Mother Nature's March Joke

Too early for April Fools - but when I woke up to snow this a.m. (March 25!) I was a bit surprised.

It is snowing hard and fiercely  - trying to convince itself that it is mid January and in the fury of winter's blast, but instead it coats Daffodils meekly protruding from the earth in stubborn spring splendor.

It coats my willow and blankets the horses.

Scenes from the barn - the horses are inside today away from this spring snowsquall and the willow, though trying to sprout buds, is now covered in slushy, heavy snow.

No doubt this week we will have days in the 60's to further confuse flora and fauna!

The horses are hiding from this late winter storm. 

Snow on the willow, struggling to bloom. 

A new member joins Papercatz

We welcomed a new team member this past week. Andrew M. has decided to join us on Saturday mornings to help get things ready in the studio for our upcoming shows and events, as well as help us with packaging and mailing.

He is learning the work and doing it with a lot of skill!

His favorite person is Sponge Bob - and he really likes his teacher!

He helped us get the envelopes ready for sending out to customers, and is learning hole punching and packaging!

He likes to take breaks on the computer and enjoys music videos and You Tube.

He is a handsome young  man and fun too!  We welcome him onboard and are grateful for his help.

Andrew M. learning the trade secrets

A new guy on board

We have a new helper whose name is also Andrew - he started two weeks ago on a Saturday just to learn the ropes and is coming back this Saturday to do some more work for the shop.

Hope to post some pictures of him working hard being creative, YAY Andrew... stay tuned...

Making some mini envelopes for spring! 

I love yellow roses and roses and checks! YAY.

cheers Cate

Late snow - time in the barn

It is surprising to wake up today to snow, yes snow in March - not too  usual for us, but always possible.

It is an earnest snow with the determination to stick itself to the ground without a whole lot of success, but it keeps coming.

I tried a few shouts at the sky this a.m.- invocations I suppose- my feeble attempts to coerce mother nature to let winter go... let the daffodils bloom and allow us to move on - but to no avail  - it continues to snow into mid morning.

I would cherish the snow in December, January and February - love to see it, feel it, and be enveloped by it safe and snug in my barn haven, but now I have lost my committment to snow and the mess it brings, and have sworn off messy footprints and paw prints, replacing them I suppose with spring mud prints.

Ripley, our wild lab, has taken to "gardening" as well. I suppose the wonderful newly melting ground beckons him.  His gardening is not appreciated by me nor by my plants. Their roots get ripped out  helter skeleter and each day he tries something new, and it is disheartening that he is not bonding with mother nature, but he is most certainly NOT.

We have blooms in place in the barn which makes for a cheery setting even in the dreary days we often face with late winter. Beautiful blooms destined for one of our customers. I will miss them when they go, but happily they will have good homes!

The stork has arrived in the studio - well maybe not a stork - or maybe a mini stork. Our zebra finches have become parents - we cannot see the little hatchlings buried in their nests, but we can hear then squeaking. It sounds like an asthmatic wheeze as they chirp for food.

Mother finch seems to be doing a good job taking care of them while the father flits around not quite sure what his new role is or perhaps thinking his role is over!

Thought of the day: Be kind...

cate

March snowstorm on wrought iron chair

Beautiful flowers for a wonderful customer.

Products with a purpose and....

I always like to feel that our products have a purpose - creating employment for people with autism and now we have a new purpose.

Our hand shredded cotton ribbon makes excellent nesting material for baby finches.

I tried to snap some photos of the birds carrying their ribbons to their new nest and they were quite energetic in their activities and I had some blurry shots. Hopefully this captures the essence of what we do... creating simple products for humans and now also for their feathered friends! Who knew?

Mother zebra finch taking the muslin ribbon to the nest. 

One more little jump and the muslin has found its home inside the tiny nest.  

Testing your mettle - autism and you - a primer

Testing your mettle - I like the sound of that - sounds like a war or a battle of strength and will. It is often that way with autism. Who is stronger - autism - or you ? What is normal - what is normal for you and for your family  when living with autism.  How to survive it  - maybe never conquer it - surely never conquer  it - but survive it - live with it? partner with its idiosyncracies? Learn to learn from it and use it  to go forward...

I think every day and sometimes more on some days than others - that I will just succumb to the intricacies that autism presents - the challenges - road blocks - detours and dead ends.  It is only with the utmost strength and pure determination that we move this boulder forward, and yet we do it.

Like a little mustard seed we have strength and faith.

We have to block out the distractions - avoid the pitfalls of despair - and silence  naysayers - and move as best we can with a backwards glance over our shoulders at where we  have been-- knowing full well that sometimes we will "visit backwards" before going forward.

Anyone living with someone with a lifelong cognitive disability  or physical disability knows that path well.

We prepare to go forward with the same grit and determination that we face every challenge, tentatively but with courage and hope.

We are happy to share some new flowers and hope that they brighten the day!  Spring is coming!

pretty in blue gold and ivory

pretty in violet and gray

Andrew - working on products for the shop

I was thinking I needed to post some new pictures of Andrew working - it's been a couple of difficult  months, trying to keep him moving forward and not backward or sidewards.

Andrew is 18, severely autistic, and nonverbal - to create products and ideas and  work for him is always on the top of my mind - swirling around. If Andrew cannot participate in a product in some fashion, we generally don't make it.

The shop and its products are about paying it forward - giving a job to a young man who in the normal workplace has none - and in the typical world of adults  is forgotten. He has no real life skills, cannot talk on or even   make a call on a phone,  order pizza, hang out with friends.  He has a lot of nots in his life. Things he will never do or even know about.

His world and the people in it are a small and he seems to like it that way, closing his eyes when the environment intrudes too much.

We have been working on some new organza ribbons and he has the job of shredding them for us.  They are a different texture so it's a bit odd to him feeling them, but he has been doing a great job.

He is also getting some "green projects" ready - ripping labels off aluminum cans that we are recycling for flower pots!

He is an expert shredded and ripper (mostly of things you do not want shredded - so it is good to use those skills and put them to a useful purpose.

Yay paperclips - hand punched by Andrew and stamped! 

Backside of paper clips - hand punched and hand stamped by Andrew. 

Typing an update on Facebook

Cutting some shapes for us for our paper  products.

We are still working on this side of the studio so please pardon our appearance as we remodel. We hope to have it finished within the next 6 months. One side is completed and one side to go.  He works at a large wooden table. Marks are  placed on the table to guide him when cutting ribbon or wire.  He uses the IPAD to keep track of his jobs and eats his lunch every day prior to working.  We have encouraged him to remove his hat and jacket without much success, but I can assure you the barn is very warm but he works anyway with hat and jacket in place.   That's another story trying to convince him to take these items off.

So we plan and get ready for spring!

cate for andrew