(at the workbench) - the forest forager

i've been trying to think of a good way to say thank you for all the kind words and support i've received over the years and have decided to have my first giveaway! this time around i'll be hosting it on my instagram account with this sweet little collection of forest-inspired goodies. you can find all the details on how to enter over there, but please just let me know if i can help with any questions! :) happy spring!

(glimpses) - day break

i can finally see in the growing warmth, a different light ... warmer and more inviting than even the week before ... I think my heart has even thawed so very happy to say goodbye to a winter that has certainly overstayed it's welcome...

right now the seasons here won't be rushed...while other parts have already past their spring and already into steamy heat, we still have the coming weeks to see spring turn the world from brown to green again



even the sweet row houses of once home to textile worker in our little historic mill village stand waiting for the warm light to come their way ...











these first sightings are still rare sights...



these are a few my own littlest of flowers just finished that emerged while the other sleeping ones wait unearth themselves ...



and  my own little stand of toadstools likewise just about done while we wait for a little mushroom hunting to begin after april showers arrive... otherwise,  i've had some little people in the works as well.these last couple of weeks... as usual they are a shy folk, but hope I can introduce them to you soon :)  

thanks so much for visiting!

(this moment) - we are here now

{this moment - Inspired by Soulemama. A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.} 

(at the workbench) - toadstools and other fairytales

still waiting for spring here, maybe you are too? i don't know how it's always something of  a revelation when the snow and ice melt away to see the earth below again. as if i landed on a completely different world... so as the waiting,  the starts and stops of this current ice age ever slowly move us towards spring,   here's a little peek of some work in progress.





















i am imaging all the little things yet to be an unearthed when mud season really returns, when the river's waters begin to roar and rush and when our silent part of the world turns wild again with the sound of the returning birds and wildlife.


with this set of toadstools, i've decided to make them into pendants like the one above and think i just might make a few other pretty little wild things while i'm at it!

(glimpses) - and still a bit more....

we still are settling in after our move with bits of progress between busy days ....  these stray packets of seeds were a happy find in a recently opened box...

while last summer, there was no room to start a garden, his year it's with a lot of excitement that there will be a garden to take care of...

though this is how yesterday morning looked, after a day of constant rain ... Again, a white world and nearly half a foot of snow. The difference of a day ....

spring certainly hasn't had an easy time of it this year...   in the foreground the daffodils emerged nearly overnight when last wednesday the "last" of the winter snow had dissolved into the earth... with less than a week of a full thaw, the newest emerging shoots find themselves in a winter-inspired land ...

this young robin (I think) is wondering to himself this morning also, where it's all gone? ... how have all the puddles have turned to ice again and when will the earth turn soft and brown ?

 not long we both hope...it's time to start the garden!

(glimpses) - here at last

very monotone I know, but as you can see the snow and ice are gone. In its place,  a beautiful muddy brownness is all around us. (yes, I mean it!...a lot of us here have been longing to see the earth revealed again color or not )

 some quick first time explores nestled in to such an overly busy week....

and the first bits of color emerge (see that little bit of purple)... a very welcoming sight!

meanwhile while I learn which roads to stay clear of ...I'll take care not to get stuck in the mud!

(at the workbench) - rabbits!

of course there have to be rabbits considering the time of year and all ....and so many!

i've cut them from a very nice cherry board.... 

and here they all patiently wait to have their ear trimmed and carved before they bodies are rounded and shaped.... 

and after more sanding, burnishing and finishing,  they will all become very, happy mr long ears rabbits... 

ps.: the forest papas have been coming along and soon will be making a visit as well... i think the first of the papas are looking quiet sharp!

(at the workbench) - which way the wind blows

march always seems to be about waiting...   past year's like this still cold but with the winter's white snow banks receding and the earth revealing and about to return ...this year the waiting is so very long (like a endless narnia winter)  ...

in the workshop, i am staying busy with new projects ...

i am imagining wooden sails and  ...  how many old ships that set sail on winds that they knew not were they would lead....

on journeys filled with uncertainly that would become stories in the making to tell…

(at the workbench) - soon

i have been noticing many new tracks on the snow pack these last days and wondered just who has been running about… and what restless little creatures will be shaking off this long winter ….

  

so much anticipation comes with this time of year… waiting to throw open windows…discover what has lain below the deep white of winter … the chance encounters with friends as our time outside lengthens and the very deep longing to return of all things green…

(at the workbench) - mrs strawberry arrives ...

you can tell when the lilacs are out, it's not long until mrs strawberry's much anticipated arrival ...




 all the stories told about our life as giants can be revisited again where we find wild strawberries hidden in plain sight at our feet ...

spring is moving into full bloom, we are not too far from those long summer days and beautiful sun-warmed strawberries...

 hope you have a wonderful long memorial day weekend!

ps. mrs strawberry now joins mrs acorn, mrs hazelnut, and forest mama...  who should be next? let me know who you think!

(at the workbench) - a spring thank you coupon

it sure took a while, but I think I can really feels that spring is here at last! .... you can use the springthankyou discount code this week at prettydreamer.com ... hope you have a wonderful week!

(glimpses) - the wayside flowers

within the deep, deep rain-filled greens...

 we come across the meadow....
and growing by the wayside...

 we can help but stop to look at the flowers ... 

small, quiet and memorable  moments along the way to summer ...