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Rebecca & Glenn Fadner

After weeks of cold and rain, the temperature here is pushing 90 today, we really CAN believe that tomorrow is June 1st! And with this new month comes some VERY important news!

Next time you logon to the website, you'll find the following graphic in the left-hand menu to remind you that this month we have moved to FREE shipping within the continental US!

Also this month, we're wrapping up our review of our Nicaragua trip with Rebecca's account of learning how to make a basket. (I'm sure you'll agree that she should keep her "day job"!). And speaking of baskets, the new ones ARE in and up on the website. We're thrilled with how great they look! Click "here" to view them!

And we are in need of your help - especially if you live in the Greater Rochester area. Look below for more info.

Have a great month!

 Nicaragua! (making a basket) 

Towering pine trees crown the tops of the Segovia Mountains located on the outskirts of El Sauce. Seeing them and reaching them, however, are two different matters entirely! These pines climb UP the slopes from the communities of Las Minitas and Cerro Colorado - and we've already TOLD you the "challenges" of just reaching the communities! But it is these pine trees that yield the incredibly long needles which are formed into Fuente de Pino's pine needle baskets!

Timing and selection are crucial! The women of Fuento de Pino in these two mountain communities know by experience just the "right time of year" to trek to these harvesting locations for gathering the fallen needles. (No trees are harmed in the making of these baskets!) AND they are skilled in knowing which trees will yield the "right" needles that they require for the creation of the baskets. "At the right time" the whole family may spend days gathering large sacks of needles fallen from the selected trees, placing them in sacks, and carrying them to their homes.

The next step is tedious, but requires quick hands and a trained eye. The needles are aligned and bound into "bundles" about 1-1/2 inches thick. We watched while Erlinda, with amazing ease, sorted and bound bundle after bundle, placing each in another sack ready for later use. 

Doing this step makes the actual basket making  much more efficient.Because of my respect for ANY craftperson's work AND due to my incredible curiosity, I (Rebecca) requested a "basket-making lesson" from these skilled women. I wanted to learn just HOW these baskets are made! Feliciana (the co-op's president) and Erlinda (who is one very patient and compassionate teacher) were up to the task.

We each chose a bundle of needles from their supply and I watched as Feliciana began methodically wrapping colored thread (we used "pitahaya" or "dragonfruit") around the 10 or so needles she had pulled from her bunch. Under Erlinda's direction, I began to imitate what Feliciana was doing.

Now to carefully trim the ends of the the wrapped needles with a razor blade. (OHSA would LOVE this!)

 

Then it was time to thread the needle with the pitahaya thread - one area where I COULD excel, since (thanks to my glasses) I was the only one who could really SEE the eye of the needle!

As she progresses with her wrapping, Feliciana began to "turn the corner" to create a tight, flat coil of wrapped needles, tacking in place with tiny stitches as she went, and every few stitches adding a few more needles to the center of the bundle. I, on the other hand, was continually challenged to complete the wrapping, make the turn, AND tack it in place all at the same time!

Several inches of needles (and several turns) and the "base" was established. Now it was time to begin the binding technique, which allows the pine needles to show through the evenly-spaced wrappings of thread.             

"The fact that we cannot solve all the problems of the world does not absolve us of the responsibility of solving the ones we can."

~ Robert C. Macauley (1923-2010)~
Founder & Charman of AmeriCares
1997 Recipient of the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award