FOR UNTO US A SON IS GIVEN

                      There are so many creative ways to adorn a mantle for Christmas. 
I have found over the years most of my decorations I have made; usually, made items go to family and friends. All the angels pictured I have made except for the small clay angel (center left) with the horn and the stuffed canvas angel (far right front). One angel was made to enter a competition, another made with a group of friends for a fun craft day. Two angels were made for my mother and sister who are now deceased; so, these angels are special to me.
                    THE BIG SURPRISE WHEN DOING THIS PROJECT WAS ''NO WREATH!!!!"

After putting together the mantle I considered the wreath I'd decorate for the wall but decided I liked the blank wall thinking I'd put up an angel ''perhaps." Well, she was just hanging there on the nail for awhile with her legs dangling down for a day. (When I reach an impasse I wait a day or to and walk by, glance at or sit and stare at the entire area.) All of sudden an idea will come to me and in my head, for some reason, I say ''presto anti-freeze!!" aka: ''that's it, that's what I'll do." The idea that popped in my head was to adhere her legs in a flying position. A day later I was glancing at the angel and the thought came, "FOR UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN." The candles still need some work as you can tell. The gold cups near the center are candles as well.
  
How To: Print out the necessary letters in black from the computer. Cut out the letters and trace on white paper. Mount on wall with "Handi-tak." (craft store or possibly office supply store) The angels are made corn husks, fabric, lace, etc. For whimsy I cross the angels legs in different positions. Greenery is always fresh mixed with mini-lights and/or baby's breath, holly, ribbon. Keep it simple not fussy.

(Left/Right) I am posting smaller pics of the same mantle;the living room. This room I always use ANGELS as the theme for some reason. I will be posting at a later date the other two arrangements below.

#2 January 25th, 2010:  The Nativity below was made from muslin and acrylic paints; some are embroidered. Then I made wooden stands for each; they were supposed to hang from a mobile but I wanted mine to stand. Not all the sheep are in this picture. I don't know what it is about this set but it is one of the favorite things I have made. I was surprised that I could paint and draw faces way back when. You cannot see it but baby Jesus sits on a wooden manger I made as well. The pattern came from:  (will look this up and entered later so the co. gets the credit)

You can't see but the scene is set in a large bay window with fresh evergreens, pinecones, and berries, little birds, candles and tiny white lights complete the background. The urn has ivy growing from it which usually sits on the mini-grand. I don't know, there is something I just love about this scene; warm and inviting I guess.

A beautiful wreath to make for Christmas

http://blogs.scottarboretum.org/gardenseeds/2009/12/greens-for-wreaths/
to view site: copy/paste

A WINTER WALK before the SNOW

Imagine: Whirling winds, the scent of grass still hangs in the air, bird calls unrecognizable, gray and slightly damp, a friend (Carol) by your side feverish with her binoculars, you are the Canon SLR individual but are satisfied in scents, sounds and scenery, the earth beneath your feet. There are some scenic views but primarily woodland, fields and fields of wild grasses, birds taking flight and constant calls, the fox is hiding, ...............(i need to look up the name of this Land Trust-I love it)

(photo top right) The two milk pods appeared to me as ''birds in flight"......I really like this picture.

(photo middle right)???DOES ANYONE KNOW THE IDENTITY OF THE ''PINECONES'' ABOVE? I HAVE NEVER SEEN THEM BEFORE. THEY APPEAR TO BE ON A WHITE or SCRUBBY PINE???

Copenhagen climate change conference: countries most at risk from the effects of global warming

Copenhagen climate change conference: countries most at risk from the effects of global warming

A TRIBUTE TO GREEN

   FAREWELL TO GREEN FOR A LITTLE WHILE.....
(writing a little poem soon here to say goodbye to summer and fall)
November 27, 2009 For some reason I have not been able to write any poems/ditties for some
months now; nothing comes to me. So, I am going to publish something I wrote a while back which still needs to be tweaked here and there. But, here it is for today. 

A CERTAIN BEGINNING, A CERTAIN END

 Born to Earth we crawl we stand,

For some they choose to walk to dance.

For others life is strife and thorns,  
And those we love have left too soon!

For some colors are bright and full,

yet others tremble, lost to fears.

Life surely has harsh twists and turns,

tastes of summer and winter storm.      
Breezes blow, some topple down,      
others rise to brace the storm.          
Yes the life here holds twists and turns     
amid, fragrant tender showers.  

