In the workshop...

 

I've been cooking up some new necklaces and I'm pretty excited about them.  They're a mix of wood, various fibers, and quilt printed paper from this old book I found.

 

Here's a close up of one of the wood pieces before I've worked it into a necklace.  My sister said I can borrow her dremmel tool to try out and I think it's gonna be wild!

~Nature Crafts~

I think I might be able to finally admit to myself that I've slowed my life down enough that I can live in tune with the rhythm of the seasons.  Or maybe, it's just that I'm finally allowing myself time in my schedule to do more fun and meaningful things.  Either way... I like it.

That means I get to go to the library, take time grabbing what books catch my eye, pour over old craft books, and check out new illustrators!!! (I love picture books!)

I found this great book of nature crafts and decided to take some time to try making my first wreath.  It's wierd to think I've never made a wreath before.  There was that one year in highschool botany where we dragged in a heap of pine boughs and spent the day wreathmaking but I was in a faerie obsession so I made wire and pine wings to wear.  It was awesome...

I made this wreath from some bittersweet that I found growing around my yard and by the river.  It's a really beautiful plant.  The vine itself took some wrangling to shape into the wreath but, it was easier than I'd expected it to be. 

My first wreath!  I think it looks extra cute on this door!

I think bittersweet is considered an invasive and therefore seems to be undesirable.   I like finding ways to use plants that are commonly considered pesky for creative useful purposes like food, aesthetics, and more.  Maybe it's my training in permaculture that sets my gears churning for creative solutions to problems...who knows. 

Crafter Crack...

A few times I've peered into the window of this hidden local gem and drooled when it wasn't open!  But,  I'm so happy to share that I finally got a chance to check out the Wool & Dye Works shop in town and I am super impressed.  

The place is amazing and they have a whole wall of recycled wools for sale.  They also sell tons of teeny tiny scrap strips in amazing colors which I spent a bunch of time oggling.  I'm a total sucker for scraps and castoffs!  I walked away with quite the $5 bounty which I'm excited to start adding into my designs.  They even have a collection of old crafting books for sale.  yowza!

Look at all those colors!!!

Amazing..

One of my favorite blogs to read is This Tiny House.  It features tiny houses all over the world and the people who love them and live in them.

I came across this post and had to share it.   This person undertook a six week experimental project by living in this floating island home. Yay for experimental living!!

 Here's the link to the post.  

Remembering Summer...

I have all these really great pictures from my Adirondack summer so I've been thinking lately that it would be nice to post some with some stories.

7.11.11

This is a picture from Connery Pond.  It it one of my favorite spots in the Adirondacks.  It's super easy to get to and just absolutely beautiful.  I'm totally jealous of the two houses that actually get to live on this pond.  That's Whiteface Mountain in the background.

 A cruise around this pond by boat led me to find my first spotting of a midden pile other than plant matter!

midden : a refuse heap created by an animal

 I was super excited to see piles of empty shells hidden under these little spots that looked like great hiding places for critters to hang out and eat.  I'm guessing it must be raccoons...not sure though.

Connery Pond is also one of my favorite grasshopper peeping spots.  At the time we were there in the summer they were everywhere and with each step popped out many many grasshoppers!

I spent quite some time watching chunks of midden fall from a tree where a rascal red squirrel was eating above me.  At first... I heard some crunching sounds coming from the canopy so I snuck up to the base of the tree to see how close I could get.  I'd been practicing my forest stealth walking skills so by that time in the summer I was pretty undetectable (atleast so I thought).  I got real close and watched the little bits of munch fall around me for a good 5 minutes.  I was getting excited so I turned my head to look up because I really wanted to see who was in charge of the large amounts of food crumbs that were under this tree.  And of course, one big chunk came right down right at my eye.  Luckily I was wearing glasses so I was unharmed but I still never know if the squirrel knew I was there and did it intentionally....  Do they do that?

And it seemed like a visit to Connery Pond wasn't fully complete until it was finalized with a fried chicken salad and banana split!  Maybe that has something to do with it being one of my most favorite places....

Sometimes since I don't have a t.v. it's hard to figure out what to do when I'm in that mood where I just wanna totally veg out and not have to think.  Those are the times when I could really go for some Degrassi or I'll admit...some Will Ferrell comedies.  I love me some slapstick!  Anyways,  this is what I choose nowadays.  A lawn chair looking at the river.   The cute dog companion helps too...  

