Autumn and The Harvest Moon come to Frogbirds Farm!

The Black Gum Announces the beginning of Fall.

Two weeks ago yesterday was the first day of Autumn at Frogbirds Farm and the day was just beautiful. Temp's were the 70's, the sky a beautiful blue and there was a lovely breeze. I was sitting on the deck and of to the left is a small Black Gum tree at least in my attempts to label it that is what it seems to be. It is the first tree on the farm to start to turn color in the fall. From what I read often Black Gums have leaves of red and orange but sometimes as with this one the leaves glow with a brilliant yellow with the lightest touches of red or orange.

The Oak Applauds the News! 

This year of course after the brutal summer the color of our Black Gum may not be as brilliant, but as usual it is still the first to announce the start of autumn. One of the larger Oaks, standing closer to the woods, echos its color on a couple of its limbs as if to applaud the announcement of the smaller tree.

The cooler weather and promise of rain (we had around 4 inches in the last several weeks) and the promise of snow gives hope to the trees of Frogbirds Farm.

The Black Gum in Full Color.

Last week the Black Gum was in full color and this week more trees are sporting the colors of fall brightly standing out amongst the occasional evergreen. We can hear the crows calling in the crisp Autumn breezes.

I am happy to see fall come and glad to see the relief it is bringing to Frogbird's Farm and all that lives here. We have hope that the pond, which is so important to the wildlife, will replenish to it normal levels.

This winter we will start the planning for next years garden and I will sit in the warm glow of candle light and hope the Tree of Life will bring a better year for all the flora and fauna of Frogbird Farm and for all the earth.

The Harvest Moon rises over Crow Cemetery.

As we drove down the road last Saturday evening we saw the Harvest Moon rising over Crow Cemetery. It was beautiful and Kelly stopped the car to take a picture.

As I sat in the quite magical light I thought about the circle of life and how...The rebirth begins with Autumn. 

The Baroque Crow is calling at Frogbirds House.

The Tree of Life brings renewal.

Amanda and Frogbird, wherever he is:-)

The Last Hummingbird of Summer

At the edge of the woods.

It was a cold crisp morning at Frogbirds Farm. Kelly was in the shop, I was on my way to the pond with some food for the catfish and Aspen as usual was investigating the morning and all its wonders. She had already been down to the woods and back and the deer were feeding on the edge of the woods.

Female Rubythroat Hummingbird

As I walked by the shop I heard the chirp of a humming bird and mentioned it to Kelly. He said he had heard it as well. I started back toward the pond when the chirp became a cry and when I turned I saw that Aspen had found something on the ground. She wasn't hurting what ever it was it she was just curious.  Kelly rushed over and discovered she had found a hummingbird. A little rubythroat female lying on the ground. He picked her up and she did not seem to be hurt but he said he could feel its heart beating very fast and she looked very cold and hungry and a little shocked to be in such a spot.

While Kelly held her I ran to my work desk in the basement to look for an eye dropper. Finding one I went back outside to the feeder and filled the eyedropper. I always keep one feeder filled late into September for the last of the travelers on their way to Mexico. She drank a little food from the eyedropper. Aspen tried to jump on Kelly's lap to see what it was going on but Kelly told her "No, Get Down!". She got down and went of as if to say "Oh all right, there are other things for me to find."

"There are other things for me to find."

I moved a chair into some sunlight and Kelly transferred the little hummingbird to me, so he could finish his work, but he came back often to check on us as we sat in the sun and she continued to feed out of the eyedropper. She tried to fly a couple of times but fell to the ground. She moved up my arm and nested in the crook of my elbow, keeping warm in my jacket sleeve. I was not sure if she would make it but at least if she didn't it would not end on the cold wet ground.

