You want blueberries?! We ain't got no blueberries!!!

 Actually, no blueberries, not as much willow, all of the beautiful and native plants gone. Look, I know it is necessary, I know they said I'd lose most of the blueberries when they started the pond, but DAMN! It was really hard to see it. I felt nothing emotionally, but mentally it was kind of shocking. 

The willow that I cut and use for my art is gone. This was always the plan for this spot because it is where Woodchuck eventually wants to build a pier, and I made sure to grab some cuttings a couple of days prior, but it's so weird to see it ALL gone. It will come back, it's an aggressive species, lol.

But ugh, oh ugh. The previous blueberry bushes that came with the land, the elderberry I found last year, all of the Joe-Pye weed that the butterflies love, and Jewelweed that the hummingbirds love, and the hiding places for the deer. All gone. I know it can come back, I know this important, and I am grateful to have found someone to help us fix the issues. I am also grateful for the nutrients that the blueberries provided us for a few years before having to do this to them. We can always start over and make this spot even healthier for them! One blueberry bush at the end of the clearing.

They did a fantastic job stopping at the watershed sign! I have to check out if something I see growing there is the phragmite spreading into this area.

It makes me think back to how it all looked when we first bought the land. All of the aforementioned plants, and more, that were chest high--even higher! It was SO hard to walk through it all, and SO humid. How we single-handedly changed the look of the layout. I really am proud of us and all of the hardwork we are putting in to getting this beautiful land back to native.

Woodchuck is so excited now, which is funny for all of the grief he has given me over the years about this project, and how long he put it off for. I guess everything happens in the proper time, and not necessarily when we think it should. 

We assumed that they hadn't done any work yet on the other sides of the pond, but we walked over to look anyhow. I found this single lily blooming, though there has been a few more at the land I've seen over the years. It's called a Surprise Lily (I call them Fairy Lilies because they sparkle and their leaves remind me of their wings), and is native to China and Korea. I did not plant these here at the land, the previous owners did, and I've been busy with other plants to have had the time to deal with them. I do have them at my house, planted by me. They were given to me by a friend years ago, before I began getting non-natives and invasives on my radar. When we go back to the land, I will be getting rid of this one, and the ones at my home too at the end of their blooming. I will make sure this little spider friend has another plant to call home. 

Woodchuck had worked in the heat all day, then we walked around in the sun and heat around the pond, and we were supposed to be trimming more branches from the pine trees. He did a few and had to stop, so he sat down while I did a few more. We left the branches this time where they fell and will get those the next time we were out there and it's not this stifling hot to be working outside. Before cutting the limbs about 6 foot up.

                                    After cutting them and letting them fall where they landed.

We also marked out the new house dimensions since this one is different from the original one. I have to say the guy Woodchuck hired has some great foresight, because it fit PERFECTLY in the space that was cleared. We will still be taking down a few more trees--mostly white pines that were damaged in the clearing projects, but also some other kinds that are leaning precariously, dead, etc. 

I worked outside most of the day too, but differently than Woodchuck. The morning was peaceful, but super hot already. The sun shot in through the bedroom window, which is one of my favorite things to see. 

I finished the evil eye mandala, and this thing was NOT easy! The frame is made from willow I cut from around the pond, the eye is a metal frame that was crocheted with cotton yarn, the web is white cotton thread, the items hanging from it are suede lacing in black, gold acrylic pony beads, a beautiful blue/purple glass pony beads, and crow feathers that I found in my back forest after wildlife had made a snack of it! I hand-washed the feathers with a natural cleaner that also has essential oils in it. I used those blue/purple beads in honor of the Mud Dauber who shared the patio with me on the days that I worked on this outside! I hope to make a few more of these, in different colors, and have the frames shaped and drying in the workshop. 

When that was done, I worked on the next step of the Halloween ornament I am making. Woodchuck made the hats, because he is the sculptor, not me, lol. They are made from air dry clay that a previous artist co-worker gifted me! They have been slow to dry completely with all of the humidity, even though we have a dehumidifier running in the workshop, and a box fan. I made the hanger loop from scrap wire I had, and the hat band was from supplies I also had on hand.

I appreciate you being on this journey with us and I am excited to get back out to the land to see what else has been done! In the meantime, there is more than enough to keep me busy! 

