Allegany

Yesterday, the Hubster and I packed up the twins and headed to a “Save the Park” rally at Allegany State Park in the Southern Tier of New York State. For those of you outside NY, our State government is in fiscal crisis, and our Governor is trying to close an enormous budget gap by closing 91 state parks and historic sites throughout the state. Seeing that for every $1 the state spends on the parks recoups $5 in revenue to NY, the closures are not getting a favorable response by the citizens of NY. Rallys have popped up all over the state, so we did our civic duty to try and save a place that our family loves. Allegany itself will not close, but the swimming area and cabins on the Quaker side of the park will be shut down. Albany has also unfairly targeted 6 parks to close in our beloved 1000 Islands region, another place we visit and enjoy.

So, we headed out on the 1.5 hour drive in the drizzle and rain. This is the Quaker Lake beach, where we took the girls to visit. Hopefully, this won’t be the last time we are able to access the beach and playground.

Last summer, we spent a week in August in Allegany State Park, on our first official family vacation with the little ones. It was a relaxing, fun-filled week spent fishing, hiking and exploring nature, despite the torrential downpours and record-setting rainfall amounts. We already reserved a cabin for August this year, and yesterday, after the rally, we decided to take the girls to check it out.

Last summer, we stayed in a part of the park called the Summit. It was nice, but a bit remote from the lakes, streams and places all the action is. This year, we knew we wanted to be nearer to the water and hiking paths. This cabin will be the perfect spot. It’s right next to a shallow creek and has a nice wooded play area perfect for exploring and playing.

See that bench? I’m counting the days (154) until I can plant myself there, next to the fire and spend a week in one of our favorite places. Is it August yet?

Spring has Sprung

That’s a dangerous statement to make around my park of Western NY, seeing that it’s not out of the ordinary to see snow flurries in April or May. The weather today is 50 degrees and rainy. I’ve got my windows open to air out the house and I took the storm window off the back door. All I need now is to purchase an Adirondack chair to set out on the front porch and I’ll declare Spring’s arrival. Until then, this wreath that I made will have to do.

The Hubster and I have a thing for finches. We feed our finchy friends all summer long. For winter, we hang a curtain I made out of finch fabric. We even have finch ornaments that adorn our Christmas tree. So, one day, after cleaning up my scrap room a bit, I came across these sweet birdies and decided to make a wreath out of various odds and ends.

I started by wrapping a styrofoam wreath from the dollar store with a nice tweedy chunky yarn. It took about 20 minutes, a bit of patience and an episode of the United States of Tara to complete. To create the nest, I took strands of natural raffia and wrapped them around my hand to form the nest shape. To secure, I simply tied a strand of raffia in a secure knot in the back, leaving the tails long. I tied the tails to the wreath and then added a few pins to hold it nicely in place.

The artificial forsythia branches and pussy willows were leftovers from other arrangements. I tucked those behind the nest, tied them securely with more raffia and pinned them in place.

The finches had wires already attached to their feet, so I just wove those into the raffia nest. I then stuffed sphagnum moss into the empty space to prop them up a bit.

To finish off the wreath and cover up some of the pins, I added scrap felt rosettes and some hand cut wool felt leaves. I just pinned those in place. If you like, you can hot glue them, but I was too lazy to drag out my gun that night. I tied a springy ribbon to the top and called it complete. All in all, it took less than an hour.

I’d like to make another version of this for next winter with cardinals, holly branches and white yarn. When I get around to making it, I’ll post that project too.

Now, I’m off to do a bit of Spring cleaning. Or not.

Inspired by:

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.

And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”

-Steve Jobs

found over at Zen Habits

Hello Again

After taking a long hiatus, I’m back to blogging. It’s been nice to have a break, but I have missed having a place to keep my thoughts and my photos in one spot. Facebook just doesn’t cut it all the time. Not to mention the distraction known as Farmville.

I’m still getting used to the WordPress format. I hope to pretty things up a bit in the near future, once I have my blogging feet under me again. I plan on sharing a few of my crafty projects here, as well as my vintage shopping finds. Maybe I’ll toss in a photo or two as well.

It’s nice to be back. Happy Valentine’s Day!