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MEADOW SWEET GROVE

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Chick, chick, chick, chick, chicken - lay a little egg for me!

4/6/2018

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Photo Ceramic Chicken
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Easter continues at Meadow Sweet Grove!  How could it not with lovely fresh eggs, courtesy of our neighbours and their urban backyard chickens? The lovely hues of these eggs are their natural colours - there was no need to dye these for the Easter display!  And I think the vintage glass egg cups (a great score scouted out and snatched up by my mother-in-law) provide the perfect pairing.

This unique present got me thinking that backyard chickens would be such a wonderful addition to the Grove.  The coop and run space really doesn't take up that much room for just a few "hobby" chickens.  But, unfortunately, our garden space is very limited right now and we are looking for a bit more room for veggies - not fowls!  But it must have stirred something in my blood ... because during the 1960s and early 1970s, my Dad owned and ran a poultry farm with over 5,000 chickens under his care. 

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Here are pics of some of his brood!
Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2018
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February - Old Man Winter Pays a Second Visit

2/26/2018

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We sure have had a few days of heavy snow in Meadow Sweet Grove - and just when we thought Spring was on her way!  Old Man Winter certainly deserves some respect - in just one night he can burden us with lots of snow, ice and cold winds.  Thank goodness his playful counterpart, Jack Frost, is usually nearby to save the day and remind us of the beauty and fun that is also a part of winter! 

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Snowflakes Keep Fallin' On My Head!!
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From "Jack Frost", A ComiColour Cartoon by Ub Iwerks (1934)

I don't have to worry, I don't have to care,
My coat is very furry, I'm a grizzly, grizzly bear!


I don't have to worry, I don't have to care,
My coat is very furry, I'm a grizzly, grizzly bear!
                                                                                                                 Grizzly Bear Cub's Refrain

If you meet Old Man Winter,
You'll sing a different tune,
It's time that you were safe in bed,
For he will be here soon.
               
                     Mama Grizzly Bear's Retort

Excerpt from Jack Frost, ComiColor Cartoon by Ub Iwerks (1934)

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Old Man Winter imprisons Grizzly Cub
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Jack Frost to the rescue!
Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2018
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Crow Babies

7/20/2017

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Crow Man had babies!  Maybe I should start calling him, Crow "Woman" ...  I don't know!  He is bringing his two chicks to Meadow Sweet Grove for breakfast ... and sometimes dinner.  So now, I have my old faithful crow visiting, another adult crow and two baby birds in tow.  They nest in an absolutely beautiful and huge cedar tree in the yard over, but one ... a family of four!  Here are some pictures:
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The Family of Four
Crow Man
We're busy!
PictureWe're hungry!
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Mom and Dad are bringing them here, of course, because it is such a good food source.  It's touching how the little ones are now seemingly showing up on their own for breakfast ... but I notice that Mom or Dad, or sometimes both, are always watching from a little distance away (they are good parents).  They caw to let the babies know that it is okay to go get the food.  The caws sure change dramatically though when my little black and white cat sneaks out the door at the same time!  However, I have been advised by a reliable Gnome in the Grove that maybe I shouldn't feed the babies too much. 

The young ones do, however, need to learn to find food in other places too.  So, I am rationing the food ... it's hard!  Because they sit on the wires, and sometimes outside my window, with their little beaks open and waiting.   ​I am finding the strength to do what is right.  I only give them just enough at breakfast (and maybe a wee bit at dinnertime) to keep their little bellies hungry ... so that they go and search elsewhere.

PictureCoonie

​​Plus, it would seem that this fellow is attracted to any bits and pieces left-over.  His stealthy little hands reach up to the "special spot" hoping to grab any forgotten food.  And, as you can see, he is here, all hopeful, and it isn't even twilight yet!  Okay I'll scale it back ... I promise.

Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2017 ​/ edited 2019
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Of Cats and Crows

6/14/2017

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Picture of cat and crow
Finn and Crow Man
Picture of cat climbing windowGet 'em Gary! No, not really...


We've had a regular visitor to the Grove for about a year now.  The fairies have benevolently bestowed upon him the title of "Crow Man".  Since last summer, he comes often for a bit of bread or leftovers and now is very happy to wait, in his usual spot, outside the door nearest the kitchen where I can see him.  After a while, he started bringing two friends with him, but by winter, they were gone, and he was just back to his lonely self again. 
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Pictured here with another resident of the Grove, St. Finnian, a cat with the heart and name of a saint.  "Finn Man" gives Crow Man no trouble at all.  While he's clearly interested in the visitor, the crow knows that he doesn't have too much to worry about from this one and will even come and fetch his breakfast with Finny close by!  Now there is another little trouble-maker in the Grove that Crow Man has no patience for whatsoever.  No love is lost between these two ... as you can see how this little feline reacts when he catches sight of anything feathered ... be it crow or any buzzing thing!

​Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2017 ​​​​​​​

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Finding fairies - #fairyspotting #cicelymarybarker

5/17/2017

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Meadow Sweet Grove has experienced a record downfall of rain this Spring.  Most of the fairies are probably sitting by their little stoves and looking out longingly at their gardens. When they do go out, I imagine they dart for cover, hiding under handy toadstools along the way.  Still, May is the perfect month to search for fairies that might be starting to play in the garden after those long winter months.
Drawing Rose Fairy by Cicely Mary Barker
I took my favourite "fairy spotter" with me and she pointed out many fairies and woodland creatures in the Grove.  I had to be quick with the camera!
Image:  Cicely Mary Barker
An absolute abundance of froggies!  Well, it has​ been raining an awful lot ...
​And even Robin Goodfellow, or Puck - as some know him - was found amongst the leaves ...
Finally, a gnome atop his new wishing well home (dry as a bone) and a fairy, trapped under ice all winter, returned to the Grove.
​Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2017 ​​​​​​​
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Easter Weekend Weather

4/14/2017

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​Lots of dramatic weather is at play in Meadow Sweet Grove this Easter with beautiful sunshine one moment ... and hammering hail the next! Soon the wind will come and scatter away the last of the cherry blossoms that have managed to withstand the hail. But never mind - Spring has sprung!

Like Spring weather, new beginnings aren't always gentle

On a Spring visit to England one year, we were fortunate enough to see a lambing at a farm in Yorkshire.  It was an incredible bit of magic to happen upon.  Amazing also was watching all the other sheep come over to inspect the two new little arrivals ... and their obvious empathy when one wasn't moving.  Fortunately, help was on hand and soon he was happily received by his mama.  ​
Lamb #2 isn't moving...
the farm hand swings him by the hind legs, quite briskly, in a side to side arc...
...and he's okay!!!
A Happy Easter Ending!

Maybe this is why illustrators in days gone by infused such charm and sweetness in their now-vintage renderings.  Not the artist's attempt to deny or downplay the harshness of birth or life itself, but rather a celebration that life is very, very good indeed.  The incredible uplifting feeling when a new life arrives.  I think all those dear images of newborn animals to celebrate Easter, Spring and New Babies, were a way to express this hope and happiness, optimism and joy that they felt when watching new little ones experience the joy of life ... and those around them.
​Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2017 ​​​
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October - A Time for Ghosts

10/25/2016

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Halloween Postcard Witch CatThe big white cat
​Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan, 2016 / edited 2019
This is a poem I wrote as an assignment for a writing class I took a few years back.  It uses a lot of rhyming and is meant to be in "Shel Silverstein" style.  I hope you like it.

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The Right Stuff

The big white cat looked
Up from the fence,
At the old oak tree
Leaving leaves less dense.

The white cat said, to the Oak King,
"Halloween's here, hear me sing.
I can hiss and spit,
And flash my eyes,
Arch my back against a full moon sky.
I be as scary as a black cat be,
Now what do you think,
You old oak tree?"

Halloween Postcard Black CatA cat of coal
Not a sound rolled around
From that ancient soul,
But between its leaves,
Stretched a cat of coal.

His eyes they glowed

Like yellow flames and
He bared sharp teeth,
With an aim to maim.

"Best leave to me,"
He said with a boast,
"And wait this out
Behind that post.​
The children are coming up the path

And I've got the stuff to make them dash.
If they see you, "puss, puss" they'll say
And laugh and carry on their way.

Halloween Postcards Trick or TreatersThe trick or treaters
Shamed, the white cat,
Slunk and hid
Behind the post
As he was bid.

But when those posers came quite near,
He thought around the post he'd peer,
Just to see the garb that night,
Of witches, skeletons and the like.

But those kids they screamed!
And fled in fright.

Trick or treat bags
Thrown left and right.

For rounding 'round that post they'd seen
A BIG WHITE GHOST !!
(or so it seemed.)

Halloween Postcard Black Cat
The taunting black cat,
Added a caterwaul,
Laughed to the white cat,
"You're the scariest of us all !!"

So that's the story of the two old cats 
Who learned that night (and it's a fact)
That there's more than one way to skin a cat!

                  (if you'll pardon the expression)

© Vicki Buchanan, 2014, 2016, 2019

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Disclaimer:  Many of my items are vintage or pre-loved.  Please be aware that vintage items will vary with the manufacturing methods available at the time of their production. They are not made at the current standards of manufacturing ... and in my opinion, that is a good thing! They are generally an exceedingly higher quality than today's manufactured items, last much longer and have more attention to detail.  However, safety standards do change over time, vintage and pre-loved items do deteriorate with age, and it is up to the customer to decide how they will use each product purchased.
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