Figuring she was still cold, I moved the chair into complete sunlight and held her in my open palm.  The rays of the sun fell on her back and warming her. I hoped she would soon feel strong enough to continue her trip.  I could finally feel her getting stronger as she continued to feed. She drank with her little tongue lapping up the nectar. She tried to fly again and once again fell to the ground, but at least this time she landed right side up. I could tell she was feeling much stronger and warmer and at last she was able to sit up, with wings neatly folded. All of a sudden she took off like a shot, flying to the road then she soared to the sky. I called to Kelly but it was to late she was gone. It was so wonderful to see! I know she may not make it, it is after all a long way to Mexico but at least she got another chance. I hope she makes it.

Throughout all this we where so focused on helping our little friend get back in the air, neither Kelly or I thought to take her picture. I don't think we will need a picture to remember her by but I am sorry I don't have have a photo to share.

See you next Spring!

When fall comes our little hummingbird friends, who have given us so much joy through out the summer, have a long and dangerous trip to Mexico. Kelly and I felt good today, because we helped one along their way. On first seeing these little jewels of the garden, these beautiful little birds, they seem so delicate but indeed are very strong and brave. I will keep them in my thoughts, wish them a safe trip and look forward to their return in the spring.



Amanda and Frogbird, wherever he is:-)

Have A Safe Halloween

School has started and Halloween is not far behind. With that in mind we should start thinking about making this Halloween safe. For our children and yes even for those of us who are still kids at heart and love the chance to dress up and go to a party, take the kids out for Trick Or Treat, or just stay home and hand out candy.

There is much posted about Halloween safety on the internet including, reflective tape on costumes, of course go with smaller children and teach older children the safety rules for a save Trick or Treat. You can find lots of ideas for a safe Halloween with a simple Google search. Here is the link to the CDC, one of many sites with ideas for a Safe Halloween.

You may notice the last item in their Safe Halloween List is: "Never walk near lit candles or luminaries. Be sure to wear flame-resistant costumes".

We all love candles especially on Halloween, so what can you do to keep everyone safe? Here are some stats and ideas about Candle Safety from Fema.

It is a good idea to have flame-resistant costumes but not always possible. One way to be safe is take the flame out of the holiday. This is important for children and adults. Using LED Flameless candles is one of the best ways to have the beauty of candlelight without the worry about the hazards of a flame. If you have a pumpkin to display, are using luminaries or lighting your decorations inside or outside your home, why not light them with LED Flameless candles, tea lights or votives. Turn them on at dusk and forget them. The wind won't blow them out, you will not have to worry about something or someone catching fire.  If you want to create some special effects with your lighting, you can even use a little colored cellophane for your LED tea light to shine through. The only thing you will want to keep in mind is that the smaller LED candles and Tea lights often use button batteries so be sure to handle and dispose of them properly. You can find out more online or read Button Battery Safety.

Handle and store them safely.

I like to have candles all around the room, in the windows and at the door when I am handing out candy. Like most of you I also like real candles, but Halloween may not be the best time to use them. Candles can be a fire hazard if they are close to curtains or Halloween decorations and with all the excitement it is not easy to watch all the candles and the the kids. The last thing I would want to do is have a candle cause harm to my home, my family,  or to anyone visiting my home so I decorate with LED's candles. You can find all shapes and sizes, with timers and without, some even have remotes. Learn more about LED flameless candles on this site Flamless Candles 101.

Flameless Candles 101

Again, when you use LED flameless candles it is all about using your imagination. Put them in a cool setting to light up your decorations, or make them into decorations. Use a candle wrap from The House of Frogbird  to create your candle decorations or for your children to carry with them Trick or Treating to help them be seen and stay safe.  

Halloween at Frogbirds House is for the kid in all of us!

Make it Fun, Keep it Safe and Have a Happy Halloween!!!

Amanda and Frogbird, wherever he is:-)

Make Your Meditation Child’s Play.

Remembering the Clouds of my Childhood.