Is life a problem solving paradox,

an Earth without stability, truth?    
As assuredly here, a beginning, an end,  
                                The only One Truth, the Lord's Son.  -suzie 09'                               

                           

    synonyms for ''certain" from Webster's Dictionary as follows:   

fixed, settled, dependable, reliable, indisputable,

inevitable, destined 

 

WELKINWEIR: Green Valley Association: 1368 Prizer Road, Pottstown PA 19465.

Took a walk today at Welkinweir. I love this place. A nature preserve, 197 acres of ponds, wetlands, meadows, and woodlands offer a diverse setting for many ''critters and birds." Took my Canon SLR hoping to take shots of flora and fauna but had forgotten to charge the battery! Ding dong! (photos: Oakleaf Hydrangea)

I was not aware of this until today that the trails "connect to the Horse-Shoe Trail for longer hikes to nearby parks, preserves, and         historic sites." http://www.greenvalleys.org/welkinweir.asp

A SCHOOL TEACHER HAS IDENTIFIED AN OBJECT IN OUTER SPACE THAT NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN/IDENTIFIED.** GALAXY ZOO invites you, the public, to classify a million galaxies!!! Is that exciting or what?

                               Galaxy Zoo invites YOU to help astronomers
                                                   explore the universe.
                             The following link helps you get started. http://www.galaxyzoo.org/ 
WHAT exactly is GALAXY ZOO?

Galaxy Zoo "is a scientific project that has invited members of the public to help classify a million galaxies. Those involved are directly contributing to scientific research, while getting an opportunity to view the beautiful and varied galaxies that inhabit our universe. Why do we need people to do this, rather than just using a computer?".....check it out at  http://www.galaxyzooblog.org/about/ 

                              According to Daniel Goldbloom and I quote: (Galaxy Zoo) "Launched last year by a team of scientists from the U.K. and the U.S., Galaxy Zoo harnesses the curiosity and seemingly endless free time of regular people to make deep space discoveries. The site invites users to browse through images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey — a project begun in 2000 that seeks to map a quarter of the sky (or around one million galaxies) — and categorize them according to the different types of galaxies or stars pictured therein."  http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008/08/13/daniel-goldbloom-s-click-here-travel-the-universe-with-galaxyzoo-get-great-stories-at-themoth.aspx

 Galaxy Zoo was featured on APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day)
                                            go to: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091026.html

**"teacher has identified an object in outer space..." I read the article in a National Geographic magazine last month and loaned it to a friend. (oops) Will update the details about this article when I get the magazine back. If you want to search it out right now, it was posted on Galaxy Zoo but I am not sure what month. (sorry about that)
**today, 11/17/09 looked for article on google; although I did not find the orginal article by Nat.'l Geographic I did find the following reported by: Reuter's: http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN0535229720080805

Sing..."Do a deer, a female deer.... Ray a drop of golden sun......"

Sarah also known as ''Diesel"

Four doe and one 6 point buck taken down by bow in our woods. This is great as we have way too many deer in the area. Now for some of the meat.
The hunter offered us the tongue saying it truly is the best part of the entire deer. Imagine; gross and no way! We asked how to cook it. He said, ''just put it in a crockpot and cook it alllllll day, its great!" LOL. Imagine; gross and no way. Then he proceeded to tell us how to eat it,
"you peel a part of the tongue," etc. Imagine; gross and NO WAY! You can imagine, we did not take him up on this offer, ha ha ha!

WEDDING QUILT COMPLETED!

This Wedding Quilt is now complete. If anyone wants the name of a reliable machine quilter in eastern PA write to me. She did a fabulous job.
I love the colors in this quilt.
Above is a picture of Michael and Heather receiving the quilt.

DID YOU KNOW? you can join "Project BudBurst" and gather valuable environmental and climate change information?

    http://www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/budburst/    ".....thousands of others" are gathering this information from across the country. Project BudBurst engages the public in making careful observations of the phenophases such as first leafing, first flower, and first fruit ripening of a diversity of trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses in their local area.  Who can participate?
                STUDENTS       EDUCATORS (K-12)     SPECIAL PROJECTS (general public)

Project BudBurst also collaborates/partners with "other organizations that are producing unique campaigns for engaging the public in environmental research."

Share photos with BudBurst through Flicker!        http://www.flickr.com/groups/projectbudburst/
  This site is very straightforward, easy to use/navigate! Choose the category(ies) of plant(s) you wish to observe and enter your data.    CHECK IT OUT!

