Creating a Bird Haven at Home

If you are a bird lover, chances are good that your personality is drawn toward bright colors, cheerful flowers, and a wide range of garden and landscape styles. I am the kind of bird lover who is always looking out her windows, at home and in the car, scanning for the flicker of colorful birds! I plant a lot of yellow in my flowerbeds, and I love the counterpoint of purples like hydrangea or climbing clematis. Have you taken the time to create a bird-friendly backyard?

Here are three tips I have found useful for making sure more birds visit my home! In my way of thinking, a landscape filled with beauty is not complete without a bird haven. Do you agree?

Two Major Bird Concerns The two biggest concerns for birds are finding food and being safe. I offer lots of vegetation like trees, shrubs, flowerbeds and vines, and this gives birds choices for safe landing spots. The foods that are most popular in my yard are insects, berries, and fruit. Seeds like no-mess blends are always offered, too, but alone, they are not ideal for attracting birds. 

Watch and Learn My large dining room window is my favorite perch for bird watching, and from there I realized that the neighborhood cat who is left to roam at will has been ruining my bird haven efforts! A friendly call to my neighbor has helped with that issue. The cover of sheltering tree limbs and ornamental grasses has helped birds feel safe in my yard. We often see hawks gliding in the thermals above our home, and a sheltering landscape helps small backyard birds rest easy about predators in the air.  

Stop Tidying Up By nature, I like to put things back into place at the end of each day. I'm a bit of a neat-freak. In my bird-friendly yard, a natural, more wild approach brings better results! Trimming back hedges and flowerbeds every week removes some of the insect-rich oasis for birds. It is good for me to be more casual in my yard work, as it lets me just relax in the lush, colorful space.

I would love to hear about your bird-friendly spaces!

Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne

P.S. If you would like to see my latest colorful, handmade bird pillows, here is a quick link. Birds look great inside the home, too!

Top Ten Tuesday -- May 1, 2012

May Day -- May Day! I always think of birds and flowers on May 1st, and today is no exception. There is a robin nesting in the crook of our rain gutter again this year and that is always a herald of Spring to me in May. This week I was able to find many bright and organic items that help keep my May Day mood going. Perhaps before dinner tonight I'll have a chance to plant a few more flowers along the winding path to our front door...

until then, I hope you have a chance to enjoy my top ten Tuesday finds. Happy May Day to you!

Sweet Needle Book by Fiber Luscious

As a sewing teacher, one of the first projects I teach is making a needle book. Maybe you aren't in the mood to sew just now? Jill Verbick-O'Leary from Wisconsin is happy to make one for you or your favorite sewing fan using contemporary applique and machine quilting! This bird needle book measures just over 3" square/6" wide when opened. See all of Jill's great fiber items at Fiber Luscious!

Verdigris Feather Brooch

Finding a lost feather is considered by many to be good luck. I wish I could find this lovely handmade stunner! Not One Sparrow in Pennsylvania makes this lovely vintage-inspired brooch in shades of gold, turquoise, and green. It would look lovely on the lapel of a coat or on your favorite felt hat!

Bird-Lover's Wheel-Thrown Casserole Dish

 One Clay Bead on Etsy, which is located in Asheville, North Carolina, makes this lovely casserole dish in one of my favorite color combinations: turquoise and brown. This casserole holds 2 quarts and the lid can be turned upside-down in dish for stacking. You can bake or serve in this nest-topped dish, and she even has coordinating pieces in her shop! This would also make a great gift for any upcoming summer wedding.

Living Tree Sculpture

The folks at Cornell University have a great resource for any of us who love sculptural tree elements in our yards. I know it sounds ambitious, but I have always dreamed of having a tunnel of trees for the grand kids to play under! This living sculpture website it a good place for us to start!

Fine Art Print from Contemporary Earth Art

A stack of vintage books is the perfect resting spot for a sweet golden bird! The blues, golds, and browns of this contemporary print by Laura Sue are home decor trends that I love. The image is 8" x 10" and is sold unframed, which to me means I could select the perfect frame for my family room! Visit with Laura Sue here.

One-of-a-Kind Reading Chair 

I love curling up with a good book. This bright chair from Anthropologie looks like the perfect place for me to do just that! Upholstered in unique vintage kilim fabric, no two chairs can be alike. The curvy arms look perfect for when I'm knitting...my elbows need space to move around! Love it!

