outside our window...

 

Jason has made some special friends (:

Happy Holidays! (:

Christmas Eve (:

(:

 

 

Hand-painted Alphabet Woodland Blocks and Ornaments!

 

 

 

This is one of my newest creations, along with some woodland ornaments that I have been painting for the holiday season (: Jason found each piece of wood on our property as he explored the forest looking for seasoned firewood this past autumn. Some blocks and ornaments are made from such lovely hardwoods as maple, ironwood and hickory. They are all sealed with non-toxic sealer and so they are safe for kids. fun fun fun. I LOVED painting them all. Each is completely one of a kind and my own original design.

Please pop over to my shop to see the blocks and ornaments there!

 

^__^

Ollie's day!

 

My sweet baby~love is ONE year old today! Woo hoo! xo

the autumn hearth

a walk in our woods

 

This is what we see as we walk along our road.

We are blessed! So blessed!

^__^

 

Autumn, be still my heart.

 

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."
~ George Eliot

gifts for the fairies

 

Jude is dropping a gift-leaf into the fairy tree we pass whenever we take a forest walk. It is the only one of its kind along the road, full of fairy doors and windows, mouth and eye shapes, and wearing a skirt of thick, soft moss. (:

Ollie discovers Jude in the cupboard!

 

 

 

^__^

Some diddies from the month of October!

 

It is during the month of October that my heart sings the loudest (:

Beautiful Gypsy

 

Today my sweet Gypsy arrived, and I am so happy!

 

 THIS is the horse of my dreams; the one I hoped and prayed and begged for when I was a little girl. She is pretty and gentle and well trained to ride ~ I am so happy, blessed, and delighted!

I traded horses with a local horse rescue organization..They took on our (slightly aggressive) mare Mossy as a project horse, and I welcomed this lovely lady into our lives. I feel so good knowing that Mossy will get the training and attention that she needs to thrive, and that our Coaltrain will have a buddy out there in the field too. So far, he has been pretty upset at Mossy's leaving but the fact that Gypsy is here for company is likely making the transition much easier. Having horses is awesome.

I have waited more than 25 years for this day!

Completely random thoughts

Time is going by at alarming speed. I know it is because I have wee ones, but it is also reflects the changes of the season and the resulting pace at which Jason and I prepare for the coming colder months. We are scurrying to amass fire to warm our bones through the long, frigid Canadian winter. Jason as been felling/cutting/splitting firewood in his spare moments and days this past month or so, and our front porch grows more and more beautiful with the collection of firewood, stacked neatly and ready for service.

As I write this, I am enjoying an evening bowl of granola with raisins, bananas and rice milk and a cup of jasmine green tea. I cooked dinner early, Jason and I having missed lunch altogether. We were busy outside the whole day and so I made a quick meal of french toast, especially delicious because I used our own chicken's sacred eggs.

Ollie has started walking at the tender age of 10 months. Jude is getting much better at loving his little brother. It has been a bumpy ride but not so rocky as some. Ollie's nature is so jovial, so happy and full of constant delight that it makes things much easier. Jude is an intense soul, passionate, sensitive and strong-willed. They balance one another beautifully.
I love them so much.
My Bella, who is now 11 and so close to being 12 is my quiet one. Calm, sweet, and accepting. Easy-going and so immensely creative. She owns my pride (: This year she is in the 7th grade at a new school. The one she attended last year only went to 6th grade so she upgraded ~ along with her friends ~ to the school in the town next to ours. Ironically, it also happens to be the school my Mom went to.
That makes a count of seven schools that she has attended. From homeschooling to Canadian schools to California schools to more homeschooling and then back to more Canadian schools. It's really quite something, Not at all what I imagined her life would be and not at all what I would have wanted her to experience and yet, nonetheless, that's the way of it. She is usually a bit nervous on her first day at a new school but unless you know her really well you wouldn't be able to tell, and by the second day she has already made fast friends. It's really quite something.

