My Eventful February Winter Week!

I still see the picture on my blog before it opens to my French script that I love but it may be our computer connection with HughesNet. It is slower than I am used too from Alabama where we had high speed.

When I go outside in the morning, even at 40 degrees, I have to have my coffee outside and listen to the crows at first because the dogs scare the birds away for a bit but they soon return and I can hear the flutter of their wings!  I just love it!

I got some Bird and Blooms magazines from the library checked out and I read through them  getting ideas for spring plantings.

There are also lots of ideas for birdhouses and one is made from an old straw hat. It says to put a foam plate behind it for the back and cut a hole in the straw for the opening. It may only last a year but good cheap housing for all the many birds around me. Of course, they probably have their own nests in the trees. We will see!

  I have 5 bluebird houses out and was thinking of painting a couple of them blue just for the fun of it.  I see them all along the fence posts of farms around here so I expect to see many this spring!  We always had them in our birdhouses in Alabama!

I have been busy this week;  on Monday I took a Shitake mushroom class where we learned how to grow them on preferably oak logs. I brought a few and some to share but my logs were smaller than the ones the Brasstown Community Center provided so I also got one from them with a small donation. The class was only $10 and my husband insisted I take it because of all the mushroom hunting and photo taking I do of them all around me here.  The article in the newspaper said they are always full classes so I registered early.

It was an experience, as I had no idea how growing mushrooms was done. You drill holes in the logs and implant the spores, then cover with wax, we used cheese wax and I had it all over me. I should have worn gloves and will if I ever do it again.  I believe we have the perfect growing conditions here and I will watch and just see what happens. Now, they are just lying in the woods to grow the spores.

Here are my three logs placed in the woods behind our home. 

 See the waxed spore holes below

Who knows, maybe I could be a commercial grower one of the years as it take 600 logs to make money and I have no idea how to handle a saw. Hee hee!  But, they can be stacked on 1/4 acre and you just have to watch and make sure they get water.

I also went to the Tri-State Gem and Mineral Club meeting Tuesday where they shared Dolomite Stone and I had no idea it was so beautiful. We all also took amethyst  if we had any for show and tell. I took the piece that was given to me at my Grandmother's funeral. I did not want to go into the room where she lay as I wanted to remember her as I last saw her and many folks thought I was in worse shape than I really was but everyone respected my decision.  But, a friend of my Mother's gave me a piece of amethyst to put of my forehead if I had trouble sleeping!  I swear, true story!  I cherish this amethyst and it is the stone for February.

The jewelry demonstration was to make spinner rings. I should have taken a photo, so unusual for me not too,  but the lady (Cathy Morris)  that showed us how to do it teaches at the William Holland School of Lapidary in Young Harris, Ga.  This is very close to where I live and you take week long classes and live at the school. I can take my "Daisy" camper if I wish but I can never afford the classes  I am sure.  Maybe I will win a lesson through the club through winning points through contributions to club doings!

I get a point for attending, show and tell, field trips, hosting treats at meetings, etc.  So far, I have missed two meetings as I joined in November, 2011 and this was my second meeting to attend.

Anyway, the rest of the week I need to be spending on my craft room and crafting, if I can stay away from the cold front porch. I live there I do believe!

I just bundle up and listen to the forest. I have deceided  I am a " Spirit of the Forest" as I subtitled my blog. It just feels like home and peace. I was looking for some stones the other day to put under where our water faucet attaches to the house

(they installed it after we moved in) I could not believe there was not one already. It runs to the well where we get our water so it is natural well water.

Here are also a photo of some wild turkeys I saw in a field eating the other day when I was out on the nearby roads.

I found a Mountain Laurel grove where many branches had broken in the wind or the deer movement and brought many home. Many people here make unique structures with them like pergolas, garden fences, etc. It is a curvy branch and the flowers this spring will be like heaven. I first saw the mountain laurel when we were here pet-sitting and took many photos. I believe it is the most beautiful flower I have ever seen. I will be selling this print in my" ByLightOfMoon" Handmade Etsy shop!

I sold a pine knot on Etsy yesterday and it was the biggest one I have. I found it would cost $15.00 to ship so I deleted it and refunded the money paid at just $4.50. What was I thinking?  What a huge mistake on my part!  Well, she sent me a conversation was it still for sale, so I re-listed it and we will just wait and see.  It weights almost 4 lbs. But, I do have many smaller ones I will list that are beautiful with the moss and lichens and just the wood patterns are fabulous in a terrarium or just on the porch. 

 Pine Knots

I also found out over the weekend I had won a giveaway on Dawn's blog," The Feathered Nest"! I can't wait for it to arrive. I already have a special place in mind for it as it is a wall hanging and we are very short on wall space, BUT, it is so special to me that she made it!  I love her blog and followed here posting and life she shares with us. It is made with lace and here ephemera, just like I love!  It was her 5 year blog anniversary and she always has so many comments I never dreamed of winning. I am over the top with JOY! 

