A funny thing happened on the way...

I’ll bet you thought I was going to tell you a joke didn’t you? We’d been over to the little hardware store and had to laugh when someone came in to pick stuff up from the repair shop and the cashier said to one of the clerks “grab that lady in the back and...” anyway I started giggling, she paused a minute, turned beet red and burst out laughing. Sometimes things just sound funny...

Well, we got home and a SUV screeches to a halt, out jumps a gal who says “I’m so embarrassed and hate to bother you but where did you get the great blue furniture-it’s my favorite color!”

I hope my day brightened yours,

cool and overcast today

Even at noon our temps are around 50 degrees, too cool for sitting in the garden but pretty good for getting some of the work done. I plan to start by cutting that rosebush out of the air conditioner and transplanting it to the front garden but just now it's feeling really nice to stay indoors and drink some hot, spiced cider. I'm following that with lunch and a movie. Today it's Jackie Chan's WHO AM I? with tea, chow mein , rice and a fortune cookie. After I'm rested and fed I should be ready to grab a shovel and get back to work.

Today's garden pictures with a twist

 This lemon tree lives in my dining room most of the year but seems to be enjoying the bees and the sunshine in the garden.

 The roses in my little corner are blooming nicely now.

 The sump pump is still going after yesterdays rain so we're recycling all of that water into the trees, bushes and wildflowers here.

I'm not sure if you can make it out in this photo but I weave my grapevine wreaths as they're growing. It makes them much stronger.

A little art in the garden

A rough idea for painting composition

 I kept wondering what things would be like if my garden was somewhere else.

 I started by pretending there were no neighbors.

A water feature would be nice, what if I sat on the edge of a pond with a fountain in the center?

It's fun to daydream, ignore the traffic and noise in my happy place-whether it exists or not, I relax and smile. It's as close as I get to a vacation.

Point of view

Each choice that you make in the way you shoot a photo can make a difference in the story it tells and the feelings they evoke from the people who see them.

Gardener's helper

I love those walkers with a basket and a seat. Not only are they a great help getting around but you can carry everything with you and be able to sit down whenever and wherever you want to.
If your yard is uneven and makes it hard to push consider upgrading your wheels to a small all terrain type. We're experimenting with that now and I'll have results for you soon.
I'd put in more paths and walkways if I could afford it but I'm managing just fine for now.
Each year we add more containers and raised planter boxes to make things easier and more fun for everyone.
Don't give up on gardening! It makes a HUGE difference to your health and well being. I'm happiest when I can go, play in the dirt.

Bird Photos

Starting to paint with the computer

I found the rest of the neighborhood distracting so I began to block it out with the computer so that I've got a better idea of the elements of my garden that I want to include in my next acrylic painting.

Moving things around

A couple of these photos are giving me ideas to base a new painting on. That's why I shoot things from so many different angles. All around the neighborhood are houses with hundreds of Iris in clumps and borders but each yard is in just one or two colors. Imagine what I could do with that kind of a budget for plants. There'd be NO chance of everything being the same color here.

Strawberries, Lettuce, Chives and Roses

Free Garden Decor

 It made me feel really special to feel like the sun was shining just for me this morning. It was great in a lot of ways.

 The family rose from my husbands grandparents farm, his parents farm and everywhere my hubby has lived since. It makes me happy to know that 3 generations have enjoyed it already and we keep sharing it.

 So far it looks like I've only got one Iris this color so I guess I'd better grab my paints and catch it fast.

 I still need to plant the bottom tier of this but I love the way it looks so far and it was all free. I rounded up the hosta and the violets from around the yard and rescued the planter from the dump.

 That fern is making a great comeback since I moved it.

An old poinsettia surrounded by pots of chives and lettuce sitting on the chair one of the neighbors gave me.

Organizing the studio/multi purpose space

 Most of the room is still a mess but I seem to have this corner sorted out and working well. The various cabinets and storage boxes run all the way to the ceiling!

So far this space is a dining room, sewing room, craft space and art studio...and it's less than 12 ft. square!

Rainy days and indoor projects

I'm cleaning and organizing the dining room that serves as my studio these days. When I get ready to take a break from that I'll start drawing and painting the flowers and herbs that I brought in yesterday.
I've also been sharpening my photography skills doing group photos at a local senior center.
We're too lazy to cook breakfast this morning so I think we'll grab a piece of pie with our coffee. Lemon meringue would make nice kitchen art but I'd much rather eat it than draw it, wouldn't you?

Fresh Picked and new additions to the garden

Painting,Gardening and life in general

I'm spending a lot of time on a photo history project in addition to all the other things I'm doing these days so I found myself up in the middle of the night to get some painting done from the tulip photos.
I haven't taken any more pictures of it yet but plan to before I pick up a brush again.
The weather is overcast and breezy today so I don't plan to be outdoors much.
Well, there are so many things to be done today that I'm not quite sure where to start so I guess I'll run and errand or two and think about it.
It makes me laugh to realize that I'm still "running away from home" at my age. I hope you found it a bit amusing too.

More work on the tulip painting

Because of all of the other projects that I've got going on these days it's taken me nearly a month to get back to this painting.

 I've got Iris, wildflowers and roses blooming right now but don't feel ready to work with them until I've finished with the tulips. I prefer working with fresh, live flowers but I can't get the tulips out of my mind so I'll slip back into it a while and see where it goes before I get back to the garden.

 Once the painting is out of the way the photos will become art supplies and will get cut up to decorate mail and "play" with.

I also stick a couple of the inspiration photos to the back of my paintings to
document the evolution of the piece.

Mornings in the garden

I like to go to the garden first thing in the morning when you can hear birds instead of the traffic in the city.
I toss on an old denim dress, grab my coffee and out I go.
Today I was still feeling a bit sulky about not being able to afford all of the plants I see people walking out of the garden centers with (when I 'm just there for a bag of good soil) and then I got over it, grabbed a trowel and wandered around the yard gathering wild violets and filling a basket planter with those.( It's a 3 tier wire stand that I rescued on the way to the dump and found liners for at WalMart)
I also moved a few things around like dragging that stand down next to the arbor and pulling another table up from the back yard.
Ever hopeful I even moved one of the really large planters up by the house that  I want to fill with a tomato surrounded by a ring of marigolds and one of lettuce.

Climbing Roses

 These just started to bloom today.

 They look a little wild because it was windy when I tried to shoot the pictures.

 I brought a few in the house to do some drawings and watercolors with.

Strawberries

 It looks like they're a lot happier being moved to containers in the front garden where I'm more likely to remember to water them.