A Closer Look at Ottoman

Eyes Without a Face

Now that you have the song stuck in your head...

I found this leaf amonst its friends on the ground right outside my front door.

 

Footballs with Legs

I managed to get some *okay* images of the wild turkey babies (and mommas). I think the babies look like footballs with legs. I haven't seen any males around, or what Boo calls the "handsome" ones. I'm sure we'll be graced with their handsomeness when the babies are grown a bit...in the fall, I believe. It'll be here soon. Crazy.

Deer Spots

Here's one of our wee deer with spots we see around the house so much. His (or her) mama is right there behind him...on lower ground. There are also twins...and maybe more, but it's difficult to distinguish between them, so I can only know for sure if it's a singular baby or the twins. I tried to get some pictures of the baby turkeys too, but they just look like little spots in the grass. Maybe I'll have some more luck soon.

I've been working on things lately, crafty things...even conceptually crafty things. It's like conceptual art in craft form. Art for the masses? I love accessible art. Well-executed accessible art.

I may have the shop closed for a short bit at the end of the month, or I might just post the date when I can ship next. We're going to go see family before school starts. One last hurrah. I am excited about school to start though, poor Boo has been spending too little time with other kids and a lot of time with Mom and Dad. I don't think he actually minds much though. We have a lot of fun together, my wee family and I.

I hope to have some finished products soon. Hopefully even before we leave for our quick trip. Maybe not fully ready to post in the shop, but maybe enough for a sneak peek.

I hope your week is treating you well, dear reader.

Collecting Feathers

Boo and I like to pick up feathers when we walk around the house and surrounding area. Here's a few that we've found:

1. Wild Turkey Feathers - I wish you could see how iridescent these feathers are on the dark part near the tip...it's really pretty. And, I love the white eyelash tips to these.

2. Wild Turkey Feather - Wild turkeys have such a variety of feathers! This one is deceiving, it's really quite long, like 12" or so. If you follow me on Twitter, I've mentioned all the little baby turkeys (as well as spotted deer) that we've been visited by in recent weeks.

3. Blue Jay Feather - or at least that's what I think it is. I've been looking for one of these for some time. Eva has had better luck. This feather is much smaller, maybe 4" long.

The wood in these pictures is the new landing for the exterior entry. I'll share some pictures when the whole thing is done. Slow...we're busy with so many other things. Before and afters are so much better when the after is fully finished.

So, lately....I've been pretty uninspired which isn't like me. I usually have so many ideas running through my head that I can't pick one. I also have been waiting on Jeff to have some time to help me with something...he's been so busy...it's okay, I'm pretty patient. I also have had some inspiration this week. I've been mentally trying to solve a problem, and I think I've got it. Oh, how I need a method to my madness. Systems. I'll try to share more soon.

Peach and Gray

When I was in 6th grade (late 80s), peach and gray was a favorite color combination. We recently had to tear up our approximately 30-year-old redwood deck to be able to work on the house. So, we're re-using the wood for the exterior entry and some steps to the house...and eventually, a rustic dining table. I'm sure we'll find many uses for the wood. The new exterior entry makes a nice spot to photograph as well....More of that to come.

I hope you're staying cool. I feel very fortunate to be in usually rainy Oregon right now, as the temperature has been in the 80s. I've been thinking of you folks in areas with sweltering heat.

I hope you have a lovely weekend. I'm not sure what we're going to do, but I'm hoping to get more done on the house...I've been thinking it will be cold and rainy here soon enough and this house has so many drafts that I want to seal up as much as we can soon.

Giant Moth

There's a particular species of moth that seems to like our exterior entry. We've had two show up this spring. They linger until they seem ready to go out into the world. The second fellow showed up and hung out on the wall for a few days or so, and then Boo found him on the ground...and since it was next to the cat food, we were a bit alarmed. A tasty snack, that moth. Boo decided to scoop up the moth and stubbornly, it clung to him for it's dear life.

 
Finally, we got him to climb onto some grass. Hopefully, he found his way and is a happy moth...and that no cats made a snack of him.

It's so nice to relish in the changing of seasons...although, I must admit that the omission of 80 degree weather had me pretty overheated. Happy summer solstice!

Strawberry Days

It's certainly strawberry season. We've started picking some berries from the garden and supplementing with organic berries from the supermarket (when on sale) and berries from the farmers' market. Boo eats them simply rinsed sans stems. I've used them for snacks (see the third picture below) and for this incredible dessert (Jeff and I can't get enough, but I would say to eat it warm or at room temp...I've tried it out of the fridge and it's just not the same.), in which the leftovers are consumed the next morning by yours truly.

