The Birds of Fern Ridge

Living close to a large reservoir and wildlife refuge that is a major stop along the west coast's migratory flight path, this is the time of year when I've got birds on the brain. They're everywhere you look. All sizes, shapes, colors and songs. I spent a Saturday vending at our local Wings and Wine festival, and made this wall hanging in honor of our fine feathered friends. A canoe paddles across the lake in between stands of marsh grass and cattails. Redwing blackbirds sing, great blue herons stand stately and tall, swans glide across the water, a mother duck is followed by a row of fuzzy yellow ducklings, and overhead a "V" of Canadian geese prepares to land. Fern Ridge Reservoir is a haven for birds and bird watchers alike.

You can find more pictures of this one on my Etsy shop at:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/74249628/the-birds-of-fern-ridge-felted-wool-wall

Giveaway on the Wooly Moss Roots Blog!

My dear friend Taryn is giving away one of my cast-iron skillet grabbers and mason jar warmers over on her blog, Wooly Moss Roots! Stop on by at this link:

http://woolymossroots.blogspot.com/2011/05/mountain-hearth-handcraftsgiveaway_17.html

for a chance to win!

Giveaway!

Be sure to head over to my other blog, A Mountain Hearth, to enter my giveaway in honor of reaching 100 official blog followers! I'll be sending off a handmade bird's nest, a cast iron skillet grabber and a mason jar warmer to the three winners.

You can follow the link here at:

http://mountainhearth.blogspot.com/2011/05/100th-blog-follower-giveaway.html

Around the May Pole

Yesterday was our Waldorf school's annual May Faire, and in honor of the season, I made this needlefelted wool wall hanging of a May Pole dance to sell at my booth. I had started out intending to felt a different scene entirely, but the excitement of May Faire got me thinking about the May Pole dance, and it took shape from there. As I was making the pole I decided it should have roots, and then branches with a tiny little bird's nest tucked in them. The girls are from all over the world, dancing together upon the earth to weave a unified thing of beauty for everyone. The woman who bought it really loved it, and I hope she enjoys it in her home.

You can read about our May Faire on my other blog at:

http://mountainhearth.blogspot.com/2011/05/may-faire.html.

A Merry May to All!

The Runaway Bunny Returns

"Shucks," said the bunny, "I might just as well stay where I am and be your little bunny."

And so he did.

"Have a carrot," said the mother bunny.

-Margaret Wise Brown

 

I so enjoyed needlefelting a wall hanging based on Margaret Wise Brown's "Runaway Bunny" last year, that I decided to make another one. I've been seeing little wild bunnies hopping away at the edge of the woods when we're out on evening walks, and was reminded of the story. This wall hanging depicts my favorite scene at the end of the book of the mother and child in their cozy burrow. After talking about all the far-flung  places he is going to run away to all day, his mother just tells him she will follow him anywhere because he is her little bunny, and offers him a carrot for supper. It's a tale of motherly love.

A Full Nest

I just finished this custom handmade nest for a woman with eight grandchildren who wanted one felted egg to represent each. I was just so tickled by this, I had to share it.

Every Spring I make these nests out of European beach grass roots, an invasive species that is causing our local sand dune ecosystem to disappear. Habitat restoration was my main focus in college, and I still can't help taking out these problematic plants when I see them. I love hearing about folks making invasive plant species into art! My friend Jeff over at Mystic Orb makes these great wooden buttons out of Scotch broom stalks!

So, I take these unwanted plants, make them into a nest, add a few bits of moss and lichens I find on the ground under our ancient oak tree, and wet felt some little wool eggs, and...Voila! We have eco-friendly art.

You can read more about my handmade birds' nests on a blog post I wrote last Spring called:

Building a Nest.

And find them on my Etsy shop at: http://mountainhearth.etsy.com/

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:

Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee;

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;

There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

I hear it in the deep heart's core.

~William Butler Yeats

I became acquainted with the poetry of William Butler Yeats in a college course on Irish literature a few years ago, and I particularly enjoyed this poem for the images of solitude and simple living close to the land. I also liked it because it very much reminded me of Henry David Thoreau's "Walden." As it turns out, Yeats was a fan of Thoreau as well, and "Walden" was an inspiration for this poem. Great minds do think alike.

I needlefelted this wool wall hanging of what I imagine such a place would look like. I like to think of the occupant of this cabin hoeing bean rows and tending the hive of bees, enjoying a very simple life.