Christmas Bird

The last post explained our new display for wreaths and swags. While Denise and I were painting, Jim was inspired to make arms for the St. Nicks so they could hold the wreaths. My idea was simply to impale the Jolly Old Souls with nails for hanging the wreaths. I'm glad that Jim stopped that cruelty and got busy making arms for the Jolly Old Souls.

The wreaths and swags look wonderful on their new display. It's always great to see an idea become a reality.


And then, there's this guy :)

 

 

Jim found an abandoned bird's nest and placed it on one of the Santa's arms. Naturally he found a bird in my craft supplies to take residence in the nest. When I investigated, I discovered that our feathered friend was sitting on a golf ball. Is Jim hoping for a hybrid 'birdie'? A golf ball with feathers that assures a birdie for every hole? Or one that is good for badminton as well as golf?

 

One can only wonder....Jim's brain works in mysterious ways. And that's all I am going to say about that!

 

Marcheta *bye, bye Birdie!

'Tis the Season!

I love our seasonal lifestyle because it keeps life interesting and lively.

We enjoyed an extra-long autumn, setting up at farmers markets right up until the last week in October. We picked around 300 bushels of apples and had around 500 gallons of cider made.  *whew*...it was such work that the end of the season was bitter-sweet. I was glad to let go of the heavy work, but really missed seeing and visiting with market customers. And I especially miss our fellow vendors.

Now that we are recovered from apples, it is time to make Christmas greens. Our big, commercial orders are taken care of, and that's a good feeling for sure.
 
Here at the farm, we are in retail hours for Christmas trees and greens. All of our wreaths, swags, and grave blankets are made to order with our own, home-grown greens. I like to have a variety of greens in our wreaths...Blue Spruce for its strength...really the 'bones' of any structure. White pine adds soft, long-needle movement, Fraser Fir for fragrance, juniper for lovely texture and fragrance, and last, but not least, arborvitae for it's lovely, lacy texture. Making Christmas greens is a wonderful job, indeed, and I feel very fortunate to help people with their festivities.

This year, Jim brought home a picket fence that a landscape customer wanted removed. Jim pitched it on the burn pile. Lucky for me, I found it before a match was lit. I had big ideas for the fence.

Friend Denise came on board with my idea, and one sunny afternoon in late November, she came out to paint Santas on some of the pickets, while I worked on painting trees on other pickets.

Now our old, worn out looking barn is all "spruced" up, with evergreens and a new display created out of imagination and discarded items.

Stay tuned to this blog to see a fun development on our Santa Fence!

 

Marcheta *fa-la-la-la-la!

 

 

Where's Marcheta?

No, I am not donning a stripped shirt and stocking cap and hiding amongst the throng of holiday shoppers in hopes that you will find me.

Just the opposite, I'd love for you to find me!

"Where's Marcheta?" is a new page that I added to OCJ today to keep you informed of the community activities I'll be a part of. Also posted are the fresh Christmas Trees and other products that Jim and I have for sale here at the farm with the hours that we are open for business.

Today I'll have a rather sad patch. I adore autumn and hate to say goodbye to such a glorious season. But the earth is entering a new season, and so must I. Today the fall home décor items will be put away, and maybe a few winter/Christmas items will take their places. I am helped along this path with the scents of fresh pine and juniper...we've begun the process of making fresh Christmas greens. So, really, I am still in a "green" season. How great is that?

Marcheta *keepin' it fresh

Lucy Goosey

Now what? :)

My friend Lucy, who I see almost every day at the reservoir, seems to be thinking, "I don't know! I need  a time out  so I can get everything thunk out and sorted!"

 

And that is what I am doing today...taking time to re-group and re-organize to prepare for my last wave of busyness for this year: Christmas tree and wreath sales. 

We won't be making the greens for at least a week, we like our customers to get them nice and fresh. What I am doing now is preparing what I am able to ahead of time, such as get the price-list updated, make a few posters to put around town, get the ad ready for the newspaper, and other what-not. 

Today's chores don't include any of that, though. I spent all morning getting banking accounts updated, bills paid and out of my way. Now I'm off to the stores to stock up on household staples so that I won't have to be bothered with shopping after a long day of work. I am trying to get as much off of my mind as possible.

Yesterday after our Happy Birdday party, Jim trimmed a juniper that had gone a bit wild at Kerry's house. 

Juniper is my favorite green for fragrance and helped me get it in my head that autumn and all of its glory is disappearing **fast** and I need to gear up for Christmas and winter. The snow flurries that are predicted will help.

Meanwhile, I am going to enjoy being out and about today. One highlight will be meeting up with a few of my writer buds at Barnes and Noble. We're meeting to check in how we're doing and to offer support and encouragement to each other. Like me, most have given up the pressure to be done with NaNoWriMo on time, and to know that others are of a like mind helps me relax about changing the date of my personal goal.

Marcheta *breathing