More UnTree

What on earth are YOU talking about? NO one does Christmas without a Christmas tree right?

Well I'm sure there are folks who do!

I'm just looking for something different and fun.

I don't know exactly where to start, so I'll just start with what caught my eye as I was twiddling my thumbs.

Last year I took some time to wander around the Walmart clearance section. I saw a lot of Teddy Bears lined up on shelves. One had only one eye.

It wasn't something I was looking for. But I drove home with my list filled up and the thought of that Pink One Eyed Teddy Bear kept coming back to me.

I have no idea why.
I needed to pick something up the next day. Most of the Bears were gone. The one eyed bear was pushed to the side. I was so relieved for some reason and stuck it in my basket. At the check out one of the lady's pointed out that this Teddy was defective, did I really want it?
I smiled and said that I was positive I wanted just as it was.

Welcome Pink Teddy with one eye in one of my crates. She has gold ribbons, beads, and a very festive and vintage handkerchief around her neck. She looks happy. The kerchief is actually one of my Grandmother Pearl's fancy handkerchiefs.  I put this together and sat back. Grandma's 'kerchief' and the Teddy Bear no one wanted. Beautiful. I knew this Bear had some sort of purpose!

The next box has some of my 'toys' that I like to take on hikes. I know, but it is fun to find odd places to put Teddy Bears and other toys.

These were Thrift Shop toys. Toys from the back room that had fallen between other toy piles.
I had picked them up and held on to them for a long time. They appealed to me in a way so I brought them home.

Oh look. 3 little bears! And then there is Rabbit and Bear! I bet you are wondering how I got those two beany bears to stand. Hah. Not telling my secrets.

Another item under construction. These are... twig trees with little red light up ornaments. They are not super bright. I used floral foam blocks inside the old sewing drawer to stick them in and then a bag of glass marble like fillers to hold it all in place. The checker board is topping a crate. It was an old handpainted checkerboard piece that hung in my MIL's apartment.

Hopefully this isn't boring anyone.

Here is a look at the whole 'display'...which has already been changed up a bit since I took the photo yesterday.

Note the Gnome with the Skunk Hat! A wonderful young lady who is the DIL of my MIL's sister...okay yeah...that was an odd way of describing her....

...she makes these! She calls them Nisse.
Pretty neat right?

Stay tuned. More to come from the boxes and then I move on to some other fun items.
A story behind most every one with a beautiful memory.

Finding Chance...The Amazing Rescue.

He was spotted when the Kenosha gang and I walked through the creek with the dogs.

Four pairs of eyes can sometimes be so much better than just one set.

Suddenly I heard a shout.

"Found HIM!"

I turned around and there he was. He hadn't been swept that far down stream, perhaps nearly a quarter of a mile, but there he was tangled in roots and debris.

He was snugged in tight between some roots.

As you can see, just one portion of him remained white. He was put in a backpack and we headed further downstream to where the chair was embedded in the dirt under a huge log.

That chair it was decided quickly, would have to wait until another flood let it loose. We continued the walk using sticks to poke around at other debris piles.
No Creepy Doll.
Well, I didn't feel a loss as she wasn't cute like the bears.
We made it to the snow mobile crossing which was now an open pit of water.

I wanted to come back and take a shot of this wide open place where the flood waters must have swirled in circles cutting a wide pond into this space before moving on.
[Method used, 3 exposures...no filters. I'm sort of enjoying that method and still experimenting]

We hiked back towards 'the beach'.

The Teddy Bear Reunion was something to behold.

Percy hugged him tight and I thought I heard a whisper.

"I'm so glad you are back Chance. That sure was a rough ride..."

Maybe it was the wind, maybe it was the water flowing softly over the rocks. Maybe I imagined it.