Pansies and Pop-Ups!

Arriving at The Center, late afternoon on Friday, these pansies were on our dressers to greet us. It was the weekend for the Spring Folkcraft Retreat. It was sunny and nice, so we gathered on the deck off the fireside room before dinner.

This beautiful and absolutely yummy salad started each of us off for dinner. Freshly picked from the garden at The Center was fresh asparagus, sorrell and, oh dear, one more green that I have forgotten the name of. Will have to fill in later... Lovage! That's what it is. Wonderful stuff!

After dinner we were on to learning to make pop-up cards, with Lois H for our teacher.

Here was our first design, designed by Lois, which we painted and then cut. It featured a pop-up in the middle. To the left, a door that opened to reveal a curly pop-out worm and on the right, a pull-down tab at the bottom which revealed a lady bug in the center of the bush.

Our second one involved much cutting for all the pop-out boxes that these flowers are glued onto. Then we cut out the flowers, stems and leaves out of colored cardstock to decorate. What fun! Later that evening we roasted marshmallows by the fireplace outdoors and had Smores and tea.

Next morning I looked out my window to the woods colored with bluebells and daffodills. What a nice view to wake up to!

After breakfast we were busy again, pressing pansies to put on the glass candleholders we were making. My "Microfleur" worked well.

Here's Lori gluing her posies onto her glass holder.

A walk amidst the wildflowers was next on the agenda before lunch. Just look at the baby mayapple!

And here is the hickory tree I was looking at on Thursday. Amazing to see what was inside of that big bud!

Trout lily.

Scilla

The Song of the Scilla Fairy

"Scilla, Scilla, tell me true,

Why are you so very blue?"

Oh, I really cannot say

Why I'm made this lovely way!

I might know, if I were wise,

Yet - I've heard of seas and skies,

Where the blue is deeper far

Than our skies of Springtime are.

P'r'aps I'm here to let you see

What that Summer blue will be.

When you see it, think of me!

from "The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies" by Cicely Mary Barker

and past the chapel...

into the chapel garden...

and the Herb Cottage with it's path lined with bluebells.

And again in the woods, trillium.

Wild violets.

It's so much fun to see and recognize the wildflowers of Spring!

The afternoon was the time for basket-making. A basket to take our pansies home in. Here's Lois L showing us how we will begin the bottom of the basket.

Okay, I'm started!

Lori going along good and getting to the top row!

Lois too!

Mary Ann added in a row of green which looks very pretty!

Linda says "it's like a miracle"! And it truly was.

Lois finishing hers and helping us decide on colors to trim it. You got us through it, Lois!

All dressed up and ready to go!

Some finished off with cutting their tops like little picket fences and I am waiting to add a "finished" top to mine.

It holds my pansies to go home and I love it. When I do that last finishing step, I will show you. But it was time to go home and we had our tea and our good-byes. A wonderful time, as always.