Peri McQuay

Peri Phillips McQuay is the author of Singing Meadow: The Adventure of Creating a Country Home, The View From Foley Mountain, a book of nature meditations on her experiences living for 30 years at the Foley Mountain Conservation Area and A Wing in the Door: Life With a Red-tailed Hawk is the story of her adventures with Merak, a human-imprinted hawk, who lived free but saw McQuay and her family as her special people. Also Peri has written numerous essays, articles, book reviews and a weekly column, published in the Kingston Whig-Standard Magazine. Her credits include Country Journal, Harrowsmith, Bird Watcher’s Digest, The Snowy Egret, Seasons, The Fiddlehead, Herizons and Brick.

Rug Hooking

Late in Life Pleasures I want to tell you about a surprising new pleasure. It wasn’t as if I didn’t have a wealth of fiber interests to pursue in my off moments. Weaving, Knitting, Spinning, Embroidery, Quilting, to name some. Much as I love learning, the thought of taking up a new craft (in this case rug hooking) was out of the question. But ten years ago when I saw a poster in a local store offering a one day …

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Heaven is Now

Heaven is Now Little pieces of deep happiness. I am watching the late afternoon of the sweet, tiny phoebe, swaying on a small branch, flashing after insects. In between her darting sorties she is simply resting, abiding in the soft late spring day. Now that she has eggs in a former robin’s nest attached to the back of my house, the annoying, raspy calls of “phoebe” have stopped. Surrounded by risk, she is fearful of attracting one of many predators—the …

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The Gift of Handwork

The Gift of Handwork My beloved grandmother gave me gifts to guide me on my life’s journey. Her main wish was that I would practise a faith “because it would be a comfort to you”. And in my own way I work at that every day, and it has become my foundation. However what I am remembering here is that she also taught me to prize handwork, both as a survival skill and a steadying pleasure. Her own needlework came …

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