Tag: Cecil Frances Alexander

Impromptu Purchase

I had a short time between appointments last week, so I decided to tuck into a gift shop in downtown Northfield. There were fall items on sale, but a large part of the store was already decked out for Christmas. I wasn’t planning to buy anything.

A 5″ x 6″ Wooden Plaque: Primitives by Kathy ~ Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

But, the moment I saw this painting on a wooden block, I knew I wanted it. It was a totally impromptu purchase, which I rarely do, but I loved the image and the joy it brought to me. Maybe it’s because I had been out to helping on the farm earlier this week; feeding two horses, two donkeys, two goats, two Nigerian Dwarf goats, two sheep (they’re new), eight chickens and four cats. I have grown fond of these beautiful creatures.

Most of the farm animals I work with are represented on this picture plaque. The horse, donkey, sheep, goats, and rooster are so familiar to me. The picture made me feel happy and joyful, and worshipful even. I loved to see the animals gathered around the manger, worshiping baby Jesus. Although it is a Christmas scene, I plan to keep it up all year long. 

And on that a farm…ee-i-ee-i-o

Later that same day I was driving to an art exhibit and passed a farm. “And on that farm” was a row of sheep that caught my attention. Several sheep were all lined up along a long wooden fence, with their heads hanging through the first horizontal rail. All their heads were lowered…they looked to be eating something off the ground. And then I noticed one, big brown (black?) sheep (or possibly a goat) facing the others – outside the fence. The whole scene made me smile and I turned the car around to go back and take a picture.

Artist: Julie Fakler – Pet Portraits in acrylic paint & clay.

I went to the art gallery to see one exhibit, and afterward was lured in to another studio with a special exhibit of animals painted on clay, and other mediums. Farm animals seemed to be the theme of my day, so I took more photos. 

Artist: Jule Fakler – Pet Portraits in acrylic paint & clay.
Artist Julie Fakler offers a variety of pictures to choose from on her ‘Pet Portraits” business cards.
She is a local artist in Faribault, MN.

I do love animals. It was a good day.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful, 
The Lord God made them all. 
		                                                            Stanza 1 by Cecil Frances Alexander

Busy Beavers

We were enjoying a hike in our neighboring town of Faribault, on one of the last warm days of fall. The section of trail we were walking along had trees on one side and the Straight River on the other. I was looking toward the river when I noticed what looked like beaver shavings on the base of a very large tree.

Evidence of beavers gnawing on this huge tree.

We stepped off the trail to check it out, and sure enough there was evidence of a beaver, or beavers, gnawing its way around this massive tree. But we wondered, can a beaver really gnaw its way through this huge tree?

This is a photo of Gary hugging the tree. He cannot reach his arms around this large tree the beavers are working on.

Gary couldn’t even put his arms around the tree it was so wide. Was this the work of one busy beaver, or several beavers? 

I do believe if one were so inspired, you could dress for the weather, park yourself at the near-by picnic table, sit quietly, and wait for the beaver to come back to work on this massive endeavor, because it will take some time for any beaver, or a colony of beavers, to fell this tree. 

This size tree seems to be where we usually see beaver markings…
Lots of beaver activity along the Straight River.

Farther along the trail we saw more sightings of beaver activity…only the trees were more reasonably sized. Even so, some nice trees were being leveled. We couldn’t see the dam the beavers must be working on.

This tree is felled but has not been taken away yet…

The animal kingdom is amazing…beavers born with big teeth and flat tails to construct their homes…skunks spraying nasty, unpleasant scent to protect themselves…hummingbirds, the smallest bird, having energy to migrate twice a year spanning up to thousands of miles to stay warm…

An artistic design left behind by beavers…a shapely stump.

“All creatures great and small, the Lord God made them all.”*

All unique. All wonderful. All Amazing.

*From Cecil Frances Alexander’s poem: All Things Bright and Beautiful (1818)