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BEAVERS AS NEIGHBORS

heidi08 Beaver Art June 18, 2018

Judy Atkinson of Port Moody B.C. passed on this delightful tale from CTV news in Canada of the very best burglar ever! If you didn’t watch it you should’ because this is a delightful and very Canadian story. You will remember Judy as the woman who got her neighbors to care about the beavers in Port Moody and then fought for their safety when a baby was accidentally killed. Well Judy and I have talked a lot over the year, and she and her husband are flying to San Francisco next week to attend the beaver festival.! That’s a journey of 919 miles for a beaver festival. Imagine! Make sure to tell her how amazing she is when you get to meet her in person.

Yesterday a package of these arrived at my house for Ben to sell with his book at the festival. Since I am donating my landlord services I felt justified in peaking. I had to steal one immediately and will pay for it when he gets here. You can obviously see why. If you want to buy one yourself right now now they’re available at her shop on Etsy.

Beaver Lodge Menagerie:

Sarah writes:

Beavers build landscapes. When the sleek rodents dam streams to make their homes, they create wetlands that support dozens of other creatures, including otters, moose, frogs, snakes, sawflies, songbirds, woodpeckers, and baby salmon and steelhead. Trumpeter swans even nest atop beaver lodges, like absurdly beautiful crowns. This watercolor, graphite, and ink illustration was originally commissioned for the book Eager: The Surprising Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, by Ben Goldfarb–a gorgeous read for anyone interested in the connections between living things and living things, and living things and their landscapes.

The print is made on stunningly textured archival paper and just demands to be framed. If you buy it online it is a steal at 35.00. If you buy it in person at the festival they will be slightly cheaper, plus Ben and Sarah are talking about a book/print deal on the day that should make both irresistible.

Mine already is asking to be double textured matted and framed in wide layered barn-wood. Won’t that be stunning? But that’s just me. You’ll want to get your own.

TAKING NOTHING FOR GRANTED

heidi08 Beaver Art June 15, 2018

Yesterday we finished collecting auction items and picked up brochures. Erika’s talented friends at the Walnut creek civic arts clay class were very kind to us and she was pretty nice too. I spent some time making flyers for the items so I thought I’d share.

Adding these to our already received items brings the total to 88, Divided fairly equally between things to do, jewelry, wall art, toys, and household items. The total value of all the items donated tops 4000 dollars. Hopefully we’ll be able to raise half that to keep the home fires burning.

I’ve been saving this link from James Blatter of Noir poetotography in Colorado for a while, and this seems the perfect time to share.

There is a beaver pond on Garfield Creek about 4 miles from my home, three years ago there were no beavers there, they have migrated down the watershed over a course of 12 miles over six-eight years. This year in the pond system they’ve been building at the local spot now has four beavers.

Watching the ecology of this little, I’d say half mile square, area change has been amazing. Where once the water flowed freely and there was very little wildlife there are now an abundance of fish and song birds, a flock of wild turkeys, an abundance of deer, some raccoons and coyotes. Ducks wintered here for the first time the last two years. Just witnessing this has been one of the best experiences of my life.

We know just how you feel, James.

BEAVERS GET THE BEST ARTISTS

heidi08 Beaver Art June 11, 2018

Yesterday was amazing. We met Amy in the park and she was delighted about the space and immediately kicked off her shoes to pace it off. She’s going to start early friday morning just so she gets more than half done the day before, and leave the beavers to finish up while people watch on the day. Amy is exactly like you’d imagine her, friendly, frank, and fun! She was so excited to be helping we were sure we were in a dream and never wanted to wake up.

She even said, gosh there are SO many negative ideas about beavers! Why is that? And told me she had just done some work for a large southern state client who had a huge nature reserve with rivers. Since he was interested in preserving the land and restoring wetlands of course she had asked about beavers – and he said quickly “No! Fish and game told us to kill them right away!”

Apparently they were told that beavers would dam up the streams and prevent OTTERS from getting over the dam.

Amy had the good sense to be shocked by this and was now joyful to be part of an event that celebrated beavers instead of lying about them!

Later in the day April and Alana Ludlow dropped off the sandwich chalk boards they had helped design over the weekend. The boards will be in a sign near Amy to explain what she’s working on during the festival. Didn’t they do a great job?

In case you don’t recognize them, here’s a much younger reminder four years ago after they had seen the Nature Documentary by Jari Osbourne.

CHALK IT UP TO EXPERIENCE

heidi08 Beaver Art, Beavers June 10, 2018

A friend shared this on facebook yesterday and I just had to pass it on. Leo Leckie is a wolf tracker, writer and guide in Yellowstone. Apparently he is also very patient, because you don’t get to see this very often.

Our morning was enriched as we watched this Yellowstone beaver gather willow branches and industriously build upon an already-impressive lodge. — Leo Leckie
www.WolfTracker.com

We are off this morning to meet the street artist who will be ‘beaver-ponding’ Susana park at the beaver festival. We’ve chatted all year by email but never met face to face. (Rusty met her from time to time at the beaver pond, but never really realized who she was.) I tracked her down when I saw this article in the newspaper last year. One of the photos showed her sketch of a beaver with just the bottom teeth visible as they should be – that told me that she knew beavers well enough to be a potential friend, so I introduced myself. Now all the pieces are locking in place. I want to show her the park and give her an idea what she’s working with. Hopefully she’ll be inspired and not terrified at how few trees shade the center plaza.

I’m just grateful that she loves beavers enough to help us out!

SURROUNDED BY BEAVERS

heidi08 Beaver Art April 8, 2018

Janet Thew recently shared this and I wanted to add to our collection of historic beaver heraldry. It is on display in the Fuller Museum in New York and was apparently presented as a possible new coat of arms to the Netherlands Dutch West India Company in 1630. The inscription says it was not chosen. Too bad.

“Nota dit waepe(n) was alz [?] concept doch niet goet gevonden”

Translation: “Note: this coat of arms was a draft and was not approved”

It is called “1885′ but don’t be confused. That is its index number not the date. Of course you know why it was not made in 1885 don’t you?

There were no beavers anywhere in 1885.

Yesterday I got to have all kinds of fun and make a graphic for the district parking lot we’ve arranged to ‘borrow’ for the beaver festival. It required insurance and paperwork, and I wanted to make sure people knew they could park there. I’m just loving the volkswagon, because what else would a beaver drive?

Now, onto more Sunday business.

There are some entries to the silent auction that are stately and impressive. But of course there are some that are just dam cute. To which I would add these two pillows (one cottonwood one birch) from Chics in Design in HongKong. I have literally no idea who on earth someone agreed to ship them that distance for a beaver festival, but I assume there must be some affection for the animals in that part of the world.

Charles was happy to donate, and said he could either sent the bear costume or two pillows. I chose the pillows for obvious reasons. Wouldn’t these look marvelous in your cabin with the patchwork quilt or a rustic living room?

About the bolster pillows it says:

This is a tree log-shape bolster pillow made in knit, imitating a cottonwood tree log bitten down by beavers. The graphics on this pillow is knitted, instead of printed, in five different colors. The pillow cover is custom made using a specialized knit machine and hand sewed together.

If you’re like me you can’t wait to take a nap with these cozy beaver chew, You can get your own or check out the other fun designs at Chis in Design here.