Remember the clouds when you where young? The kind you saw when you lay out in the yard and looked up. The ones you made a game of with a friend finding shapes in them, faces, places, cartoon animals and even mythical creatures. Your mom call out to you, “ If you lay in the grass you’ll get chigger bites”, but you didn’t care because the world was a magical place and you didn’t want to miss a minute of it. What if a really great cloud came by and you missed it? Oh no, you had to live life and you relished every minute of it, chiggers or not. This was a child’s form of meditation. I think, as adults, what might be missing in our lives is the joy we found on those lazy days of childhood.

This weekend the weather finally turned cool enough to really enjoy everything the earth has to offer. I was sitting on the deck out at Frogbirds Farm enjoying the day. Everything was perfect. Temperatures were in the mid 70°. There was a beautiful blue sky, a lovely breeze, a sun that warmed without making you hot and just enough high clouds to make it interesting. A little humming bird probably on his way to Mexico, stopped by my table and tried to take a drink out of the straw in my cup. He then chirped “good by” and headed south.

Flying Home to Mexico

Many of us try to fit meditation or yoga into our busy lives. It is good for you but I think some times we might just be working at it a little to hard. Don't let it become a chore.  Remember your childhood and the ease at which you found yourself falling onto the grass, looking up at the clouds, laughing with a friend and loving the earth. It wasn’t something you planned, it just happened.  It can still happen if you just let it and it is time very well spent.

Om, Aum, Ohm, a holy meditation symbol.

We stay very busy on Frogbirds Farm but, I always find a little time to stop and look at the clouds. I sit in my chair, (getting down in the grass is not a problem, these days it is the getting up;-), I watch the clouds, and listened to the leaves on the trees making soft music with the frogs, birds and insects singing along. It makes me think of those simpler times and those wonderful childhood games.

When evening comes to Frogbirds Farm, we go in for the day and when a candle lights up one of my favorite candle wraps I stop for a bit to watch and enjoy the light and let its beauty wash over me. It is a form of meditation I just let it happen. It brings me peace.

Always remember, take the time to watch the clouds. It's child's play.

Amanda and Frogbird, wherever he is:-)

Tree of Life on Frogbirds Farm.

High water line for Frogbirds Pond.

We were in the city this week when a storm moved through the area. We have had a serious drought and heat wave this summer. You could see all the trees suffer, their leaves curled against the hot dry weather, and often turning brown and dropping. The pond level, here on Frogbirds farm, has dropped over a foot and I think some of the older catfish have died in the over heated water. This last storm did bring some needed rain but as often happens you take the bad with the good.



As we got closer to Frogbirds farm we wondered what damage might have been done. It was dark as we came up the drive but our headlight revealed a sad site.  There had been very strong straight line winds in the area and one of the twin Oaks that stood by the shop was down. Snapped in half about 12 ft. from the ground.

These two trees had grown up together and although almost 4.5 ft. in circumference they where still relatively young as Oak trees go. The one left standing and untouched stood as a quiet sentinel by its broken sibling.

The Twin Oaks: One will stand alone.

In the morning, I went out to take a closer look at the storm damage. We had a glider that had stood down by the pond blown into a couple of pieces and some limbs on several other trees broken, but the one Oak broken in half was heart wrenching. I walked over to the two trees. Touching the tree left standing, I could almost feel it shudder. I thought of these two trees weathering storms together through out the years, bending and swaying, protecting each other, until this storm with its treacherous wind tore between them, sadly leaving one to stand alone.

We will have to finish the work the storm did, taking down the remaining stump and clean up the mess but first Kelly had to do some repair on the roof. We had a leak and he had planned to fix it this weekend since the storm left it cool enough for him to get on the roof. Our home will continue to shelter us, but the broken oak, home for so many creatures on the farm, will take years to replace.

Seeing this sad site made me think of the ravages the weather has brought to the earth this year. In this country alone we have seen record setting drought, horrific fires and flooding rains. Our friends the trees have had to stand against all these disasters, sometimes not surviving.

