MORNINGSTAR STUDIO

If you follow the Circle, you will never be lost.

MY BLOG

ALREADY BLOOMING - GizatawaKwai, Nidobak

The thing about any season of the year is waiting for blossoms to appear giving the world its color and perfume. As the world awakens from winter dormancy, so do our spirits. I often say that I run on sun power because on cloudy days, I have so little energy, but when the sun comes out, we are up and off doing things. Most people feel the same way. Perhaps we are related to the little plants we so love. Just as they lift their leafy heads to the sun for food and strength, so we lift our heads to the sun so that it can energize us.

While I enjoy my woods, so do I enjoy this swing that my hubby and I purchased way back. It sits in the field near my garden and when I need a break, I sit and watch the birds in the "wild patch" or going in and out of the bird houses we have for them. This year we actually have a blue bird. Generally we have barn wrens and swallows. The forsythia bushes are a mad house of nests and chatter. Our dominant cat likes to sit with us in the swing and watch all the birds go by, but as brave as he is, he does duck when he gets "buzzed" by them.

This year we are finally cutting some of our forsythia back. One will be completely cut out (not shown) as the two trees on either side are getting tangled in with them. This one has considerable bittersweet vines that will need to be removed before it kills the bush, but my biggest concern is that it is getting all too close to the road (see left lower corner) and in another year or two, it will be in the road, so it needs to be cut back big time. Pretty as it is, it has totally run amuck. This particular one is where my resident bunnies live. Most likely, the same ones that enjoyed my strawberry plants.

The stone wall that was here when I bought the property has been receiving plantings continuously over the 40 years we have been here. Some were started by an elderly neighbor who worked part time for a landscaper. He would bring home seedlings or cuttings for his yard and give me some as well. After they passed on, I just kept adding. Their property was always gorgeous with roses, etc. My attempts are considerably humble compared to what he was able to do, but it still brings pleasure. Here my daffodils have lasted much longer then I thought they would and my day lilies are coming along nicely. Under the day lilies are wild violets that have made a natural border for them. Just behind the daffodils is a honesuckle bush that seems to double its self each year. I will photograph it later when the blossoms are on.

My rhubarb has decided to start its own second bush. I started it some years ago, but have not done much with it. We love strawberry-rhubarb pie, but neither of us has been able to successfully make a good one. We love to find small resturants that have home made ones. Mmmmmmm.

My mom had a lot of Holsta. I took some a while back and then when we sold the houses, I took some more. This makes a great, easy care border. In this case it is "from her house to my house" and I will take some to my daughter when these are more developed. It will keep the circle going.

Another not so little memory. This tub came from Mom's house as well. It is as large as a wash tub, so to avoid putting drain holes in it or putting a lot of dirt in it, I set a plastic milk carton inside and then set three 10" pots of petunias on that. Now the flowers can drain without concern of drowning in a tub that has no drainage. This is in full view of my dining room, patio door. (I giggle. I have two patio doors and no patio's, but they make great windows to look out of to see all these pretty things.)

Not only are fuschia flowers beautiful to look at, they are down right irresistible to humming birds. The little hummers simply love brightly colored trumpeting flowers that hold moisture. In the early morning, they will be seen going from flower to flower before going to the feeder I put out for them. These are hung on a post with other bright flowers and the feeder which is the bright red object in the upper right corner. I always make certain their feeders have perches as they like to rest while they drink. Of course, I want to encourage them to stay as long as I can so that I can watch them. What dynamic little creatures and so beautiful, too.

On the same four way stand as the fuschia are a pot of red geranium and one of pink geranium. While it is still too early for my little hummers to be here, I am ready for them when they arrive. Since they require 68 degree weather to fly, I think it will still be a few weeks before they come, but with the crazy weather patterns, I want to have food out in case they arrive and then get caught in another cold spell.

Since pansies can grow in the snow!, I have put a hanging basket and two side baskets on each of my two arbors. I bought some from the Martha Washington series this year. I don't know how new they are, but the varied colors were amazing. I just could not resist them.

These were also from the Martha Washington series. Found these neat little hangers that hold a 5" pot so that I could hang these on either side of my arbors.

