Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts

Sunday, April 18, 2021

~ Gardens, Cotton & Silk and Stitching~

Good Morning Friends & Folk ~
and a very happy, sunny Sunday morning to us all!
 
...the pollen count in our area is so high! 
~ there is a film of yellow/green dust on everything.

but that won't keep me from being outside as much as I can, 
soaking up the sun {and sneezing!} 
 
I'm taking my Nettle tincture to help alleviate the itchy eyes and scratchy throat,
and putting Vaseline inside my nostrils {ew.} to keep the pollen at bay...
{hey! it really works!!}

I love seeing the colors in my gardens...
purples, yellows and greens.
 
 
 

 
I have to share with you my gorgeous full thread palettes from
 
 

I received them in yesterdays' mail ~
oh my stars.....

the cottons....so saturated and lovely ~
 every color under the rainbow!
 

and the silks....soft and luxurious ~
I cannot wait to stitch with them!

 
and, speaking of stitching...
I will be re-stitching the model for my
'Eliza Phelps' sampler.
 
I designed her in 2008, and either sold or lost the model...
she is charted using DMC cotton threads, 
but I think you know how I will stitch her now {Classic Colorworks!} 
and will have the DMC conversion in the new chart as well ~

Here is a great conversion for DMC to Classic Colorworks from 
 
 
"Eliza Phelps 1860...
little Eliza loved the village she and her family lived in ~
notice she even included her Church and Home..."

 
Hoping you have a wonderful Sunday my friends...


Blessings from the Farm
 ~ Lori

Wednesday, April 07, 2021

~ Early Morning Stitching ~

 
 Good Wednesday Morning
Friends & Folk...

another beautiful Spring morning here at the farm ~

the earth is greening and the birds are twitterpating!
buds are budding and blooms are blooming...
always an exciting time of year, to see what new plantings come up,
after a cold Winter.

Per usual,
I am stitching.
 {shocking!}
and am starting on a new design for a woman's sewing pocket ~ 

I have made/designed pockets in the past,
 and thought I might share a few of them for you here:
 
 
 "Dove Basket" ~ embroidery


"Ruthy's Sampler Pocket" ~ cross stitch
 
"Jacks' Sweet Bag" ~ cross stitch
 
and
 
"Sparrow's Pocket" ~ UNcounted cross stitch

these pockets/bags are so easy to make, really...
they look harder than they are to finish!

I love using them in my seasonal decor to hold natural drieds/feathers/etc...

So the one in progress is being worked on 35ct 'Beige' from Weeks Dye Works
~ a beautiful, creamy white-ish beige with a touch of greeny-grey.

the threads I chose are soft and spring-hued:
Gentle Art 'Apricot Blush' & 'Cornhusk'
&
Weeks Dye Works 'Verdigris' and 'Grape Vine'
 
 
I'm using two strands of floss over two threads of linen, 
as I wanted my stitches and motifs to stand out...



Peter gifted me with my favorite color Hyacinth for Easter...
I keep it next to my favorite tattered old wingback chair, which is my very favorite place to stitch.



the scent fills the whole farmhouse!
...and that deep purple color...
be still my heart

this old chair has seen many days...
as threadbare and ratty as it looks,
it is comfy and feels like a hug from an old friend each time I sit down to stitch ~
One day I plan on reupholstering it with old french feedsacks.




✂✂✂✂✂✂✂✂✂✂✂✂✂✂✂✂✂✂✂✂

Peter prepared our potato patch
{say that fast 3 times!!}
and we should be expecting lots {LOTS} of potatoes this harvest!!
I will gladly share with friends LOL

 


Hoping the rest of your week is full of creativity and peace!

Blessings from the Farm
 ~ Lori

Wednesday, July 08, 2020

~ Dyeing ~



I want to do this:

photo from Pinterest

{oh, wait....}
 lol I AM happy here! 
our farm is made of deep woods, open fields, creek-beds and blossoms ~
tall trees and ground lichen
moss & mushrooms
& everything wild in-between.

photo from Pinterest

 what do we 'farm' you ask?
the earth, and all that springs from it...
hay for our animals, vegetables for our bellies, herbs for our medicines
and flowers for our souls.

I also want to do this:

photo from Pinterest

photo from Pinterest

photo from Pinterest
...try my hand at doing more dyeing of my own textiles for use in my embroidery/needlework...
I would love to also make some of my own clothing from said textiles, or at least eco dye already finished garments for myself to wear ~
 
I am collecting leaves, both green and not-so.
 those below are dried Nadina leaves, dotted with fungi...



a few black walnut leaves, more nandina and a few hydrangea leaves ~ 
to add to the mix:


a rust/vinegar mordant is brewing in my old jars out in the sun ~
the rust will come from the many pins, needles & iron scraps found here at this old homeplace...
and the liquid will turn a beautiful shade and deepen with age,
then I will begin my process of laying leaves & petals, 
along with other botanicals on my prepared fabric ~
 


I am starting out small, using Osnaburg as my base fabric choice, 
which I will use for my embroidery ~ 
it is soaking inn a solution of clear dish-soap and salt,
to open the fibers to better take the dye...
 

...the seeds in the Osnaburg fabric 
will make for an interesting combo with the dyeing outcome ~
can't wait for the mordant to brew!


stay tuned for the results, I'm hoping a week of brewing will get me the right color.
{perhaps sooner if I am not patient enough!}

~ are any of my readers here dyers?
~ what are your favorite methods for natural dyeing {not using processed/commercial dyes}
~ how long have you been dyeing?

would love to hear your input....
 

