Last week we disturbed these turkeys while walking in the woods.
One turkey flew in the opposite direction, crashing through the tree tops. I imagine it was trying to distract us from the flock.
It worked, Fate and Zinnia ran towards it and not the turkeys running on the ground.
Today I found this broken turkey egg shell in the woods. It was by itself, the dogs sniffed it out near a tree stump, which makes me think that someone stole it and ate it.
Since Kathy asked, I spent my morning making another Cat Face Pillow. Kathy, who sent me the linen towel with those great cat faces on it, left a message saying if I made any more she’d like one for her sister who just rescued a cat.
I have to admit, framing those individual cat faces and sewing them along the edges is my favorite part of making these pillows.
I have enough fabric for at least one more pillow, maybe two. I’ll offer one to Kathy and put the others up for sale in my Etsy Shop when I get them done.
These days the hens are up early. It’s as if they’re just waiting for me to open the door of the chicken coop.
They follow me into the muddy barnyard where there are lots of good insects to eat. Or maybe they’re expecting me to feed them the way I feed the donkeys and sheep.
And they deserve it too.
We’re getting two or three eggs everyday. White hen is about ten years old and she still lays eggs, especially this time of the year.
From the beginning my blog has been about showing, writing about and selling my art. But since 2008 when I first started it, my art has expanded from working with the repurposed fabrics that so many of you generously send me to taking pictures, videos and writing about my life, the animals on the farm and most recently my walks in the woods.
When I first started taking my Monday Morning Video I planned on doing it for one year. Nine years later I’m still doing it. The same subject yet different every week. It is the fist thing I think of when I wake up on Monday Morning. The perfect way for me to start my week and I hope for you too.
The latest addition to my blog is my “Notes From….” I have to credit Jon with this idea. They began as Note From The Woods and have evolved into my thoughts, not only from my walks in the woods, but from the barnyard, my studio, or where ever I am inspired.
Like my fabric art, my blog is always evolving in the same way my Monday Morning Videos or quilts and Potholders do.
It is consistent even dependable, but never the same.
If you enjoy my writing, seeing the photos and videos of the animals, or watching my art being created, please consider donating to my blog. Just click here to make a donation.
You can also donate to my blog anytime, by clicking on the Support My Blog button on the top and bottom of my blog. You can easily make a one time or monthly donation using PayPal or Venmo. I have monthly donations ranging from $1 to $50, any amount helps.
You can also send a check to Maria Wulf PO Box 205 Cambridge NY 12816.
I want to thank everyone who continues to or has already donated to my blog. I so appreciate it. Knowing that I’m being paid for my work puts my mind at ease so I’m able to do the creative work when I’m in the woods or pasture taking pictures and videos and thinking of my next blog post.
I didn’t get to my studio today. I volunteered at the Cambridge Food Panty this morning, helping to pack up bags for the Backpack Program. It’s provides breakfast and lunch for kids for the weekend.
Then I packed up my Meditation Tree and My Cat Pillows and got them in the mail and did some of that dreaded paperwork.
I had a follow up with my doctor about my ear infection, which I’m glad to say is all healed.
By the time I got home it was time to feed the animals and I decided to take a walk in the woods. Even if I went to my studio I know my head wasn’t in a good place to start something new.
I am making my Meditation Tree into a poster, so I sent a photo of it to Sara Kelly to do the graphics that will make that possible.
I’ll post a photo of what it will look like when I get it back from Sara.
This is the Shagbark Hickory I always visit in The Orphaned Woods. With the help of the rain, we made music together.
The woods are green again. Not up high, but low to the ground.
The raindrops are big and heavy. They splat loudly on and around me.
Marsh marigolds with yellow buds, perfectly round hummocks sprouting grass like sunbeams, wild mustard, the spotted leaves of Trout lilies and hundreds or thousands of tiny stems and leaves.
There’s a hollowed out bone, like a sacrifice, nestled in the moss on a rock. The underside is smooth and the top chiseled by rodent teeth. It’s been there long enough to leave an impression in the moss.
The rootball of the fallen Shagbark Hickory is starting to sprout. The plants still grow straight up towards the sun, it’s just that their “straight up” is different than it used to be.
The deer trail is even easier to find with green on both sides. Fate and Zinnia’s curious noses find deer poop too good to pass up. I don’t call them away, just as they leave me to stare at the raindrops decorating the thin horizontal branches of the Musclewood.
I step over a broken elm, thin enough for me to wrap my hands around, the buds still green with life.
I’m a bit behind on posting my progress on my Blue Bailing Twine. A couple of days ago I wrapped the top of the post with twine thinking I’d weave a backing behind the bone.
Then I found the old rusty hacksaw blade in the barnyard and decided to weave that into it too.
I could have been cleaning up my studio, but it was so warm and sunny out I was looking for an excuse to spend some time outside before Bellydancing Class tonight.
And weaving the twine was a good way to move on from working on my Meditation Tree and the Cat Pillows.
I often throw vegetable scraps over the fence for the sheep, donkeys and hens to eat.
This afternoon it was just some hay I raked up from the barn floor. But White Hen wasn’t taking any chances on missing out on something good. And Merricat didn’t mind her nosing around while she ate the last of the hay.
Eileen is one of those people I’ve known for a long time but have never and probably will never meet in person. She loves cats and supports many cat organizations as well as having her own cats.
When someone adopted a three legged cat from Salem’s Community Cats, where Jon and I got Zip, she wanted to do something for them.
“It’s the perfect way to support an artist and give something to the good person who took in this cat in need.” She wrote me when I agreed to make a couple of cat pillows for her to give as a gift.
It’s only a couple of months ago that Kathy sent me the linen towel with the cat faces on it. They had the feeling I was looking for. It was easy to find the fabric that would work with them. I made one pillow last week and made the other one today.
I liked the way they came out so I’m considering making a couple of more pillows or maybe some potholders using the same fabrics.
But I couldn’t get that going today. After finishing my Meditation Tree and the pillows I need some space to see what comes next.
Tomorrow will be soon enough.
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