My heart breaks to see so much damage to the lives and homes of my fellow man.  I also grieve for the trees as I see them struggle through drought, flood and fire, these giants of life who have sheltered us, warmed us, fed us and given us the very air we breath. We are connected to them all and they are all connected to each other and to us.

Struggling against the drought.

For all the trees I ask you to do this...

Be thankful and take care of all the blessings given to us by our Mother Earth. When you plant a tree, see a seed spring to life or witness a tree die, take a moment to thank it and all its family for everything they have given.

Light a candle, bow or lift your head, depending on your chosen faith, acknowledge the trees life and always remember it’s name, for all trees are called “Tree of Life”.

I lit a Candle and remembered it's name.

 Light a Candle and Remember their names,

Amanda and Frogbird, wherever he is:-)

Wrens in Frogbirds House and How He Got His Name!

Frogbirds House will always be Frogbirds House and for those who do not know how it got its name here is the story.

Several years ago I was given a wren house by my stepfather and I brought it out to the farm so I could hang it up. I took it outside to hang but got busy I set it on the deck rail and thought I would come back out and hang it later. Several days later I came out to hang the little house but as I walked toward it I noticed a little face. As I got closer I realized it was a little gray tree frog. I came in and told Kelly, my husband, that we had a little Frogbird living in the birdhouse and his new name stuck.

Frogbird in his Birdhouse.

I didn't have the heart to move Frogbird out of his new home so there he stayed for almost 2 years. After all, finders keepers and anyway I felt he should be commended on taking the opportunity of making the little birdhouse his home. When I wanted a name for my Etsy Shop I named it The House of Frogbird in his honor of this industrious little frog.

Last year Frogbird moved out of his home and I like to think he went on to bigger and better things. We miss him and the little bird house is still called Frogbirds House. Kelly hung up the house for me and this spring the wrens moved in to raise a family.

We have really enjoyed watching the wrens darting in and out of their home feeding their family and warning the cat not to get to close. Wrens are small but scrappy. This weekend we let Aspen, our cat, out to spend time in her garden. I noticed the wrens where really yelling at her when Kelly pointed to a little baby bird. Sure enough it was one of their babies. Kelly got a glove and carefully picked it up and put it back in Frogbirds House. I finished my work in the garden watching but I could not see any signs of Mom and Dad but ever so often I heard the little one calling to them. I had to take some kitchen scraps to the compost and heard Mom and Dad calling back from the near by wood.

Baby Wren ready to fly.

Kelly and I where going to a Steeldrivers Concert so I told the little guy to keep calling and his parents would come to get him and Aspen and I went in so I could take a shower.

Aspen Sky Dancer

I was getting out of the shower when I heard the wrens outside calling to their baby. I barely had time to get this shot before they all flew into the garden. I brought our cat, Aspen, in to give them time to get the little guy to the safety of the woods.

Update: We now have a second family of wren in Frogbirds house. It is on the north side of the house so it has been a great place to raise a family is the dreadful heat.

Feeding family number two Summer 2012.

Out on the farm we love all the wildlife and all the seasons bring something new. I also like to bring the outside in and to brighten my evenings I can put a LED candle on timer and fall asleep with the flicker of light and a little farmland friend.

Frog and Water Lily

Humming Bird Garden

LED candles with Frogbird wraps make great nightlight in a child's room or for anyone who enjoys a soft light to fall asleep to.












Good Night, Happy Dreams:-)

Amanda and Frogbird, wherever he is:-) 

Hurry Spring Along!

Candle and Wrap from The House of Frogbird

I would like to dedicate this post to my Mother. She passed away last year at the age of 92 and this spring, while I was out cleaning last years flowers from a flower bed, I thought of her and how she was always creating flower arrangements from what ever she would find in her yard. It is something she learned to do during the depression years. During those hard times, there would not be money to buy flowers for your table even if you wanted to, so you learned to use what you had.