The Mighty Live Oak

Uninvented Colors on Etsy has taught me that the Live Oak tree is named that because it remains green year-round. How much would I love that! She also tells me that this tree is the southern symbol of strength, and when I look at the graceful canopy of this tree, I can feel its strength. This fine art photo print comes in five sizes and would make a striking image in most every home. Gorgeous!

Bird's Nest Necklace Tutorial and Finished Item

One of the very best features of the Internet is access to helpful tutorials, and today my top favorite one comes from Sarah Ortega of Poppy and Pine. While you can buy a finished nest necklace directly from her great shop on Etsy, she has been gracious enough to teach you how to make one, too! Her nest design is special because of its simplicity...it looks like it will be smooth against the skin. The variety of bead "eggs" you can include is endless, so I have a feeling that once I begin making them, I'll have trouble stopping! The tutorial link is above, and it is included as Number 11 on a list of 25 tutorials...have fun!

Origami Birds

I stumbled upon a company in England that sells these charming paper birds. Cox and Cox has a number of lovely bird-themed home decor items. These paper collage birds are hand crafted from printed antique notation and script, with little beaded eyes. Use the clip to perch them on napkins or flower arrangements. Some come with their wings open and some with their wings closed.

Funny Animal of the Week

 I think this elephant ranks right up there with a dancing purple elephant. I never thought I'd see an elephant water ski. If this image is computerized fantasy, I may still have never seen an elephant water ski! It's funny to think about though!

Thanks for stopping by,

Georgianne

What is Needle Felting? Tattooing Wool onto Fabric

Forest Walk ©2011, needle felt in process

Needle felting is a needlecraft regaining popularity. Many cultures for thousands of years have used needle felting to make rugs, clothing, and other useful items for the home. All cultures that use wool to create textiles have perfected their classic version of this decorative and useful art. 

Today, needle felting is all the rage to make decorative pillows, embellish scarves, and to create wardrobe accessories. Some people are making home décor items out of 100% wool, and others are using wool to decorate items made of many types of other fabrics. I like to say that needle felting onto fabric is like tattooing ink onto skin: both involve single sharp needles and a poking or punching motion to apply color to a smooth surface.

When people say they needle felt, they are likely talking about Dry Felting, or felting without water. There are sewing machine attachments that can be used to needle felt by machine. The kind of needle felting I do in at Nestle and Soar in Colorado is needle felting by hand. Using one barbed felting needle allows me to create intricate detail in wall art using needle felting. Let me explain the process to you!

The craft of dry needle felting bonds a foundational fabric and wool roving together without the use of thread, glue, or sewing needles. Felting needles are long, barbed, and very sharp. You do not hold a felting needle like a sewing needle: the motion required is more like a punching or stabbing than it is a sewing motion. When you punch the barbed needle up and down into the roving, which is loose animal fibers, it pushes the wool through the foundational fabric from top to bottom. The barbs on the needle agitate the wool fiber as it passes up and down through the roving, and this agitation opens the cuticle of the wool fiber, causing it to cling to itself. It also causes it to interlock itself on the underside of the foundational fabric, and that is how it stays put. I often create decorative pillows using linen as the foundational fabric and soft merino or mohair wool roving for the needle felting.

Raspberry and Orange Wool Roving for Felting

It is important to needle felt using a foam pad underneath your work. The felting needle should have something soft under the foundational fabric: the needle would be ruined without the pad by breaking its tip against the table top. It is easy to find felting pads made specifically for this craft, or you can also use polystyrene blocks, upholstery foam, or compressed foam. The foam pad I use is 12” x 15” and 2” thick. This size allows me to spread out a large project.

Wool roving provides all the color in needle felt projects. Picture a large pile of colorful cotton candy – that is what wool roving looks like! Roving is readily available in about 10 colors at big-box craft stores, neighborhood yarn shops, and many merchants on the Internet. My preference is to use mohair wool roving. I purchase roving in hundreds of different colors made by small manufacturers and enjoy working with the hand-dyed, environmentally friendly wools they create for this fiber art.

Example of a landscape needle felt by hand

Needle felting is a craft that is great for beginners of all ages. Because sharp, barbed needles are involved, I recommend close supervision of children. After many years of enjoying this fine craft as a fiber folk artist, I still prick my own fingertips on occasion. That being said, with care, good lighting, and a little patience, it is a lot of fun to learn to “paint with wool” using this age-old needle craft!

What kind of felting have you tried? 

Have you taken any felting classes?

