Albert Einstein is quoted as saying "The key to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." I can see this as a truth. I look at magazines and get ideas. I go to my mom's house and I get ideas. I think this is the truth on which Pinterest rides. But, I think my greatest creativity comes from really, really, really NOT wanting to leave my farm.
Today, along with waiting for the new dishwasher to be delivered (yes, my status as dishwasher-fixing hero is greatly diminished having declared the dishwasher "unfixable", and ordering a new one), I wanted to take advantage of the amazingly temperate weather and get the outside of Cowfeathers decorated for Christmas.
Sure, I could have gone to town, and bought a wreath, and roping, and great big colored ornaments. I could've shopped for the ribbon I wanted and the glittery spray paint. And, then I could've created holiday decorations. But...that would mean starting the car.
Thus my deeper well of creativity. It started with the flowerboxes on the mudroom building. I had envisioned green with green and more green. Shining and glowing and green. What I got was a pair of gardening shears, some sticker proof gloves and muck boots and a walk. Branches of pine, cedar with berries, the huge seed pods of trumpet vine, Russian sage, cone-shaped umbels of hydrangea and digging around at the bottom of seasons of rejected Christmas decorations yielded some glittery garlands of frosted fake fruit.
My Christmas present from my parents is a tall, wonderful handcrafted (by Dad) tuteur for my garden. I have it placed in the center of the perennial bed, visible through the doors of the mudroom building, centering the beds from perennial through the kitchen garden. I love it! So, I have wrapped it with white lights for the season.
And then the front of Cowfeathers. It is so pretty, and in an antique-y, 200 year old way, kind of grand. I didn't have a vision for what I wanted. So, I just strode around cutting stuff and before I knew it, I had the urns full of greens. Yew and cedar and holly. Just natural and green. Then, for the front door, a wreath. Hmmm. A walk down the lane in pursuit of grape vine headed me instead to the willow trees, and in a few minutes I had a simple braided willow wreath. Not grand atall, atall.
I added a small stuffed pheasant culled from the fall decorations, and then a plaid ribbon left over from wrapping Christmases past.
The Sunroom tree was treated to my collection of nests gathered from all over Cowfeathers, when ever they fall to the ground. Tiny birds found in various shops over the past few years perch on it's branches and then, because it needed some ornaments, I added goose eggs Huz and Youngest and I blew out last spring and hung them with ribbon.
The main tree will get the traditional family diary of Christmas ornaments. Read like a book of where we've been, who we are, what we love.
And the car remains undriven, I remain happy.
I think they it all looks beautiful! Great job!
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