Bye Bye Birdie...

Look! There was just one little bird remaining in the nest...but as always, there is a story behind the picture.....

The other evening after I was finished feeding the goats/sheep, I thought I ought to take a peek at the nest to see how the babies were growing and I could see the four little birds crowded in the nest. I gently reached down to pull away some of the reeds to get a better look and suddenly two of the babies fluttered their wings and flew out of the nest and into some of the nearby cattails! I was quite surprised at first and then felt a little guilty that I had disturbed them. I wondered if they'd ever come back to the nest and if Momma Bird was keeping track of where they went.
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This morning when I went out with my camera, there was just one lonely little baby occupying the nest. As I began to look around, I spied another baby bird perched on a cat tail so I moved around to get a better picture. To my amazement, the baby flew off over the pond...but only got about half way across and ran out of "wing-power." Poor baby landed in the water! Then I witnessed an amazing thing...the baby began to flap its wings up and down and it "swam" (sort of like doing a breast stroke) across the surface of the pond until it reached the other side and the safety of more cat tails and reeds!!! Momma Bird dutifully swooped down to check out her young one. Hurray!
~~~
Tonight when I checked the nest, I was expecting to see just one baby bird again. But to my surprise, there were three babies crammed into that small little nest. So I guess they DO come back to the nest at some point. Momma Bird was waiting nearby with a big fat bug. Reminds me of a teenage boy...he is big enough to be off on his own but he always returns home so Mom can feed him!!! Ha!

Growing Baby Birds!

Here's a couple of photos of the baby birds this morning. I finally captured a picture of one of them with its little mouth open. As soon as I walked away, Momma Bird swooped down to feed them a couple of tasty bugs.

They are really crowded in the nest now. Scroll down to compare past photos and you can really see how much they've grown in the past 5 days. (Click on the photos to see them really close up).

"Hey, lady! Whadda ya lookin' at???

Baby Bird update

Here is a Baby Bird update: they are getting more feathers and I saw that some of them have their eyes open now. You can definitely see four beaks, which makes me happy to know that all the eggs hatched. They are just so sweet!

I tried to get a picture with their little mouths open but as soon as I got too close, they hunkered down in the nest and got real quiet. I'm sure they can hear Mama and Daddy squawking away at me and that is their cue to be still during "stranger danger." This morning Daddy Bird was hovering so close that I was in great peril of being pecked on the head!

Hooked Rugs

I thought I'd share pictures of some really lovely rugs hooked by Rebecca Erb. Both patterns are available at Spruce Ridge Studios.

This is Checkered Jardiniere. Everything is simply terrific about this rug. I love the nice soft brown background.

This is Black Cat Society, a pattern adapted from the folk art of Lori Brechlin/Notforgotten Farm. I love how Rebecca hooked subtle stars into the background above the middle cat.
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The braided edges are amazing and add extra interest to the whole rug. Rebecca did not do the braiding herself but had someone braid it for her. Beautiful!

Baby Birds

I checked Mama Bird's nest this morning and found a mass of beaks and limbs and soft little feathers! They must be newly hatched because their eyes are not open yet...I couldn't spend too much time peeping at the newborns because Mama and Daddy Bird were hovering around my head, just about ready to dive-bomb me!

I'll definitely share more pictures as the babies grow!
~~ Have a great week-end!~~

Second Annual Spruce Ridge Open House and Tent Sale

Mark your calendar! The Second Annual Spruce Ridge Studios Open House and Tent Sale is coming soon. It takes place Saturday, June 6, 2009 and starts at 10 am sharp (please, no early birds/early sales! We will still be setting up in the morning). There will be clearance-priced wool and rug hooking patterns, along with lots of other fun items at reduced prices. There could be some other terrific bargains, depending on what I find in my craft closet!
All sale items will be located under the tent. For your regular shopping needs, my studio will be open all day. Sale ends at 4 pm.
Visa and Mastercard will be accepted for all sales. All tent sale items are final sales.
Last year was loads of fun and full of surprises...I hope to see you this year!

Happy Mother's Day

God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers ~ Jewish Proverb

A beautiful first rug

This is a "first rug" hooked by Glenda Latchaw, affectionately known as "G" to her friends. Glenda began her rug hooking journey here at one of my studio classes, starting the last week of February. I knew from the first loops she pulled up that she'd do a great job. It is not a beginner-sized rug either! I was thinking that it was going to take her a long time to get this done....wrong! She stopped over last Wednesday to show me her finished masterpiece and to pick up some more linen. She's already got a new project brewing in her mind...a rug for her granddaughter.

Glenda has many reasons to celebrate her first rug hooking accomplishment...it is beautiful! She is full of enthusiasm and I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of her lovely rugs in the near future.
Congratulations to "G"!!!! I am so proud of you!!!

Bonus!

Well, what do you know! I looked at the nest this morning and now there are FOUR eggs!
I'll give poor mommy bird a break and I won't bother her for a few days. Then we'll see if there are any new baby birds to take a peep at! (ha...pardon the "cheep" pun!)

A Sweet Little Discovery

Here's a lovely little discovery while walking by the pond today....a red-winged blackbird's nest! It was cleverly disguised and I'll bet I've walked by it dozens of times and never knew it was there. Look at those sweet little blue eggs.It's incredibly amazing how perfectly it is woven and formed.

The outside layer of the nest is created from dead cat tail reeds and woven like a basket around the live, green reeds. It's suspended over the shallow shoreline and built so sturdily that I'll bet even the strongest wind couldn't topple it.

Momma bird was keeping a very close eye on me!

The (Unimpressed) Audience