Does this chainsaw make me look angry? Asking for a friend

 I can feel the wind-down that comes with the transitioning to the later part of Summer. We had a week with no humidity (this past weekend was BEAUTIFUL) and I tried to get out and enjoy the patio as much as I could. We were trying to sneak in more quick trips to the land while we had it more comfortable, and to take stock of what it looks like right now before the excavator and mowers take over and transform what the pond area while look like. It's going to look, and smell, horrible initially, but you have to trust the process and professionals, and we know this needs to be done. 

The late Summer plants are starting to show now! The milkweed is starting to get its pods, the Boneset is starting to bloom. Native and medicinal. 👇

And I don't know what it is about Blue Vervain that strikes me so. I take a picture damn near every time I go out there. The color, the height, all of it makes me stop and notice it. Native and medicinal.👇

I also found something that I either hadn't found before or don't find often enough to remember. Old Field Balsam, a.k.a. Rabbit Tobacco, Sweet Everlasting, and other names. Apparently has a maple scent when dried and was used by the Native Americans/American Indians for things like coughs, colds, fevers, etc. I don't think that this will be damaged during the pond work, but I might cage it anyway to see how it fares and to make sure I can't find it again. Native and medicinal.👇

I did cage the Whorled Milkweed that was flowering and went back to check on it, and the other one that I found that wasn't blooming. These are coming up in a very messy area between the front CRP and road. I have attempted to clean up this area a couple of times, and the bittersweet is INSANE up here. At least the taking down of the honeysuckle helped clean it up a bit more, but there is definitely a lot of work to be done still. At quick glance, the Whorled milkweed flowers look similar to Yarrow, don't they? Whorled milkweed is native! 

I pushed mowed a lot of thick, wet grass over the past few days and am really paying for it in everything from my middle back up to the base of my skull, but taking breaks to find the flora at various times of year makes me forget about my pain. Common Evening Primrose. Native and medicinal. 👇

I have still been pulling at least one garbage bag of invasives each trip. Queen Anne's Lace being the biggest one I am getting right now. This crab spider was cheering me on! 👇

This grass spider asked if it could hitch a ride on my rider, but then decided to stay in the barn. 👇

But this mantis was chewing me out because of the patch of bittersweet taking over again. I'm trying, little friend, I'm trying. Stagmomantis California, the California Mantis, native. 👇

The contractor we hired for the pond work stopped by so we could pay him half, and I got pictures of the pond and what it looks like now (this was the only picture to turn out). I am still looking for work to help Woodchuck not have to finance all of this stuff on his own. I've applied to three places in the past few days. Most jobs that I am evenly remotely interested in expect you to be able to lift 50 pounds and I can't do that without assistance. For now, am still selling our belongings on eBay. I guess I am right where I am meant to be at this time! 👇

We had a beautiful experience with a hawk on one trip out. I heard her right when I got out of the car, and she was very, very close! As it turns out, she was in a large tree at the front ditch, calling out and chattering. She was within about 30 feet of us and what an amazing experience it was! She would fly back and forth from that tree to other nearby trees, and we could hear at least two others close by as well!

While the goal on one of the trips was for Woodchuck to finish mowing and I would pull invasives until that was done and then we would team up and start working on invasives in the back forest, that didn't happen. His back was sore, so I told him to just stay on the tractor and do his thing and I would do mine. So I grabbed my chainsaw, and Pink, and started working on a project of cutting the dead branches from the white pines, and picking up the branch debris from when the clearing took place. I am tired of tripping, rolling my ankles, getting slapped in the face. It was time. I only cut about 5.5-6 foot high. If you want them cut at the height for you, then you need to be there helping, is how I see it. This is a project that I can start and stop on, work on it when it's just a quick trip out, and chip away at it. I will also need to do the back forest as well, which is much larger than this front one. I only worked on several trees in this trip. I would load up the trailer on Pink and drive them over to the burn pile. When Woodchuck got done with his work, he came over to help transport the larger branches and to weight the burn pile down.👇

 I know it only looks like a couple of feet up, but again, it's about 5.5-6 feet up. Doing this also helps me see trees that can be taken down to help free up the hardwoods, take down any that look to be dead or dying or leaning too much and might fall on the house once that's built, etc. I don't want to cut trees down right now though, since it's still baby season for some species. Taking the dead limbs off will keep me busy enough! 👇

We ran to town to grab a few things from the grocery store, then came home and worked in the yard for a few hours. Woodchuck did a little weed whacking while I cut out mulberry and other things from where they shouldn't be growing. I was rewarded with seeing the beautiful blue jay feather. 👇

