A Simple Treasure

I've spent more time in the yard than I had planned, over the last two weekends, and feel like I need to catch up.

I know nothing at all about landscaping, but my front yard was long overdue for a complete purging. I've trimmed, cut back holly bushes and azalea trees; pulled up long forgotten roots and monkey grass, cleaned gutters and raked enough pine straw to be sick of it. A friend helped and without his vision (and his bush hog) I'd still be procrastinating.

The front of my house looks rather bleak and unwelcoming right now. I suppose that I should have waited until after the holiday season but I had put this off long enough! Once the holly bushes come back and I figure out what I want to plant for Spring . . .I'm sure that I'll look back and realize that it was worth the time and labor. I have a clean slate to work with and all I have to do now is plan and plant. I'm actually looking forward to playing in the dirt.

The picture that I have posted is one of a small nest that I found buried amongst the branches in one of the holly bushes located on the southeast corner of my house. The nest had long been abandoned. My first and only thought was to make every attempt to preserve it. It's as strong as it is brittle...and absolutely beautiful! Because the nest was supported by several branches, my friend was able to make a few strategic cuts with his chain saw and I was able to lift it in tack and bring it inside. I was so nervous! I'm agonizing about where to keep it in my house because I don't want it bumped. I thought about trying to drizzle some sort of liquid adhesive over it to keep it together but that's a really dumb idea. For the moment, I've placed it in my living room on a glass table surrounded by other found objects: a farmer's old egg basket, a stem of cotton with several cotton balls (boils) attached, art books and a couple of McCoy pots.

This afternoon I'll print my first proofs of the "Tug o' War" lino block, that I finished cutting last night. Check back in a couple of days, I'll share it with you on my next post.