A Last Look

You know I've been saving this one :)

Above is a Baobab Tree. Known as the Tree of Life, they are native to Madagascar, Africa and Australia, and have been carbon-dated up to 6,000 years old. This one in Zambia has been installed with a long drop toilet, but they can grow so large that one in Limpopo province, south Africa has been hollowed out (the tree itself measures 154 feet in circumference) and turned into the world's first pub in a tree, The Big Baobab Bar.

Is it just me, or do they look a little young to be in a bar!

With January turning to February, our month-long look at the tree and some of the art it's inspired has come to an end. In actuality, I will more than likely continue to post quite regularly on the tree and nature in general - it's been a continuing theme here all along.

Did you know today is Escape Day? A favourite quick escape of mine is to listen to a podcast of Coast to Coast while taking a hot bath. I find conspiracy theories, alien abductions and bigfoot sightings very relaxing, lol! What's one of yours?

  

Eye See You...

Yesterday, Kay posted about her proclivity to see faces in many of the objects around her; a loaf of bread with a lion face, a smiling rock... She's inspired me to admit I also suffer from the same condition known as Pareidolia and have the pictures to prove it!  

Do you see faces in the above two trees? I took these pics last summer, 

but truth is that everywhere I go I feel eyes on me...

Coming back from a walk last spring, I spotted this moose on the sidewalk. 

We'd walked on a few feet past him when something told me to turn around and take a closer look.

There he was, eyes and all! JJ Hubby confirms he was tampered with in no way. 

Watching tv while mindlessly pouring oil into my skillet this past September,

I looked down and imagine my surprise - a dolphin!

At the time, I felt a bit silly taking a pic, but now I'm glad I did.

The proof is in the frying-pan.

I'm willing to bet that just about anyone reading this has had the same experience.

If you have the pics, I'd love you to post them... ! 

I also stole this from Kay :)

Naughty by Nature and we have our Winners!

We have our giveaway winners!

JJ Hubby did the honours...

Congratulations to Sarah and Dianne!!

Email me your shipping info ladies and soon you will be privy to the deep secrets held within 

The Catkins Diet. This manual was originally intended for cat's eyes only. (As a result of 

the Persian Catwa that was issued against him for translating this book, author Michael

Domas has been forced into hiding somewhere in upstate New York.)

Guard it with all of your nine lives! 

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Everybody has an opinion on Nature. But what about Nature's opinion?

EOS magazine decided to give Nature the means to talk. 

A 100 year old tree, living on the edge of Brussels, was hooked up to a fine dust meter, ozone meter, light meter, weatherstation and webcam.

Visit me at my website Talking Tree

I'm also on Facebook!

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And since it's Friday, I thought I'd end off the week with freak trees;

this time it's Mother Nature herself who's the artist...

Have a great weekend!

Bark Weaving

"Approaching a tree we approach a sacred being who can teach us about love and about endless giving. She is one of millions of beings who provide our air, our homes, our fuel, our books. Working with the spirit of the tree can bring us renewed energy, powerful inspiration, deep communion."

- Druid Tree Lore and the Ogham

The weaving of bark produces beautiful and useful items.

Banana bark weaving in Rwanda

Botswana weaver, Mosadiwatshipi Modimbura

Roots, reeds and tree bark all combine into a piece 

which can take upwards to one year to complete.

 A combination of cedar and cherry barks.

 Haida Nation

Cedar weaving in coastal British Columbia

Skip ahead to 1:18 to see an incredible cedar bark cape, bustier and hat

modelled by weaver Victoria Moody! 

A reminder that if you haven't yet entered that winning line in January's caption contest... the end of the month is rapidly approaching. As well, I very recently updated all my pages, check them out when you have a chance :)

Funny Felines and a Fail

Happy Belated Year of the Dragon!
(Yes, technically it's a Pegasus, either way let's just pretend it turned out great...)

While I'm enjoying our month long look at tree art, my silly side must be indulged. All work and no play makes Jane a dull gal. Here's some hilarious pics of the crazy spots cats get themselves into (& seemingly enjoy) !

Have a great day, class will resume tomorrow!

Birch Bark Biting

As the poet said, 'Only God can make a tree,' 

probably because it's so hard to figure out how to get the bark on.

~ Woody Allen ~

Artists use the bark of trees in innumerable ways; the next few posts will feature some of these creative uses.

Birch Bark Biting is one of the oldest aboriginal art forms. It originated with the Woodland Ojibwa and Cree Nations, but today is only practiced by a handful of artists in Canada. Native art in all it's myriad forms fascinates me to no end.

Here Pat Bruderer (Half Moon Woman) demonstrates and discusses the

history behind birch bark biting. Love her jewellery :)

Pooktre

No look at tree art would be complete without profiling the practice of Pooktre. The hobby of training/shaping living trees and other woody plants into living art has been around for centuries and is known as Pooktre (aka arborsculpture.) It continues today by skilled arborists and enthusiastic green thumbs around the globe.

Here's a great link to the history, a world tour of the art  

and a how-to to growing your own living chair and fence.

Pooktre Tree Shapers

Living fiscus trees... amazing!

The following (also pics #2 & 3) were shaped by Axel Erlandson, one of the most famous Pooktre artists of the 20th century. At one point, in the late 1940's, he had over 55 shaped trees on his grounds in an attraction he called "Tree Circus" The above link is a great look at his life and contribution to the art form.

Ta-da!

As promised, here are the pics of Peter Pan!

I have to say I'm pretty pleased with how he turned out.

Next week, I'm starting TinkerBell for my niece's birthday in April.

And a few from when he was still under construction:

I also thought I'd share a pic of the hilarious cupcakes my sister made 

for my nephew's birthday party!

I sure hope the party-goers remember... Never Smile at a Crocodile...

Have a great weekend everyone :)

When you have a moment, check out Emma's page.
She had her first furry-friend play-date this past weekend.

Of Cats and Cold

Frosty Greetings!

It's a balmy -28C here. Sounds frightfully cold (& it is) but if you're dressed for it and the sun is shining (& it is :) it's really not that bad! I was thinking that this morning as I ran errands, and I'm loving our snow-packed roads as opposed to the treacherous ice we've been tippy-toeing across the past few weeks.

Above is my first give-away(s). I've been keeping my eye open for something for quite some time now and this cute little book jumped out at me this morning, the price was right and I bought two. Twice as nice. They fit in with the whole New-Year's-resolution-losing-weight theme that I'm seeing on so many blogs. Even if you don't have any extra-weight you're trying to lose, it's an adorable read. Cats are infinitely amusing. My only stipulation for this draw is that you are a follower of mine - so if you've been hesitating.... now's your opportunity. I'll announce the winners next Friday. I appreciate people wanting to protect their privacy on the internet, I myself have used a box number when giving out an address for a giveaway - you could also send it to a friends place of work (in another city) - whatever works for you - ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies! So leave me a comment and good luck to everyone!

A few pics I just snapped :)

We're not quite up to our necks yet...!

 * Also, if all goes as planned, I will be sharing pics of Peter Pan on Friday's post... stay tuned...