Blessings from the Farm
 ~ Lori

Sunday, June 28, 2020

~ Sunday Morning Musings ~



Good Morning Friends & Folk ~
a very hot & humid Sunday, but hey, it's another new day isn't it?

remember to take time for yourself today ~
paint something, stitch something, work in your garden....
soothe your mind & soul.
🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮

a morning walk-about to check my wild gardens...
The black eyes susan's are escaping!

i love when they mix with the queen anne's lace....

 {{ for those who might not know the difference between queen anne's lace and wild white yarrow:}}
THIS is wild white yarrow:



and THIS is queen anne's lace

this is called 'rabbit's foot clover, or hare's foot clover...
i have recently found it growing ALL over the place {Nancy b.!!}

a sleeping lightening bug {firefly}

a common garden snail ~ snoozing


oh! hello.

yesterday i started and finished this tiny sampler...
stitched over one on some old linen I have {me thinks it to be 32ct?}
of course this will be framed under glass {by my resident woodworker/hubby}
and hung on the wall of my dollhouse {#Maryblacksdollhouse}
 


then last night, i started to needlepunch a 'rug' that will be hung above the mantle
 {also in the works by said woodworker/hubby} 
the design is of my beloved Suzy ~ 
{who Miss Mary Black loved as much as I}
I'll finish this today and perhaps begin on some curtains?
∭∭∭∭∭∭∭∭∭∭∭∭∭


a peek inside...

as Mary loves the birds as much as I do, 
I hung a small birdhouse outside her bedroom
so she can enjoy their chittering and song ~

{notice the bed is gone? I am making a wire bedframe for the handmade ticking mattress I made}
 also added a small pincushion and a quartz crystal on top of her trunk...



and this photo below shows just where in our old farmhouse,
Miss Mary Black's dollhouse is...
right above my favorite spinning-wheelin our Keeping Room off the kitchen ~




I hope you will follow along on our journey
 of creating tiny-things 
for Mary ~ 
 we can't wait to show you what's next!
➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿
Keep Creating ~ It's the Joy of Life


 

Blessings from the Farm
 ~ Lori

Monday, June 22, 2020

~ A Hedgewitch's Garden ~


What is a Hedge Witch?

A Hedge Witch is a solitary practitioner of the herbal arts - both, medicinal and spiritual. 
 She is the person you call when you develop a rash or get a toothache, 
and the doctor or dentist is unavailable. 

She is the person you consult when strange things go bump in the night, 
or you are certain that someone just gave you the evil eye.

Her {many} cupboards contains the remedy for what ails you - both physical and spiritual.

A Hedge Witch does not belong to a coven. 
She does not follow the tenets of any sect or organized religion. 
 Her craft is her own - 
usually handed down to her by family and honed by her own experience and research.

You will not find two Hedge Witches that are alike. 
... Each follows her own path. 
 The common thread that puts us under the heading of Hedge Witch
~ is our herbal remedies and our solitary spiritual practices.

The name, Hedge Witch, 
comes from days of old when villages were separated by forests.
 The edge of a village where the forest began was called the hedge. 

In most villages there was an herbal practitioner, 
who lived in the forest or near the edge of the forest.
This was the person the villagers appealed to when there was no doctor, 
or the doctor couldn't cure them. 
The practitioner who lived by the hedge and practiced herbal arts was called a Hedge Witch.

Today, 
a Hedge Witch may or may not live near the forest,
 but you likely will find her there at one time or another. 
Most Hedge Witches have a reverence for nature. 
They know the medicinal and spiritual properties of everything that grows, 
and they understand nature's balance. 

A wise Hedge Witch enlists nature to deal with natural problems. 
She harvests more weeds than she pulls. 
She invites wasps, spiders and other predators to kill unwanted bugs. 
She uses plants and animals to divert bunnies from the vegetable garden.

But the most definitive characteristic of a Hedge Witch 
is that she has a remedy for everything under the sun, 
...and much of it was prepared by the light of the moon.
 { an except from www.hedgewitchforest.com }

so we'll go on a little wander about my farmyard, fields and gardens... 
I am never alone, for my friends tag along wherever I roam:

her name is Frizzle, and she's as big as a minute. {breed: Silkie}
 my very dear & sweet friend Nancy is a Master Gardener 
~ and we turn to her for her knowledge of all things herb-y ~
{she is our very own little hedgewitch ~ LOVE You Nancy}
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

she has taught us so much about our own yards and the plants growing in them....
taught us to look at 'weeds' differently ~
here are a few that thrive here at Notforgotten Farm:

Mugwort ~ tea for sleep, aids in digestion

Hydrangea ~ urinary problems, kidney {stones} and liver



Mullein ~ taken as a tea, helps reduce mucus



my wild gardens & fire pit

Bee Balm ~ aids digestion, treats cold & flu



St. John's Wort ~ aids in depression, anxiety moods and meopause



Marsh Thistle ~ rheumatatic/rheumatoid arthritis {RA}



Apothecary Rosehip ~ High in vitamin C, metabolism, joint pain


Red Bud ~ cough suppressant, aids in Flu/fever


Lemon Balm ~ promotes sleep/improves appetite ~ tea/indesgestion



{can you see me?}


Orange Daylily ~ bowel/anti-nausea, promotes sleep


another part of one of my wild gardens ~ Chocolate mint {digestive/tea} and Egyptian Onion {tumors, earaches/congestion}


Rudbeckia {Black Eyed Susan ~ earaches} & Queen Anne's Lace {digestive/kidney/bladder}
 And, 
while looking at the black eyed susans, I found this one:
a strange mutation, like a triple flowerhead on a thick, measuring-tape-like stem!






and then noticed that one of my flowering hosta's has the same mutation!?!
 





 wild, wonderful Nature...
always inspiring and educating ~
teaching us to slow down and look ~ listen.



Blessings from the Farm 
~ Lori