May greetings to you all! Green is spilling forth in my neighborhood! What about yours? Grass; new baby leaves; a forest of slender spears that one day will blossom with lily-of-the-valley. Jubilant, hopeful, spring green.
Here are five more lovely things:
an elegant bird’s nest
Ornithologist Alex Penn from the Isle of Arran shared this exquisite chaffinch nest he discovered, blown out of a tree, on his Twitter feed. He calls it “a textbook example of a Chaffinch nest – made mostly of tightly packed moss, decorated with lichen and a neat bowl in the centre lined with animal hair. Most finches make very neat nests but Chaffinch must be some of the best!”
Stunning.
bread too beautiful to eat
Hannah P. showcases her gobsmacking fougasse, sourdough, flatbreads, all blooming with technicolor vegetables, on her Instagram account, blondieandrye. Amazing, inspiring, artistry! Definitely going to have to try this out.
a darling sheep handler
A sheep show in the UK was conducted online, and one of the judges shared this delightful encounter with little Barley Brook Sellar, age 3, and her sheep, Ethel, who were competing in the handlers-under-age-8 category. What a little trooper she is! Watch the entire 45-second clip here. You will smile, for certain 🙂
Orthodox artistry
I was stopped in my tracks while reading a NYT article about the coronavirus in Greece, by this interior of a Greek Orthodox church in Athens. Breathtaking artistry everywhere you look. Wow. The human capacity for creativity never ceases to amaze me.
one awesome pinhole camera workshop opportunity
Several years ago I featured a book on my Non-electronic Gift Lists called This Book is a Camera by Kelli Anderson. The book and the supplies included in it create an actual working pin-hole camera.
Now the author is offering “drop-in pinhole photography clinics over Zoom on Tuesdays and Sundays during the months of May/June.
Document what this weird moment looks like where you stand, make some art, and experiment. At the end, there will be a call for submissions, @mushroom_collector will jury the work, and we’ll print a “Pinhole Photographs from Lockdown” zine. –
Anyone in the world can participate. Build your own pinhole camera or buy one from me for 27$.”
Follow the directions here to participate. I think this sounds like an absolutely splendid opportunity for upper middle-grade through highschool students!!
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Tomorrow I’ve got a baker’s dozen picture books that I checked out of my library before they closed their doors, which I’ve been waiting to share with you.
They are all brilliant, so come on back and discover them with me!
orange marmalade 
Where could we get recipes for that beautiful bread?
I believe if you follow her on Instagram (blondieandrye), she gives some very basic recipes for her sourdough breads and tells basically how she alters them. She is quite improvisational I gather so it is not exact. You can also google landscape focaccia or focaccia art and find some directions. Here is one my daughter found: https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/focaccia-bread-art/
Happy Spring! I loved the camera, I think the kids would have fun with that. I will order one today!
I am intrigued by it as well! Hope they have a great time discovering something new 🙂