New TriForce Circle in Common Area

Taking advantage of the lull in the severe weather, I laid out the TriForce circle in the common worship area this morning. (See photos below.)  The circle is approx. 18 feet across with a double stone border and a large triangle pointing north and a smaller one inside the larger one pointing south.

In antiquity, triangles were conceived by the ancients to explain the secret order of the cosmos. Ancient Pagans believed that triangles symbolically revealed that three spirits were brought down into the geographical or the worldly realm. Note that using a triangle within a triangle produces 5 triangles - the 4 elements and the "Daleth" or door. And no, I don't want to hear about "Zelda."  I found this specific design in a very very old book on Paganism, published a couple of hundred years before "Zelda" was even a bit, a byte, or a computer game.

I also treated the common area, Druid Area, and Oakshade Sanctuary area with Maxide this morning. Once we get a good rain it will bind with the soil and the worship areas will be bug free for the rest of the year.  If anyone wants to come for an hour or so after work or on a weekend to help finish laying the stones for the TriForce circle, the help would be most appreciated. Enjoy the photos.

Overlay of design

This is the design of the Triforce Circle

More Bloomin' Upgrades

Flowers and plants are still coming up at MWW.  We have also put in a fountain and will be laying down a plastic barrier and spreading smooth river stone around the fountain area. We have also made a stone and mortar planter which we will probably be filling with "pinks" of many varieties.  Below are some photos of some of the newbies around MWW.  We have a workday scheduled for this coming Saturday from 10am - 4pm.  Hopefully we can get a lot more done this weekend.

A rare sight on the far right - a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. This particular bird is usually found in Southern Canada and more rarely in the Eastern to Midwest America.  Missouri is on the extreme outer fringe of their natural range. They winter in the West Indies, Mexico and NW South America. This is a male. We have seen several of these already this year.

A standard Pink Dianthus barbatus

A standard White Dianthus barbatus

The Peonies just opened this morning for the first time this year.

This is one of the flowering Ninebark trees that we planted last year. We planted 25 more this year and already one of the new ones has flowers. They grow fairly rapidly and will make an excellent border along the NorthWest fenceline.

Lavender and Purple Iris

Standard Mixed Color Dianthus barbatus

Red Climber Rose

The new shade garden with fountain

Closeup of the new fountain with Sedum, Dusty Miller, and Dianthus plumarius

 

Mixed Dianthus plumarius

Bloomin Fun at MWW

The flowers are in bloom here at MWW.  The Lavender has been planted, but we still have more bulbs to plant, as well as 25 more Eastern White Pine.  Here are some pics of what has come up so far.

A nice red Double Tulip

Purple and White Tiger Tulip

Gorgeous pink Double Tulip

Assorted Dutch Tulips

Snowball Bush getting ready to bloom

25 down, 25 to go...

Just a reminder that there will be a workday here at MWW on Sunday, March 27 from 11am - 4pm. Please bring rakes and gardening tools.

Yesterday I planted 25 Eastern White Pine in the common worship area, and there are still 25 on order yet to arrive. In all, there will be 50 White Pine encircling (270 degrees of it at least)the worship area. The main floor of the area still needs to be cleared of leaves and trimmed up. We will also be spreading Maxide over the worship area, and then planting grass seed. Everyone will need to bring a lawn chair for the service. Hopefully by the end of Spring we will have some benches constructed in the area.

The white pine are planted in such a way that when they are mature they will create a solid wall around the worship area. I chose white pine not only because of the fragrance, but also because of the sound the wind makes when blowing through. Of course, it will take several years for the trees to grow, but then again, we aren't going anywhere anytime soon either.

We will be planting trees, bulbs and seeds during the workday on the 27th, so please feel free to contribute to the botanical pool. Of course, a cookout will follow after the work has been done. We are looking forward to seeing everyone on the 27th.

Common Worship Site for Services

The grass is growing at the gathering hut site

The hut will eventually have a grass floor - grass is just starting to grow inside the hut

White Pines planted at the common worship site

Started clearing the common worship site

The main path leading to the Rivendale Druid site

The Rivendale Druid Circle

Larger view of Rivendale Druid site

Trees, trees, trees...

What an exhausting day! Today I planted 50 Shortleaf Pine and 25 Ninebark trees around the property surrounding the MWW office. We still have 25 Witch Hazel trees arriving next week. Tonight is the Board of Director's Meeting for IEFC. I will post pics of the new trees as soon as I can.

MWW prepares for the Spring Celebration

We've been busy here at Middleworld Woods preparing the worship site for the upcoming Interfaith Service on April 9, 2011 at 11am.  We've cleared all of the trees from the area and now just need to clear the ground. Worshipers will need to bring a lawn chair or blanket to sit on for the service.  Eventually we will try to have benches built into the area. We are going to have to schedule a work day sometime before the March 19th celebration to make sure everything is ready to go.

We have renamed the OOS area - it is now called the "Rivendell Druid Sanctuary. (RDS)" All of the sites in MWW will be named after cities in Middle Earth (LOTR.) The worship site is comparable in size to the RDS site

We've also received some free merchandise from VistaPrint - a yard sign and a banner. I will bring these to the Board Meeting for everyone to see.

Below are some photos of the worship site.

No Hibernation at Middleworld Woods

You might think that winter at Middleworld Woods is a dormant time, but we actually work throughout the entire year to complete projects and improve and expand other ones. I love working outdoors in the winter. Below are some of the the projects that we are currently working on.

We dug up several cinder blocks that can be used by a group in constructing an altar, platform, or whatever else they can think of using it for.

We opened up and cleared a large space right off the Festival Area. This is actually a very large, grassy area.

This is the path going from the new area (pictured above) into Middleworld Woods.

We've added a customizable "tree person" to each area that is already cleared. These can be painted or decorated and sealed with polyurethane. We have about 30 more in storage.

This is OSO's organizational area

Another closeup of OSO's area

This is the restoration of a trail that was once established and was taken out by the ice storms a few years back. This will eventually circle the property along the northeast and east perimeters of the property and join up near OSO's site.

We have cleared the main path through Middleworld Woods to accomodate a pickup truck so that supplies and equipment can be brought into the woods.

We have cleared another 20' x 15' section near the front of the property. Perfect for establishing a herb garden should a group decide to add one.