Make an Easter Pussy Willow Tree

 Marcy and John created Easter pussy willow trees today which can be saved and reused every year, as long as the puppy doesn't chew up any more of the twigs!  They had seen some like them in Grasmere, a beautiful shop in Barrington, Rhode Island.  They used terracotta pots, pussy willows, cement, and dry moss.

 Their eldest son got a turn mixing the cement.

Marcy protected the edges of the pots with masking tape.  John filled the pots with the wet cement, leaving a few inches of space at the top for the moss.

 In this picture, John is giving the pot a shake to level the cement.

 They started putting in the pussy willow twigs right away.  The cement hardened quickly.

 Marcy spent some time arranging the pussy willows the way she wanted, and then she held them in place for a few moments.

 After the cement began to firm up, Marcy covered it with the dry moss.  Then we went off some for adventures for a few hours.  When we came back, the pussy willow trees were ready to move inside.

 It was time to decorate the trees with John and Marcy's special hand painted egg collection. 

Long ago, when John was a little boy, his mother used to paint each of her children an egg every Easter.  Marcy has continued the tradition for her three boys.

 John's mother always painted the date on her eggs, and so does Marcy.

 Marcy loves to paint animals for her boys.  She uses watercolor, so the paintings are wonderfully detailed and translucent.  If you use watercolor, make sure you always handle your eggs with dry hands.

 I adore Marcy's grasshopper.

 Look at the sea turtle and the flowers!

 Look at this beautiful amanita which John's mother painted.  What a treasure!

And look at Marcy's beautiful Beatrix Potter bunny!

Marcy and John have also collected some goose eggs painted by artists.  Do you recognize the illustrations on this egg?

 That's right, it's the root children.

 Amazing!

 Look at this mallard, so carefully painted.

 This might be my favorite, with its wildflowers and busy insects.

What are your favorite Easter holiday traditions?  Share them with us!  And you can visit the Grasmere shop page by clicking on the title of this post.

Our House

 It is decluttered, neat as a pin, and sparkling clean, and ready to show to house buyers!  Heidi Piccerelli took some beautiful pictures of the house.  It is looking its best in every way.  If you want to see more photos of the interior, click on the title of this post to link. 

This wonderful old house, which was built in the 1850's by a sea captain, is brimming with happy memories, sunshine, and color.  I have loved living here!

  

Heidi's web site is:  http://www.heidipiccerelliphotography.com/

Our Switzerland

After days and days of hard work, trying to make our house look as neat and perfect as an untidy artist can manage, it is a tonic to look at these pictures again and think of where we will be living in about four months!  There are many hills to climb and many joys and sunshiny days and fun times with friends and family to celebrate before then, but one day not too far off, I will be standing on this mountaintop again, my arms spread wide, my spirit soaring.

Big News!

We are moving to a beautiful place far, far away!  Can you guess where?  If you have been reading this blog for a while, you might remember this picture.....

The Young Engineer

 An electrician was working at our house yesterday.  He let me take a picture of some of the beautiful thingamajigs which he uses in his work.  I loved the primary colors of the different do-dads separated into little compartments.  While he was here I showed him the broken doorbell.  He said that the button and plate needed to be replaced, and that my husband could do it himself.  The wires are very low voltage.  The electrician showed me that it is safe to touch them,  and told me that it is a simple job.  I decided that my son could do it with my assistance.

 My youngest has been taking things apart since he was two years old.  He loves to figure out how things are put together and how they work.  Instead of an art table in the kitchen, he had an electronics table.  It was always piled a foot deep with dismantled mechanical and electronic things.  When he was in kindergarten, his teachers supported his interest by asking parents to bring in broken things which the students could disassemble and explore. 

 Toys have two lives in our house.  First, they are played with.  Later, when they break, they are dismantled and studied, and recently, sometimes repaired and reassembled.

 In this pictures he is pressing the screwdriver onto the contact points to make the doorbell ring. 

The project took a long time because we were learning.  We saw how the doorbell works.  We chiseled the hole in the wood to make it the right size for the new mechanism.  My boy found the wire stripper, because the wire broke a couple of times when we were trying to wrestle it back into the hole.  We stripped the wire, wrapped it around the contacts and tightened them in place.  He brought the portable electric screwdriver/drill, drilled pilot holes, and put in the screws.  There was a lot of exploring and investigating and experimenting.  Every time I went to look for a tool, he would make the loud old-fashioned mechanical bell jangle non-stop, making my teeth rattle.

 I love to watch children concentrate.  My son was gloriously absorbed and completely lit up with the excitement of repairing something our family needs.  His intense expression in this picture reminds me so much of my husband. 

 In this pictures he is telling me all about it.  He loves to tell us what he is learning and how things work, very much like a little professor.

 In this pictures he is popping up and down like a jack-in-the-box to make it hard for me to take a picture!  That's why he is smirking.

What a joy to watch talent develop and unfold.