resurrection fern

gathering expedition

It might seem almost a tradition that I end my week with forest walks, gathering expeditions of flowers, colorful leaves, fungi and on this occasion acorns and a view of the ever changing porch. I have come to think of my porch as a canvas and a natural science museum. I am looking forward to getting a great deal of rest this weekend, spending time with family and of course being creative. What are your going to be gathering this weekend?

The arrangement in the wooden bowl was inspired by this.

Raspberry and Lime

There was a definite color theme happening for my weekend away from home where nature echoed perfectly the fabulous colors chosen for the wedding of my niece. The pictures say it all!!

i thank You God for most this amazing
day;

for the leaping greenly spirits

 of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;

and for everything
which is natural which is infinite

 which is yes

ee cummings

Wishing you both infinite love and

a greenly spirit

filled life 

xxoo 

Margie

perfect day for a walk in the meadow

It was such an amazing day today so I managed to sneak out of the office for a short walk in the meadow behind the plaza where I work and I am so happy that I did.

I wish I could have shown you the millions of grasshoppers that were springing off the path and into the surrounding tall flowers and grasses as I walked. It was wonderful.

I adore the colors of this month and I am totally ignoring the photography experts advice about not taking pictures in full sun. Having never taken a photography course or even read the manual for my camera I just shoot pictures where ever and when ever I want. 

So much going on in this little meadow. I wanted to show you that I am not the only one loving the colorful maple leaves.

I just wish these warm, dry september days could last forever but on the way home from work the weather reporter was predicting a very cold, very snowy winter. A reminder to enjoy it while we can.

degrees of separation

"Surprised by joy - impatient as the wind

I wished to share the transport"

William Wordsworth

This is the time of year when many of our children leave home to return to school, college or university. They do so with different degrees of separation from us, their parents. 

Some do so slowly and hesitantly.

Some moms and dads find it really difficult to shed the protective cover.

Then there are those children that as soon as the door is open and you step away they explode forth into the world ready to experience the world.

Just like the seed pod of impatiens glandulifera that can travel over 7 meters after the trigger mechanism of the pod is released. This plant is related to the native wildflower jewelweed.

Remember that no matter which way they journey they remain strongly connected to home and you through the veins of your love.

You are the rock on which the foundation of their life was built on.

As they leave home in the quiet moments there will be tears and oh yes there will be joy.

As I was just finishing this post two things happened a show came on the radio talking about "invasive parenting" which is something quite simply we should not do. This reminded me of a book called "free range children" by Lenore Skenazy and I just discovered she has a blog. The other thing that happened was my power went out suddenly and the post wasn't autosaved as normally happens. So this second writing of the post may be slightly different than the original and for that I apologize. 

fairy rings on the soccer pitch

Now I can usually find beauty and nature calling out to me just about anywhere but yesterday was a first when I found myself in the center of a fairy ring in the middle of a soccer field. 

I prefer to imagine the fairies or pixies dancing long after the soccer kids and parents have left the field to create these wonderful circles than some of the more gruesome folklore surrounding them. It was a wonderful end to the soccer season for Deborah. Her team was in the finals and only lost to the strongest team in her league. Quite a feat since prior to this end of season cup tournament Deborah's team was in second to last place.

I have been collecting more mushrooms and making spore prints. I am really becoming familiar with which mushrooms make the best prints and how long it takes. Now all I need to do is keep experimenting with fixatives to preserve them. When I am satisfied with my methods I would love to share them. For now here are some of the new prints I made this past week.

I love the crispness of that last one very much.

I have found with a good specimen you can make 3 or 4 prints before it runs out of spores or becomes too moist.

Are any of you experimenting with natural materials these days. I would love to hear about it or perhaps you could share some blog links if you can.

flipside

I just decided to take a new more positive approach to monday and think of it as the flipside of the weekend. This came to me yesterday as I was working on sewing in all the ends of the crochet covered stones sold on friday. No one even noticed or at least they were too busy clicking to comment that I had not posted any flipside pictures of my stones. Now I am confessing why that was , you see the ends were not sewn in or the stones signed and numbered.  It was beautiful porch weather to work on the custom merfish and with a needle sew in all those ends. 

There were moments when I felt someone was staring at me :)

Now I can show a few good back sides.

I am having a hard time parting with those last two. I think I almost love the flipsides more than the tops. I just had to give homage to the often ignored side in this little bit of ephemeral garden art.

