As I am spending blissful hours getting our home ready for Spring, (while the countryside is under a blanket of white from the last two snowstorms)... I can't help but notice just how many little nests I have here and there... each one unique... like this beautiful knitted nest from my friend Vicki at
2bagsfull... made with love and bits and bobs of this and that... Nature's treasures... ever~so~delicately woven into the perfect "home" for two sweet little eggs waiting to hatch...
I actually bought two of these at the time... Vicki names all of her little nests, so of course I had to name mine... the top one is "Sylvie Nest" and the one below is "Prissy Nest"... (hello Mama Vicki! we love you... the sissy nests!)... you can read more about the little sissy nests in my post
here...
Just what is it about a sweet little nest that captures our hearts so?... for me, it begins with my never~ending love of Nature and all of God's precious little creatures... all of the nests I am showing you today are faux and live indoors year round... many I have bought, many I have made myself... I cannot imagine a world without birds and birdsong... delicately woven nests out of twigs and bark... feathers and vines... I love happening upon a secret nest when we take our Nature walks... for I feel as if I have found a precious gift... no, not to take... one must never take a nest from a tree or any other place it was built... once one has been blown out of the tree and to the ground, it is quite acceptable to claim the little treasure for your own... so long as there are no little ones inside... if you come upon a nest that has been blown down or fallen, and there ARE babies inside, place it back into the tree... hopefully as close to where it was built as possible... it is an old~wives tale that a bird will not return to a nest that a human has touched... it simply is not true... and I can tell you that from personal experience... the mama will find her babies...
On my Nature walk in Spring, I gather all sorts of treasures from the trail... tiny little discarded eggshells that have already hatched... most often, I can identify what kind of bird laid the egg just by looking at it... if not, I refer to one of my many books on birds, nests and eggs... one cannot have too many reference books on Nature!...
One of my most prized possessions... a beautiful little "Nature box" my dear friend
Celeste of
Celestina Marie Design painted for me to keep my little treasures from the trail in... she even included a special little feather inside for me she had found in her garden...
A sweet little nest inside a broken terra cotta flowerpot...
Another favorite bird book... the sketches and artwork in this particular one are especially beautiful!...
"Tailoring a nest in four easy steps"...
A teeny little nest I created myself... I like to add some of my dried roses to mine... sort of a shabby chic style nest...
I also love to sketch Nature and carry a little sketchbook with me on my Nature walks... I can hardly wait for the Robins to sing their sweet Spring song one day soon... I love to wake up to their beautiful melody floating in through an open window in the early morning hours... did you know there will always be something white in a Robin's nest?... my great~grandmother told me that when I was just a little girl, and through the years I have always found it to be true... sometimes there will be a piece of white yarn... perhaps part of a white paper towel... a silky ribbon or even a white feather intricately woven into the nest... I know not why... but I do know it will always be so... perhaps one day if I listen closely I will find the answer in the Robin's song...
Another tiny nest I made from twigs and moss gathered from the trail...
Vicki at
2bagsfull also created this stunning shorebird nest... I was fortunate enough to purchase one of her limited nests last year... the proceeds from mine went to a shorebird recovery sanctuary... you can read Vicki's story about her rescue of one of these precious shorebirds on her blog... you can read more about my beautiful shorebird nest in my post
here...
A friend of mine carved the beautiful shorebird for me many years ago... it rests on an old piece of piling out of the Great Salt Lake which borders my little town just to the west of me...
Another itty bitty nest I created today... I gather moss all Summer long and save it in plastic bags to use for special times like today...
A wonderful find from several years ago... "Audubon's Birds of America" c. 1950... a $5.00 find at a local used book store... to me it is priceless!...
I created this one from raffia and it looks pretty inside a little glass atrium...
Another one I made entirely out of moss, and added a skeleton leaf I found on the trail last Summer... this one lives in another little glass atrium...
Recently, my friends Jeni and El gave me this beautiful little vintage birdie plate from their shop,
Madeleine L'Amour...
Along with this adorable little petite birdie... so teensy... all handmade out of the softest~ever felt... Merci ladies!... these "tweet" little birdies will be available to purchase soon
here in their shop...
A window seat in my bedroom is the perfect spot to watch the comings and goings at the feeders and birdbaths in our backyard... a small pair of binoculars is a valuable thing to have to watch up close... I keep a birders journal and am constantly adding to it as a new little feathered friend comes to visit...
Our backyard is a certified wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation... you can visit their site
here if you are interested in certifying your yard as well... you simply must provide the four basics... food, water, cover... and a place to raise their young... xoxo...
"One touch of Nature makes the whole world kin"
~ William Shakespeare
Tessy and I head back home and once inside, I remember there is one piece of apple pie left in the fridge... hmmm... Jack is still asleep... around here, it is every man, woman and child (or dog) for themselves when it comes to the last piece of my homemade apple pie... I decide to go for it and make myself a cup of coffee... it tastes sooo yummy... I do make a delicious apple pie if I say so myself... I think even Aunt Bea in Mayberry would be proud of me!... Tessy decides to go back to sleep, so I am left alone in my early morning solitude... I write in my Nature journal about the deer... I keep many journals... one for Nature, a garden journal and a journal journal (besides my blog)... I update my wish list in my garden journal for plants I want to buy this year for my cottage garden... I am anxious for Spring... the sun is just starting to come up above the crest of our gorgeous mountains just to the east of us... it promises to be a beautiful day today despite the fact that it is still cold... I linger over my coffee a while longer (the pie is long gone now)... and daydream a bit... of Spring and all of the pleasures it brings to my little countryside I call home... soon, my windows shall be open all night... and I will listen to the chorus of crickets outside our bedroom window... and the nightly song of the bullfrogs in the pond down the lane... the not too distant whistle of a train as it makes its way through the farmland to the west along the shores of the Great Salt Lake... soon the fields of brown will turn to green as the earth renews itself... and I do too... now, it is time to start my chores for the day... better wash that pie plate and put it away first thing!...(can't let Jack find any evidence of my early morning raid, you know)... wishing you a beautiful, peaceful day wherever you call home... xoxo...