DID YOU KNOW.......

                        PERIDOTITE: What in the world is that???
                                      CAN IT AID IN OUR CLIMATE CHANGES?

 IT'S A ROCK! A rock that Peter Kelemen and Jurg Matter have figured out how "to sequester'' CO2, (can't make the little 2; sorry about that), in this ''limestone-like-carbonate'', aka: peridotite.
WHY? These Columbia University scientists say that the East and West coasts contain enough of this
rock "to suck up more than 500 years' worth of future U.S. carbon emissions." They have developed a process to......(read more and check it out!)

WHERE? NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ADVENTURE MAGAZINE, Volume 11, Number 6, (ISSN 1523-6226) October 2009: Adventure's Leading Edge; pages 53-60.
PICTURE OF: http://geology.about.com/od/rocks/ig/igrockindex/rocpicperidotite.htm

QUILT STORY HAS BEEN POSTED: scroll down to 2nd entry

POETRY: excerpt: Hiawatha's Childhood by H.W. Longfellow

"...And the West-Wind
               came at evening, 

Walking lightly o'er the prairie,
               Whispering to the leaves
                               and blossoms ,
 

Bending low the flowers and grasses,

Found the beautiful Wenonah,
       Lying there among the lilies,
 


Wooed her with his words of sweetness,
       Wooed her with his soft caresses, ...

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.

Dark behind it rose the forest,
   Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees, 
      Rose the firs with cones upon them;
        Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
        Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water........"

The Golden Hour Calculator / Sunrise and Sunset information for photographers

The Golden Hour Calculator / Sunrise and Sunset information for photographers

Posted using ShareThis

EVERY QUILT HAS A STORY TO TELL!

Every quilt has a story to tell!   Sewing...another passion....what is the story behind this quilt?
 (coming soon)





This is a current project yet to be quilted and edged.

THE STORY

                                A WEDDING QUILT

Entry date: October 18th   My sister, Hannah, made a wedding quilt for us years ago. I have always known that I wanted to do the same for my children blessing them with a wedding quilt. July 22, 2006 our son Michael married Heather; and, the quilt is still not completed but will be in 3 weeks! Some of the reasons of why are outlined below.

What is a wedding quilt? It is a quilt made up of individual squares made by any/all of the women on the grooms and brides side of the family. Each women receives in the mail detailed directions and a pattern for piecing their personal square. Before mailing it back they are encouraged to embroider their name on the square. The embroidery is open to creativity if you choose; I love this part a lot and encourage individualism. (My Aunt Sally embroidered her name with a stick figure holding a hockey stick; Sally was my coach in high school. In the quilt above a cousin embroidered  three fish as ''he'' loves to fish. A boy sewed? Yes! He wanted to participate so why not? I loved it, the mother thrilled and so did the bride/groom.  
The colors used in the quilt can all be determined by you, some determined as I did and will explain later or, relatives select all the colors for their personal square. 
The quilt squares are pieced together by you, the designer and completed; or, hire someone! I make a square that says the couples name with the following below, each row as follows: ''their wedding quilt;" ''given in the year of;" ''July 22, 2006."** We hang the quilt at the wedding behind the bride/grooms table.

HOW TO: Long before the wedding, the designer of the quilt, selects a pattern for the quilt and mails detailed instructions to each woman on the bride and grooms side of the family with or without fabric with a specific date that the square is to be ''in your hands'' for construction.
 (Be aware that there are inexperienced sewers to non-sewers! In the case of this quilt some non-sewers asked friends to construct the square or hired someone to piece it together which worked out wonderfully. Do not be surprised if some family rejects the idea and do not participate. This, although disappointing, is not a big deal; we all have busy lives and priorites! Judging, conversing etc. would only compound/dampen the spirit of the quilt for the couple and for you as well.)
In the case of this quilt I chose the base colors of the quilt as Michael loves green and Heather loves lavender purples. Wow, what a challenge that was for choosing fabrics. 


After devising the pattern pieces and instructions I ask a friend who knows nothing about sewing if she would be able to construct the square. I also ask her to teach me how to piece the square. Adjustments are made to the directions and pattern. Mail.


