Finally a Pathway

Last summer I worked off and on building a pathway in our back yard.  Finally finished it. I can't keep the falling leaves and fir needles off, but the maple tree was cut down last week so no more maple leaves.  They're beautiful, but messy.  We had them all over the back and side yards.  It was impossible to rake them up because our yard consists of shrubs and wood chips.

Here's photos of the work in progress and finished product.  At the end is a bridge that spans a dry river bed.  It needs to be painted or stained.  Haven't gotten that far yet.  Maybe next year.

  

I've Been Featured

I've had the privilege of being featured on Eyelah's blog..  Check it out.

http://eyelah.blogspot.com/2012/11/thursday-etsy-shop-feature-recycle-room.html

Thank you Eyelah!  

She has a great blog.  You should also take a look at her etsy shop.  She makes beautiful clutches and pouches. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Eyelah

Standing Guard

A few months ago I made a garden guy to stand guard at the end of our driveway.  He's holding a house number  sign.  For Halloween I decided to give him a pumpkin hat and a jack-o-lantern.  

As some of you know, creating garden art and cake dessert/pedestals is my hobby of choice at the moment.  I had planned to give it up a year ago because my craft/junk room is a sight to behold... and not in a good way.  Now I realize I'm so addicted that I need intervention.  Oh, well, hubby has gotten to the point that he ignores it, or at least he doesn't complain about it.  He probably thinks it's a lost cause.

Here's my garden guy.  He's made of a tall wrought iron candle holder (painted blue), metal pipe for arms, a coffee pot for the head and a light shade for the hat (underneath the plastic pumpkin hat).

 

Friday Face

Time again for a Friday face.  It's been raining so much here that I've had very little opportunity to search for and photograph faces.  I need to photograph some of my new glass flowers to list in my etsy shop also, but today was the only dry day I've seen for awhile and I was gone most of the day. I'm not going to complain considering what the east coast is experiencing.  We live in the Pacific Northwest where there are very few wild acts of nature to contend with. 

This was a face I found in my own back yard.  I spotted it on my fence this week.  Hope to venture out into the communities next week and find more.

Friday Faces

I've been AWOL for awhile, but I'm back.  We've been having beautiful sunny autumn weather here in the Pacific Northwest.  I took a walk in the woods around the corner from our house today and found another face.  You might have to use your imagination, but it IS a face.  He has his head tipped a little to one side and his mouth open.  

I've been selling some of my garden art at a nursery here.  I'm planning to keep making birdbaths and some of the other larger items through the winter and try to get them into a couple nurseries next spring.  Gotta get rid of this glassware and ceramics!  I can barely tiptoe through my workroom. 

Happy face hunting.  They're out there.  Take your camera and go for a walk. 

Friday Faces

This isn't a face I found in nature or architecture.  It's one I made from a teapot.  Is that cheating?  I intended to post only faces that weren't made by the human hand, but I've been a little busy this week.  This garden guy has a body, but I'm only showing the face.  I really do enjoy painting these faces.  They take on a personality all their own.

Fleeting Summer

We had a chilly, wet spring and beginning of summer this year.  We finally began to have several days in a row of up to 70 - 80 degrees and humid while most of the rest of the United States was sweltering in extreme heat. Now it's getting close to autumn.  So much for summer.

It’s nearly August
and summer has arrived,
hot and humid
after a wet, cold Spring.

Though perspiration
drips from the brow
like a trickling stream,
no grumbling permeates
the air, no heavy sighs.

Soon the autumn mist
will fill the valley.
Trees the color of jewels
will welcome September rains.

Bone chilling dampness
will fill the air
and there will be a yearning
for fleeting sultry summer days.
                            Laura Crumm 2012