Many of us with parents from the depression era have heard the stories of making do and yes, sometimes we have been known to roll our eyes. We can, however, learn from these stories, taking the best from them to use today. It is not only thrifty it is fun. Get the kids involved! Make finding things for your arrangement a treasure hunt and learning experience, and while you are at it you get the yard cleaned up for Spring.

I often leave the last flowers from fall in the garden to protect the early spring flowers as they come up and to give the birds a little treat of flower seeds. One of my cherished spring pleasures is to clean out the flower beds and see life begin again. With a little imagination and just a few things of our favorite things from the yard we can make beautiful arrangements for our homes through out the year.

This spring arrangement was inspired by my Celtic Moon Wolf candle wrap. It make me think of a spring meadow. When you see the wild flowers of spring they are often surrounded by the old plant stuff from last years growth.

I started by cutting some branches and old flower buds from my Lavender, a few coneflower pods and yes even some pieces from last falls Mums. A little tip:You can spray your dried cuttings with cheap hair spray ( Not pump and the cheaper the better ) to help keep them from shattering. I didn’t have any early flowers blooming yet so I used a store bought (50% off on sale) bush of spring silk flowers which I cut up to tuck into a basket (a basket from my kitchen) along with my yard clippings and added a flameless candle and candle wrap to finish my spring meadow arrangement.

Gather your dried clippings together and clip apart your the silk flowers.

 

 

This is one place a flameless candle is nice because you don’t have to worry about any of your dry plant pieces or your basket catching fire. And depending on what you have in your yard and the kind of flameless candle you use, the arrangements are endless. You could even make a jar candle using a jar rescued from recycling and a flameless tea-light. 

To make, one see:  Flameless Tea-lights and Votives and Button Battery Safety.

 

In a few short weeks I will have the flowers of Spring blooming in my garden and can make arrangements with them but for now this is a great way to hurry Spring along!

Notice the one candle arrangement above is made with a glass vase, some potpourri and a flameless votive. I will give you some ideas and tips on using a wrap this way in the next part of this series.

Come back again and visit.

You will find all my candle wraps in my Etsy shop, The House of Frogbird.

Amanda and Frogbird, wherever he is:-) 

Flameless Tea-lights and Votives and Button Battery Safety

I talked about all the different kind of Flameless Candles in Flameless Candles 101 . Two types where Tea-light and Votive candles. These candles are easy to find at your local craft or discount stores, they use button batteries, are small enough to use in lots of different ways and are inexpensive. They don’t usually have timers so you will need to turn them on and off manually but they have a cheery little light that with a little imagination and often times just a few things around the house will make a lovely decoration for your home.

Snow Wolf Candle Wrap

There are rechargeable tea-light candles but most of us use the button battery type so that is what I will talk about.

Most flameless tea-light and votive candles use Lithium button batteries. These batteries are found in many household items including toys and if you are a parent or have children or pets in your home you should always take special precautions with button batteries and the items that use them. These batteries are small and could easily be swallowed and could make a child very sick and in rare cases even cause death. You wouldn’t leave matches or lighters in the reach of children so lets make sure we keep button batteries out of their reach.

The button batteries used in my candles are number CR2032 always read the packaging and follow any safety instructions. Now for some extra tips on how to keep your family and pets and the earth safe. Always keep new batteries in the packing until you are ready to use them and wash your hands after handling them. I use two old child proof medicine bottles to store my button batteries, one for the new unused batteries and one for the used ones. I made labels with the Mr. Yuk sticker . If you would learn more about Mr. Yuk like to get free Mr. Yuk stickers go to http://www.homesafe.com/blog/2009/04/20/free-mr-yuk-stickers/ .

Use Child proof bottles to store Button Batteries.

I mark old batteries with an X.

Look for candles with screws on cover to keep it closed.

Keep your battery bottles in the top shelf of a cupboard or closet. When you need to change a battery in one of your candles take down both bottles and put the used battery ( I mark them with an X)  in its bottle and get out the new one and put it in your candle and put the two bottles away. Keep all your old button batteries in this bottle and Recycled them to keep the earth safe. Never throwing them in the trash! To recycle them, at no charge, you can take them to a Batteries Plus store near you.When it is time to recycle you can put the "Old Batteries Bottle" in your purse and drop them off at Batteries Plus. Go to...http://www.batteriesplus.com/ and find a store near you.