Once you have received all the squares, it is imperative that you evaluate and square off each square (ha ha) so that they are all equivalent; they are all the same exact size! This was the major reason for the delay in this quilt. I pieced this quilt almost twice totally trying to make it work. I will never again choose a pattern with long diagonals. The fabric on the bias of course stretches and unless all your sewers are experienced there will be so many different size squares and it will be very difficult to piece. I had to take apart many squares and/or add fabric to them. 
After or during the time I am squaring up the squares (ha ha ha) I lay them out and select the fabric(s) that will hold it all together color wise. These include the binding, borders and backing. 

**Baste "waste  canvas" (counted-cross stitch fabric that will fall away when wet) to your fabric.

Waste canvas is made up of woven threads held together with a specific starch. When wet it will dissolve.  This helps with placement of the stitches. Although the lines look uneven in this photo they will not be when completed; the unevenness appears due to the way I have pulled the fabric taut. 

I have chosen the lavender fabric which will not be placed within the quilt pattern but on the border at the bottom, centered.

If you are interested in more information, detailed instructions, pitfalls to avoid jot a note here and I will get back to you. I will post the quilt in 3 weeks when it is completed.  HAPPY QUILTING!

HOW TO's: Fall Pumpkin Center Piece THAT LASTS! Great "MAKE AHEAD"....

GLENMOORE GARDEN CLUB VISITS NURSING HOME     Prepared with cleaned out pumpkins, flowers and greens from our own yards and smiling faces, the Glenmoore Garden Club next Tues., October 13th will help residents decorate their own fall centerpieces. Photos of residents are not included for privacy reasons.This is one our most favorite activities and the residents really enjoy it as well.
NEED: one small or medium pumpkin, carved out, lid and contents discarded.

          water/clorox solution 10/1 (enough to rinse out shell of pumpkin)*
          one small or medium sized piece of ''oasis'' (purchased at craft supply store)
          flowers, greens (be sure to think about width and height)**
  * Water/clorox solution will prevent rotting up to two weeks at least or more, often 3. Great to make  for dinner parties. I have made them from teeny pumpkins as individual gifts for women's events/personal tea parties/children's craft for birthday parties, etc.
** Recommendations for any container arrangements:
The container is 1/3 of the total height with the arrangement of flowers/greens the remaining 2/3's. Width of flowers/greens should not extend more than 1/3 to 1/2 the width of the container. I find that 1/2 is too much but this is personal taste.

HOW TO: Soak the oasis in a small bowl of water till thoroughly saturated. Meanwhile clean and prepare pumpkin as outlined in the "NEED" section above. Pour enough water/clorox solution to fill the cavity of the pumpkin. While pouring the liquid out roll pumpkin one revolution to be sure the top inside edges or ''lip" of the pumpkin are treated as well. Place the oasis in the pumpkin and decorate!!

I included the close-up photo as I am not happy with any of the photos of the arrangement. Secondly, the choice of flowers/greens in the yard this fall are not plentiful for some reason. And lastly, I chose for fun the one with the best kitty cat picture in it keeping the arrangement far out of site..ha ha ha!!! (Grace is on the left and Maggie is hidden in the back of the picture; where is Rufus??)

PROPAGATING AFRICAN VIOLETS (now is the time if you want to give them as gifts for Christmas

           My mother taught me how to propagate African Violets when I was about 8 years old. THE PLANT IS POISONOUS. NEVER PUT THE STEM IN YOUR MOUTH! Now, this may sound silly but my Aunt Hannah did; she had no where to lay the leaf so she held it in her mouth before planting it.  Her lips did swell rather rapidly with no other side effects.

NEED: *small pyrex bowl or a glass container 

                   with a narrow neck/opening

             *rubber band    *scissors   *wax paper 

                                                                                              

HOW TO: Fill the container with water. Prepare a piece of wax paper large enough to fit over the top and somewhat over the side of the pyrex bowl. Use the rubberband to hold the wax paper in place. Using a pencil, pierce several holes in the wax paper. DO NOT MAKE THE HOLES LARGER THAN THE PENCIL HOLE. If the leaf gets wet it will rot before rooting sufficiently for planting!I have made tons of holes; the leaves can stand up straight and do not need to lie down. (see picture #2)

Cut the larger leaves at the base of the parent plant being sure the stem is long enough that it will protude down into the water at least 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. Stand all leaves in the holes of the wax paper. Place the container in a window that receives indirect lighting. My violets do well on the northwest side of the house.
 WATERING: keep the stems wet at all times. When the water gets low I make another little hole somewhere in the wax paper and pour water through it; or, it's no big deal to take a leaf or two out, pour water in the holes and blot up remaining water with a paper towel.

