painting of a maidenhair fern

My painting of a maidenhair fern.

Even though this didn't grow on my site, I wanted to paint a pic of it. I wanted to paint the roots to show that they are as much of a part of the plant as the green floral part. The maidenhair fern is a genus of about 200 species of ferns. Some times it is referred to having it's own family. The name of it's genus Vittariodeae comes from the Greek word meaning "not wetting," for it's ability to shed water without becoming wet.
This type grows in gardens with some shading, Excellent for native beds. It can also be grown indoors. And makes excellent terrariums.

We made puppets called the tree princess..As you can see my granddaughter Rylee took it very seriously. I could see that she really believed she was one of the tree princesses. It was simply a couple of sticks, a fir cone, a fir branch, a bush leaf, and some twine that I brought from home. We had a great time. And at the end she leaned against the tree and was satisfied. We went down the to the lake and she proceeded to make cookies out of sand. Which of course we both ate.

A sunny cold November day at Scott Lake

The Process

I am truly grateful for the Sense of Wonder program I am in. My senses have opened. I 

seem to feel, hear, see, and smell so much more from focusing my energies on nature. The 

more time I spend out in nature the more all of it  effects me. I hear every bird., I notice 

every movement, sound, scratching, squealing and  rustling,  I watched 3 different flocks of 

geese come flying right toward me tonite. It was twilight and I wasn't sure I could see them. 

I heard them coming from a long ways away. Suddenly they were coming right toward me. I 

felt it in my heart as if a herd of wild horses were coming straight at me. My sensitivity to 

mother earth is focusing. The book I'm reading "Spiritual Ecology is also stirring my passion 

for this earth and in fact the universe. I have always tried to pick one part of nature to study 

to let my passion run with. what I have been missing all this time, is that it's not just one 

part, like the animals or the plants, or the soil, trees, bees, insects, fish, etc. It's all of it as a 

whole and how it all works together. How long it has taken for earth to become the one that it 

is today. The universe is a whole being, and I can now see it as a living ever changing and 

growing being. That I am in love with.

http://vimeo.com/71522512 Please watch this with David Suzuki

 I scooped up a handful of moss and all that came with it and put it into a pie dish. I arranged some other things that were at my site, into the dish. These little mushrooms lived comfortably for ten days. I added some water into the dish and set it on my front room table. It is still there. I like bringing the outside into the inside.

This is how it looks today Dec.11 after being inside for a month. The grass is growing, the moss is growing and the mushrooms are gone. I think my cat ate them. hmmmm. The leaves are dried out and so are the cones. I have loved having this be a part of my home. 

My Green bowl after living inside for a month