bird nest — Page 14

Trees, Rocks & Pine Cones

May 4, 2011 at 9:15 am by Claudia

One of my favorite trees back home is our Weeping Willow. At this time of year, the new growth is the perfect shade of apple green. But I’ve lucked out. This is what I see from my window here in the condo:

Isn’t it pretty? There’s another willow off in the distance. And these beauties are to my right:

I can’t complain about the view.

Rehearsals started yesterday and boy, are there a lot of new faces and names to remember. I still get confused each time I turn a corner in the main building. I constantly get lost. My job here involves coaching Blithe Spirit, teaching classes to the apprentices, and looking in on another show, Crime and Punishment. Yesterday, I listened to the read-through of C & P. Today, we start on Blithe Spirit. Next week, I begin teaching. Yikes. I have a lot of prep to do in the meantime.

I’m so tired at the end of the day that I fall asleep watching television.

I made my favorite biscuits yesterday without a biscuit cutter or a cookie sheet or a proper mixing bowl. A stockpot became the bowl and a casserole pan became the cookie sheet. I needed some comfort food. Much to my surprise, it worked.

I found these outside my front door:

I love pine cones.

And a pretty little heart shaped rock.

Bird’s nest update: Still no sign of potential nesters. I’ll keep you posted.

More later.

Blue on Blue

October 21, 2010 at 4:31 pm by Claudia

Thank you for the compassionate responses (I expected nothing less) to my last post. If I learn anything more about the mystery, I will pass it on.

I was standing in the kitchen the other day, after touching up the kitchen island with paint, and I realized that my seashell finds from Florida could no longer stay on my cake plate. Yes, they were under a glass dome….but the whole thing had somehow lost its appeal. I was on a mission to find some sort of jar to put them in. Enter Home Goods:

Timing is everything, isn’t it? There was only one glass container left in this beautiful blue. Hello! You need to come home with me. I think it was about $5. And doesn’t it go perfectly on my little table?

And there’s plenty of space left for more shells. That means I have an excuse to gather some more next time I’m down in Florida. Which may be sooner than I think. I will update you on my Mom in a future post. Suffice to say, things are complicated.

More blue, in the form of a bird:

The little nest I found the other day seems to have found a home. It seems entirely appropriate for a bird to carry her nest on her back. Maybe she’s moving and doesn’t want to go to the trouble of rebuilding?

We’ve been raking, carting tarps full of leaves to the woods, cleaning gutters, cleaning the house, getting our furnace cleaned, having the chimney experts check on our aging chimney (this house was built in 1891). Today they were here to clean the chimney, install a liner and make everything safe and sound until we someday rebuild the base of the chimney. Oh, and get a new furnace. Our old one is sadly energy inefficient.

Maybe I’ll win the lottery.

Nesting

October 18, 2010 at 5:51 pm by Claudia

As we were carrying a tarp full of leaves to the woods yesterday, I spotted this perfect little nest on the ground. No doubt it was blown out of a tree during our recent windy weather. Both Don and I stopped to admire it’s perfection. How do birds construct such an intricate home for their babies? I think they are amazing little miracles. We have quite a few nests around the cottage. Each one has been lovingly added to our home after being discovered somewhere on our property. (I added the teacup to the photo to indicate how small this little nest is.)

I’ve been nesting a bit myself. Because of the new addition of the cabinet to my little upstairs studio, things are being rearranged. The bookcase has been moved to a new position on the opposite wall.

I added the lamp – actually I stole it from the bedside table in the guest room. One of the chairs from the kitchen has now taken the bookcase’s former position and I’ve added a jar full of seaglass, which catches the light from the window.

If I tried to tell you how hard it is to get a photo of the cabinet, you wouldn’t believe me. If I had a trapeze which hung from the ceiling and I was dumb enough to get on it, then I might get a good photo. So, that being said, here’s another attempt:

I moved the banner because, cute as it was on the cabinet, it fell off every time I needed to open the glass doors. If you remember, this wall used to be a design wall. I had 3 long flannel-covered panels attached to the wall. Two of them are gone. I kept the other and nailed it to the wall length-wise. Right now, my two embroidery pieces are pinned to it. And photos of Don and I when we were little kids.

Between the panel and the cabinet is my chalkboard. That may move eventually. I’m still filling up the shelves inside the glass doors. My wedding cake toppers have moved upstairs to their new home. I have a jar full of lace and trims, one full of ribbons, some vintage glove boxes and other little treasures. As I accumulate more, I know all of this will change.

The top of the cabinet: a photo of a rose taken by my late brother, a puff made by Lori Karla, my sheep from another Lori (of Vignettes) in it’s Boite de Vignette, a sachet from Lizzie, my bunny from Rosemary, and my wire egg basket full of fabric hearts and crocheted pieces and a vintage headband.

I’ve had this three-tiered basket for years, since back in our San Diego days. It’s been hanging around downstairs because I had no idea where to put it.

Now, it has new home upstairs and is in the process of being spray-painted. Don’t judge too harshly. Only one coat has been applied.

I ran out of paint. By the way, I don’t spray paint often. Does anyone else get frustrated by the nozzle clogging up? I stuck a straight pin in that hole so many times, I lost count. And the smell! It still lingers in my nostrils.

One would think there can’t possibly be room for anything else in this hall-turned-studio. But I tell you this: when I find my vintage dress form, room will be made.

Through it all, one thing never changes.

Lambchop sleeps through it all.

Trees, Rocks & Pine Cones

Blue on Blue

Nesting

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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