Also in blossom is a plant (Bleeding Heart) that my daughter planted when she was still living at home. (She is now a busy wife and mother of two.) The bush became so large that we needed to move it a little further away from our foundation. In doing so, we found some little ones and planted one by the stone wall. Now, I will take one or two of the remaining seedlings to her so she can put them into her garden.

Even though we live 1200' feet up, and our growing season comes a little later then those in the valley below us, we eventually get to enjoy all the same wonderful plantings and blossoms. Most of these things (other then the potted ones) take pretty good care of themselves. It is merely a matter of watering them thru the dry season. That is something I will have to pay a lot of attention to with the containers since they will dry out faster then the natural ground level plots did. What truly amazes me is that my husband planted a Yucca plant near the stone wall several years ago and it thrives here. I would never have suspected that it could do so.

I trimmed back most of my rose bushes this year and they are coming on very well. I can't wait for them to blossom. When they do, I will take more pictures as I use many photos for references on my gourds. For those who do not have gardens, I hope you enjoy mine. Being in touch with Mother Earth is certainly a connectedness that more people might profit from. It is like raising any living thing...watching it grow from seed (or seedling) to a mature plant that brings pleasure. It is a reminder of the life cycle.

Morningstar

IN EARLY SPRING - WskizigwanKwai, Nidobak

It is early spring and I am happy to be out in my yard again. It is my favorite time of year and my favorite place to be (besides my studio!). I have broken today's entry into two parts. This one has photos of my yard and gourd plantings. The next one will share some of the flowers that are already in bloom. Color! Oh how I love color and the wonderful natural perfumes.

This is looking from my house down the driveway to the town road. As you can see, I love evergreens. But the one on the right side was planted by my daughter while the birch tree on the left was planted by my son. The row of evergreens on the left were planted by me when we first moved to this property about 40 years ago. They were barely as big as my little finger!

Along the right side is a stone wall that has many different kinds of plants on both sides. And there is my little wind spinner in primary and secondary colors. I just love to watch it react to the wind and it is visible form my kitchen window so I see it often.

This is my little "Welcome" bear (from Walmart). I have always wanted one of the ones made by chain saw, but they are much more expensive then this little guy, but he is still cute and makes me smile whenever I come or go through the front door. My husband figured out that since we have a motion detector front light, that we could hang the flag (he is a veteran) and when the breeze blows, it will keep the light on it all night. Below the flag is a bell. We don't have an electric doorbell so we bought this. But, no one seems to understand what it is for, so it just hangs there looking pretty.

In back of my house is about and acre of woods. Much of it is evergreens, but there are some hardwoods and birch. It is my "solitude" place to go. I love it when the sun filter's down through the trees creating patterns of light and dark. This is visible from my living room, patio doors. It reminds me of what we might have seen years go.

My husband had a tipi before we met and still had some poles around that were doing nothing. They were a little too old to transport as tipi poles, but strong enough to still use for supports for climbing gourds. So, here it is with chicken wire added for the gourds to grab onto. You can see the black plastic I used in years past to keep the weeds down, but now with the tubs, that may not be a problem anymore. But until we see how well the tubs work, we will keep the garden tilled and free of unwanted growth.

Tubs in the front hold vegetable plants while the ones around the tipi poles are climbing gourds. In the far distance are four which will hopeful provide me with bucket and kettle gourds. Since they are larger, I allow them to run along the ground.

I am very excited to see these little fledgling gourds and hope this means that my theory is working. I assumed that the heavy black rubber tubs (normally used as watering troughs for larger animals) would hold heat in the dirt and encourage roots to grow. They are 40 gallons each so they should provide adequate room for roots, but we will see. I will keep them covered well beyond Memorial Day just to make certain they are past the danger of any damage. The garden cloth also helps protect young plants against being damaged by the sun. So when they are in the tender stages of development, the cloth is helpful in many ways.

You have to look carefully to see the blue berry bushes here on the right and left. On the right are four of the cultivated bushes started when my son was just big enough to ride his bike alone to the garden shop and buy me one for mother's day. Then we added three more. Now, since we were selling my mother's properties, we brought home four of her wild blue berry bushes. They all seem to be adjusting just fine and we are looking forward to having both kinds.