I just watered the strawberry plants the first time today. They really needed it. We've been getting intermittent rain and I just didn't want to admit that I had to start hand-watering. But, it's worth it...there's nothing like strawberries fresh-picked from the plant - red through to the center, warm from the sun, juicy, and sweet.

The above image shows the strawberries that I picked today...that one, there, at 2 o'clock...that one is the perfect berry. So pretty. I want to find a (natural) lipstick that color.

Above is a great snack or dessert: plain yogurt, strawberries (these were the supermarket organic ones, notice the white centers), granola, and drizzled honey. You could also use vanilla yogurt and skip the honey.

Tomorrow is farmers' market day. Time for a tamale lunch and I found this incredible wee espresso stand that makes a really wonderful mocha (the type you want to attempt licking the inside of the cup if you weren't in public).

Have you been taking advantage of strawberry season? Or, are you in the Southern Hemisphere...and what's in season where you are?

Wildflowers

It's been a cold, gray, and wet spring...but the flowers still bloomed.

These, what I believe to be, wild irises come in white/purple and yellow/purple. You may notice the ever-present blackberry seedlings that constantly have to be mowed.

This white and purple furry little fellow is intriguing and I'm not sure what it is.

I'm sure there are more types of flowers in bloom right now, this is just what I saw in one stroll outside. I know there are some wild strawberries that bloom as well; I have yet to find a strawberry on one of the plants...methinks they are eaten rather quickly by the wild creatures around these parts.

Today is truly sunny, one of the few days that has been so this spring. On Sunday, we had a really intense thunderstorm (for Oregon) with an incredible, yet brief, downpour.

I actually enjoy thunderstorms, but was a bit concerned about my succulents again, as they got more rain. I plan to investigate how they are doing with all the rain they've been receiving...to see if any have simply gotten too much and have perished. Oh, I do hope not!  I have been pretty busy and haven't checked on them every day. I'm sure the ones who have weathered the weather are enjoying the sun.

Oh! and I failed to mention that the darling Kristal of rikrak included me in an Etsy blog article on collecting (pincushions). You can read the article here. Thank you, Kristal!

 

More Oak Galls and Yearly Change

Yesterday evening, Boo and I went in search of more turkey feathers as they were around quite a bit the day before. We didn't find any that were in decent shape, but Boo found some oak galls on the ground under an oak tree that we hadn't checked before. Then we noticed that this particular tree was loaded with oak galls. So, we went back to the house and Boo got his wheelbarrow and I got the camera. Hurried back to the tree and I started picking. I only picked what I could easily reach...there were many more.

The photo above is of a large oak gall on the branch which is stronger and different looking than the ones on the leaves (the tree made them afterall, so I suppose the material on the leaves and branches are a bit different). I'm starting to wonder if the ones on the branches will make a stronger dye than the leaf galls. I plan to make the dye seperately to see what happens (first, I have to do some research on how to make this particular dye...I'm such a beginner).

There's our loot from one tree: 119 oak galls in all! You can see the gall that was growing on the branch to the left that has a line nearly bisecting it...it's the largest.

Here's the biggest I've found...it fell from a tree after a windy afternoon:

It's the type that grows from a branch. There's another one like this in another tree, too high for me to reach. I hope it falls soon! I think that these get so big because the leaves fall from the trees each fall and the galls on the branches can continue to grow. I wonder?

It's funny, last year I was posting continuously about blackberries...this year, it's about oak galls. The blackberries aren't in abundance like they were last year, or at least they aren't ripening well. The weather is cold and rainy again and I hope it doesn't stay this way...two months of summer just isn't enough. We had a cold and wet spring and usually it doesn't get cold and wet until October. Sigh.

Yes, each year is different. I'm noticing this much more these days because I'm collecting more from nature. Jenny and I talked about this recently. Last year, we were canning plums like crazy and there were only a few apples on her trees. This year, the plums are few and she has tons of apples. The weather is different...the fruit is different.

Happy Monday, dear reader!

Camouflage Spider

While watering my poor neglected succulents the other day (eep...they got a bit scorched from the sun when I brought them outside for the first time this year), I found a very curious spider. It has made a web in some dead lavender branches (you can see it if you look very closely) and right in the center of the web is a vertical line of securely wrapped prey with a space in the center where the spider camouflages itself. You can find him by following your eye up the line of wrapped-up prey until there is a space...the little piece above that is the spider...he looks just like his food. Isn't nature a.maz.ing?!