Inspired by Elsa Mora's book Blossom Buddies we decided to make some Nature Fairies of our own.
This is Esme.
Mimi
and Lela.
Then Brae made a bug
And a skirt and dress
We had a blast. Make some fairies of your own before all the greenery is gone!
I am a little behind on taking crafty pictures. I finished a few more projects, but I was struck with a migraine the night before last that didn't completely leave until this morning. I am finally feeling much better and I want to show you some of the Fall beauty I came across on my walk this week.
I think he is destined for a Thanksgiving dinner table.
I love seeing beautiful photos of other blogger's neighborhoods that change each season. It is so cool to see the change all over the world through the eyes of such a wonderful blogging community that I am so thankful to be a part of. I love all my readers and appreciate all the great comments I get. Thank you all so much for being such a supportive and inspirational group of people!
We have been taking out our hats and scarves. Closing up the windows in the evening and adding wool blankets to the bed. Autumn has finally shown itself.
Its my birthday today. I will be spending it with friends and family. I am hoping to see the newest Harry Potter with my Honey. The first movie I have seen in a long time. Monday is Tom's birthday, so we will be busy eating lots of cake and ice cream this weekend.
I have an update on my owl embroidery coming next. I am a little stumped on what to do next, but maybe you all can help me.
I wanted you all to check out my newish photoblog. I am doing a 365 day project. That means that I am taking pictures everyday and posting them to my flickr and blog. It is great inspiration and has gotten me to practice and enjoy photography more.
The picture above was taken on Saturday when we picked the remaining pears in the Orchard. Something about it reminded me of a painting. Enjoy this splendid October weekend!
My search for Autumn has led me to something I used to do every year. My moms home has several fruit trees and at the end of every September the whole family would head out to the orchard and start harvesting apples, pears and plums. I had a great time picking and an even better time taking pictures. Hope your Autumn is as beautiful as mine is turning out to be.
The Autumn themed pictures I have been finding around blogland are so beautiful! I was thinking of what Autumn looks like here in the high desert. Its not obvious yet. The leaves have barely begun to turn, and their arent many plants that grow here that show the change in seasons. Outside, the wind has picked up and its gotten much cooler overall. It will be in the 40s tonight! I wanted to capture Fall in photos too! The internet can be so inspiring! I wasn't feeling the fall inspiration so I went outside today on a search for Fall. I think I was able to find the beginnings of the Fall season.
One of the horses came by to say Hello.
I have been playing with layers today. I love the look of these photographs. The layers I used give the print a vintage ethereal look.
I liked them so much that I put them in my etsy shop. I am heading to the vineyard tomorrow. I promise to bring back great stuff to share!
The above horse is Thunderheart
I wrote this post on Saturday but I felt like it wasn't finished for some reason. On Monday I found out why. On Monday our spotted horse (Appaloosa for anyone who cares), Trouble passed away with colic. Anyone who has had a baby with colic knows that you are up walking them all night or day long. You have to keep the horse on his feet because if he lays down you have to pull him to his feet. Colic is not much different with horses, still gas. The big difference is that colic can easily kill a horse. I spent all day on Monday walking through the sand in the corral. This is like walking through dry beach sand in flip flipflops; tough on the legs. Massaging his quivering belly, pulling with everything I had to get him to his feet, and succeeding twice. Still, he was an old horse probably in his upper 20s. We rescued him from a guy who couldn't afford to feed him anymore. He originally was a police horse that had been retired and sold. Before that who knows. I am exhausted and sore. We postponed our trip until Wednesday. Below is the post I wrote on Saturday about Trouble and our newest horse Thunderheart.
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Horses are one of the most fun pets to have. They are pets, tools, and transportation all rolled into one. Most of our horses are retired. We do not believe that just because a horse is old and cannot be ridden that it should be put down. So when we have room and we come across a horse who needs a place to stay we bring him or her home for good.
Right now we are staying at Tom's father ranch. As I mentioned before Brae and I are staying with relatives until Tom is finished on the vineyard. Its been tough not having a house. I don't have my things, our routines are messed up, but there are really great things about spending so much time with family after such a long absence. One of the things that makes not having a home less hard is the horses. I have loved horses since I was a little girl Brae's age and I begged my mother for one for years, but never got one. For me horses are the ultimate symbol of freedom and strength. I always fantasized about riding bareback on a chestnut horse with my head thrown back and hair flying behind me. My arms thrown open as if to hug the sky or the freedom perhaps.