I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for stopping by, 
Georgianne

Pathways Through Life

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again...
Henry David Thoreau

Conscious thought is the staring point of every new creation. Science of the Mind, page 400

"The path we take with each day's thinking becomes the world we see around us. Some people say we should live each day as if it were our last day on earth. Maybe we should live life as if this were our first day on earth: conscious, awake, aware of the beauty and bounty around, having childlike wonder, and generously sharing our resources." Science of Mind, May 2011, pg. 64

Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne

10K Walks with my daughter and a wise dog

Laura and Amina

I have been enjoying the summer with Laura and all the outdoor activities she encourages me with. We have been known to walk two 10k's each week (about 6 miles), without the need for an organized event, which allows us the opportunity to take her little dog Amina along with us. It is funny to watch Amina scamper under each passing tree, plopping down into the shaded grass, and look up at us like, "You're seriously going to keep walking in this heat?" Using dog logic, we would all plop down into the cool grass and catch our breath. Instead, I keep using my trainer's logic and try to walk faster and farther.

Laura and Me, 1990

I enjoy walking uphill much more than down...my knees hurt a lot going downhill. I am seeking out the perfect 6-mile walk that includes only flat surfaces and uphill climbs (and a bathroom with drinking fountain). Logically, this means I cannot walk any "out-and-backs", but instead need to find a circular path. Come to think of it, walking in circles doesn't sound logical, but maybe it mirrors life that way? Is it an illusion to think that life is a straight line beginning at birth and ending at one's final bow? In my way of thinking, life is more like a circular path where we keep getting the opportunity to revisit and revise our choices. And if we are lucky, that path includes a few shade trees to plop under along with our loved ones as we enjoy the scenery and catch our breath. I hope your path through life today is simply amazing!

Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne

Enchanted Forest

8x10 painting by StudioZen in Tacoma Washington

I took a stroll through Etsy.com today and found a couple new favorite things there. I'm so grateful for this site as it gives me access to artists around the world in a virtual boutique and in the comfort of my fuzzy slippers, too!

I am always impressed by those who paint, and I am dazzled by those who work with glass! My sister makes mosaics that are jaw-dropping in their beauty and I have seen the effort involved in her art. I found another artist in Nevada who combines trees and glass work with lovely results, and wanted to share that with you today, as well as this charming painting by StudioZen.

Glass Tree Moon by GlassRiver, 14" diameter

As for my own enchanted forest, I am pleased that all the trees in and around our home have leafed out and are looking healthy after their winter's nap. The volunteer aspen trees that now grow outside our dining room window (thanks to our neighbor Joe's healthy root system) are about 10' tall. They literally sprang up at the end of last summer without leafing out, and now I'm excited for my first summer/fall seasons with these trees so close at hand. My husband thought he'd "weed" out these volunteer shoots, and I threw my body on top of them! What a fun result.

"The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is today." Better yet is when they voluntarily grow in just the right place.


Thanks for stopping by and best wishes,
Georgianne

Practicing Patience: Forest Walk Wool Wall Felt

What's on my studio table today...

Wool needle felt landscapes are taking a lot of my mental and physical energy these days! I can't seem to finish them fast enough...I just want to begin the next design that has been in my mind and in my sketchbook. The process of making a 16" x 20" wall hanging out of 100% wool is not something that should be rushed, so I am practicing patience ... that reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

"I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end." Margaret Thatcher, 1989.

Don't you love it!

Detail photo of leaves being placed for felting....

My latest in-progress wall felt is wanting to be named Forest Walk. I hope you can see from the mid-point photo above the perspective of the terrain as you walk through the woods! The detail photo to the left shows some of the fluffy wool roving that has not yet been needle-felted onto the wool foundation. I use a single barbed needle-felting needle to hand place the elements of my design. (There is much more control that way.) After I have the wool where I want it, I switch to a multi-needle tool, like the Clover brand hand tool pictured above, as that lets me make some quick progress in this dry felting technique. I estimate that a wall felt of this size likely has over 5,000 stabs from barbed needles!

I don't use a machine for this...it is all hand done. It sounds kind of crazy, I know, but I truly enjoy the creative handmade process. Which is why, as I enjoyed the soft streaming light in my studio this morning, I reminded myself that rushing the process would be a shame...I want to enjoy every minute of my Forest Walk!