Then I got down on my hands and knees and started cleaning up around the green house. The fairy lilies are popping up, and the patio pavers were covered with mounds of dirt and old grass clumps. The rocks I have found along the way were no longer visible, and some of the pavers were not laying flat any more. So it all came out and I cleaned it up and fixed it right. I also found a few holes in the greenhouse siding that the weed whacker made and asked Woodchuck to plug them up when he fills the hole in the side of the shed too. Once it cools off, I will clean out the inside of the green house. 👇

I got the bright idea to make another fountain. Woodchuck bought a tiny solar powered one a few years back, we used it one Summer and then it got put away. So I grabbed a metal bucket, some broken pavers, and lots of the granite rocks that I've collected along the way! It was a bit farther from the table than I would have liked, which meant we didn't get to hear the water, but it used up things we had around, and maybe provided a cooling spot for the birds. 👇

Unfortunately, I found out the next day that this wasn't going to work with this bucket. We had set the bucket in a large planter that has a basil plant in it, and we were wondering why the sidewalk under and around the planter was wet. We thought originally that it was from the wind blowing the water from the fountain, and dropped the fountain lower, but when I got home from the grocery store the next day, the water level had dropped significantly! I filled it, and within an hour, it dropped again! So the bucket wasn't holding water. Lesson learned to check that first next time 😁 Woodchuck took it all apart, found another bucket, water tested it, and I will start over. I am glad that I had this idea at this moment though, because when I grabbed the watering can, there was a cabbage white butterfly laying completely splayed out in it! I know these get a bad rap, but this one was lucky enough to fall in MY can and therefore, was saved. I didn't realize it was alive until I felt it grab a finger and then it would move a leg here and there. I just let him catch a ride and dry those wings off until he was ready to fly! 👇

While I worked on the original idea of the fountain, he edged the sidewalk. I wanted to do it, it hasn't been done in a very long time, but he refused. It was something he used to do often when we bought the house, and it was a nice flashback to see it done again. 💙 When he was done, he used the leaf blower to blow all of the dirt around, I mean off, the sidewalk. I'm a sweeper myself, but I know he loves to use his tools 👇

I am continuing to go through pamphlets and pictures to put in the new house binder. Woodchuck changed his mind about the exterior stone, which was nice because it's a blend of the kind of stones that we both like, and we got to see what it would all look like next to the barn colors we used. The cement siding looks gray in the photos, but is actually a lovely green.👇

I am thinking about the Bone White for the whole interior. I am over each room being a different color, and I think this would pick up the natural lighting well. 👇

In the meantime, I continue to be the Domestic Gremlin that I am. Laundry, dishes, vacuuming, mowing, grocery shopping, selling on eBay, etc. And I continue to try and live my dream of working on, and selling, my art. The Domestic Gremlin thing is working out better, unfortunately. I always thought that my art had meaning, feeling, healing. But then I question that in times like these. My mushie-themed art release for August did not go well at all, and after a couple of days of being depressed and questioning my place in it all (damn full moon energy!), I just have to move on from that place. I will eventually have to make some hard decisions once we get closer to moving, and I will have to let go of the supplies that I felt drawn to at one time, and still feel they are usable. But for now, I keep working on the art, and trying to sell it. My recent work in progress in the workshop as has been this Evil Eye dream catcher (it will have webbing on the sides of the eyeball), and it has turned out to be MUCH more work than I anticipated. Made from willow from my land, cotton yarn, a metal ring, suede lacing, glass and acrylic pony beads, cotton cording, and cruelty-free, found feathers. I found these feathers in my forest, some wild animal had made a snack of a crow! This is a powerful piece when you combine the evil eye and crow feathers. 👇

I signed up to do the market this Sunday, and of course the heat and humidity have returned for it. I am still in the hole concerning those markets, and quickly running out of money in the business since I had to purchase some supplies recently. I continue to believe that this will work out, that I will receive the abundance the Universe has for me, and to share the healing energy of my art with those around me. )O(

Remember, you can find the mushie art in the new shoppe, and I will be taking any unsold items with me to the market this Sunday.

                                                        www.offorestandheather.bigcartel.com

You can still some other various pieces in the Etsy shop, and most of those will be at the market with me as well. 

                                                        www.offorestandheather.etsy.com

Thank you for being on this journey with us! Hopefully in a posting in the near future, we will have figured out doors and windows for the house, and maybe the roofing?! So much to think of! 😱

The blueberry bush project

 

I am not handling overwhelming situations very well. I realize that there's more to be done than one person can handle in one day. And yet I keep trying, even through the panic attacks that are coming because I have to keep stuffing down and just plowing ahead. Trying to keep myself in balance is one thing, and then having to take on keeping Woodchuck on task and also healthy is proving to be a little difficult and a lot overwhelming. I've repeated twice recently that we can't keep dragging projects out. Get in, knock it out, and move on. He does not see it the same as I do.