This spring, I've started my own little exercise program. I take a brisk one-half hour walk every single day, unless the rain is pouring down. It makes me feel good and I sleep better too. When I started considering my options, I decided not to walk in the subdivision across the street. It would have been easier to walk on the pavement, but I didn't want to deal with cars driving by, kids playing in the street, and possibly a dog or two chasing after me. So I decided to walk in my own backyard, between the house and the barn, and around the animal pens. I walk at a brisk pace, swinging my arms, singing out loud to my i-pod music, and generally looking like a real corn-ball (yup, just another good reason not to walk in the subdivision). The only audience I have is this....And this.....

And this guy, who looks a little startled...maybe it was my singing?

And occasionally, this guy is my audience too......

No one looks terribly impressed....

Sheep Shearing

Yesterday was sheep shearing day at Liz's farm. It's always a fun day that I look forward to and this year was full of surprises too! Here's Doug starting to shear Lumi. She was the first sheep to get sheared in the big barn.

It's amazing to see how the fleece comes off the sheep in one big piece. It sort of looks like Doug is peeling Lumi right out of her wool!
***
Meanwhile, there were several sheep lined up, waiting on a ramp in a narrow chute so they could get sheared. Emma was in the queue with the other sheep. Doug placed a board at the end of the ramp to keep the sheep in place and it was about knee-high to the sheep. He said that even if the sheep managed to step backward down the ramp, they would never be able to step over the board. Well! Not only did Emma back down the ramp, she stepped backward over the board, and then took a leap over the little fence that was containing the rest of the loose sheep! Luckily the barn was enclosed so she couldn't get outside. But here is a photo of my darling escapee, visiting with some of her new friends! Yes, she jumped over that wooden fence with the metal hinges (in the foreground).

Doesn't it figure that Emma would be the renegade of the whole bunch? That's my girl!

I guess Emma didn't figure that we were smart enough to catch her and she'd have to face the clippers eventually! Here's Doug starting on her.

As always, I am amazed at the lovely pile of curls that come off of her!

Doug certainly has a way of flipping the sheep around and getting the job done quickly. I can't believe that he can stand up straight at the end of the day!

Emma's all done ... and Doug still has a smile on his face! She was so shiny after she was sheared. It gave her a beautiful glow!

No spa treatment would be complete without a girl having her nails done. This contraption may look wicked but it works like magic and the sheep are perfectly fine. The sheep walk into a chute and they are "locked" in place. Then a handle flips them sideways so the guys can trim the hooves. Trust me, this is a really efficient way to do it. Much better than trying to hold a squirming sheep on the ground!

Go ahead...say it....AWWWW!!! Isn't Emma adorable?
Thanks to Doug for his shearing abilities! You can tell he is so proud of his work!

Happy Easter!

I hope your day was full of sunshine, warm love, and big smiles.
Spring is on its way!!!

Happy Birthday Emma!

Today was Emma's first birthday! She got some extra hay this morning and a kiss on the fuzzy head.
She has grown up to be such a beautiful girl, hasn't she? She's already bigger than Lumi (but Lumi is still the boss).

And here she is, the first day I saw her when she was three days old.....looks like she finally grew into those big ears!

Adorable!
If I had extra money and more property, I'd have a hundred more of these cute little critters! But none of them could match the sweet, silly personality that Emma has; she is one of a kind!

Spring Fiber Show

Come and join me for the first "wool party" of 2009! I'll be vending at the Black Swamp Spinners Guild Market Day and Fiber Fair this Saturday March 28, 2009.

9 am to 4 pm

Junior Fair Building, Wood County Fairgrounds

13800 W. Poe Road

Bowling Green, Ohio 43402

The best part is that the admission is FREE!!!

Door prizes galore and lunch is available from a local scout troop.

The show will include rug hooking supplies, yarns, rovings, fleeces, spinning and weaving supplies, handcrafted items, books, dyes, and much more. We vended at this show last year and we had a wonderful time!

I'll be bringing the newest Spring rug hooking patterns, lots of freshly dyed woollens, and some charming items from Marlene Dusbiber (shh...the newest secret is that Marlene is now making hand carved buttons for your knitwear...come and check them out!)

See you Saturday, rain or shine!

Can A Dog Get A Little Respect Around Here?

An amusing little story played out today. Here are the characters....

Nokie, the guardian dog

The twin angora goats, Zack and Zion

Emma (that girl always has hay on her face!)

Lumi
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And the story goes like this....

It's a cold blustery day in Michigan today. We are so glad that we are not getting any more rain as we have had 3 inches over the past few days. When the temperatures dip and the wind is chilly, the goats particularly love to get a nice warm drink of water. So every morning, after the hay has been tossed into the hay feeders, I carry down large buckets of warm water. Today, the twins were especially in tune with what I was doing and anticipated that their delicious drink was on its way down to the pen. They milled around the gate, pacing back and forth, occasionally peeking over the top of the gate to see if I was coming. Somehow Nokie was standing in the middle of this churning mass of goats. She had a funny look on her face as if she did not like the situation she had gotten herself into, but couldn't figure out how to get out of it...and in her mind, the closer she stood to the gate, the better her chances were of escaping.....
I shouted a warning to her but it was too late....wham!....she was butted directly in her side by Zion and pushed to the ground.
Poor Nokie, she looked so embarressed and tried to do her best to let Zion know that she did not appreciate the butt by showing her teeth. Then up! She jumped up on her feet and rushed past me, through the gate as I was trying to get in with the buckets of water. She quickly ran to the sheep pen and looked over her shoulder at me as if to say "I'd rather be in here where it's safer."
~~~
I put Nokie in the sheep pen as she asked. Now, Lumi stayed as far away from that dog as she possibly could. She has never liked Nokie much and she's not going to change her mind now. However, Emma was very curious about this big white creature. When Nokie was not paying too much attention and sniffing the ground, Emma walked up to Nokie's tail and began to sniff. "Yikes", Nokie thought, "I could be clobbered again!" So she trotted away to stand at a safe distance...to which Emma responded by following after Nokie because she wasn't done sniffing that tail....so Nokie trotted a little further away, and Emma followed....and pretty soon, Emma was "chasing" Nokie around the sheep pen!
Imagine that, a sheep chasing a dog?
I never have my camera ready at the right time....