Tom's dad, Bud, was born in 1929. Can you believe that! My mind is boggled by the experiences he must have had in the last 80 years. Bud adheres to a morning and afternoon feeding schedule like clockwork. I think the horses are as therapeutic for him as they are for me. The horses are so happy to see him coming. They stomp and whinney, throwing their heads around and running around their stalls in excitement.
Brae has never lived with horses before. She doesn't seem to be too scared of them. Their size is intimidating, of course. They even scare me with their size. She loves to fill up their water buckets, brush the sand off their coats and comb out their tails. Tom has grown up around horses. He owned 9 of his own at age 14. He made money (and got more horses) as a teenager buying or trading for roughed up, ungroomed or badly trained horses. He would fix them up, make them healthy and sell them to responsible owners at a profit.
The above horse is Trouble
The spotted one's name is Trouble and boy can he be a bowlful of Trouble! This retired police horse threw me off his back after deciding that he wanted to check out a pretty mare in heat and he wanted to jump over two giant bushes to get there. I had never jumped a horse before. I made the first jump but I slid down the side of the saddle. I didn't have enough time to re-adjust before the second jump. I fell off the side and rolled like I was taught in kiddie soccer landing mostly on my lower back. I couldn't walk for a week and I couldn't sit normally for almost 3 months. I still have trouble sitting in hard chairs. Really, it wasn't his fault, it was mine for not having control of him and my friends for not telling me that her mare was in season. He is a really sweet and gentle horse that I ride all the time.
They are such expressive animals. I could stare into a horse's big eyes for a long time. Their eyelashes are long and luxurious, lashes that any supermodel would be jealous of. They may not talk like people but if you pay attention you will see them toss their heads to say hello, nuzzle you with their nose, lick your hand like a lollipop, stop their feet, run around their stalls, buck, or do this...
He gives you "the butt", its like flipping you off. Its rather irritating to be given "the butt". Its like being mooned. He is saying, "you were ignoring me and so now I am ignoring you". Or "you are not feeding me you jerk".
I am happy that Brae has the opportunity to help take care of them. We haven't been able to get her a pet to call her own yet so it is good for her to have something to feed and brush. She has a blast feeding the horses handfuls of hay. Well this is a long enough post for one day! Until tomorrow!
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The other horses are in mourning. Its so sad to see them. They look sad. Its obvious.
I love the innocent emotions of animals. Only babies have that innocence :)
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Our trip was so relaxing! Nothing relaxes a person like getting out into an 800 acre vineyard with nothing but grapes for as far as you can see. No news, no computer, just the family, some awesome falcons, books and knitting needles.
I didn't get much reading, photography or knitting done. As soon as I got there my hubbie put me to work. I have been weighing, flying and feeding falcons all week. He does Falconry Abatement and is up at 5am to start work and doesn't finish working until 10pm or so. Falconry Abatement is a great sustainable alternative to shiny strips, nets and guys with guns and firecrackers. We use falcons to scare the little birdies away from the grapes. Birds don't connect a noisemaker with dying, but they do remember where falcons live and hunt. They tend to avoid those spots. So after a couple of days of hunting and chasing little birds just don't come around anymore. After a couple of weeks the previously full bird traps are consistently empty and the grapes are healthy. This works in buildings, on airstrips and landfills too. If there was a falconer on the end of every major airstrip we wouldn't have any planes crashing because of birds hitting the engine at the end of the runway. Also many wildfires are started by guys who are shooting off firecrackers to scare birds off of farms. We dont use anything other then a non sparking starter pistol and the bird's natural talent.
I have a few photos to share. I hope you enjoy!
I did get in one project. Here is a new hat for winter. Its made with cheap Red Heart acrylic yarn. I got it because of the colors. I love the way the yarn striped!
I also got some new reading! Its signed too! Buy directly from Amanda's website. By the way there are more photos on my flickr page if you want to see more from our trip!