But we got on the same page recently when making a trip to the land. After a roller coaster few hours about a week ago, some friends were able to drop off the lights that were salvaged from an upgrade job at a local school gym. All but two fit in their vehicle and we were so grateful not only that they made trip to our house to drop them off, but also helped Woodchuck with a flat tire that day, and saved us a lot of money in lighting!

The two that were left were dropped off to me at my workplace a couple of days ago! These are LED and will be great for Woodchuck to be able to see while working in the barn. While the last exam of his eyes showed that the macular degeneration had stopped getting worse, we have noticed that his eyesight continues to get worse in his right eye. It continues to floor, and humble me, when he tells me, "Sweetheart, I can't see that." Insert lump in my throat here. 

So this is what it's like to age. To not only watch yourself slowly change physically and cognitively, no matter your efforts to keep it at bay, but to watch those around you slowly decline. I am surrounded by it at work, with the vast majority of our long-term volunteers being over 80 years old. When I think back to how they were, and how their lives were, just under two years ago when I started working there, the difference is immense and seems like it should be ten years that has gone by. How much can change in such a short amount of time. It's terrifying, really.

We unloaded the lights into the barn and headed over to the area of blueberry bushes. This was our long-awaited moment of finally pruning those crazy biatches! Now, of course it's not their fault that they weren't given trims along the way! They now resemble a distant cousin of Cousin It. So much so in fact, that when I was conversing with the elderly volunteers while at work the other day, they didn't believe me that these are blueberry bushes! "Whaaaaat? That's a blueberry bush?!" "I've never seen a blueberry bush like that before!" "Come here and look at this thing, does that look like a blueberry bush to you?"

I promise you that these are blueberry bushes (being overran by Red Twig Dogwood). There are two varieties, though I can never remember both. They had not been trimmed on over ten years, but while they were still producing, I'm sure the yield and size of berry was below what it could have been had the previous owner kept up on it. Not to mention that we couldn't reach the top portion of the bushes and the land in that area is too marshy to utilize a step stool or ladder...though I did stand in my metal work cart the first year! What with Woodchuck and I both needing a shoulder surgery, the less we have to reach up right now the better!

The before picture. There's a blueberry bush in there!!!! The reddish new cane growth of a blueberry bush can be confusing when the red cane growth of a Red Twig Dogwood is also in the mix. Sadly, the dogwoods are intermixed inside the base growth of the blueberry bushes. Only time will tell how I can handle this situation. But for now, each BB bush will get quite the make-over and we will wait the couple of years for marked fruit production!

After! It's quite shocking and intimidating, but we were told by a local blueberry business to just get in there and cut the hell out of them. I left that up to Woodchuck, he's the pruner. I think it comes with his ability to see things in dimensions, which is why he's also a good wood carver and sculptor. His hands hold such magick that he just can't see himself! I make sure to always point it out to him! 💚

While he worked on pruning, I worked on cutting back the growth around each bush so he could get the whole the way around. I know I'm going to have my hands full with the dogwood for a long time to come! When cut, and not treated, it sends out numerous new canes (not unlike other species too). I did not have the treatment chemical with me, so it's something I'll have to go back and re-cut and then treat, while being careful not to contaminate the BB bushes themselves. 

In the mud again and happy. I am most fulfilled in nature, covered in bits and pieces of it, listening to the birds. My world becomes right again, every sorrow leaves me, every injury and pain healed. It's the least I can do in return for Mother E, to help her breathe easier, to spread her branches, uninhibited by choking invasives. Oh and, I finally changed my boot laces out! These boots have been with me for something like five years and have done a lot of fieldwork! Still going strong, and I think that was the first lace change to happen!

I wandered over to a small cluster of dead and dying trees that we haven't gotten to yet. They were overrun by Oriental Bittersweet. How can I love the looks of something while equally hating the damage it does? That's how I feel about Oriental Bittersweet. It's one of my favorite colors--two shades of orange--but I look at the damage it has done and the berries it has dropped on the ground and do a cringing growl. I even find the pattern of a mature vine mesmerizing.....as I cut its throat with loppers and tell it to get the fuck out of here. Yes, I really say that to it.

