If a Tree Falls in the Forest...

My home is deep in the forest near the roots of the mountains. -Treebeard 

For some reason I am on this strange enchanted-woodland-cuckoo-clock-fair-isle-knitting  kick.  Maybe it's the antlers I got for Christmas from my grandmother, maybe it's just springtime and the birds are chirping, or maybe I've watched too many episodes of Faerie Tale Theater... the bottom line is there is something incredibly romantic and frightening about the woods--which is probably why it is so darn enticing.

And so, dear tree huggers, I have composed two lists; some of my all time favorite woodland-themed songs and some of  my all time favorite woodland-inspired movies.  So grab your dirndl, skip to grandma's house and get your rocky mountain high on.
 

Songs for a walk in the woods:

• The King of Trees - Cat Stevens (album: Buddha and the Chocolate Box)
• Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell (album: Clouds)
• Annie's Song - John Denver (album: Back Home Again)
• Mother Nature's Son - The Beatles (album: The White Album)
• Hyper-Ballad - Björk (album: Post)
• She's a Rainbow - The Rolling Stones (album: Their Satanic Majesties Request)
• Get Out the Map - Indigo Girls (album: Retrospective)
• The Fox - Nickel Creek (album: Nickel Creek)
• Killing the Blues - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (album: Raising Sand)
• Blue Skies - Willie Nelson (album: Stardust)
• Harvest Moon - Neil Young (album: Harvest Moon)

Movies featuring the Forest:

• FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)
• A River Runs Through It (1992)
• The Princess Bride (1987)
• The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)
• The Wizard of Oz (1939)
• The Last Unicorn (1982)
• Sleepy Hollow (1999)
• The Fox and the Hound (1981)
• The Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
• Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993)
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
• The Secret Garden (1993)

Thanks Baby Loves Pink,  Touch of the Dutch,Good Egg, Timber!, and Designs by Erin !

Dreaming of Spring

It's that time of year.  The time of year where it snows and melts and snows and melts and snows and once again I'm just itching to start my dear little seedlings so that I can have a bountiful crop of delicious treats, but I don't want to jump the gun.

 

Last year my tomatoes were a bit crowded and they ended up rather leggy with minimal fruit. But this year will be my year! I just know it. Armed with some lovely gardening resources (The Backyard Homestead, Incredible Vegetables from Self-Watering Containers, Garden Anywhere, The Complete Compost Gardening Guide, The Vegetable Gardener's Bible, The Organic Farmer's Business Handbook )  I am ready to take on some serious planting and whip my basil and carrots and tomatoes into shape! No more cramming 5 plants into one pot (I will have a yard this year)!

Working at Cate Farm was one of the best jobs ever!

 

I think that my number one problem when it comes to gardening is deciding which tasty morsels to plant. With so many seeds to choose from a lady can be quite overwhelmed! I've drooled over the High Mowing Organic Seeds website for awhile now and today I just finished buying what I think will be the last of my seeds.


The list includes - but is not necessarily going to be limited to:

Brandywine Tomatoes - Heirloom
National Pickling Cucumbers
Kentucky Wonder Pole Peans - Heirloom
King Richard Leeks
Old Spice Mix Sweet Peas
Autumn Beauty Mix Sunflowers
Green Zebra Specialty Tomatoes
Sweet Marjoram
Evergreen Hardy Onions
Red Cored Chantenay Carrots
Genovese Basil
Lolla Rossa Lettuce
New England Pie Pumpkins
Bouquet Dill
Early Wonder Tall Top Beets
Lacinato 'Dinosaur' Kale - Heirloom
Hotshot Spicy Mix Mustard Greens

Am I overzealous? Definitely.  Am I over my head? Probably.  Am I going to plant all these lovely treats and then some?  Absolutely.  Besides, who gets a lovely full delicious garden if they don't plant all kinds of seeds?  This is no time to be conservative...  I will go all out this year and that is that!

Is it Memorial day yet?

Progress Report.... part 1

Today I spent some quality time working on the portrait of Mr. French and I do believe that I've made some headway! Hooray! 

I may have jumped the gun by telling a certain someone that this thing would be done by the end of the weekend (oops).  I often forget that oil paint takes several days to dry and then there's the fact that I'm not quite finished yet.  Oh the joys of wishful thinking.  Luckily, that certain someone is quite understanding and hopefully won't mind waiting on Mr. French for a few more days. 

More to come!

Mud and Drywall

I'm currently in Canton, New York, helping a good friend finish the top floor of his bed and breakfast, 24 East Main.  It has been so invigorating to put down the knitting needles and pick up a broad knife and a spackle tray.  There is also something to be said for a full day of physical labor; I've been sleeping and eating like a champion.  More on the progress of the B&B later, but for now, I think it's supper time.

'Tis the Season to Be Curling...

... and skating and bobsledding and luge-ing.  The winter games have officially begun and I, for one, am absolutely thrilled!

Call me crazy, but I do believe that the Winter Games are ever so much more romantic than their summer counterpart.  I mean come on... biathlon anyone?

It's true, seeing those swimmers swim and those sprinters sprint is pretty darn exciting, but track and field events look pretty tired compared to the glistening snow and the shiny skiis, skates, helmets and sleds.

I'm also a sucker for those fabulously sparkling figure skating outfits.  Holy Tanya Harding-err Nancy Kerrigan I want a closet full of those things!  

And did I mention that as a spectator, curling up in a knit-blanket to watch the games is much more enticing when it's -10° outside?

Whether you prefer the summer games or the winter games, here are some tasty winter treasures that have the potential to bring out everyone's inner Olympian... even if we never make it off the couch.  So I urge you, fellow spectators, to feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, get on up, it's bobsled time!

Be Mine

The Beatles said it best. All you need is love. All you need is love. All you need is love, love. Love is all you need.


Okay. So if love is, in fact, all you need, why is there such push for romance and gifts on that notorious holiday that falls on February 14th? Nowhere does it say that little conversation hearts are necessary... right?


So Valentine's Day. I guess I understand the fact that we're celebrating love and all things mushy, but why just on one day? And when did this celebration get so incredibly over the top? It could be such a great idea for a holiday, and yet, every year I find myself a bit repulsed by it.


Maybe it's because I worked in a flower shop and all those red roses conjure an image of a less than agreeable customer who waited until the last minute and now...



he/she is angry because he/she needed those roses because he/she really messed up by forgetting his/her anniversary and if he/she doesn't bring flowers home on Valentine's Day boy will they be in some serious sh... trouble!


It's not even that I'm not the romantic type. I am! But somehow those goofy teddy bears and giant cards and boxes of chocolates always seem to come off as a shallow knock-off of the emotion we're really trying to express.


In honor of a less syrupy version of Valentine's Day, here are a few ideas that come from outside the proverbial chocolate box. Because let's face it. Love is all you need, but I wouldn't mind a gift or two as an added bonus!

Monsieur French

Mr. French will be the subject of my next portrait and his parents are very supportive and enthusiastic. French is an amicable sort of chap with a great sense of style and though you can't tell from the picture he is rather rambunctious! I'm pretty excited to start painting. Look for future posts of the progress of the painting.