Bewitched By A Thicket

As I walked through that messy area a few weeks ago, I hadn't a clue what magical powers the little thicket had. I didn't know it would entice me into spending days cleaning it. I didn't know I would be lured to its shade to collect the twigs to make an arbor. I certainly did not see myself decorating that sweet thicket with a wreath. A wreath no less.

But that is, in fact, what I did. You see the thicket gave me all the stuff with which to fashion the wreath. It provided the wire frame, the vines, the red electrical wire, the bracket to hang it up, even the dried flowers. Actually, the story of the dried flowers is an interesting one.

These flowers were a gift from Karen. I had met Karen a few days before as she walked into the thicket. We got to talking and soon discovered we share a few things in common, not the least of which is blogging.

Yep, as it happens, she is the lovely blogger behind Kingston Cam, a blog in which, through the art of photography, she discovers and discusses the beauty and uniqueness of Eastern Ontario and the Kingston area.

Then, a few days later, this collection of beautiful dried flowers materializes in the thicket in a cardboard box, a gift from Kingston Cam Karen with which to decorate the thicket.

So you see, no matter how obsessive you may think me, a wreath was inevitable.

This little thicket has a way of making things happen.

♥M

Older installments in the story of The Thicket: The Dump, A Clean Thicket, A Twig Arbor

A Twig Arbor for The Thicket

Before I came along, people used The Thicket as a dumping ground for everything from their old lawnmowers to broken windows to every imaginable type of yard waste. Lucky for me (and them), they also left me a veritable wealth of twigs to play with.

So, to welcome them to the new-and-improved thicket, I made them an entrance way. I took all their twigs, and sticks, and branches and made them this pretty arbor with matching twig hedges.

I wonder what they'll leave the next time they pay a visit...

♥M

Older installments in the story of The Thicket: The Dump, A Clean Thicket.

A Clean Thicket

I did it. I cleaned the trashy thicket. Unbelievably, the teensy area choked under a barrow full of metal waste, some random bits of lumber, and 9 large bags worth of trash. Over the last week, amid the glare of passersby, I cleaned that place spit-spot. You should see it. It is a sight. (I promise photos later.)

Am I pleased? What a question. I am beyond pleased. I may be overstating this slightly, but the whole experience was a revelation. I learned things. Like the fact that freeing nature from that tangled mass of human-made refuse made me feel so good. SO needed. Yes, I picked garbage for a whole bloody week. For one week, I was the crazy garbage lady. But when that week was up, a bluejay alit beside me in the thicket. Like, right there. Close enough that if I took one small step I could touch it. Do you know how blue a bluejay is? Well this one was like the clearest sky. It was a thank you from the heavens to this crazy little garbage lady. And I won't soon forget it.

♥M

P.S. A huge thank you to Lo and The Boy for their help taking the trash to the pick-up location. Love you guys.