So the short-term goal is to get out there once a week and cut a bush. We still can't locate them all in the overgrowth, and know that some have gone into the pond since that has spread (slumped), but we were able to count seven that day. I told him, again, that we can't keep prolonging projects. Seven weeks, minimum, to prune bushes? And that's if we get out there once a week and don't have other things to work on while we were out there...which we do. Seven weeks takes us to April, and the work on the watershed needs to be done by April 1st. Factor in weather, injuries and illnesses, and there goes my panic again. We are just two aging people trying to get the land back to where it should be, and in a native state. I think I'm going to have to call a meeting soon between the two of us. Lots of alcohol may be consumed at said meeting, crying may happen, because, honestly put, I'm using alcohol to cope lately. Specifically double shots of Coffee Liquor followed with a beer. Don't judge me.

In other news, we have been accepted into the new Spring show called Halfway to Halloween that's being put on by the same team that puts on the Bizarre Bazaar that we do each Fall. While pressured to make new items, I am looking forward to losing myself in the art and magick I feel in it. I miss it so now that I'm back to work and working my ass off to pay a college tuition that I keep coming up short for each month. All we can do is our best. All I intend on doing is loving, living, spreading magick and creating a haven for us to retire to. I wish the same for you too. 💕

The gimpy landowner

 Surgery went well! I'm gimpy but relatively pain-free, and I have no complaints other than to whine about the stitches. SO. TIGHT. But I get those out tomorrow, and frankly, I am more nervous about that than I was for the surgery. Tomorrow will be my first time driving in nearly two weeks, and I still have to wear a leg brace to sleep in and when I am up moving around. I also have crutches and I'd really like to throw those down on the driveway and drive over them a few times! My right shoulder, which hasn't been fixed yet, is trashed from them.

The two weeks leading up to surgery, I did an hour and half or more of exercises a day. Sit and Be Fit-a seated program for elderly or limited mobility peeps, Classical Stretch-a blend of deep stretches and movements that strengthen and provide flexibility, and seated yoga. And lots of walking! I wanted to be strong, but flexible, going in. And about a week before my surgery we got some hard medical news about Woodchuck, but he is undergoing treatments, which he started two days after the diagnosis because it was just that bad. He'll go once a month for the next 3 months and we'll see how the prognosis is.

I was at the facility and home within 4 hours, and never needed to take any pain meds once I was home. From what I know right now, it was the suspected hip impingement and the doctor told Woodchuck that he fixed it and this will take care of all of my pain. I started physical therapy 4 days after surgery and go there 2-3 times a week. Biggest thing is to remember no bending at the waist and no movement past 90 degrees on the right leg. Woodchuck was a great nurse during his time home with me and we re-watched the Harry Potter movies! It gave us a nice taste of what it will be like once he retires, minus the surgery recoveries! 

Sadly, there isn't much more to update about the land. Contractor struggles have ensued and ultimatums have been issued. You don't want me as your project manager, unless you actually want something done, that is. So Woodchuck and I are now both dealing with the guy in the hopes that with a little pressure from us both, he will finally come through. Last we heard, he was supposed to have been out there yesterday, after repeatedly not showing up when he said he would, but we don't have another update yet. Hubby stopped out there last Friday on his way home from picking up our youngest from college and left a fiery message for the contractor about nothing else being done. We are now 7 months behind schedule because of one person. In the words of Earl of Lemongrab: unacceptaaaabbbllle! (This character was on Adventure Time, BTW).

So while we continue to wrestle with the contractor to prep the land, we are pricing a pole barn (holy bleep, the price of lumber continues to make things ridiculous!), price the ICF block that Woodchuck wants to use to frame out the house (along with a bit of wood too), and we JUST got our first draft of the home design back from the designer for the main floor of the house. We didn't know what to expect! She did tell us that she never expects the first design to be approved and we can revise as much as we want. There are some things we like and things we don't. Trying to talk with Woodchuck about it though over text and phone just isn't ideal, so we'll talk more about it tonight when he's home.

I've started taking some online classes through Purdue about invasives. I missed last week due to surgery and I'm not sure yet about tonight. Yo, my ass hurts from sitting so much and I can't wait to walk around regularly again! I already knew a lot of what they are teaching anyway due to my awesome friend that I trained under. I am not looking forward to seeing what will be growing soon on the land that has been disturbed for building. I will probably have my hands full with the usuals and then some that weren't popping up before! That's part of the reason I don't want to go out there quite yet, because I'll want to work and that's a no-no for proper recovery.

