What a Surprise!

I recently received a letter announcing that two of my photographs will be in the 2014 Gardeners of America calendar.  What a nice surprise!

 

I took these photos of tulips from my home garden in April of 2011 with my Nikon D40 and standard Tamron 18-270mm lens. 

A Thanksgiving Trivet

 

Jeff finished this gorgeous trivet just in time for his client's Thanksgiving meal.  It is beautiful! 

I'd like him to make at least one more!

Autumn Reflections

November Wonders

 

I went for a walk today at Huntley Meadows, a local wetlands park.  I was feeling a bit under a deadline, since their local photography competition has already started and I didn't have much to contribute.  A long supporter of the park, I try to participate in the annual contest, so I wanted to get out to the boardwalk and take some photos.  But, it seemed that nothing was working....the kids were tired and cranky due to an early-morning swim meet and the light was all wrong since I'd hoped for a lovely autumnal warmth and ended up with a cloudy, Novemberish afternoon.

But, it is what it is....and much of art is all about faith, anyways....  so I headed out and prayed for the best. 

And, I discovered the lovely.......in reflections, cattails, and seed pods.....

 

 

 

Hurricane Sandy-Inspired Basket

In honor of the "free time" caused by Hurricane Sandy (i.e. most everything has been cancelled!), Jeff made a basket today.  Joe Bruneau, the artist who teaches us at Kanuga on our summer vacation, had challenged Jeff to make a flat basket.  And, so he did.

We hope you like it, Joe!

Demo at Claude Moore's October Market Fair

We had a great time this past weekend at Claude Moore Colonial Farm's Market Fair.  Held three times a year (October, May and July), it's always a lot of fun for everyone.  We've demo'd at this venue more than any other, so it's a bit of a homecoming for us.  It's a great opportunity to catch up with lots of friends....and make new ones.

 

 

 

 

Jeff did some fine forging.  As always, we produced a lot of colonial-style nails.  Nails remain the perfect piece to show both colonial history and a finished product within a few minutes.  Jeff also worked on some new candlesticks (photos coming soon once he makes some more; we sold all that he made). 

 

 

 

 

Jeff also made a massive bottle opener that became one of the funniest parts of our weekend. 

 

Just for fun, Jeff started with a big piece of steel, which set the tone for a bottle-opener that would not be easily lost!   As he worked on it, he developed quite a following as folks wanted to see just how it would end up.  Our friend and fellow smith, Curt, stopped by and was enlisted to work on it for a few minutes, too.

 

Finally, after finishing it off with a small leaf, Jeff rushed down to the tavern for a bottle so we could test it.  He soon returned with a bottle of Ginger Beer and the crowd helped us test it, as we were all rather eager to see if it would work.  It did!  Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of the piece as it was sold and went home with its new owner a few minutes later.  It was good fun, though!

 

Over the course of the weekend, we chatted with around 3,500 people.  In one instance, as a group of teenage girls watched Jeff and started to understand the process of smithing, one girl announced to her friends...."Wow, that is epic!"  I'd never quite referred to blacksmithing in that way, but she's quite right! 

A Fall Day at Huntley Meadows

Today, I had an opportunity to experience a beautiful fall morning at Huntley Meadows Park.  This wetland/woodland park is an amazing place -- I always see something new! 

 

 

 

I got the chance to walk along the paths today with the children in the local school where I am an assistant teacher.  These children are quite good naturalists and it's a treat to learn from them. 
   

 

 

Candy Canes in October

 

 

We might not have the kids' Halloween costumes figured out, but we are in fine shape for the December holidays!  Jeff has been in the forge making candy cane ornaments.  We made a few last year as gifts for teachers, but we were definitely a bit behind and didn't have time to make many more. 

This year is different.

 

Jeff is already making a bunch for a local organization as the company's gifts for the staff/volunteers.  We'll also have some with us at Claude Moore Colonial Farm this weekend as we demo for their Market Fair.  If you'd like some and can't make it out to the Market Fair, just contact us and we'll be glad to ship them to you.

  

 

And, if you happen to have ideas for Halloween costumes, please feel free to pass those along, too!

A Monarch Emerges

You never know what you are going to learn in a new job, and that has been certainly true of my position this year as an assistant at a local Montessori school.  One of the things I've been blessed to discover is a wealth of knowledge about butterflies.... I'm learning so much!

Today, our last Monarch butterfly emerged:

 Tomorrow, it will start its journey to Mexico.

Demo at Heritage Festival at Prince William Forest Park

We had a lovely time demo'ing yesterday at the Heritage Festival at Prince William Forest Park.  This was a low-key event, designed to educate attendees on the various aspects of the park.  We had been invited to demonstrate blacksmithing as a part of the section devoted to the Civilian Conservation Corps, who built the park from 1935 to 1942.  The festival also had lots of children's crafts, as well as an area devoted to World War II because the park was a secret training area of the World War II spy agency, the Office of Strategic Services, from 1942-45. 

 

In addition, the festival offered lots of great music -- Jeff was thrilled that we were blacksmithing very close to the bluegrass band!  You should have seen him trying to keep time with his anvil -- it was rather funny since he's not known for his musical ability. 

 

 

One of the great aspects of the festival was that the children were sent on a scavenger hunt when they arrived; they were told to write down one thing that they learned from various demonstrators.  We got to do a tremendous amount of education, which is always our mission on these events.  We don't demonstrate blacksmithing to show off Jeff's talents but to teach people about the craft.  Thus, Jeff had brought material to make andirons but we quickly switched gears to make nails and other projects that can be completed quickly so the children could see a project from start to finish and get a fuller understanding of the craft. 

The only downside of the day was that it was the coldest morning to date and we forgot to pack gloves and other winter things.  It's the second demo in a row where I set up while bundled in a blanket! On the flip side, though, once the fire got started, we were one of the warmest places to be!