now, so it was timely that I got a request to make a Quentin necklace as a mother's day present.

Quentin has little running shoes on, as they always do seem to run everywhere very quickly!   I was sat on the porch the other day and Quentin walk slowly past me - not noticing I was there, but then Queenie came up behind him, saw me - and ran so fast, so Quentin ran too!  They are so lovely to watch.

Anyhow - my Quentin customer was a delight. He was buying the necklace for one of his daughters.  I do hope she likes it. I made a different styled Q necklace this week too, but haven't finished it yet. Hopefully early next week I'll show it to you.

Weekly Bird in the Hand

Here is this week's Bird in the Hand - the things I am grateful for:

WWI Carrier pigeon

• My nephew Matt.  It was his 17th birthday yesterday.  Seems difficult to believe - but he's still as cute as ever ;-D
• Achieving my 10,000 steps a day goal every day this week - totalling walking more than 40 miles.
• My new walking shoes!
• The fun of learning new things. I'm busy building a new website for my Health Coaching business but as many things have changed since I built my Birdland Creations site, there is quite a learning curve.  I often feel I haven't much to show for a day's work, but I am getting there - and enjoying the challenge of it all.
• All this wonderful sunny weather here in California.  We've had practically no rain at all since the beginning of December - only 1 day I think - and this is supposed to be our rainy season!  I'm thinking it'll all catch up soon enough - but for now, I'm enjoying the 65 degree sunny afternoons and frosty mornings.
• The support of fellow artists and family when I had an unreasonable customer to deal with.
• Getting back to singing after a week off over New Year.
• Time with friends.

I hope you've had a good week too.  What was the highlight for you?

A two snake day

Today is a two snake day. Not sure if that has some meaning or what, but on my usual walk, I saw a beautiful black and white snake - California Kingsnake - dead!

And then a juvenile gopher snake:

Were the two connected?  There were no other clues - just one dead snake and one alive snake! Hmm.. a mystery for the day. If you have any insight into snake sightings, please pass them along!

My neighbour told me recently that she's seen loads of snakes in her garden this summer - and she has a real phobia for snakes - so hopefully these two are now out of her sight. 

I wonder what it's all about.....

Mondays with Marly - California Comes to Ontario!

BY GUEST BLOGGER MARLY FROM STUDIO 28

Angie and I are SO excited that Ruth is coming for a visit to Waterloo! As you read this blog, we will be having fun together in Toronto!  We’ll have to post lots of pictures of our adventures together! It is always wonderful to spend time with Ruth. There’s lot of laughter, sharing of ideas, and interesting metal clay collaborations. It is so enriching to have the opportunity to share ideas and studio time with another metal clay enthusiast!

 I am very fortunate to have a wonderful friend and business partner, Angie, who I can collaborate with on a daily basis. I’d like to dedicate this blog to her and thank her for her constant support, encouragement, and inspiration. She is a talented and creative artisan and I am lucky to have her presence in my life! Below are some of her beautiful metal clay creations!

Ancient Treasure

Dream Box

Dream Spinner

 

 

 

 

Love Letter

Mushroom Stones

Tribal Drums

Varanasai Sun

Stay tuned for the further adventures of Ruth, Angie and Marly in Waterloo.  Ontario will NEVER be the same!

Quentin Quail

My favorite bird in the summer garden in northern California is the California Quail. They are such cuties! They have beautiful coloration on their feathers - especially the male and their little topknot feathers are so comical. But their best feature is their love of running! They prefer running to flying and their little tiny skinny legs move soooooo fast. Apparently they have been clocked running at 12 mph!

Anyhow, this year we have been watching a couple of quails in our garden- a male and a female - Quentin and Queenie. My husband and I have commented on how frequently we see them...we can be looking out of the window in the office and see them, then go outside and they are already somewhere else and.....Just amazing. And they are scratching around for food in the ground...then run fast. Occasionally Quentin will sing for us as he sits on top of one of our seats. Well the other day we went to walk down for our newspaper and said "hi" to Quentin and Queenie, then walked a little further and saw them again, then again.......And suddenly it hit us! We have Quentin and Queenie 1, 2 and 3!!!! We have now seen 3 pairs of Quentin and Queenies in the garden all at one time - not just one pair that runs around the house all the time!!!!!

So I made a necklace in fine silver of Quentin - coz he makes me smile!!! I hand formed his shape in metal clay, and added fine silver wire for his top knot and legs...but then of course, had to put him in running shoes! Well, if he runs at 12 mph he needs them. So hope you enjoy my Quentin and that he makes you smile :=D Our fingers are crossed that the Queenies are nesting somewhere and one day we will have to come up with lots of Q names for babies. The babies are sooooo tiny - just adorable.

The picture below is of quail sculptures in our front garden. The best sight - which unfortunately I didn't catch on the camera, was then Quentin sat on the topknot of the large quail!