As far as the job front, I am still out of it and that's ok! I am still having a blast working on art and preparing stock for my friends shoppe, but now also for the Bizarre Bazaar that we have officially been accepted back into this Fall! Frankly, we need months to prepare the pieces, and I like taking the detour from the Boho and natural pieces I typically make to dive headlong into the realm of LaStrange. It really is so freeing! My new pieces have freaked some people out, and made others laugh....which the laughter was my intended reaction, so I'm glad that it's coming through properly! Being held at the Porter County Expo Center in Valparaiso, Indiana.

I would love to work at a couple of local places, but one isn't hiring and the other I think I would only slow them down. I don't want to push myself too much too fast and undo what has been fixed and irritate what hasn't. But dang, I really miss getting a paycheck and moving around and I would love to work in nature again! Between being grounded physically and Winter, I'm getting a little fluffy. I just remind myself that the focus right now is not on weight loss (though I also don't want to go packing it on either!), it's on recovery. Once I'm recovered, I'll work at toning back up and losing the little bit of cushion my body saw fit to pad me with this Winter ;) If I am meant to work again this year, and where I am meant to land, will find me. I can still feel it, and that is still enough for me. 💚 )O(

Chipping away!

 I know, I know. Did I fall off of the face of the Earth? It has been c-r-a-z-y around here. The good news, at least in every way but financially, is that I have resigned from my job. This girl won't take it any more and I am SO excited to only have one week left. Woodchuck, poor Woodchuck, is still working 6 days a week and they have changed his off day from Sunday to Wednesday. We adjusted and still tried to get in as many trips to Das Zem as we could fit in before the weather turned, which happened this morning.

But leading up to this day, we were chipping away still at the invasives while we waited to hear back from the contractor we hired. But we didn't hear back. So that work is still on hold. We did however fight against bittersweet (there's still one massive growth of it wrapped around a large tree), AO and honeysuckle. Removing the larger bushes/trees of those revealed so many little saplings starting. It is just something that I know that I will have to keep checking on and keeping up with. It was mind-boggling to see how it all had taken over. But we are taking it all back. 

                            The top two pictures are before we started chipping away at the mess. 

All of that dark ground between me and the tractor used to be all honeysuckle and autumn olive. That tree that is by the bush hog deck is the one that is dripping with bittersweet berry clusters. We have decided in the midst of all of the invasive carnage that we will also be burning down the fishing shack. 1) it's too close to the water now with the failed banks and spreading water 2) it stinks. They raised birds in there and I can't stand that smell. 3) it's infested with mice and wasps and was never really completed anyway. 4) a tiny shipping container will solve my issues and give me a spot to store Pink. Speaking of!

Pink is now in her permanent home after being tested a few times here at our current home. That was nice to not have to spend an hour and a half push mowing! Because of my knee and hip issues, I wasn't able to use her because my legs are too short to reach the pedals without over-extending.

The pond is full and overflowing again, but we can see that the deer are making good use of the space we cleared. 

We also decided to start tackling the bittersweet and other invasive growth along our main ditch (we call it the front ditch, but it runs behind the front CRP.) We cut a massive bittersweet vine that had embedded and wrapped itself around a growing poplar tree. 

We also took down honeysuckle, AO, and the massive MFR (multiflora rose) that I found in the Spring. Before pictures.

                  Along the way and after pictures are below. All of the dark ground was where the                                                                         honeysuckle, AO, and MFR were.

As always, I/we took time to walk and take it all in. The changing colors, the sound of leaves crunching underfoot. There is much beauty and magick in this place! 

So what will I do with myself now that I am leaving my job? Hoping to work on the land as much as Woodchuck's schedule allows, keep cleaning my house out, get caught up on art projects, and take care of myself. Even though I was only at my job for over a year, I feel like I gave 4 years worth of energy and commitment to them in that time. I am one burnt out girl. A minor surgery may also be on my horizon, but I have a couple of weeks yet before I find out for sure. So in other words, I think I'm going to take a couple of weeks for myself and my family. We'll be starting baking soon...making sausage, pierogi, pagach, nut rolls, etc. We'll be making our Winter scented soaps this coming week as well. 

We have been consistently behind on our art this year, but we are starting to get caught up. Woodchuck just did this custom order of fixing this family heirloom.

I am just getting ready to finish up this custom bead order of an Indian corn pendant.

Once this is done, I have to move on to ferns, salmon, and beaded feathers. So grateful for the skills that the Great Spirit and my Ancestors have passed on to me! 💚 )O(