Now that I've found my purpose for the tiny farmhouse with the bamboo forest behind it, I've been thinking of what direction to go when I renovate it. Right now I have an American Colonial theme going with the portraits on the walls and the tole painted lamps, but I'd like to make it more of a garden house, a theme to go with the bamboo forest bathing. This crewel work above is just what I would love to have on the walls, but it's $300 on ebay, so I'm going to start looking locally in the shops for ferns and bamboo and bonsai, everything green.
I just picked this up at the church thrift store. Sarah was there and pulled me into the warehouse to let me search for afghans and I spied this and the cardinal below. I didn't have time to go through boxes and boxes of linens looking for afghans, so she is going to put those aside for me. Nice to be friends with people in high places! I love this little bonsai and larger ones are what I'm on the lookout for.
I was talking to my mom about these pieces and she wanted to know what crewel embroidery looked like versus needlepoint, so these are some good examples. They're more free form and artistic than needlepoint.
I have a few pieces of crewel for sale in my Etsy shop. This one is from the '70s and a really beautiful piece that I keep thinking I should save for the farmhouse, but it's really not the green theme I'm hoping to go with. I'm surprised it hasn't sold.
Another of a log cabin.
Another one with an Americana theme.
I also have these needlepoint pieces in my shop. This is from the '80s, it's a beautiful piece of work, but I lean more toward crewel work than needlepoint where the whole canvas is covered in an angled stitch.
Another of fruit.
Another still life. So I hope this lesson in crewel versus needlepoint helps you and you find some awesome pieces for me at New Life!!
So it only took five weeks for my gifts to get to the Northeast and five weeks for my brother's gift to his son coming from Rhode Island to get to the same place. They all converged on the same day, and it was like having a second Christmas! This handmade sign now makes Dave an official brewer!
Mom, wanted you to see Dave's progress since you haven't been over. I still would have kept the original cabinets and had them redone, but his new cabinets are nice and clean!
Recessed lighting, good touch! Wonder what the backsplash is going to be?
Getting there! Still has my mom's kitchen floor, though.
The past few weeks have been mild, low 60s, sun, but no rain. Finally a day with rain where I can be inside to work on some things.
When it's nice outside, I can't be in, especially in January! Take advantage of every day to prepare for spring which is right around the corner!
For the first time since we've been here I am pruning all these flowering bushes. I have been hesitant to do it, but after watching an episode of my new favorite show "Escape to the Chateau" there was an episode where they heavily pruned trees, so I decided I would do the same, just not as severe.
Warm enough to get the periwinkle blooming and the daffodils are up about three inches.
I brought some horsetail reed over from the boathouse, and it should fill in nicely by spring. I will plant moonflowers to go up the trellis.
Even the lizards are coming out to sunbathe.
The pansies are looking great, but with no rain I've been having to water all my plants, which is not my favorite pastime. With the rain, I will get a break on that.
Seedlings have been started inside on a heat mat in a plastic bin. Some are starting to emerge. I have a few more trays to do.
The Scotch broom and mock orange are budding, so I brought in a few stems to force. The mock orange is so fragrant!
From the farmhouse porch I can see the original farmhouse for the land out here slowly fading away :(
The catalogs have arrived, some seeds have already been ordered. I couldn't decide which of the two were my favorite, so this year I have two covers that are number one!
I really have been hitting the jackpot on afghans and linens. Each time I go out for errands I stop by one or two shops and have not been disappointed!
I haven't done an "in rescue" in a while, but there are many I have been working on. There has been a long line of black male chows that we all have been working on, too many to post. But remember Luna? She was the 10 month old chow I spent seven weeks on the NC coast in a hotel trying to trap on I-95 on the median? (This photo was used for her T-shirt fundraiser, hence the Luna Queen of the Highway)
Well, a few weeks ago Anna from the shelter contacted me. Luna's siblings were picked up on the street and brought to the shelter. This is her sister Jessie from the same litter. The NY rescue I work with took them in, my friend Trish on the farm on the VA line fostered them. Jessie went to her sister-in-law in CT.
This is Brownie, Luna's brother. He went to a nice young couple in Columbia, SC. They had him in the fenced yard about an hour after they got home, he climbed the fence and was gone. So who gets the call? Yep. I started a fundraiser to buy trail cams that the tracker used that I worked with on Luna, we got a large trap. Flyers were posted. He wasn't seen until last Friday, 3 weeks later! Yesterday trap was set, cams were up. I think bolting runs in the family!
Last night Brownie was spotted at the trap!! He did not go in, but he did not spring it. He's got to be hungry by now and like a man, he won't be able to resist the steak inside, so we are waiting patiently! Thank goodness I can now give advice and get things set up without having to go myself. The adopters are vigilant and working hard with their community to spot him.
At home with my own rescue dogs, Panda is doing much better now that he's been on insulin for a few weeks. His DM is not getting worse, but I do need the harness to help him walk. Still not a fan of giving the insulin shots, but without it he would die, so you do what you have to do. This week hoping to get back to the bamboo forest to do some work. I have had 1322 views and 44 messages. We had more people come yesterday and take truckloads. I will have things cleaned up in no time and no sweat for me he he he!!
So we're off to a good start! The bamboo forest has been encroaching on our pasture and we've been cutting and piling it up. My wheels started turning and I decided to put an ad in the FB Marketplace to see if I could find people wanting free bamboo and the messages have not stopped coming! First to come was a family that just moved here from California who are homesteading and want bamboo fences and arches.
The whole family came, except for mom, and dad put the kids to work and they did a great job. They were here for a few hours and will come from time to time as more bamboo is needed.
Harold was the next to come and only needed about a dozen thick poles to cut in half. He told me he went on a hunting trip to Scotland and they used racks made of pipe to dry their animals on. Not really something I wanted my bamboo used for, but what can you do. He was going to make his version of what he saw in Scotland. I told Baby to cover her ears.
After hours of work, doesn't look like much, but the kids trimmed all the side branches which makes it look like a lot less. This man Tshuavibploojsiab asked to come get bamboo shoots in spring.
So aside from wanting to clean up the pasture, I eventually want to move this project to the bamboo forest behind the farmhouse. It needs a lot of work, more than I expected when we took our walk today.
This is the first time in the six years we have lived here that we have gone onto the four acres of forest that we own. It was a nice day to explore!
The colors are beautiful ranging from dark green, to powder blue to gold. Sizes range from skinny to very thick depending on age.
Forest bathing is nothing new, a practice that has been going on in Japan called shinrin-yoku for quite some time, and I posted a link below for you to read up on it, just click on the link.
Forest bathing in the USA may be fairly new, and it is very hard to find a bamboo forest here in NC, and that is where my idea comes in. I am a member of Conserving Carolina, and forest bathing is becoming more popular than hiking where you have to earn it. With bathing, you just walk and soak it all in, stop and listen and relax.
I have to say that just our walk today was soothing and my breathing changed just standing and listening. The bamboo in the wind, a bird chirping here and there, but the muffled sound inside the forest is very peaceful and I will be returning often!
I'm thinking once the boathouse sells, we renovate the farmhouse, we can advertise to people wanting to forest bathe. We will switch from Airbnb to Hipcamp where there are lots of outdoorsy people looking for unique places like this! The could be a lot of fun! Two videos below give you a glimpse of what is to be!
