Rebirth of Madrone

Our madrone trees had a bad case of blight this year.  Most of them came through, but one bit the dust. Very sad, because Madrones are not easy to grow and they are a beautiful tree. The birds love them.

 The leaves look like they are burned.  Pretty ugly..

  Mr. Shoulder to the Grindstone took the chainsaw to the dead one a few days ago.

Madrone Leaf Blight

I really like the burnt red color of the bark, and couldn't stand the thought of this ending up in the burn pile. Must recycle.  Must recycle.  So I meticulously stripped the dead leaves off the branches, carted the leaves to the burn pile so they cannot pass their blight to others.  And.......this is where you will all say, "this woman needs a life".....have decided to make a nest out of the branches.  A great big artistic mess of a nest.

"Madrone: Reborn", Pile-o-Sticks, or Nest?

At this point, if anyone should ask, I am calling it a sculpture.  "Madrone: Reborn"  Jackson believes that this is a great gift to him, a big pile of sticks.....a little bit of dog heaven. Mr. Shoulder-to-the-Grindstone just shakes his head.  In the end it might all be an artistic pile of kindling.  Only time will tell.


It's not like I have nothing to do.  Like everyone else I have a list of things that are all about working:  finish mowing the yard, clean up my office, dust, vacuum, weed, weed, weed, clean out the garage, take the recycling to town, poison English Hawthorne, etc., etc.  The list never ends and the list will never be finished.  So, if I do everything else before I make a nest, the nest will never be made, and I will never have achieved any sense of artistic fulfillment. I need a nest!  My inspiration is Yamhill County artist, Susan Day.  She made a couple of fabulous nests that were in Currents Gallery in McMinnville.  I can't get them out of my head, so here I am with a pile of Madrone sticks, some inspiration, and not a clue how to get started.  Any ideas?

A piece of trivia:  In Washington and north, Madrone is pronounced with an uh on the end.  Madronuh.  In Oregon and south, Madrone is pronounce without the uh.