Robin has been busy all day creating and decorating as she goes. I got the artificial tree down from the barn today, and hung some more lights on the porch. Above you see a new arrangement with a candle included.
Here is the candle lit, this candle is battery operated, and will last about 300 hours. The candle has a cinnamon wax dipped finish.
Here is another arrangement completed today. The Christmas in the country tour is this weekend, and the excitement is building.
Today I finished another small Ash bowl from a piece off the logs above.
This bowl measures 4 1/2" wide at the top and is 2" tall.
I like the grain pattern on this bowl.
This photo shows the small foot at the bottom.
I also had time to turn a mushroom and a tree. The mushroom is Cedar that I got yesterday and I'm not going to put a finish on it so it retains the scent. The tree is from Birch.
The shavings pile is growing, that is a good thing, it means I've been busy turning. Also I will be able to feed the compost pile.
Every year, we have gone to Stiles' Christmas tree farm, which is located about 5 miles up the road from our house. It's been around for as long as I can remember and probably many years before that.
This is pretty close to just walking into the wilderness and cutting a tree.
The trees are not cookie cutters, they are wild and you really have to work at finding "The One".
Great backdrop for tree hunting....don't you think?
The hardest part is you find one that is looking good, then walk around it and find it has a little brother growing right beside it. Some can be very deceiving.
We need a tree about 10 feet tall, and most of the time we have cut trees about 3 feet up from the ground. It takes a little time, but things that are worth it, usually take time and effort.
We always find one and this is Christmas Tree 2009. As I type this the kids are just finished with the last of the ornaments and we are settling in for some nice turkey soup from the leftover bird Mom dropped off yesterday. Still enjoying the fruits of Thanksgiving. A nice way to ease into the Christmas season.
Today's excitement was provided by a very large Basswood tree at Bob's house. The tree has been hanging over the house more and more and it was time to come down. When most people were watching football, we were watching a skilled tree man at work. Bob's nephew Paul is the man in the tree.
He's about 60 to 70 feet up in this tree. He had two young helpers on the ground manning the ropes.
In this picture, you can just see Paul on the right side of the tree, towards the top.
Here he is coming down and getting ready to start sawing the bottom.
Paul hooking the ropes to Bob's tractor. This is not the first tree to be hooked to this tractor, last year we pulled down the Red Maple and Box Elder at our house.
Getting ready for the pull.
Timber!!!!!!!
The tree fell right were they wanted it to (not on the house!)
The crowd after the fall.
This was a good job done. Bob won't have to worry about the big winds of the winter now. This is just one of the examples of country living. Friends and family have a habit of showing up and lending a hand. A tough job is always easier with the right support.
The Christmas in the Country tour is next weekend, Dec 4th, 5th and 6th. Each one of these fliers has a map on the back to guide the shoppers along. It's a great day out and we get many people back year after year. There are door prizes and refreshments at each location. As we have done for the past few years, we will have cheesecakes from Northwoods Cheesecakes again this year. Different than years past, the owner will be here serving and selling her cheesecakes. We will also have a guest artist showing her homemade jewelry.
This is the last show of the year for us. So this week will be very busy.
Unlike the other shows we do, this one is a home tour. So the house undergoes a transformation this week. Couches and chairs are moved, the tree comes in and is decorated (minus the family ornaments), and Robin is in go mode. This tour was established in 1990 and has been very successful because of the quality artisans involved.
If anyone needs additional information feel free to post a comment or e-mail us at robinsfloraldesigns@yahoo.com
Pipberry garlands are a very popular item. They can be hung vertical like this.....
Horizontally they can be used on a shelf like this or used above a doorway, or above a window as a valance.
Robin decorates the garlands with tile stars like this one, or rusty stars.
Here is a closeup shot, the garlands come in many different color combinations.
Robin also uses pipberries in other creations like this metal container. Yesterday I talked about floral designs and how their space had been decreased by other items. Pipberry designs such as this one, and the garlands, are extremely popular and provide the customer with a variety of choices to decorate their home. With that said, Robin is very gifted when it comes to arrangements, so she has taken the pipberries to that level. The container above is an example of that. A couple of years ago, this would have remained metal in color and then a floral arrangement added. Now the container is painted, decoupage added, then an arrangement of pipberries and stars or whatever else she has in mind to come up with an original design. Businesses, like people, have to evolve. This is part of that evolution.
Here is the Ash bowl. It was a good change of pace for me and I had to use two gouges that I haven't used in awhile.
When I started turning I thought I had to turn big pieces of wood, like the people in the magazines and videos I had seen. But I've realized that these small pieces are giving me the confidence and tool control I need to do some bigger things in the future.
Gives you an idea how small this bowl is. Robin will dress it up and maybe put one of her new candles in it. They are a tealight candle that is battery operated and flicker like the real thing.
This was my second try at turning a natural edge bowl. It is from a large Maple that my father-in-law had taken down a couple of years ago.
Picture the log split in half, with the rounded bark side up. The rim of the bowl is all that is left from the bark.
Robin has had this one holding some potpourri and rose petals for some time, and with her getting ready for the Christmas in the country tour, it resurfaced last week. I have been studying it for a couple of days and I guess that's where the bowl idea from today popped up from. The ash bowl is not a natural edge, but it is a bowl, and I haven't been trying to turn bowls for quite awhile. But as I said in the previous post, change is welcome and good, and the idea was there....ready and waiting for me to act(after I played soccer with the boys in the backyard of course). As with any of my projects, the ash bowl may become a dud, and end up in a campfire somewhere down the road....you'll see what happens either way.
