Did I Mention...

...that we have wandered off to the woods to seek out cool waters and visit with a grove of trees? Yes! I'm so excited to join a circle of friends beside a river to commune and connect. I will report back with photos and tales when we return. I've set to publish while were gone. Let's see if it works...

Blow Wind Blow

There's definitely electricity in the air! We've had a lot of wind each night and yesterday it was windy all day! Really crazy wind at times! As soon as Annie woke she was out there on the trampoline, and after a few jumps the static electricity was incredibly high. Was it the wind? All strands that could were standing on end!

I tried to capture it with the camera before I went to make breakfast and return a few phone calls. While I chatted away and cooked, I noticed Annie was leaving me a message with the Scrabble tiles. "Your not lisoneng (listening) to me!" which I think means "Stop talking and feed me!"

The song is Blow Wind Blow by Lionel Belasco's Orechesta Featuring Houdini

More Green

Annie and I spent the day sewing. I finished a set of cloth napkins and some darling baby items for baby William, Annie's upcoming nephew. I also made her this new nightie. Annie worked by my side and made some wonderful clothes for a doll.

The music - The Bay of Donnegal by Matthew Mascolo

Rainbow Cookies

I saw this recipe on LaLa in La.
It is supposed to be a sugar free, fat free cookie but I couldn't handle it at the last moment and put a little in. I think the dates would have added a lot of sweetness, but I didn't have any. Any changes I put in parenthesis.
They are really good!


Rainbow Cookies

1/2 cup dried apricots, cut up

1/2 cup golden raisins (I used dried Bing cherries)

1/2 cup dates, cut up (I used dried cranberries)

6 oz. can frozen orange juice concentrate

1 and 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 egg, lightly beaten (I used two small Bantam eggs)

1/2 cup canola or safflower oil

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup sesame seeds

(At the last minute I added 1/4 cup brown sugar, and about 1/4 cup butter cut into little pieces)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In small nonreactive saucepan combine apricots, raisins, dates, orange juice concentrate. Simmer 10 minutes and let cool. Combine oat, flour, salt, baking soda in large bowl. Add egg and oil and mix well. Stir in cooled fruit and seeds. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drop by spoonfuls onto parchment paper lined baking sheet. Flatten with spatula to 1/4 inch thickness. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on rack and store in airtight container.

Secret Garden

We've been wanting to do terrariums for a while now...
I knew it was going to be a perfect project for us. Miniatures + fairies + plants + easy.

So, today, ignoring the ear pressure and drainage (sorry), Annie and I dressed, brushed and gussied a bit before leaving the house, entering the outside world at last, our sites set on the nursery.
(See Jasper smiling for the camera?)

We had charcoal and plants on our list.
The rest; glass containers, moss, gravel, soil and figurines we had.

It's simple; gravel for drainage, charcoal for eliminating bacteria, moss to contain the roots, and soil to grow in. There are a few good YouTube tutorials too. I bought two types of Babytears-type moss, a very tiny tiny mint that smells fantastic, some small indoor plants, and some mini variety of Sedum.


Above is Annie's. It turned out so charming! She did a "dry" riverbed using some shiny stones we got at Beverly's for another project. Then she used an old aquarium bridge, and most of the plants we bought. Yesterday she had two deer by the river, today she has a small dragon overlooking the bridge. We're keeping a basket of ornaments (dinosaurs, mammals, Asian ceramics, etc.) on the table and we've been shifting them around daily, creating a completely different woodland, or desert landscape.

Time will tell how these enviornments and varieties will do. Some will thrive, others will not. For now, we watch. I know over-watering can be a problem, so we are watching closely. Annie wants to water and mist them every few hours, so I'm re-directing her outdoors to work some of it out. The great thing is you can SEE how much water is down at the gravel level, and SEE how moist the soil is. I'll let you know how they grow.

The song is Secret Garden by Bruce Springsteen

Sweet Connection

Isn't is amazing when you don't see someone for a long time and then, when you get together, it's like no time has passed? You pick up with where you left off? It was like that for Margo and I and for Annie and Melody. Seven months no see, no speak, then easy, sweet connection. Until next time, thanks for coming you two.

Give Us Stray Dogs

When I got home from working on Saturday, I found these signs plastered to our front fence and on the tree in front of the house! I got a huge tickle from them! I love how her line drawings are turning out these days. I find a lot of character in them and I can see much progress and refinement in her work. I found the first dog sketch on my light/tracing box. She must have drawn the first one, traced it, then added the fur to make the second. Clever darling!
Annie reminds me so much of myself at her age! I drew a lot, especially animals, and I would have done anything for a dog. Anything. I would even pretend I found a "lost" (neighbor) dog and bring it home and beg to keep it. Annie loves all animals, and even though we have dogcatfishsnakeguineapigcanarieslayinghens, she still yearns for more.

And by the way, don't give us stray dogs. Please.