 This is the fabulous wall hanging I won!  

This next set of photos I cannot believe I am going to share with you but here I go! I have a start that says Believe and I do Believe I will get my craft room cleaned up. Right now, it looks like an episode of Hoarders but I have finally gone through all my crafting boxes and unloaded them everywhere. Now, to place everything  where I can work with it and hopefully make some sales to help out AND give myself my creative spirit something to do that finally with me a finished product.  I do believe that I will have to go even more vertical as our attic is only 900 sq ft as our house is. The whole area will be my crafting room and storage for some of our clothes we have that will not fit in our bedroom closet and will probably never wear but I have lost some weight and can fit in more clothes that I used to wear. We are very casual here so I don't get dressed up to often.  This house is very short on closets, not even a linen closet anywhere, but we do have a pantry room. 

I think I have it mostly back

I played around and reset that darn picture window it take a while to load but at least it has my favorite gadgets back. Oh, the thought of recreating them was awful!

Thanks you for NO help on this Blogger help support!

pure awesomeness. |

pure awesomeness. |

I want my old blog back!

Something happened to my blog and I lost my header and all my sidebar gadgets, even this way to post is not normal. I just want my old blog back!

The Passing of my Grand Dog " Barkley" !

 The Beginning

  

Oh, tears well up  in my eyes as I try to post this. We had him 12 years and would have been 13 in June 2012.   I remember the day he was born as our Golden Retriever's Megan and Jordan were his parents. They had one litter till we had Megan fixed and what a fabulous experience it was. She had 11 puppies and Barkley was the one my daughter picked out to be hers' the day he was born.   HE was a beautiful dog and grew very tall and large. He had a beautiful red coat and shiny as could be. He is in my heart and will be forever as his parents are also.  I guess he is with them at the " Rainbow Bridge" in heaven with his sister " Ally" and brother "Bailey" that kept in touch with us.

eating from food bowl of mush milk and softened food

We came to North Carolina pet-sitting "Ally" and her sister "Maggie" , a rescue Golden when their parents traveled. This is how we fell in love with this area and moved here after my husband retired from his work.

Barkley

Playing TUG with Mom and Dad

First 1st Birthday Party

When Ally and Megan passed very soon to each other, we had a ceremony  at the  Hiawassee River they all so much loved to play  in. We had a priest and many friends in attendance for their good-bye's.  I can't imagine a more fitting way to release them to where they loved and we also brought "Jordan " a few years later when we passed.  Barkley never came to this river but he went boating with my daughter and fishing with my son-in-law on their boats.  He went everywhere they did as did our dogs. He was just like their child! He also slept with them in their big king bed and made friends  with all you came into the store they opened, in fact he was their mascot at " Big Dog Trading Co.". They even had to finally ask the mail lady to NOT bring treats to him as he was eating everything everyone brought to him.

He just had that kind of personality and shared his love with everyone.  As he aged and got a tumor on his head, everyone always asked about him and how he was doing.  I thought we would lose him a year earlier as the tumor was like a tennis ball on the side of his head. It was drained and came back several times. But, he was happy when he had that weight off his brain and no more migraine like feeling the vet told them.   He lasted another year and that was a gift for all of us.

Barkley and Megan, his Momma

They came up here at Christmas last December and then to his other grandmother's house traveling many miles on that adventure.  He was a delight for us to see and he had fun playing with our two new golden's, Emma and Bailey", also our two cats, Lily and Blak!

Christmas 2011

Then we got to see him again in January when we went back to Alabama for a doctor appointment and to get more of our things still there.  He perked his ears when he saw grandma come in the door and call his name. He was having trouble getting up but he did! We attribute the MSN capsules to his lasting that last year. It seemed to keep the tumor smaller and it almost went away completely to everyone's amazement.  He loved to leave his daybed and get on our airbed and my last photos of him are with his head out of our quilt covers. I adored these photos even before I knew it would be the last visit with him.

He was born 6-15-99 and passed 1-17-12 and he lived his dash to the fullest.  He was the sparkle in my daughter and son-in-laws eye's  as he was in their lives for so long, in fact their whole married life. They are experiencing a huge loss in their lives but will get a rescue Golden Retriever when it comes along to them.

January 2012

I cannot say how much he is missed by everyone with his presence! He just glowed with delight!   My tribute to him is small in the hugeness of his wrapping me around his paw. I would do anything for him as he knew it.

God Bless you Barkley, I love you!

Smiles, Grandma Cyndi

Take a walk with me though the woods in January

Take a walk with me though the woods in January

Since we moved to North Carolina and we live in the woods I cannot stay inside anymore. It is so different from living in a garden house sub-division. My front porch beckons me. My rocking chair is so nice to just be in. I know the white wicker is not North Carolina style but that is what we had. We never see a car go by unless they are coming to see us. That is really one big difference from city living.

