A little forest on a little biscornu

A little biscornu forest.

I didn't have a chart for this, just winged it.

Mystery HDF dark green floss on 36 "flax" color linen

Trip to the Tree Farm

Yesterday was a beautiful but chilly day to be outside.  For hours in the morning the tiny tiny mushrooms had tiny tiny ice crystals.

And the rose hips glowed in the sunshine

And it was a great day to go to the tree farm to get our Christmas tree.

The girl likes the little ones.

But the one we took home was a more average size; it's all bedecked now and I'm sure you'll all see it eventually.  

 It's easy to forget to enjoy the view since the horizon is so often hidden by clouds, but it was a gorgeous gem of a day and the mountains were out in full view.     

What, you can't see them?  Look over there:

Which reminds me, I need to get back to that Chatelaine Designs project.

First snow!

It started with a few flakes late yesterday afternoon.

We don't get much snow most winters, maybe just a couple morning we wake up with a few inches, but this winter promises to have a little more.  El nino or la nina, I can never remember which is which.

This morning when we woke up it was not snowing, just maybe half inch on the ground and bare driveway.  School not even delayed an hour.

But by the time we'd finished breakfast, it was snowing again.  So on went the mittens and boots.  The boy didn't even wait for his coat.

By the time it was time to leave, and I finally wrestled a coat on that kid, it was snowing HARD.  School still not delayed.  Because I forgot that my car doors freeze shut when it snows (German engineering at its finest) off they all went in the 4-wheel-drive.

The half-husky is in seventh heaven and is planning on waiting outside patiently for their return.

I plan on waiting inside, where there is a warm fire.  Somehow I will be productive and not distracted by the pretty snow on the leaves.

Or the pretty winter color scheme I just pulled out.

I wonder how successful I will be...

Stormy November - Gray and Green

A few days ago we had a windstorm typical of the ones we get in the winter, which make branches fall on powerlines and the power go out overnight. This last one was not "Storm of the Century" material, or even "Storm of 2010".  But still the next day there are branches and fallen trees everywhere, and I'm always glad we have a generator and a nice warm fireplace.  The aftermath is mostly cleaned up now but the streets in our rural area are still lined with branches.

 It's stopped raining for a few minutes, and I was struck again by how (as always) green dominates the landscape, but gray really takes over as well this time of year, what with the overcast sky and low lighting.  

 

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

End of October orange

Off soon to get the costumes on. The last few days have held some precious moments of clear, cold weather with golden light... they are even more precious because they come after days and days of dreary gray and rain.  Orange seems to be everywhere at the end of October, not just in the stores.  I love how it glows in the light.

Plus, one of my favorite sights on these first cold days of fall:

Mmm, toasty.

Kopachuck

Little L and I found ourselves without the boys today and decided to go for a picnic and one of the local state parks.  I admit I gripe about our gray days a lot, but there can be beauty in the infinite shades of gray.

On the other hand all this gray makes a million shades of green, even on a gray day in early autumn.

Not a bad way to spend a few hours. 

Let's go for a walk in the woods

Yesterday, after school, my boy and I picked an apple off the tree and ate it on the grass in front of the house.

We spent a little time picking the last of the summer's blackberries

and a pretty copper dragonfly landed on me

And then he said, "Mom, let's go for a walk in the woods".  I'm not going to say no to that.  So off we go down the trail.

Mostly I think he wanted to go pick huckleberries

But he also enjoyed slugspotting:

And wildlife identification

and just enjoying the cool forest

The weatherguys say this winter is going to be a long, cold one. 

I am going to miss summer.

Detail of completed Rosewood Manor "And a Forest Grew"

Timber!

Yesterday my dear husband the former woodsman cut down a couple dead trees in our woods near the house.

My daughter really enjoyed the show.

The tree was pretty big, over 100 feet tall.  We counted the rings, the tree was probably almost 80 years old.

Old tools are kind of pretty, aren't they?

But the bark and its tiny ecosystem was what really fascinated me.

I think that little friend up there feels like another experiment in the making, but until then, a little tree from the giant Vierlande project, still in the baby stages....

WIP:  Metta Putfarcken 1848, on 40 ct Sassy Fabrics "Spun Sugar" with a variety of HDF silk greens