It would've been so weird to me back in my 90210 addiction days to think watching leaves fall could be as exciting as Dylan and Brenda finally getting together.  O.k,  I'll admit it's definitely not as exciting when Jared Leto and Claire Danes had their first kiss in My So Called Life... I still squeal like a 5th grader when I watch that scene!  But it is a close second!!

Find of the week!

As a Pedal Person, I find many amazing things while I'm biking around collecting people's recycling and trash.  Last week I got a cd player that I had been in need of for quite some time.

But today...  I found this cute little basket in the middle of the road while I was biking home.  It's the best.  I will treasure it.  If it's yours and it fell of your car while you were driving and you'd like it back...I'd understand.

In the Workshop...

Enjoying the south facing porch to do some work in.  It gets warm and cozy in there as the day warms up.

Here's a sneek peak at some of  the little messenger creatures I'll be selling at upcoming local craft fairs!

I've also been having a bunch of fun packaging up my orders from acornolyphant.etsy.com  I've been scouring the area for the best ways to find cute packaging from found and recycled materials.  So far it's been almost as fun to pack stuff up and send things off as it has been making them!

10.20.11
The view from where I currently work is amazing!  I'm going to miss this view when the farm season ends next week.

10.21.11
This is the neighborhood across the street.  It's my favorite place to unwind... these days...

One of my favorite fall pastimes is watching leaves fall! For the first time in my life I saw colored leaves falling along with snowflakes today.  It was strange and absolutely beautiful.

A nice way to travel...

10.28.11 Friday Afternoon..
This is what an amazing pizza place calls "Crazy Slices".  That is seriously considered 3 slices of pizza.  Each "slice" cost about $3.00.  Amazing!

Also... a piece of fried dough that size was only $2.50.  It also had totally awesome deco!  An oil painting  of Leonardo Dicaprio was spotted on the premises.

10.29.11 Saturday Aftermoon...
The farm is looking quite different today!

10.29.11
First time I've ever seen snow this early!

07.26.11 
Amazing spot to see celtic ladies playing some sweet music!

 08.10.11
Missing this…

10.05.11 
Lunabug!

10.6.11
Found this friend at my farm job!

10.15.11
Howling husky town

10.17.11
Best mountain biking partner ever!

 10.18.11
My workshop is super exciting right now.  I’ve finally set up a system that really works and I’m just bursting with ideas!

Allergy Free?

I wonder if it's possible to get rid of these pesky allergies.  I know that throughout my life sometimes they bother me a bunch and sometimes not at all.  Usually they're the craziest in the fall.

I've decided to embark on an experiment to track my progress and see if I can get my allergies to be less annoying.  Right now they've been at an almost extreme for the past two weeks.  Asthma attack the other morning - wheezing at night - sneezing constantly -red puffy face....the usual.

Here's my current regiment.

-nasal irrigation 2x a day
-maintain a normal sleep schedule (going to bed and rising at about the same time each day)
-hot compress on my sinuses atleast once a day
-drinking more water
-mullein tincture 2x a day
-eating kitcheri and only kitcheri for as long as I can last doing it

"In India kitchari - a soupy porridge made from rice and mung beans, lightly spiced with ginger, cilantro, and other spices - is considered a fasting food and is used to purify digestion and cleanse systemic toxins.   Ayurveda is the ancient Indian philosophy of health and well being. It means the ‘art of living wisely.’ In simple terms, Ayurveda is a holistic system which guides us so that we can live a healthier and more balanced lifestyle. It recognizes that we are all unique and focuses on lifestyle, yoga and herbal remedies and of course food.  Ayurveda believes that all healing begins with the digestive tract, and kitchari can give it a much-needed rest from constantly processing different foods while providing essential nutrients." I found that picture on the web somewhere

I'm currently on day 2 and am already noticing some difference.  The allergies are not gone but my head definitely does not feel as puffy.  Maybe it's because I'm mentally determined and that's helping.  Maybe it's the stuff I'm doing... I guess I'll wait and see.  All I know is that alot of my life revolves around food and when and what is my next meal so I think this will be quite challenging...