The ladybirds were such a sweet addition. I love it even with out the stones.

My daughter and I packed up all the orders and they will be posted today.

The petals and flowers were released onto the stone bench and a snack of granola and fresh raspberries was prepared when I noticed a very special little friend on the bench. I hopped on quickly, grabbed the camera out of my pocket and of course I wasn't frightened in the least. 

Happy bench monday little miss muffet version!!!

hoping to get outside

Thanks again for such a wonderful etsy shop update. I am going to get some fresh air and exercise before I start packing up the orders so they will all be mailed out early next week. It is a beautiful day after the violent storms that struck near our area last evening. We are expecting some more unsettled weather tonight so I need to get outside while the getting is good. I leave you with my best wishes for a weekend filled with nature and creativity. ( okay and a few chores)

that last picture is my new favorite!!

IT's Raining Golden Buckets

It was friday afternoon, the roadside flowers were gathered and containers were filled to brighten up the porch tables. I sat down after a long wet week, put my feet up and enjoyed a sip of delicious apricot beer from Quebec. I don't think the first sip had even hit my stomach when I decided I just had to make some maya*made buckets. I had everything I needed, a beautiful coffee sac that was sent to me by my ever so kind friend Pat , the pdf of the pattern purchased and downloaded on my imac. The only thing I couldn't locate was my cotton batting so I made these unlined with some inspired by my roadside flowers ( golden yellow) felt. I decided to make this first batch handleless , resurrectionfern exclusive fabric (from spoonflower designed for me by geninne)  pockets inside, and to fold the lining over the top edge for a little dramatic contrast.  Maya's pattern was so clear and easy to follow. If you need some buckets in your life, and who doesn't, be sure to purchase her pattern and get sewing.

I hope you will forgive me these are not ironed. It was just way too hot and humid to fire up my iron that evening. I really love how the sun came out very briefly in the morning and the golden lining shone through the loose weave of the burlap.

This gives me an idea for my next set of buckets. With rain in the forecast through till Wednesday that might happen very soon.

Hope you are all enjoying you weekends no matter what the weather.

Showers and Flowers

It has been raining again almost steady for the last day or so. Soggy  shoes, wet basement, damp kitties and mud everywhere got me thinking that I forgot to post about a different sort of shower, a wedding shower and the not you typical shower gift I gave. My beautiful  niece is getting married this fall in the Muskokas. 

On my last trip back "home" family and friends got together to celebrate.

My gift to her was a bright green market collapsable market basket, gardening hand tools, a pair of the most comfortable bamboo gardening gloves, the awesome book Garden Anywhere and a indoor/outdoor planter with culinary herbs already planted in it to get her started.

I almost forgot the most important part of the gift was a framed photograph of a totally adorable little couple at a wedding long long ago. In some ways she hasn't changed a bit:)

This time her little twin nieces will be the flower girls and I will be sure to capture that moment on my camera:)

AHHHHH

I am so happy it is saturday. I realize I give the impression of peace and tranquility on this blog almost always , mostly because I think of it as my own little personal oasis. This week we had a severe wind storm that tore down many mature but perhaps not so healthy maples and willow trees in my neighbourhood. Nothing like the sounds of chainsaws for hours through the night to give one a restful sleep. Then there is the never ending sound of construction and large trucks delivering concrete to the end of our street to build two "monster" homes. Well on tuesday these men working without the necessary map of the underground lines on the property hit the natural gas line. Then there was police, firemen, gas company officials . Our road was blocked for most of the afternoon until the leak was sealed and the air cleared. The next day the same inexperienced construction workers were bombing down the street and hit a sweet older woman as her car was just leaving the intersection right outside our home. As if that wasn't bad enough they then proceeded to verbally abuse the frightened woman. Luckily my daughter was home and asked her to park in our driveway and wait until the police arrived. 

The next two days the police were parked on our street monitoring the situation.

Today there are no storms, no gas leaks, no car accidents, no rude people, no emergency vehicles and all I can say is ahhhhhhh.

Here I will be working on some project deadlines, crocheting, sewing, enjoying the peace and quiet and waiting for butterflies.

The winner of the first silent auction for autism was Diana. I will be emailing shortly. Thanks to all who participated. A special thanks to Sarah who offered a donation. If you haven't had a chance to do so you should visit her blog , quince and quire, it quickly became one of my favorite daily reads. I might just make one of those meadow garden skirts today!!