Sniffles

Annie and I are getting over a light case of the sniffles so we canceled our plan to go visit Pop at work, and instead we tinkered around the studio all day. Since talking about our Fairy Village in my last post, I decided to take some pictures of it. I was also inspired to do so because a friend of mine in Santa Cruz called up wanted to get a few pieces for her little daughter who has a imaginary fairy world going on in their backyard.

All the structures, furniture and belongings are created by Annie and I. All of the fairy characters shown here are made by me, and I completely credit the brilliant Salley Mavor. I bought her book Felt Wee Folk years ago when Annie was tiny and have made dolls based on her patterns since. I went on to make my version of Mermaids, then created my own Frida & Diego dolls from there.

Our Fairy Village expands and contracts all the time. Annie is always adding stuff. I've sold pieces, given them as gifts, and Jasper has eaten whole townships. We have a amassed a huge amount of 'building materials' on our hikes and I think we might be entering a new fairy building phase. Click on the photos to see close-up details.

Mama in Her Orange Robe-by Annie

Who knew I looked so good making breakfast today?

Virtual Sketch Date

Annie and I have decided to join in and do Virtual Sketch Date.

Each month you do a sketch, painting, pen and ink, whatever, of the image they offer. Then you post your piece on your blog, and then VSK posts all entries and you can see all of the different works others have done of the same image.

Annie and I named this piece Dapple for obvious reasons.
We did sketches in pencil, then used watercolors. Annie finished hers off with pen and ink.

I'll Show You Where the Ladybugs Live- by Annie

Follow me.

Jasper can come too.

It's in Oakland. You have to walk up a very steep hillside and go around some trails then down again. My foot was hurting on the way down the hill. There are redwood, oak, and eucalyptus trees and manzanita. I collected some bark and a long rock that is like a tool. I also found some feathers. Jasper ran off after a jogger but he came right back. When you get to the bottom, near the road, there is a grassy place where the ladybugs were last year. This year there are A LOT more. Millions of them. They are "resting" for the winter. Click here for more about ladybug swarms.
Bye!

All the red you see are clumps of ladybugs.


I'm wondering why the ladybugs chose this spot?


The ladybugs are running on my hand!

Roots & Shoots

Annie and I joined the East Bay chapter of Roots & Shoots. Roots & Shoots is a grass roots organization started by Jane Goodall as a way for kids to contribute to their community and to animals. Our first meeting/project is to make cat toys and dog treats and then a tour of the Berkeley Animal Shelter to distribute the home made goodies. Sadly, Annie and I will be out-of-town so we made toys today so that we could contribute even though we will be absent.

Earlier, I set out the toys we made to snap a photo to post with, then Annie and I stepped out for a dental appointment. When we got home, our cat had broken into the studio, played with all the toys and lay completely stoned on the ottoman with the floor littered with toys! Did I mention we filled them with catnip? Bill snapped the photo below before carrying her upstairs and putting her in bed where she slept all night through!

Frida and Diego

Ever since we went to the Frida Kahlo show at MoMA, we've wanted to make some figures, based on the fairy dolls we love to create (only bigger), of Diego and Frida. We just finished last night! Diego stands a full nine inches, and Frida is seven and a half. Do you see the tiny hairless dog tucked into Frida's arm? Annie made it with Fimo, plus she made the jewelry you see her wearing. Annie also made a second set of shoes for each figure, and a second hat for Diego. The supplies we use are felted wool, wool roving, wood beads, embroidery floss, pipe cleaners, acrylic paint and Fimo. We used muted, earthy tones (our local wool supply is limited) and used the painting Frida did of their second wedding as our inspiration. The only items we didn't make are the clay flowers in Frida's hair. They are from Thailand.
(Thank you to the wonderful man at Castles in the Air!)

"...and they called it poultry love..."

That's Annie and Nell snuggling up in the rocking chair. Annie has had her in bed too. I draw the line about chickens in bed. So far Annie has made several "Nell" movies with various characters as co-stars. I play a bit part in one of them. It's really me in the background trying to keep Jasper on a down stay. He's painfully jealous of the chickens and moans, yips and all out barks when Annie is playing with them.

And no. We haven't had an egg yet.

I'm hopeful.

And I'm not surprised, considering.

I Love Fussy!

When we left Santa Cruz to move to Alameda fourteen months ago, we placed our wonderful hens with our dear friends Alison and Olivia. It was hard! We knew Alison and Olivia would love them and care for them so that helped our decision a lot! I told Annie that someday, when we settled in Alameda, we would get hens again. And now we have! There was a man in Fremont looking to thin out his flock and he gave us three little Bantams hens. I think they might be Aracuna Bantams. I will look it up and try to identify them. Annie has named hers Fussy, since Allen said she was the most verbal and "fussy" of the three. Bill named his Yolkie and mine is Nell. Nell is the most calm and is featured in the photos.

We are helping them settle in to their new home with fresh hay, nesting boxes, hen scratch and a big water bowl. So this morning, before Annie could rub the sleep from her eyes, she dashed down to the hen house and scooped up the first hen she could reach. She loves these chickens!

Born in the Year of the Snake