Hiya againDo I repeat myself when I say that dawn and sunrise are spectacular here? I don't care. It's true.
The community here is vibrant. Almost everywhere I go now I meet someone I know through some other connection. Marvellous!Last Saturday, I attended a workshop on making festive decorations from entirely natural "ingredients". Our tutor was Pip Weaser, who is a true artist in basket making. Sadly, her entry does not do justice to her fabulous creations -- baskets with a difference, baskets that sport a crown of willow catkins, for example, or that "sprout" fir cones. But I digress ever so slightly.
So we were in this absolutely arctic village hall about twenty minutes south of Oban, picking and choosing from a huge selection of twigs and switches and dried flowers and rushes and reeds and branches smooth and prickly, straight and with any number of kinks in them -- amazing.
And this is what came out -- only two of the following pieces are my creation; all the others were devised, crafted, created by my fellow tutees: several women, one man, a handful of extremely well-behaved children. What a pleasure!
Guess what the above represents?
She is the creator not only of the beautifully egg-shaped Madonna, but also of this leggy Rudolph.Some participants took a rather less structured approach:
The object of the season is, of course, the wreath.
As the above "model" shows, the simple ring shape can easily be "exploded". This reminds me of a cornucopia, a symbol of plenty. The next is a kind of "Catherine wheel":
And then there's the more traditional version but again in an original incarnation:
And an almost bridal version, not to be displayed out of doors:
And another take on the beautifully floral theme -- I could almost begin to love hydrangeas...Fishy-wishies wriggled in and out of their pond, another lovely wreath:
Some of the youngsters created reindeer from several strips of orange willow. Sadly, the reindeer all made their escape before I had time to record them for the general public.Stars, of course, also came to us ...
... in the guise of a comet (above), a wild and woolly star, ...
... and a starburst:
And because this is the season of long nights, people light them up in all manner of ways. I have yet to explore the umpteen spectacular (kitsch?) displays of fairy-light-strewn gardens and buildings but here's one of the much-loved trees in town:
Yes, the fuzziness is deliberate; the nearly full moon was an extra bonus. :)Peace -- the world needs it more than ever.
PS: Just because I scarcely mention it, I don't live in ignorance of what's been happening in the world...
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