I love walking through the woods and I see where the deer have been. I can just follow their path through the pathways they have created. The rhododendron is very hard to walk through. You almost need to scoot through on your belly and that I am too old to do. It just fascinates me. We used to drive hundreds of miles to get to the forest when in a hiking club. We also used to have three different jeeps; CJ7's that we spent many hours with a trail of friends roaming the woods in Alabama. We went old coal mine roads and I loved having the top and my door off to just watch the mud holes as we passed. The frogs leaping and small flowers along with all kinds of greenery and mushrooms where to be seen only by wood wanderers.

Now, I can just walk out my door and there they are. It is hard to imagine this life is really true. We are really living our dream. It is not what we imagined as we aged, we thought we would own a house and not be so money strapped but we make do.

Anyway, come with me and I shall show you what I see:

You can also click on any on the photos to see them enlarged and closer for more details, Thanks!






The photos got out of order, this is the entrance to the woods from our road, our house in behind me as I walk.

Here are three different size pine cones all in one place so I really have a variety to choose from!

This plant( you see the root)had neat curly-cues on it and I could not pick one off so I decided to get a piece of it and it was very hard to pull with a long root system so I pulled on it till it put me on my butt as I fell backwards. I will have to search to find out what it is!  The curly-cues will be neat in my nature jars though and I will re-plant it at our house. I got many wildflowers last year when we moved to North Carolina so we will see what re-appears this spring and summer.




I found from a neighbor this is the brown dried fruits from a Sourwood tree and many make honey from this tree. It is very popular here and I had never heard of a Sourwood tree before we moved here.






Wow! What caused this?





















I wonder what made this tree grow this way?






My dogs on a road that was made to go to an un-built house. It appears to just be a gravel road to no-where except a short cut to another neighbor's house. They take it a lot to visit her dog.









I wish you could really see the glitter on this stone.








A knarley branch!



The deer kick up the moss and it is upside down, this is what I collect and I have put it in my outside pots and indoor ficus tree. I even have stored it in turkey roasters to include in my nature jars I make. It doesn't seem to ever turn brown. I started out misting it also but as time went by I saw I really didn't need to but now and then I do, just to be sure it stays lush and green.

I have been selling handmade things when I get the time to make something but I have decide to start sharing the moss I collect with you also. I also collect pine cones, a few mushrooms I have dried, pine knots, lichens, and just anything nature presents itself to me.

When I was in the grocery store yesterday, I saw a magazine , "Country Gardens, Early Spring 2012" that had moss gardens featured which helped me identify and find the names for the mosses I am finding. I am finding there are two types of moss,  The cute cottage house on the cover appealed to me to pick it up and it also features "Beatrix Potter" whom I adore. I don't get to many magazines on the store shelf anymore, but, this I had to have!

Here is where I go and what I see in January in our woods:





I am also very taken with oles in trees, maybe little gnomes and fairies live nearby.  I am still searching for a fairy ring like the one Steven Tyler showed in is Oprah Winfrey new show on OWN network and he also mentioned his visit to his special place with the fairy ring in his book, " Does the Noise in My Head Bother You"  I adored reading his book and love his music.




The broken branches show a larger animal has been through but many trees are down and growing fungi. It just astound me what is still live in winter in the woods. I can't wait for spring to see what it brings. The photos I share are just natural. I did not move many leaves as you can see. I just pointed my camera (I did find my Kodak Easy Share) as I had been using my cell phone for my camera the last few months. We will see how long it continues to work. I hope along time. I have to use the sport setting as I do shake a bit and sometimes the second photo I take is better than the first one. I guess age is showing itself, plus I take many RX for my neuropathy.


Yes, even Deer Poop!

This moss I have not been able to transplant, it covers a large area in the forest and then I end up in brown leaves again everywhere. It is just there to adore! 

More broken branches cover this area where the deer live, I suppose.




I had to add one selected bulb I am growing, the paperwhite flowers smell so DeLicIous!:-)

More deep Poop!

I do know I get carried away taking photos, everything is so magical in the woods. AS I also showed you my dogs, Emma and Bailey caught up with me now and then while I was out walking and then low and behold, my cat Lily also appears. She follows the dogs through the woods and knows them pretty well herself.

When we walk the road she comes along and gets ahead of us, like "Come On, you are so slow"! I do tend to watch where I walk since my neuropathy and I do NOT want to fall, so I always am stopping and lurking at something on the ground or tree bark, etc, even the stones and rocks! Just anything is so new to me being back in the woods after so many years.

Enough for today, I need to get to listing some moss in my Etsy " ByLightOfMoon" handmade and supplies shop!

See you later and many thanks for looking at my blog post. I really enjoy your comments and thoughts!
Smiles, Cyndi