We have a variety of fruit trees, but this little cherry tree is one of my favorites. The birds usually beat us to the crop, unfortunately, so we don't have many to eat. But that is okay. We are happy they enjoy them. We have two cherry trees, two apple, one peach, one pear tree. Hope I live long enough to enjoy their fruit as they are all still pretty young.

One thing we really enjoy are the cherry ( and apple) blossoms and, of course, the wonderful aroma they give the yard. Right now, they are humming with bees. Maybe some of them are the ones missing from elsewhere, because we have a normal amount our trees.

This apple tree has an amazing story. When we first moved to this property and were building, a neighbor was getting rid of this tree. He just yanked it out with his tracktor. I happened to be there and asked if I could have it. He looked at me funny and said it probably wouldn't live. Well, forty years later and it is doing better then ever. As a matter of fact, my hubby just had to trim off some branches again. As you can see, I like to collect bird houses and this is bird central all year long. Under the tree are various lilies, ferns, and a border of holsta. The holsta came from my mother's yard. Kind of keeping memory alive.

When designing a photo one should never put something plunk in the middle, but there is a reason for this. The maple tree was given to me by my children years ago, as a mother's day gift. It was no taller then me when it came. (I am 5'1"). Now it provides beautiful shade for picnics or just sitting out in the yard. I inherited lots of lawn chairs from my mother's things and found some covers for them. At last, we will have enough chairs to go around at the next gathering.

If there is ever a doubt as to why I am busy or like being a home body, one should just take a look at these photos and the ones I will list next of all the flowers I love to tend. As the season progresses, I will share other plants in my yard, but they are not in bloom yet, so I will wait.

Someone asked me why I don't relax since I retired from working hard all my life. I looked at them and smiled. This and my art work, aren't "work". They are my pleasure. Some people travel to exotic places and sip drinks in the sun, I carry a bottle of water around and enjoy my yard. LOL I think it is funny that for years, I wanted to leave here. Since I was raised here, I was like so many young folks wanting to "go out in the world". I did live in other places early in my first marriage, but now, I can't imagine being anywhere else. Funny how our outlooks change over the years.

Hope you enjoyed visiting my favorite place to be.

Morningstar

ONE WHO IS RECOGNIZED-WawinôzidKwai, Nidobak

There has been a lot of talk about the Federal Arts and Crafts Law with reference to the Abenaki of Vermont. Many have publicly stated that it is important to gain recognition so that Abenaki artisans can sell their work as Native Made so that they can have income. But they are missing the boat.

Aln8bak News 2008 Jan, Feb, March, pg 5

"To comply with this law we previously resolved the matter when we re-issued our Artisan Certificates to our artisans with the designation that the arts and crafts are made by "Descendants of Native American Abenaki Indians."

This is only one such statement made both Abenaki leaders and artisans alike, that "resolves" the problem. It deals with the current law, but fails to address authenticity or historical validation of our People. In fact, it doesn't even begin to address it. Recognition and designation as a Native artisan is not a matter of simply labeling or selling. It is an issue of authenticity of an entire People. Selling "reproductions" indicates that we don't exist and therefore, we are no longer creating authentic Abenaki work. With that said, we become a lost People. Non-existent.

In our struggle for recognition, it is not simply an opportunity to earn a living, nor to sell things, it is a struggle for the survival of a People. We exist. We know we exist and we know others like us exist, but the government doesn't and the museums or historians don't unless there is visible and often tangible evidence that we are here. Somehow this point is being missed.

Tribes around the country are bringing back language programs to revive their language. But that is only one part of a culture. It is a huge and extremely important element, but still only one part. The arts and crafts of a People are the Visual Language by which we recognized one another. It is the symbolism found in our baskets, beadwork, paintings, carvings, regalia , etc. Recognition of who we are means having both a verbal and visual language along with music, dance, stories and an oral history.

I do wish that more emphasis would be placed on realizing the ultimate importance of recognizing our artisans as an integral part of the overall recognition process. Perhaps, someday it will be.

Morningstar