Monday, December 03, 2018

Nature and the Old Crabapple Tree




The old Crabapple tree laden with fruit in late summer... I would like to say Fall but Fall forgot to come this year... 

 snow came early and softened all that wonderful fruit... 


 yesterday and today the Cedar Waxwings came... a huge flock, chittering and tweeteling, having a feast of the little apples... they were very hard to see without a closer look, but then I saw them everywhere in amongst the branches...


as they ate being very sociable and sharing with each other, I saw and heard bits and parts of the apples falling to the ground, landing on the snow... it was littered with mushy red apple pieces.... 


 wasn't long before the deer knew about it and joined in... different size groups came and went ... sometimes 5... sometimes 7... sometimes just a mother and a baby...



 Snow began falling again this afternoon and looked so pretty... each apple with a little snow cap...



Nature...
 it was beautiful to see this ecosystem happening before me and I am thankful for it.

Friday, November 16, 2018

Living in The Studio


A shot of the end of our kitchen.. we use it more like a studio, being as the house is so small... Everything is stacked up to the ceiling.   Brought one of the kerosene lamps out just in case the power goes out... I want to be ready... but right now I am enjoying the light being reflected off the snow.. altho I am not crazy about snow, by any means.


We had our first fire of the season back on Oct. 11. felt really good too.. had a little fire on most every day since.
 It has become cold very early this year... feels like we are going into our next Ice Age right before our eyes. 


Had the 2 cds. of firewood stacked outside and drying since early summer.. this is the wood for next year. mostly maple... we have this years wood already dried and stored inside.. we always dry our wood a year ahead if we possibly can... That is the woodshed John built last summer... sure is nice to have a real woodshed now instead of the Hobbit hut we had the first year here. that year it was stacked outside with snow piled all around it and John had to dig down to it every time we needed some.. looked like he was crawling into a igloo to get it on his hands and knees.. was not fun... good exercise tho, if one wanted to look at it in a positive way.


This stack of 2 cds was put away in the woodshed at the end of October.. that is late for us but it was not an especially good drying year. but John had it covered with two old sheets of tin roofing which let the air thru and kept it pretty well dry... all in now!!


Been playing around in my sketchbook this year during our sabbatical.


Oatmeal Brown Bread with raisins, sunflower seeds and flax... Love having time to make bread for us all.. it has been so many years since I have bought bread from a store, I can't remember. I always make 2 batches at a time and divide each batch in 2.. makes it easier to store and keeps it fresh as I put the other 3 in the freezer and then I don't have to make bread for a few days.


in the side field the milkweed is gently spreading its seeds... little parachutes flying everywhere.


Planted the garlic on Oct.22... later than last year.. was waiting for the ground to dry up a bit as it was a rainy Oct.  ...managed to plant over 100 cloves, double what I put in last year .. had to sacrifice them from the crop I grew this year.. sure hope they grow. 


to finish up I covered them with a thick layer of straw.  


I store them in a net bag I crocheted last winter.. this type is called Music and they are the best tasting garlic I ever had.. got the original bulbs from a garlic farmer not far outside Fredericton.


The birds are liking the sunflower seeds in the feeder outside my studio window.  We used another old piece of tin roofing to make a roof for the feeder, to give the birds a little shelter while they treat us with their beauty.. usually a big fat gray squirrel is sitting in there.. 


The snow is coming down out there right now and amounting to quite a bit. 


Still making a few earrings or posting some designs that have come to light after searching around in the backs of the jewelry storage cabinet... 


These sold in minutes on our FaceBook page soon after I posted them.


"Square Spiral" earrings, solid copper, antiqued with sterling shepherd  earwire... approx 7/8" across and 1 1/4" long. $25. pr.




"A little Medieval"... hammered shaped Sterling with African Turquoise... approx. 2" long .. handmade at Desideratum studio. $25. pr. 


If interested in any of our earrings please send us a message on our right sidebar. 

Well looks like winter has come early.. Hope everyone has a cozy place to curl up and stay warm.. till next time, Cheers, Gwen at Desideratum Art and Jewelry



Saturday, November 03, 2018

Lured Back to the Jewelry Bench


a dull November day... rain is falling... but the light from the window still brightens the amethyst teardrops on my work bench...


 I like that it highlights the inclusions... I feel they give the amethyst more character

Sterling Silver and Silver Wrapped Amethyst... lg. 5/8" textured dome dangle... handmade at our studio...   $40. pair


"Square Peg, Round Hole" ... Solid Copper links and textured square dangle ... Lightweight with gentle movement... handmade at our studio... $25 pair

Sterling Silver and Turquoise Jasper... textured oval with jasper dangle... handmade at our studio. $30. ...only pair we made... 
Update: Sold

"Heart Lines", shaped and textured copper hearts dangling from copper shaped bead ...handmade at our studio. $25. pair. 

***
It has been 10 months since we went on sabbatical of producing enough work to supply shops...
But I still like to play at the bench when the mood strikes to make designs to sell.   That is Fun. 
 So I can again offer a few designs to individual customers. I will post them here every time I have something new. 
***
* if interested in any of the  designs, please send me a note in the message section on the right sidebar. 
it goes to my email and I always answer you asap. We ship within Canada.
...shipping and tax to be added.

Cheers and Thanks so much, Gwen