I am revamping my website (http://www.georgianneholland.com/) to include a Special Commissions function. I am really excited about it because people will be able to send me a photo of one of their favorite landscapes, and I will create a wall felt or a special pillow using that image as my inspiration. Does that sound like something you'd enjoy? I'd love to hear your input...

Let me plant a tree in your honor!

Georgianne Holland's Robin Bird Peace Pillow

Nestle and Soar is the name I've given to my folk art studio near the mountains of Colorado. Like the area in which I live, there are plenty of tree and bird images taking center stage here. I see them in my art, in my home, and in my mind. For instance, my new inventory of Tree Coupons from the Arbor Day Foundation arrived, and I am having so much fun sending them out to my Nestle and Soar customers and friends! When I arrange for a tree to be planted in a national forest in honor of a customer, it feels like I do more than admire trees--I actually add to the greening of our planet.

I'll admit that my own forest experiences are limited; Colorado of course, a few days in Georgia and California, but never (yet) to a tropical forest or the giant Redwood forest, or dozens of others. In the meantime, my radar is always searching for a better understanding of the natural forests around the world...here's what I've learned this week.

REDD- what it is, or perhaps, what it hopes to be.
70 developing forest countries could be eligible for REDD, or specified funds provided mostly by wealthy nations, to help those mostly poor countries succeed financially without cutting down their forests. REDD's ambition is to halve global deforestation by 2020. This unprecedented plan was one obvious success of last year's Copenhagen summit on climate change, I have learned. It happened in Oslo in May of 2009, and there met 58 nations, known as the REDD Partnership, and they negotiated to pledge $4.5 billion by 2012 to those eligible developing forest countries measured in "forest-carbon credits". Global climate change summits continue and this ambitious plan continues in development. For those poor countries who need to fell forests to create funds, the REDD plan gives them an alternative to the fund-supply that keeps these important forests growing and doing their environmentally crucial work.

"...if REDD is unprecedented, it is because so is the threatened climate calamity, and forests have a lead part in that. (Forests) are the cheapest large-scale carbon-sequestration option available: they actually consume the stuff. This presents a big opportunity. ...by one estimate, carbon dioxide equivalent to 40 parts per million could be extracted from the atmosphere by 2050. That would roughly match global emissions over the past three decades." What can we do, I ask? "Natural forests must be conserved...Above all, with the human population set to increase by half over the next 40 years, the world needs to work out where its food is going to be produced."
The Economist, Something Stirs, September 25, 2010.

I am a simple folk artist living and working in the great state of Colorado. As I continue to feel the overwhelm of how our planet, our leaders, and our fellow humans around the globe will react to the real threat of climate change and deforestation, I will continue to make art that captures the beauty of nature. I will also continue to gladly make arrangements to have planted many, many trees in our national forests. [Visit my Etsy shop to learn more.] On my bucket list is to visit all of America's National Forests. On my daydream list is to also visit forests around the world. I would love to hear about your forest experiences as well as your thoughts on climate change.

Peace and Health to All,
Georgianne

The World's Forests

Autumn Meadow Folk Art, Georgianne Holland, 2010

I have had a fascination with trees for as long as I can remember. I even bought a mediocre house because the trees on the property were magnificent! Not my best financial idea, but certainly one that proves I can go nuts over trees.

I have teamed up with the Arbor Day Foundation (ADF) to include my passion for trees as part of my folk art enterprise. When anyone orders one of my original folk art designs from my Etsy shop, I arrange with the ADF to have planted, in their honor, a tree in a U.S. national forest. I am very excited that such a program exists to make my work as an artist a small part of keeping trees healthy in this country.

I started to think about forests around the world, and know that national forests in America, while close at hand, are not the only forests in a suffering ecology. I want to learn more about the world's forests and the ecological miracle they demonstrate. I will be posting my findings as I come across them, along with beautiful tree images I find along the way!

"Across the world, forests and the soil beneath them absorb about a quarter of all carbon emissions. This is an indispensable contribution to life as we know it, and forests offer many others, too. They house more than half the word's species of animals, birds and insects...Forests are also the source of most staple foods and many modern medicines. They provide livelihoods, wholly or partly, for about 400 million of the world's poorest people." The Economist, September 25, 2010.

My fascination with forests and trees is personal as I feel a connection to the earth whenever I look at a tree. Beyond the personal, forests and trees are a vital part of the earth, and I would love to hear about your feelings about, and experiences in, the forest.

Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne

Autumn Meadow and Time Savings

Daylight Saving Time is right around the corner, and I know plenty of people who are not excited about it. I have always wondered it we actually saved time with this practice. I think it is more of a time shift.

What are the reasons behind this Fall-back one hour habit? From what I can find, it comes down to booze, candy, oil, accidents, and train schedules...

"In the United States, Daylight Saving Time commences at 2:00 a.m. to minimize disruption. Did you know that many bars fought about the timing of our clock change? Many states restrict bars from serving alcohol between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. At 2:00 a.m. in the fall, however, the time switches back one hour. So, can bars serve alcohol for that additional hour?

Through 2006, Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. ended a few days before Halloween (October 31). Children’s pedestrian deaths are four times higher on Halloween than on any other night of the year. A new law to extend DST to the first Sunday in November took effect in 2007, with the purpose of providing trick-or-treaters more light and therefore more safety from traffic accidents.
Following the 1973 oil embargo, the U.S. Congress extended Daylight Saving Time to 8 months, rather than the normal six months. During that time, the U.S. Department of Transportation found that observing Daylight Saving Time in March and April saved the equivalent in energy of 10,000 barrels of oil each day - a total of 600,000 barrels in each of those two years.

In addition, some argue that there is a public health benefit to Daylight Saving Time, as it decreases traffic accidents. Several studies in the U.S. and Great Britain have found that the DST daylight shift reduces net traffic accidents and fatalities by close to one percent. An increase in accidents in the dark mornings is more than offset by the evening decrease in accidents.

Time zones were first used by the railroads in 1883 to standardize their schedules. Standard time was codified for the United States and Canada based on train schedules, and it is from this method that we base our time change requirements."

So, time shifting has a long history and plenty of pros and cons. I feel a little bit better now knowing some of the reasons and discussions behind the required task. Do I like it any better? No, I do not. I guess I will have to reconsider moving closer to the equator, where time shifting is not used. Wait, that will get me 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. I guess I am staying put...

Enjoy your daylight hours this week!
Georgianne

P.S. I also learned that it is not Daylight Savings Time", but "Saving" time. Guess that is my "something new" I needed to learn today ;)

A trip down memory lane

I often take a walk down memory lane, and during the past few weeks, there have been a few twists in the road. We've all heard the reference "Sandwich Generation" made about people who have both children and senior citizens as loved ones. I am ham and cheese! During August, 2010, I held our newest grandchild in my arms, and I held a loved one's hand in hospice. Both of these extremes have great meaning, and in both situations, I've loved the gift of good memories.

To celebrate good memories in my life, I created this Memory Lane folk art. Framed in a vintage gold and black oval frame, this wool needle felt of a lane, a lake, and two trees, is special to me.  With seed bead leaves, this wool wall art was a joy to create.

We are hoping for an Indian Summer here in Colorado. Warm Fall days with cool nights will help the apples ripen and the pumpkins grow fat. There is a lake by my home that has a view of the mountains in the distance. I plan to take many walks there this Fall as I keep all of my family in my thoughts and prayers.

Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne

Wool for a Good Cause

There is a special event happening on October 1st in Boulder, Colorado, for the benefit of The Carriage House Community Table. This fundraiser includes a silent auction, a wonderful meal prepared by Chef Antonio Laudisio (owner of Laudisio's Restaurant), and a keynote address by Buddhist monk and homeless activist, Jana Drakka.

My wool wall panel titled Bonnie's Blue Sky Day (shown here) is one of the items being auctioned to raise money for this loving place where homeless individuals receive support, aid, and nourishment.

If you would like to find out how you can participate in this special event, visit Carriage House Community Table for more details. I hope to see you on October 1st in Boulder!

Thanks for stopping by,

Georgianne

Grandma Willow Tree is Pure Poetry

In case you aren't all sick and tired of my talking about being a grandmother, here we go some more.

I found this lovely sculpture on etsy today and wanted to share it with all of you. A talented artist named Tanja Sova created this tree in remembrance of sitting under a willow tree at her grandmother's house. Isn't that a great memory! I have often thought, especially after seeing the apple tree scene in The Wizard of Oz, that trees have faces hidden in their bark. This sculpture by Tanja proves that to be true.

[Click the Wizard of Oz above and I will magically transport you to Dorothy and her friends.]

You can enjoy Tanja's etsy shop at this link.

So because I've probably crossed the line in how many times I've mentioned my grandmotherly joy, I wanted to tell you a willow tree fun fact about my childhood! Well, it is kind of a new topic...

