Cherry blossoms

Building a fairy house

This time of year, we all look forward to cherry blossom time. We have two favorite spots to visit. One, the tidal basin in DC is alsways crowded, but oh so lovely. The other, a quieter spot near our house, where all of the streets of a lovely neighborhood are lined by cherry trees. If you time it right, fairy land is yours, and quiet. Especially lovely just after peak bloom, when the airy pink petal "snow" is falling.
    As the blooms were peaking, I was inspired to dye some cherry blossom merino roving for a couple of special projects. We used cochineal dye extract, and by varying time in the dyepot, we came up with a lovely, perfect cherry blossom palette.  Anya made about 2 dozen cherry blossom fairies, all on her own. Directions came from this book. I wanted to do another tree weaving. We did one in the fall, with my class of first and second graders, from our Waldorf homeschool co-op. (tutorial here)
    I love the tree (mostly done by Anya.. I helped with the trunk. I also strung the warp)  overlooking our tadpoles on the nature table. Cherry blossoms make me so happy, and truly usher in the Spring for us. What says SPRING to you?