The Earth Laughs in Flowers

I may have mentioned this before…

and most likely will do so again,

….and again.

I love this time of year!

I wait all winter for my garden to awaken. 

It is a treat well worth waiting for.

A few moments in the garden bring me a sense of peace in a crazy daisy world.

I start my day with a hot, fresh brewed cup of coffee in one hand and my camera in the other.

So I can share…

The robins are here, bright and early, snitching strawberries. 

Strawberries I have let roam as ground cover wherever they please. 

They are tucked beneath roses, along walkways and hidden beneath over grown perennials.

They are a treat and I set my camera down to pick a few.

I actually do get some, even if the robins are making a feast of them.

I could be irritated that I lose most of the berries to the birds, but they are so comical as they wrestle with a berry that is nearly as big as their own heads….

…it makes me smile instead of annoyed.

Bumblebees are perched on blooms. 

Still and silent.

 

The morning mountain air is still too chilly for them. 

They wait patiently for the suns warming rays to come over the trees.

I can’t say that I blame them…

40 degrees in June is just too cold. 

Even at night.

Warmer days and nights shall come…

 

At least that is what I tell myself as a shiver runs over me.  Brrr. 

How is your weather?

Are you sweltering as we still sweater up?

I will look at the bright side…

at least it isn’t SNOWING!

Time to head to the studio and paint my day away…

I wish you sunshine and warm temps on this fine day. 

A Colorful Hand Painted Sign

My! what a week it has been.  I thought with the entrance of Fall and the cooler weather that things would slow down a bit but in that thinking I was in error.

I do have another painting lesson to add to our series but this week I was not able to get it done to my liking. 



I did manage to get a special order sign painted on Friday. It was a dark, rainy and chilly day but my studio was cozy and quiet.  A perfect retreat after a hectic week.  And I painted.



Today the sun shines with warmth, the chill that nipped at us yesterday is gone.  I took a walk in the garden to take photographs of the persistent blooms from summer.

I love this pink rose, I will print this shot and see if I can paint it, right down to the tiny water droplets on the petals.



Would you believe with all my rose painting I have yet to master painting the back of a rose?  I have tried and they never look right.  I will attempt it once again using this shot above for my model. 



I recently replaced the sad looking petunias in my window boxes with violas.  They will stay put all winter even under the snow then when the Spring sunshine warms them they will take off and become blooming fools. 

The window boxes sit on my deck rails and when I walk past all I smell is their sweet scent. 

I took plenty of shots of these too as I wish to paint from them.



The shading is so subtle and the whiskers so delicate it will take some practice, but I will do it. 



I have been watching some painting videos on You Tube lately.  Brazil seems to be big on fabric painting and there are some crazy lovely items that these ladies produce.

I think it has inspired me to try my hand again at fabric painting. 



I do enjoy painting my artful signs. Not just lettering, that is not fun for me but the colorful artistic signs are what float my boat.

I think maybe the table runners and pillow cases might be another avenue to enjoy my painting of flowers and romantic motifs. I have quite a few vintage linens that are considered cutters because of stains or holes so repurposing them into painted pillow covers or table runners may be the ticket. 

I have also dug back into my crochet basket, so many things I would like to do and only so much time. 

A familiar tune??



Fetilizer Friday 

Mid-September Garden on a crazy Monday

It has been a strange Monday.  First we woke at 3am and could not go back to sleep so at 4am we just gave up, got out of bed and headed for the coffee pot. 



I read emails and a few blogs while I sipped and waited for the sun to rise. 



I was starting on my third cup when I realized my desktop computer was going to revolt on me.  I restarted it many times until I finally got it to where I could back up what files were new enough that I knew they were not included in the last auto back up. 
Being faithful in backing up saved me a lot of headaches and work today!

Now I need to spend a few hours fixing it but not today.



I did manage to pick some ripe tomatoes and cook them down into sauce, it smelled so good it made me hungry for lasagna.
 


I let it cool and promptly slopped a good portion onto the floor as I tried to transfer a container to the freezer.  (sigh)



I nearly put my back out as I slid thru the slimy mess and my Birkenstocks will never be the same.  Yes, my feet were between the floor and the spilling sauce and I discovered it was not all that cool. 



I wiped up the mess and got the floor squeaky clean.

 I started dinner to discover the above mentioned sauce had overflowed while roasting in the oven, now as the oven preheated to cook our chipotle potato skins smoke billows out and sets off the alarm.



My husband no longer panics when the smoke alarm goes off, I tend to set it off quite regularly as I cook dinner. 



So what is a gal to do with such a day but toss in the towel, quit worrying about getting anything accomplished and head to the garden.



I dead head, gather seeds and tidy spent blooms.  The quiet tasks soothe the battered nerves.



I listen to the chink, chink, chink of falling pine cones as the squirrels snip them from the trees.  They shred them once they are on the ground to gather the nuts and stash them away for winter.  They have been very busy the past few weeks, it makes me wonder what kind of winter we shall have this year. 



My garden time brings me the peace I seek.  I check the chicks to be sure they are safe for the night and the hens are locked up tight before I head into the house.



Dusk falls early it seems. 

I have not forgotten my painting lessons.  Because of the aforementioned technical difficulties my next episode will only be slightly delayed but I promise I will post it soon. 



Just a preview. 

I hope you enjoyed my garden today and may it bring you a bit of peace on a crazy Monday.







Tootise Time

A dusting of snow and one tough rose.

We woke to about half an inch of snow.  It was not a surprise as the weatherman had forewarned us but you never know when the weather will decide to do something other than what they predict. 

I decided to take a cruise of my garden with camera in hand to see what may be blooming on this 15th day of December.  The 32 degrees felt nearly balmy compared to the past few days that started around 26 degrees. 

A snowy viola I have growing in a barrel on my back deck. 



This is a Heritage rose from David Austin English roses..it has been a tough one. Roses blooming here in the Northern California Sierra Nevada mountains is unheard of this time of year, usually.  



It resides beside my studio.





Its brother hovers at its feet, but the roses on this one are more desiccated though still rather lovely.



There are more things blooming in my Greenhouse.  Some pelargoniums..





A Cappuccino Rudbeckia



A volunteer white petunia that came up in a pot with some boxwood. 



And here are my ladies at breakfast.



I hope you enjoyed my little morning walk..

I am going to join Bloom Day over at May Dreams Garden