Found

In the spirit of Halloween, I am going to share some creepy crawlies and remains. Above are some of my bugs that I've found around the house, and yes that is an enormous black bee. 

Sorry in advance if this is ultra weird but I think there is something quite peaceful and beautiful the following...

Made and Found: Hudson's Bay Company trade blankets

Mom and I visited an Olympia estate sale this weekend, where I picked up two vintage Hudson's Bay Company-style wool trade blankets for a song ($25 each!). Mine were made by the Shuler & Benninghofen Woolen Mills in Hamilton, Ohio. I told Mom that the blankets were probably at least as old as she was, and since Shuler & Benninghofen stopped manufacturing under their label in 1967, even if these blankets were the very last to come from the mill, they're pretty close. She responded with: Hmpf!

Found Nest.

You may remember these pictures from Christine's Instaweek: California Edition 1, I have borrowed them to set the scene for my brief story about how I found a birds nest. It all started at a little park in Burbank...

Overlooking Forest Lawn Cemetery, final resting place of Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, and Walt Disney,

to name a few.

The park also borders the LA River, majestic, no? Anyway the very brief story goes like this; Ben and I took the scooter to this park to eat our Healthy Bites (amazing Mediterranean food), and enjoy the weather. I got to enjoy more than that because on the way to the picnic table I found a abandoned bird's nest!

It was on the ground and there was no sign of its owner. I would never take a nest out of a tree, but if the nest is empty and laying on the ground, then yes, it will become mine. I love it because you can see all sorts of different materials that the bird used to construct it. Little amazing birds.

This little dear now lives on my mantel under a glass canister (you know so the bird lice can't get out), on a pretty plate. Maybe I should set some of my ceramic birds next to it...hmm, I just might.