Salt Dough Tutorial in Scandinavian Makes Magazine

If you'd like to make ornaments like these for Christmas, Yule or other holidays---or just for fun daily decor, I have an article in the new Scandinavian Makes magazine available in the UK and on-line. The tutorial takes the reader through the creation of an owl, step-by-step in photographs and written instructions. Once you've tried this inexpensive and enjoyable craft the possibilities are unlimited! Below are a few of my owls and others made with a mixture of salt, flour and water, an oven and a bit of patience... http://www.scandinavian makes.com

Le Dolmen de la Pierre-Pèse, Limolonges, France, late August

The roadside sign that marked the path was small and low to the ground. I walked away from the intense sound of vehicles whizzing past, their weight and power all too evident on a narrow road with no really safe space for pedestrians, into a moss and ivy hung oak wood full of birdsong. From the moment I entered it was obvious that this was no ordinary place, and then the dolmen came into view, so perfect and magical it literally took my breath away.

Once a tumulus covered with an earthen mound that has since vanished, le Dolmen de la Pierre-Pèse is a megalithic monument that has stood for perhaps five thousand years in the French countryside. An early archaeological exploration here in the first years of the 19th century turned up many human bone fragments, confirming the dolmen's use as a burial site in Neolithic times. In the not too distant past folk beliefs throughout Europe connected dolmens and other megalithic monuments with the faery realm. Whilst visiting this site one could very easily be convinced that there is truth in these tales... 

I discovered this small bird of prey dead nearby and carried it inside the dolmen as a fitting place of rest.
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And from this site I brought home with me a small clump of moss, two bright crimson hawthorne berries and two brindled feathers that lay on the ground