Now for some extra tips. These candles are small and many have battery compartments covers that come off easily or might pop off if dropped. I recommend you look for tea-lights that have a little screw on the battery compartment cover. It is a little more trouble to change the batteries but it is much safer. Keep a small screw driver in your New Battery container so it is handy. For candles that don’t have a screw on the cover it is recommended that you put a strong tape over the cover.

Snow Wolf Candle Wrap

So now lets make our first project with a Flameless Tea-Light. Not only is it pretty it will add an extra amount layer of protection keeping the button battery out of little hands.


This jar candle is made from a recycled jar out of my kitchen, a scrap of organza and netting, a tea-light candle, a plate or decorative holder, a pine cone pick and some larger pieces of potpourris and a House of Frogbird candle wrap. These wraps are made to tie onto 6” flameless candles but can also be used in many other ways.






Cut a piece of organza and netting to a size that when the corners are brought together it will fit down into the bottom of your jar with the top corners reaching to the top of the jar. I used organza and netting but you can try any see through fabric scraps you have. The idea is to soften the light of the candle and hide the ribbon in the back. You could even use tissue paper. Try different things and use what you like. Turn on the tea light place it in the center of the fabric and lower it into the jar. To turn off the candle you can easily remove the candle lifting it up using the fabric corners.

My lid had a label on it and I wanted  to dress it up so I added a pine cone pick with the stem cut off. If your lid is not very pretty you could paint it or cover it with fabric. Have fun and use what you have and your imagination.

Light the candle and move it to the jar.

 

You can change the candle wrap and use a different holder for a whole new decoration.

 

I hope this inspired you and please come back for more ideas to flameless candle light to your home. To find the candle wraps I used in this project and many others go to...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/FrogBirdsHouse

Amanda and Frogbird, wherever he is:-)  

Flameless Candles 101

In the next few weeks we will be learning all about flameless candles and creative ways to use them. This week we will start with Flameless Candles 101.

There are many reasons to use flameless candles. I will try to hit on some of the main ones.

For many people the fact that there is no risk for fire with a flameless candle is one of the first things that come to mind. It is true they can be placed anywhere without fear of setting something on fire and for this reason they are much safer than regular candles. If you have small children and/or pets they will not burn themselves or catch something on fire if they should knock over a flameless candle. Flameless candles can make a great nightlight for children and since they don't need to be plugged in you can put them anywhere in the room. They are also a much safer alternative for older people or people in nursing homes and once again make a great nightlight for that middle of the night trip to the bathroom.

Flameless candles are cleaner because they are soot-less and have no emissions they do not cause problems for people with health issues or do not cause a fire hazard for those who use oxygen.

Flameless candles have a soft romantic light for a romantic evening and can also be handy to have around if your lights should go out. They are great to decorate with and when you use an embroidered candle wrap you can use the same candle though many seasons by just changing the wrap. If you burn a regular candle soon the candle is gone and they are just as expensive as flameless candles. A flameless LED candle will last a lot longer than a flame burning candle and when it finally dies you can move your embroidered candle wrap to a new flameless candle.

How many types of flameless candles are there? The list of colors and styles seems to be endless and as flameless candles become more popular the list is growing. You can get everything from tapers to tea lights, scented to unscented, and with timers and remotes to manual on and off switches. You can buy them at department stores, discount stores, craft and hobby shops and even find them online. They come in many price ranges so decide where you want to use them and get the candles that best suit your needs.

 

There are many sizes and styles of flameless candles. These are just a few.

How long do flameless candles last? Depending on the type of candle and the batteries it uses a flameless candle can last anywhere from 100 to 800 hours on a battery change. Make sure you get the ones with LED lights and you should get thousands of hours of light. So the first time your candle starts to get dim you probably just need to change the batteries.
.

