Turkey (cruising)

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Salley Mavor

Last fall, our trip started with a week on a chartered 40′ boat. After loading up with supplies, we embarked from the town of Bodrum on the southern coast of Turkey.

We thought our “gulet’ would be a sailing ship, but the mast and boom held no sails or rigging. It seems that these traditional style boats are rarely seen under sail and are used primarily as motor boats.

There were 4 passengers and 3 crew, including a cook who introduced us to some wonderful Turkish food.

We had beautiful weather, without a drop of rain.

Our captain took us to some secluded harbors.

It was late in the season, so we didn’t see many other boats except for a few fishing vessels.

Some spots had trails which took us to inland homesteads, like this farm.

This cove is called “Cleopatra’s beach”. Who knows if she ever came here, but it’s on a little island with ancient relics all over the place.

There’s an impressive amphitheatre…

with huge trees growing out of the stone seating.

And what is left of the town’s buildings.

The Mediterranean looked beautiful!

The hills in the background are on the mainland.

One time an ice cream boat came by!

A week on the water was a wonderful, relaxing way to be start our visit to Turkey.

We headed back to Bodrum (I’ll show more in a future post) and flew to Istanbul the next day.

Rabbitat – part 6 (rabbit characters)

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Salley Mavor

Originally, I was going to make human characters living in the drift wood house, but I kept imagining long ears sticking up from their heads, so they changed into a rabbit family. Hence the name Rabbitat (see film here). The mother and father dolls are about 4 inches tall and made with a bendable pipe-cleaner armature. The heads are made from wooden beads covered with wool felt. There’s a seam down the front of the face, under the embroidered nose.

As soon as I added front teeth, they lost their bland cuteness and took on personality, or should I say rabbitality?

Maybe I just identified with them more, having been a buck toothed child.

The faces are embroidered, with glass bead eyes.

The ears have fine wire sewn around the outside edge, so they can be bent expressively.

The baby carriage is made from this wire, which is covered with a bark-like natural material I found at a florist supply business. The wheels are acorn caps with holes drilled in the center.

I embroidered a carrot motif on the clothing.

And let’s not forget the biggest character of all — the rabbit topiary.

To see more posts in this series and to view the Rabbitat film click here.

magical island

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Salley Mavor

South of Woods Hole, most of the islands in the chain of Elizabeth Islands are private and protected from development. The only public settlement is on Cuttyhunk, which we visited earlier this summer (see post here).

Lately, I’ve been doing more adventuring than sewing, although I am working on something that I can’t show until later. We went to this particular island to visit our friends Heydt and Barbara, who are the caretakers.

We walked to the top the highest hill and took in the view, while Heydt shaded himself under an umbrella.

I brought Barbara some dahlias from my garden. Their old boat sits on the lawn near their house.

There were scrub pines in a low, sheltered area.

And bursting milkweed pods.

This monarch larvae was happily eating a milkweed leaf.

I found many dead horseshoe crabs washed up on the beach by the storm, Irene.

What a beautiful, peaceful day!

cruise to Cuttyhunk (part 1)

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Salley Mavor

On a calm day earlier in August, before Irene blew up our way, my husband and I took our boat to Cuttyhunk Island. It’s only an hour ride from Woods Hole to this little gem at the end of the chain of Elizabeth Islands. In the harbor, we met up with our friends Ben and Julie and they rafted their sail boat up to our boat.

We took our dingy to shore, walked around the town and passed the public library.

We had a lobster dinner.

And walked back down to the dock to take our dingy back to our mooring.

On the way, we passed acorn stand in a golf cart which operated on the honor system .

As the sun went down and the moon came up, we returned to our boat and spent a peaceful night on our boat in Cuttyhunk harbor.

to be continued…

Cruise to Cuttyhunk (part 2)

Irene’s wind

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Salley Mavor

By the time Irene made to us, she was downgraded to a tropical storm. Here are a few photos taken at the Woods Hole Yacht Club before the height of the storm, looking out the fully cleared dingy pier and the practically empty harbor. I’m glad to say our boat held firmly to its mooring.

Yuletide wreath

Posted on December 23, 2010 by Salley Mavor

I recently picked some rose hips and other winter berries along the bike path to Woods Hole.

They were thorny and nasty to pick with wool gloves. I loaded them into my bicycle basket.

I cut off the thorn tips before making a wreath.

To add some greenery, I pruned a holly bush in our yard. More sharp points to deal with.

I used green wire to tie the holly and winter berry branches to a wreath form.

It’s now hung on our front door. Welcome Yule!

Bike Path: November

Posted on November 20, 2010 by Salley Mavor

Here are some photos taken along the Shining Sea bike path this past month. The crowds are gone and in half an hour, I can ride freely past woods, salt ponds, salt marshes and the beach.

Bike Path: Porcelain-berry

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Salley Mavor

All along the bike path is porcelain-berry, one of the most beautiful invasive vines in our area. The plant’s berries come in shades of blue not normally found in plant life. They look like hard candy or gum balls that turn tongues blue.

The Plant Conservation Alliance (PCA) Alien Plant Working Group has labeled it LEAST WANTED.

Originally from Northeast Asia, porcelain-berry was cultivated in the US around the 1870s as a bedding and landscape plant.

The PCA says, “The same characteristics that make porcelain-berry a desirable plant for the garden — its colorful berries, pest resistance, and tolerance of adverse conditions — are responsible for its presence in the United States as an undesirable invader.”

I was inspired to make this pair of fairies to match the berry colors.

Bike path: Pokeweed

Posted on October 3, 2010 by Salley Mavor

This time of year, pokeweed are all along the bike path calling out for attention with their bright pink stems and deep purple berries. They are like 60’s fashion models in lime green dresses and hot pink tights, with bead jewelry to match.

Indians used the pokeweed berry juices for staining feathers, arrowshafts and garments. The plant’s roots and berries are regarded as poisonous when eaten by humans, but Indians and early American settlers used the root in poultices and remedies for skin diseases and rheumatism.

Wee Folk centerpiece

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Salley Mavor

In the last post, I mentioned making a centerpiece for the Pocketful of Posies book release party at Highfield. Since I forgot to take pictures of the finished setup, here are some shots taken during the construction phase. Many of the dolls were models for projects in my how-to book Felt Wee Folk: Enchanting Projects and were unearthed for this event.

I arranged driftwood and logs that the wee folk could sit on and climb up. Old, dried up bayberry bushes, with their compact spread of small branches make good wee folk scale trees.

I drilled holes in the wood for small screw eyes, which served as anchors for the dolls. I felt like a prison guard, shackling their tiny ankles and tying their waists to the screw eyes with wire. But, it was to protect them from easy escape into the hands of big folk.

One vertical log needed a rope ladder, so I gathered some possible materials; jute rope and twine, old fishing line, a woven wooden slat place mat .

I selected the fatter jute rope and pulled out a wooden slat from the place mat. To make the rungs, I fed broken off wood sections through the rope and lashed them in place with an improvised knot. I wished we had learned knot tying in girl scouts. You never can tell when you’ll need outdoor survival skills!