I am tired of doing housework; it all gets so overwhelming at times. Dishes are the absolute worst but I also very much dislike folding laundry. I enjoy the washing of it though; a lovely sense of satisfaction comes from using my own homemade detergent. I especially love the cloth diapers ~ They to me are so satisfying a possession. Nothing gets used quite so much in our home and I love knowing I am not being wasteful by using up hundreds of disposable ones.

The horses are a sight, lolling about in the pasture and nickering at me when I greet them each morning. I am quite in love with our Coaltrain, as he is sweet and gentle and loves to greet us when we stroll out in the pasture. He actually bumbles up to us like a goofy puppy, happy to say hello and share a hug. There's nothing quite like it.

(:

Self portrait with Ollie (:

 

~ Taken by my lovely girl-child Isabella. I love her photographs (:

baby porcupine

 

I think that this is, by far, the most wonderful photograph I have ever taken.

 

^__^

tree frogs!

 

They stick to my window at night!

Must be a good omen, yes? (:

Brothers

tree hugger

exciting updates!!!

So then. Over the course of the summer, our chickens grew and grew and became way too big for our bathtub brooder, so we moved them outside into the wonderful chicken tractor that Jason built for them. It's awesome, and features an open run on the bottom with a coop on the top, complete with roosting bar and a communal nesting box. We move it every night so they wake up to a yummy new grassy patch each day. Happy chickens!

 

There are 11 of them in all. 10 hens and a rooster. We had a second rooster but found him a new happy home (: Originally we had no intention of having a rooster, but we ended up with two anyways. The guy we have now is much less pecky than the other one, so he can stay (-;

 

Ollie started crawling rather early for a baby o' mine! And eating solid food! He was ready in a way  that neither one of my other kids was. I suppose it's because he's the third child and has to catch up (-; At any rate, he is just the cutest little thing scooting around the floor and standing up against the furniture, filling the air with his adorable giggles and happy, beaming smiles.

 

 

Jude ~ three years old now ~ loves to feed Ollie! I wish I could say that I appreciate the help, but it's a bit messy for me in the end. Oh well.

 

And here is the best, most awesome and wonderful news of all.

 

We adopted two horses!!!!!!!

 

 

This is Coaltrain. He is pretty silly, as you can see! Here Jason was attempting to draw him, but he just wasn't having it; he was much more keen on eating the sketchbook. Life with horses is definitely very fun (: He is a retired racehorse ~ his racing career ended with a knee injury. I have to say, he is the sweetest guy. Very gentle, snuggley and lovely manners (: 

 

 

And here is Mossy. She is a gorgeous horse, but unfortunately she has turned out to be rather hard for us to manage; A bit of a wild thing! Being new to horse ownership, this has made me very emotional and upset, but I am now looking to find her a new home. She will be better off with someone more experienced.

 

 

I do love our farm in the woods. You know, we have lived here for 11 months now. Just one month more than baby Ollie's life here on earth! I remember how excited/nervous I was when I found this place in the summer of 2011..I was nearing my due date and anxious to find us a home so I could get unpacked and organized before Ollie was born. What an intense month that was, readying! But we did it. We were ready. And then he came, and I have basically not sat down since that time. So many chores, so much going on. It's all good, but it does fill up the days and moments to bursting capacity.

What a beautiful life this is. Indeed.

 

 

^__^

 

eggies

Some of our beautiful eggs, from our lovely, lovely chickens!

 

Ok, so I moved my blog but then haven't felt the urge to post there..odd it is really. Somehow this space feels cozy to me, like home I suppose, a place I have spent much time and care in it's tending. So I change my mind. This place is where I shall stay (;

 

I have so much to say, so much to share! A whole summer has flown by, and much beauty, newness, growth and joy has taken place. I will go into that soon (:

the Pipodoll blog has moved!