Yes, I am a published poet since that fantastic day when Miss Sargent sent my Willow Tree poem to Highlights Magazine, and they, in their poetic wisdom, decided to publish said poem in 1967. Because I figure that if you have read this far, you'd probably read all the way to the end of this post, I will type from memory my amazing poem. Enjoy!

Willow Tree

by Georgianne Leman

As I sit under a weeping willow tree

I think now, let me see

How many times have I sat here before?

How many times have I looked out the door?

How many times have I seen the Sun, a smile on its face

Looking down on the whole human race

Thanks for stopping by. I promise to open my heart to new topics in the near future,
Georgianne, also known as gma

I love trees, I love sweaters--I love trees with sweaters!

I know that knitting to dress a tree is not what my Daytimer is telling me to do. I also know that all of my knitting friends would laugh if they heard about my plan. But ever since I heard about folks knitting for trees, I've thought, "How can I participate?" It seems like this would be a wonderful project for using up partial skeins of yarn in bright colors...May I count you in?

Studio Wednesday - What's on my worktable?

Welcome to Studio Wednesday. I'm excited to get your opinions on my new felting project, which started out to be a triptych. The idea was to show a long tree branch with three distinct scenes taking place and then frame them into a 3-part frame: love birds kissing, baby birds being fed, and a bird soaring into the air, away from the branch.

I made the mistake of not making the frame for this project first and then designing the work to fit the frame! Rookie mistake! Now I have the emotions and colors of each scene in place, but it really doesn't fit any frames I can find.

So, what do you think I should do? I don't really have enough fabric to stretch this piece on top of a foam core. I don't want to cut it into thirds, either. I'm stumped. It is exciting to be designing needle-felted folk art for the wall. I've been doing pillows for so long, this is a new challenge. I can feel my brain cells perking up!

Please give me your ideas...I'm looking forward to hearing from you!
Thanks for visiting,
Georgianne

P.S. When I look at this design, the thought that keeps coming to mind is, "Inbetween Nestle and Soar is Nourishment." Deep thoughts by Jack Handy ;)

Trees on Tuesday

Trees are beautiful and I spend much of my professional time as a folk artist, as well as some of my free time, thinking about trees. As of today, I plan to spend time with each of you on Tuesdays sharing lovely images and ideas about trees; today kicks off the Nestle and Soar Studio "Trees on Tuesday"!

If you haven't already noticed, the tree photo I found for today looks like a woman dancing--in fact, it looks like me when I dance! I'm being serious. When I dance, I dance alone and I dance with drama. I leap and jump and fly through the air without much ease at all, just like this tree, which I'll bet is completely rooted in the ground. My husband does not care to dance, so it is a solo flight of fancy for me, which is alright (most of the time), as I used to fantasize about being a ballerina. When one dreams of dancing, they can close their eyes and escape into the movement of the dream. That is what this tree makes me think about.

What do you see and think about when you look at this tree?

Happy Trees on Tuesday!
Georgianne

Think Like a Tree

Think Like a Tree
by Karen I. Shragg

Soak up the sun
Affirm life's magic

Be graceful in the wind

Stand tall after a storm

Feel refreshed after it rains

Grow strong without notice

Be prepared for each season

Provide shelter to strangers

Hang tough through a cold spell

Emerge renewed at the first signs of spring

Stay deeply rooted while reaching for the sky

Be still long enough to hear you own leaves rustling

Free Trees!

I am super excited by an opportunity I found today while researching for my new website! More on that new website later :) I found the Arbor Day Foundation website and really want to spread the word about this wonderful non-profit organization.

I found these folks and their site at http://www.arborday.org/

It is chock-full of information about how important trees are to the health of the planet and all of her inhabitants. When you become a member, the cost is $15 for a 1-year term, and you will be sent 10 free trees to plant in your area. Now I'm sure these trees are small, but they are trees, and as I am so very fond of trees, I want everyone I know to learn about this!

After you become a member of Arbor Day Foundation, you can also receive continuing education through their many expert newsletters and programs. And if you want a simple yet meaningful gift for someone, how about having trees planted in their honor in a National Forest? I did this a few years ago for my mom. She loves trees, too, so a few hundred were planted in a National Forest to celebrate her day! I think it is lovely and I hope you will enjoy checking into this.

Here's wishing you a gentle nap in the soft green grass under a shady tree!

Georgianne