Need wool for flesh colors?

I used to struggle with finding the right "flesh" color for faces and arms, legs, etc, for my rugs. I didn't want anything too pink, nor did I want anything that turned out too peachy/orange. What a dilemma! One day I got out my dye pots and started throwing together a little of this dye color and a little of that dye color until I came up with a great formula. I dye this flesh formula over a textured wool that is very light and has a slight gray line running through it. Trust me, when you hook this up, you never see the gray lines...it's like magic!(Not the greatest photo but hopefully, you'll get the "picture"...ha! pardon the pun!)

I used this flesh wool in my Herb Angel rug. I think it could look a little "pinky" in the photo.
For another great example, go to Marlene Dusbiber's blog and see how she used it in her latest stair runner (hey, the color turned out pretty good in her photo!). Back in December, she told me that she was struggling with completing her stair runner because she couldn't find a satisfying color for the hand. I suggested my over-dyed flesh wool....and voila! her project looks wonderful!
One fat-quarter piece (26 1/2" x 14") of over-dyed "flesh" wool is $12.00. Give me a holler if you would like to purchase some.

Having Fun In Emma's Garden

I was in Canton, Mississippi recently teaching a workshop at P is for Primitive. Most of the participants worked on the Emma's Garden pattern. We incorporated antique paisley in the leaves, hooked with roving and sheeps' locks (Emma generously donated a small bit of her locks to everyone's rug), flowers were given dimension with proddy and beading. We talked a great deal about my favorite subject: the life and behavior of sheep and goats! The most thrilling part for me was to see the rugs develop into their own personalities. Everyone did their own thing and added their own personal touches....which is exactly what I had hoped for!!! Here are just a few samples of what was going on......

This "Emma" belongs to Candi. She looks beautiful with her curly locks.

This is Carol's version of Emma. Carol was using a lovely roving that was natural taupes and light browns.

This is Melanie's rug in progress. You can see her lovely prodded sunflower at the top of the picture.

This is Ginger's rug. Ginger added some "foofy" yarn to the plumes on the bird's head which added some great dimension and interest.

Now isn't this a fun little Emma? Becky made a glamerous pink lamb....err...Becky calls it "Glam-ah".

Kala hooked her "Emma" with gray roving. Her sunflowers are big and bold!

Bette's "Emma" has some special meaning to her. She used roving from her granddaughter's sheep! I also love how Bette thought "outside the box" and hooked her flowers in different colors.

The last two photos are views of Martha's work. She chose to make her lamb with dark features, more like a Suffolk sheep. Her bird and flower were turning out great...she used "foofy" yarn too!
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Thanks to Lisanne Miller, owner of P Is For Primitive, for organizing, making sure everything ran smoothly, and cooking lunch.
And thanks to all of you who brought snacks and food everyday...I loved the King Cake...probably a little too much...yikes! Now my jeans are too tight!