Tree chickens ...

Yes, we were chickenless for nearly a month but shortly after my last post five chickens found their way to our home via some friends. They seemed to settle in nicely and enjoyed our little pen and chicken house. But one evening not a chicken was to be found. I searched the yard while my daughter hunted around the pen. After almost giving up we found them up in the trees surrounding the pen. Now its a regular event and I am determined to clip their wings soon when I can corral them and an assistant to help. I suppose because I hate doing it I am procrastinating a bit on this chore.



The girls have all adjusted well to school. Highschool is no longer a scary place and second grade and middle school is just fine too. My youngest is "composing" a Halloween song on the piano and has devoted hours of time doing this project. Of course we are the hostage audience to hear this song repeated note by slow note as the song is added to measure by measure. I do love her enthusiam though!

In my shop I am working oh so hard on my custom work and am just getting around to listing all my hand built pottery and chickens that I made earlier this last summer. I am taking a class on wheel work which I have only limited experience on so I am really overloading my time now. I will be working late into the evenings I imagine.
I do want to share a few photos of my latest birds too...

Another thread pulled from the weave

There isn't much I can say. A neighbor and friend died this past weekend. I feel such sadness for the family. Friends form the weave of my blanket called "home". Its such a shock to loose them. Its difficult to accept and yet what choice do we have.

One of those days...

Yesterday was just one of those days thats just completely unsettling. I didn't get much sleep the night before -- too much caffeine too close to bedtime and a child up with nightmares.

Our homeowners insurance was sending someone out to "inspect" our house -- or at least that was how I felt. With three busy kids in the house and all their toys and creative "projects" our house is never in a perfect state. They drag all their toys and toy produce downstairs with the cash register to play store. They cut up paper plates, cardboard, straws and use much tape to create all sorts of things. There is a constant arrangement of artwork of theirs on the floors in various states of completion. All good things to keep them busy and creative. And of course there is me too with all my projects and my custom work area. So ours is a busy but not always neat house.

This inspection was worrying me. We have lived here nearly 18 years now and I have never heard anything from the insurance. So I wondered what they were up to. And I guess having a stranger come uninvited to look at the house really made me anxious too. So after a morning of running around frantically trying to neaten the house including stuffing the unfolded clean clothes -- back into the dryer, I managed to survive the visit. But after all this I still don't know whats up with them and why the visit.

I did manage to get a little dyeing in just before he showed up so my kitchen counter was a little messy. I was trying to match two colors -- a dark green brown and a yellow orange brown. I must admit it is a little fun playing with the colors and I am a little amazed sometimes at the success. The colors really looked pretty together. Here are the wool eggs and silk ribbon that I dyed...







My own camera went for a ride in my husbands car trunk for the day and this didn't dawn on me until I had searched frantically for a while. Where did I put it as I was "cleaning" up. Maybe it was stuffed in the dryer? No -- just kidding. Eventually I gave up and borrowed my daughters camera which turned out to be an awesome discovery. Using the close up mode on her camera I was finally able to get close up photos in focus. Wow! Of course now that I have my camera back I notice that it does have some obscure little button with a flower on it that probably puts it into close up mode. I know that this is such a little thing but what a big help this will be for all the photos I have to take each day.

Back to school .... again

The summer is once again over. That seemingly endless expanse of days .... poof! Where did they go?

The girls are off to school again with two moving up into new schools. My oldest is beginning her first year of highschool now. When she was a baby in my arms I could never imagine having a teenager. That time seem so far off in the future. And yet here we at that milestone in hardly a blink of an eye. I'm glad that she is enjoying it and excited now.

My days continue to be filled with hours and hours of creating. Never did I imagine I would be so very busy. Here is another composite of completed cake toppers...



My ring pillow was included in an Etsy treasury by happygirlgreetings



And finally a little chicken fun in memory of my lost chickens. Yes all my chickens were EATEN by some wild creature while we were camping in Maine. I miss them so much I can barely enjoy walking in the back yard.

End of Summer

The summer has raced by. We enjoyed a week of circus camp for the younger girls, a camping trip with friends at Hermit Island. The girls joined the other children in two mud fights using the low tide mud (YUCK). What a sight they were! They enjoyed floating out to sea on a log and adventuring around the camp ground after dark.







Dressing up in Grandma's gowns at Grandma's house...










I continue to be busy with my custom orders. Here is a composite photo of some of the cake toppers over the last few months.




I had one bride contact me this summer sharing a photo of one of my ring pillows...



This photo was taken by Joe Mikos photographers. His wedding photos are extremely beautiful!

Washing Day....

I've spent a few days this week working on washing a full bag of nice brown/grey wool. Its not always a fun job but once the wool is washed and they hay shook out its so nice and soft.


I just wanted to share a few of the pastels my husband and I drew while up in Maine last month.

This one was done by me of a hillside overlooking the ocean.



My husband did this one on Isle le Haut while the girls played in the cold waves of a rocky stone cove below. The rounded rocks made a lovely sound as the waves crashed and drained back to the sea. The girls were scandalized to be wading in their underpants. We had climbed the rocky shore cliff to look out along the coastline.

If summer would just last a bit longer...

I can't help being sad as the days of summer rush by so fast. We've had such a lovely time so far. Plenty of lazy days at home and plenty of time with friends and plenty of time exploring and having fun. But still school seems looming up so fast.

We enjoyed a trip up to Maine for a week and tried kayaking with the kids. We couldn't help enjoying several stops for pop-overs at Jordan Pond and a little hikes. We took a mail boat ride to Isle le Haut duck harbor and hiked along the cliffs and stone beaches. My husband sketched one pastel of the coastline that I love.





From Maine we drove up to Canada and spent a week at CAMMAC a music camp west of Montreal. The kids absolutely loved it! I took one class in recorder and spent the rest of my free time crafting a bit and reading a few books.