 NOTICE THE LEAF I AM HOLDING. (see picture #3) There are already two tiny violet leaves formed at the base of the stem and some roots. NOW IS THE TIME TO PLANT; yipee! I have never counted the days but I would guess it will take about 2-3 weeks for the tiny leaves to form. Also notice the picture at the top of the page (see picture #1). The two stems left in the wax paper fit perfectly in the pencil hole so no water will come up and get the leaf wet.

The last picture shows a fun little holder I found in a rather serendipity manner. Ocassionally I collect little containers so I can give away flowers from the garden when someone needs some cheer or when a congratulations is in order. This one, however, I am keeping currently for propagation until another neat little nugget comes along.


FEEDING VIOLETS: (optional) I use Miracle Grow's little sticks to encourage continous bloom; and, it works!!!
Year round blooms.

CHECK OUT www.ebird.org JOIN AND REGISTER WHAT BIRDS YOU OBSERVE

Walked along Struble Trail located in Downingtown, PA today with my good friend Carol (see picture below). She is the one who knows all about birds, not me! I like taking photos. Following is the list of what she says we saw:
(1) Osprey; (2) Belted Kingfisher; (1) Great Blue Heron; (1) Turkey Vulture-"big wup"!! 
(2) Red-bellied Woodpecker; (2) Downy Woodpecker; (1) Red-eyed Vireo; (1) Blue Jay;
(1) American Crow; (6) Carolina x Black-capped Chickadee (hybrid); (4) Tufted Titmouse;
(2) White-breasted Nuthatch; (12) American Robin; (5) Gray Catbird; (2) Blackpoll Warbler;
(1) Song Sparrow and (2) Northern Cardinal.

     NOW YOU DECIDE WHICH OF THE FOUR BELOW IS THE ''RAREST'' BIRD:

            

                   Be sure to check out http://ebird.org/content/ebird/.org

FALL IN PENNSYLVANIA

GLENMOORE PROPERTY A BIRD SANCTUARY

What a spectacle of birds viewed on our 5.5 acre property. Here are a few: will post more as I catch up with past photos. The EASTERN SCREECH OWL, in a poplar more than 100 yards away/70 feet up from my deck, taken Nov. 30th, 2008. Beautiful.The peacock appeared one fine day in 2006. Our son, Michael, was attempting to nap in a hammock and ''thought he saw a peacock fly over his head onto the roof!" Well, he was right. After finding the lowest spot on the roof the peacock flew to the ground and Frisk (or aptly named cat,"Tubbs") pounced; the peacock took flight to a nearby poplar approx. 60 feet up remaining through sunset. His colors became most radiant with the setting sun!!! This is our second peacock come to visit.The nest below was found by our daughter Johanna; it is on the ground among Solomon Seal. All the babies survived and we had one cat at the time. Had all four cats still been with us I don't think they would have made it.

The nest to the right I found in a Japanese Pine in the Pinetum below eye level early spring 08'.
The pot below is home to 3 baby Vireo's. The hilarious part of this story: We placed a pot hoping that birds would not build a nest on the ledge to avoid bird doo on the deck. So, my husband placed the pot but did not put it upside down, voila, baby birds; and, we watched them take wing. This has been for two summers now, three sets of fledglings. I know I have a better pic somewhere: will exchange this one when its found.

BEFORE THE FROST-an EYE CUP as a Vase!!!

This time of year I particularly enjoy cutting individual flowers, fern, hosta leaves and arranging them in a variety of vases, etc. as most will soon be gone!

The Garden Club has a contest/challenge each year;
submit a flower arrangement no larger than 4"x6" including the container. Two winners are selected. They actually chose my arrangement as a winner! The photo is a little blurry. Arranging it was a challenge. I was kneeling on the ground and Rufus, a kitty cat, kept crawling up on my shoulders to sit a spell. He likes being up high. Sometimes he sits on the back rim of my hat when I am weeding or plays with the my hands and the weeds. Isn't that fun; there is lots of laughter that takes place during these escapades!

The last 3 photos are other arrangements I made for fun...they are ok to me; the plant material was heavy because of all the rain we have been having so they do not stand upright as I would like. The hosta leaves in the yard are already drooping, browning out and filled with holes so it was difficult to find great leaves; and, I have tons and tons of hosta! Oh well, got to get to them earlier next year. The other two arrangements are very small water gardens; I love water. I love being anywhere near, in or on water!!!