A Forest Birthday Celebration

Today is a special day for the forest friends who have come to live with me.  Their creator, Nanou, is celebrating a birthday.  A meringue mushroom feast was made and the story was told over on a new blog dedicated to Nanou's sweet forest friends.  Stop by and meet some of the other forest friends scattered throughout the world.

I think it takes a very special soul to inspire a sense of whimsy in people like Nanou does, and we here under the poplar and pine are feeling lucky indeed to have such an amazing circle of friends.

Happy Birthday Nanou! and a happy day to all of you!

My Forest Friend

I have a new friend and I'd like to introduce you.  This is the Pine Cone Gatherer and he has come all the way from the mountains of France to live with me. 

For those of you that know Nanou, you'll recognize him instantly as one of her fantastic creations, and you may guess how excited I am to have this guy with me.  For those of you that don't know Nanou, where to begin...  Nanou sees magic in the woods and shares it with us in a way that is enchanting and clever and endearing.  She sculpts these friends from sticks, seeing their personalities and faces in knots and twigs.  She gives life to these creations, each and every one of them, through stories and anecdotes and details like scarves and salt cellar hats.  A look through her flickr stream will totally charm you and will change the way you look at fallen twigs, I promise you.

I carefully opened the box from Nanou, and when I pulled back the covers (the Pine Cone Gatherer slept most of his trip), the local squirrels were immediately abuzz.  His reputation had already spread to the States as a master gatherer and they were more than a little nervous about it.  After a quick stretch and a smile, the Pine Cone Gatherer began looking around his new home.

I feared that the language barrier might make things difficult for us, as I don't speak French, but luckily the Pine Cone Gatherer spoke perfect English, in the most lovely French accent.  I could listen to him all day, but he would have none of that.  He set to work almost immediately gathering acorns and mushrooms (amethyst deceivers for me to try dyeing with).   I can tell he'll be very helpful around here.

I guess he needed a little exercise after his long trip (and all that sleeping).  After he gathered for a while, he took a break, I wiped his brow, and we tried on some new hats together.

He was a good sport about it.

Yes, yes, this is nice. 

OK, that's enough now.

Seriously.  Enough.  This is ridiculous.

After he had done his gathering, I found him a bowl of pinecones to rest in for the night. 

I think I see him smiling a little.

Thank you, Nanou, for sharing a bit of your world with me.  I will cherish my forest friend, and you as my friend, always.