Sunday, December 6, 2009

Andrew and Lisa: The Branch-Stealers

We are stealthy, branch stealing bandits, Andrew and I. We woke up this morning to the first real snow of the winter and my first thought was "Perfect!! It'll make AWESOME pictures". So I made Andrew hurry so we could go out before it turned to rain (it never did), we bundled up and hopped in the car to the park (so green, I know).

My plan: stealth out, "borrow" VERY gently a few stray branches, take a few pictures along with some yoga moves and stealth back.

What actually happened: It was windy. And snowy. Did I say windy?? Sigh- when does it EVER snow here without wind? I should have known. The first five seconds were exciting... until my toes got wet from the slush-puddles. Since we both have extremely poor sense of direction (I think I need a GPS stuck to my head at all times) we initially wanted to just go on the main path until I saw something suitable. (on the search, prepared with french-pressed coffee)


The downside to that was that there actually were some people out in the park that day other than us. Crazy people walking their dogs and running in the ridiculous wind-snow-rain-slush storm. Inhibiting our branch-activities.


So we cautiously stepped onto a more secluded path and just when Andrew had started to use "that" voice (me: "not yet, there's a lady coming down with her dog, I don't want her to think we're cutting branches!") I saw some branches under a tree that were.... ALREADY CUT. (I am jumpin' in, no hesitation, must-have-branches!!)


It was a sign. Definitely. I mean, we weren't even harming any trees for our branches, perfectly sustainable! (me with our spoils- YES)


So, I hauled together a huge armful and dragged them back to the car. The wind was so strong that it pulled my branches back... and me with them. By the time we got to the car there were no more thoughts of "tree pose" or warriors in the snow. All I cared about was the nice warm car (and a few people looking at us strangely with our loot).

They were slightly wet when we arrived at home, but a quick "mat" from a blue recycling bag and an hour to dry off later (during which time I went to a local craft fair which was awesome- more like artisan fair), I was ready to decorate.(our dining room table branch-deco complete with inedible cookies)

Armed with oranges, baked cookies that turned out more like rocks but look nice (I guess unbleached flour and sugar cookies don't really go together...), branches and candles I was ready.


I was going to stick to the natural- soy/beeswax candles, coffee beans (in the vase) and oranges, but I did already have some terrible, sparkly purple abominations that I thought should be put to good use. So it's a mix, a sparkly reminder of what we are moving away from in our healthy, community Yule apartment. (a little "sapin" in the bathroom)


Here are my messy, needles everywhere, results. Now our space feels festive and it only cost the trip and experience.

 The book shelf- my "piece de resistance"


Blessings!


article and photos copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

13 comments:

  1. strange about the cookies - usually i find that unbleached flour is a lot better for baking with. it's the only kind of flour i'll use for baking cookies. i find that the bleached four tends to make things smaller/harder/rock-like. but, i guess it could depend on your recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Whaddaya need tree pose for when ya got actually trees (or parts of trees, at least)...

    ReplyDelete
  3. How cool to go surreptiously creating your yule!

    I am trying to figure out how we can do that here.

    Jen

    ReplyDelete
  4. How beautiful! We had our first snow (liberally mixed with rain, of course) here this weekend, too. Red and I harvested our Yule tree yesterday, and we are very pleased. Extra boughs to spare, too! BTW, I loved seeing your bookshelf!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Eek, sure looks cold. We only got a wee bit of snow. I love the decorations you guys made; especially the book shelf, lovely.

    I use unbleached flour in all my baking. And I've never had trouble with sugar cookies.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jen and Vickie: yep it was really weird. perhaps though it had more to do with my having to 'pause' the baking overnight cuz I ran out of sugar, then had to wait for the dough to warm up from being in the fridge... LOL. in any case, I will try again!

    Dr. Jay: hah, I really wanted a winter pic for my blog.... but that was NOT a very photogenic day...

    Vegan: YAY TREE!! I'm glad that you liked the bookshelf... I didn't think that all my fav books are on display!

    Vickie: actually, there's way more snow now than that morning- especially on highway 102 this morning driving to work.... mom also said that all the snow melted away in Argyle... :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. You're so funny and cute - although you make me feel bad about our fake tree :/

    Your house looks really lovely and festive! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. maybe you just left the cookies in the oven too long. some cookies you need to take out while they are still soft, and they will harden up as they cool.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Looks great! I bet it smells so good. It was a cold bugger of a weekend here and today the high is -11 so I think I will put off branch hunting for a while!

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is total awesomeness! I'm so excited for you! I can't wait to go out to the ranch and get myself some juniper branches!!! Yay!

    ReplyDelete
  11. HAHHA you are too funny!
    The branches look great all over your home :) What a great idea - thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  12. You are hilarious! Thanks for the morning chuckle :-)

    ReplyDelete

I love hearing from you! So I don't miss a comment, I like "pre-approving" them :)
I ask only that we stay respectful.
Also, please note that this is a personal blog and not a space for advertising your company. I reserve the right to delete "advertising" comments.

**NB: The ANONYMOUS option is the BEST way to comment if you don't have a blogger or established google/gmail account.
Merci!