A simple battery change and the candle
is glowing beautifully again.

The candle in the red holder is dim, indicating
that the batteries are expiring.

Do all flameless candles glow the same? No. You can see from the photo at the beginning of this article that some glow more from the top and some seem to glow from inside the candle. It is really a personal preference as to the style of candle you use and although the candles that glow from the inside will illuminate your embroidered candle wrap more completely any wrap will be a beautiful addition to any style of flameless candle. We will also discuss later in this series of articles many different ways to use your wraps and different lighting effects. With a little imagination the possibilities are almost endless.

How will you know when buying a flameless candle if it will glow through the whole candle or just the top few inches. Take a look at how it is made. Most of the time if you look at the top you will get an idea. Some candles have the LED's at the top of the candle and then the light will probably only glow through the top couple of inches.  Some candles have the LED's inside the candle and just a wick can be seen from the top. These will probably glow through the center of the candle. And of course your flameless tea lights usually have the light at the top and are meant to light the space around them. So is there a right or wrong kind of flameless candle? No, it really just depends on what you like.

You can see the difference in the candles and the light they give off.

So in closing we can say some of the best reasons for using flameless candles is cleanliness, safety, and versatility. And when you use your House of Frogbird candle wrap along with your flameless candle you have a winning combination. That is it for now but watch in the weeks to come for more Flameless Candle workshops and you will see many different ways to use your flameless candles and candle wraps. To see the candle wraps go to my Etsy shop at:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/FrogBirdsHouse

Good by for now,

Amanda and Frogbird, wherever he is:-)

Welcome to The House of Frogbird.

Welcome to my beautiful new blog!  I'm so excited to share my craft projects and other meanderings with you. For those of you who have not been to my Etsy shop or Facebook page you may be wondering who or what is Frogbird.  Frogbird is a frog that lives in a birdhouse on our deck in the country, I'll tell you more about him later, but suffice to say, he's not coming outside today! Indeed I think he has found a winter home. Tonight is a night filled with magic. It is my first snowfall of the season!

The weather man said it will be very windy, cold and yes even snow starting tonight at midnight. I am in the city for the week and had to get some last minute things done before heading for home. As I finished up my wanderings my way was lit by the beautiful, slightly waning Moon. As it hung in the sky, its light bravely throwing off the first clouds of the impending storm, I thought of my new winter candle wraps, especially the Winter Wolf wrap came to mind. 

The wolf is standing in a cold star filled winter night calling to the Moon as if to say "If you must go then don't be gone long for I need your light to make my way in the night".  So tonight, as I sit writing, I have my Flameless Candle with the Winter Wolf wrap lighting a corner of my room and I can almost hear him call. Later in the night he will hurry off to find shelter from the storm and I will fall to sleep with the winter winds bringing the first snow of winter into my dreams.

Flameless Candle and Winter Wolf Candle Wrap  See this wrap and more at Frogbirdshouse

As I sleep I will dream of the snow to come and if I am lucky I will see the Snow Fairies at their work. When it is very cold and windy the snowflakes are like lace and swirl wildly in the wind. Icy crystal's sparkle as the Snow Fairies churn them together with the snowflakes in a winter dance.

The Snow Fairy Snowflake candle wrap and Flameless Candle in its dreamlike colors makes me think of the cold icy snows of the dead of winter which are so different from the heavy snows of the late fall and early spring. But with the light from the Flamesless Candle shining through the wrap I am warmed with the thought that the cold snows winter bring us the warm glow of spring in the months to come.

Flameless Candle and Snow Fairy Snowflakes Candle Wrap  See this wrap and more at Frogbirdshouse

It is almost midnight, the Moon is hidden behind the clouds and the wind is starting to howl. Tomorrow is another day for sewing the threads of winter.

Good Night,

Amanda and Frogbird, wherever he is:-)