Hello friends (:
From now on, the Pipodoll blog will make it's new home at

http://girlintheforest.blogspot.ca

It's just time for a move, you know? Some change. Change is good (: Please update your links, and if you are a follower of mine, I would love to see you at my new place..(:

Nix that! Pipodoll is going to stay right here at this blog!

watch this and smile

♥

Ollie. Seven months old and the cutest baby in the whole wide world (: ♥

many days and moments have passed

There is asparagus growing in the front yard

Ollie is very hefty! 6 months old and 20 pounds (: I make good, sturdy babies!

I made this play tipi one day on a whim, out of vintage sheets. A fun place to hang out (:

This amazing drawing is of ME! Drawn by Jude who is 2 years old!!

...and here I am again! Hahaha I love my fat face (:

What I do all day, every day. My back, arms and shoulders are getting remarkably strong.

Jude really took to sewing on this, my 'second' machine. I took out the needle and he had a blast 'sewing' a piece of fabric. It actually moved through so of course he was delighted (:

Look! Underwear! Jude has started the great potty-training journey. Whew! What adventures, I must say!

A special regular visitor to the feeder outside the kitchen window. How I love these sweet and tiny magical beings!

Building a fence to keep 'naughty Talulah' as I sometimes call her out of the gardens. ahem.

Isabella snuggling with our rooster whom we have since then re-homed. He really was a sweet guy, but we just wanted hens for eggs. He'll have a lovely new home with a sweet lady on her farm. A happy ending (:

My studio! I haven't done much in there yet; just whipped up that play tipi, but I can't wait to sew some more. I really do love sewing. It's so much fun, and cathartic. My cheeks are always rosy afterwards so I know it's good for me!

Baby robin. Long story short: Jason found her on the road on the way home from work and didn't see a mama bird in sight so of course he brought her home to me. We had an extra nest, so we set up a lovely 'baby robin abode' in a cage and kept her fed with worms and strawberries every half an hour. The second day I had planned a visit to my parents' house so I brought her along and set her little cage outside on their back deck. I noticed that every time she started chirping when she was hungry, a grown robin returned the chirp from a nearby tree. Back and forth they were communicating and I wondered...would a mama robin adopt our little robin? With only 15 minutes to spare before I needed to get going, I set the robin, nest, cage and all, under a nearby tree and took off the top. I hid on the back deck and waited, and when little robin chirped for food, that amazing mama bird flew to her and fed her a worm! I was floored. Very emotional. It was profound really, and no amount of words can describe the beauty of it. She fed her three times and I felt confident that this little fledgeling robin would be ok, That she had a new mama now. I actually returned a bit later as our plans changed, and watched as the little robin became brave and started hopping around my parent's lawn. The mama robin coaxed her to follow and she did, and they hopped to a place of safety in the long grass. My Mom said she watched little robin during the week, and wouldn't you know it, she lived in our 'last-year's garden', the one that Jason built for me and which brought me so much joy last summer. I was saddened to leave it when we moved to our new home, but not now, knowing that it has served a greater good (: Nature is wonderful.

(:

And here is one of our newest gardens. Jason has been so dedicated to creating, digging, planting and beautifying that we now have a bunch of lovely gardens around the property for vegetables, herbs and flowers. When we first moved here it was a bit overwhelming to look around at all that needed to be done, but now it is coming along so wonderfully! I love our home so much.

I cannot fail to mention that our sweet Mabel-bunny passed away a few weekends ago. She was an old bunny, having lived in two different countries, been on an airplane, lived in numerous homes and was rescued by us from a shelter in California. She was a lucky girl, adorable, and the best bunny in the world.

I saw her fall over in her cage when I was sitting with Jude on the couch and immediately rushed over, only to see her gasping for air and unable to get up. I scooped her up, walked outside and sat in the grass with her on a beautiful sunny afternoon. I held her like a baby and she died in my arms, looking right into my eyes. She was a gentle, loving, peaceful being and we all miss her, but we're so glad that she was in our lives for the time that she was (: