Blooming Tuesday - Fuchsia

This is one of the last Fuchsia blooms in the window box. Even though I have been watering the box regularly it isn't happy with the heat.  The heat is too much for all of us. Happy Blooming Tuesday.

Animal Wedensday - Luna and Oly

This week has been hectic around here. All is beginnning to slow to a more manageable pace. Here is the tall and short of it. 

Oly has been here visiting. He likes to come to camp Greenbow while his Momma is out of town.
The garden is large enough to him it keeps him busy watching for intruders.

It was a special visit this time because he was here for Luna's birthday. She turned 8. A friend of her's brought her a card and a treat.

Needless to say the treats didn't last long.

It didn't take Oly long to figure out which of us was the Pez. Luna told him right away who he should keep an eye on.

Happy Animal Wednesday Everyone.

Animal Wednesday - Oly

Our litte friend Oly is here to visit while his Mom goes to Boston to visit.  Oly is a white toy poodle. He is a trooper in that he walks with us at Luna's speed. A loving little fellow. The perfect lap dog which I am not used to. He is relagated to a stool with his blanket.  At every opportunity he sits in my chair though. He is a great burglar alarm. Unfortunately there are no burglars around here. It takes him a day or so to get used to our noises. Like that sneaky ice machine plopping ice out.

Happy Animal Wednesday to all.

Blooming Tuesday - Hosta

Outside my studio window I watch the hummingbirds come to the hosta blooms every day. I have noticed that the hosta blooms close at night and then reopen the next morning. After all of these years of looking at hosta blooms I finally noticed this thanks to the little hummer that comes here daily.

 

This was done by using ink and a water brush with a little watercolors in the background.

Happy Blooming Tuesday.

Cactus Monday - Echeveria

This pot of succulents and Silver Falls Dichondra was wintered over from last summer. I am so pleased with them I wish I could put them into the ground but they would succumb to our winters.

The Echeveria is blooming. It blooms a couple of times per year. I really like this bloom because it looks like a heart this time.  I don't know what the tall cactus is in the middle of the pot. I thought it would be a good contrast with the Echeveria and dichondra because was a reddish color. In our light it has lost a lot of its color. I might take it out.

Happy Cactus Monday to you all. My heart goes out to all of you.

While It Is So Hot

I have been busy making a journal.  I was inspired by an email that is going around about trees. I just adore trees. The tree that inspired the front of my journal is this picture...

I drew it with white pen onto the cover as a negative. I guess that is what you call it. I don't really know. I just had the urge to do it this way.  You can see that I made a closure for the book with a button that looks like an acorn and a piece of rawhide to wrap around it.

I tore up a sheet of 140#cpArches WCpaper to make the signatures. I sewed them together with waxed linen thread using the coptic stitch. This way all the pages open flat for easy use.

For the first page I typed out the poem Trees by Joyce Kilmer. This is one of my all time favorites.

Here it is in an easier to read size. I hope you like it too.

I am not sure what I will use this journal for exactly but I am coming to an end of another store bought journal so I thought I would try my hand at this style of journal. At least I know I will like the paper to draw and paint on. Last but not least I made a bookmark to help me keep my place when I start plowing through these 30 pages.

I learned a lot doing this journal. How I could have stacked the papers a little better. How to make the stitches tight to make a neat book. How I should make the bookmark a little longer. But all in all it is going to work out well. What have you been doing during this long heat wave?

Thankful Thursday - Rooster

I have been blessed again with a fun packet from the Queens Land. Dear Joss has traded this atc with me and as her generous spirit dictates she has sent along some fun extras. Thank you so much Joss.

A nice surprise in the post came from the same part of the world when I opened this beautiful card from Cheryl. Out came a couple of packets of seeds. Thank you so much Cheryl. It is so much fun to receive the little extras that friends know you will appreciate.

Animal Wedensday - House Wren

How hot is it? It is so hot that the poor little house wren hangs her head out the window for a breath of fresh air. This is before the sun get around to this side of the house.  I feel so sorry for her. When she comes out of the house for a stretch of the wings and a bit of relief the ever vigilant male house wren starts singing and following her around nagging her to go back to the nest. He usually quickly rewards her with a nice juicy moth. I don't know if these eggs will be viable after all of this hard work. I can't imagine that it is good for them to be so heated. They are such small eggs it wouldn't take much to cook them. All I know for sure is that this little Momma and Daddy are working hard to bring them to life. I hope you are keeping cool this Animal Wednesday.

Blooming Tuesday - Trailing Begonia

The other evening I tried my hand at drawing and painting part of an arrangement I made with some flowers and ferns from the garden. I didn't do the entire bouquet but just one of each items in the bouquet. The trailing begonia 'Bonfire' is now one of my favorite begonias. It holds up to the heat and humidity and anything else you throw at it. Like cutting off the draping limbs for bouquets. This is also my favorite vase. It is small, black and has a basket weave pattern. A terrible rendition of it. I didn't get its shape at all. I will have to have another go at it.  I hope you all have a Happy Blooming Tuesday.

Cactus Monday - Judy Butler

I am dedicating this Cactus Monday to Judy Butler. Judy is a wonderful artist, Mother, Wife, Grandmother and Friend. She has a blog named Naturalist Journal: Down the Nature Trail. I got to know Judy through her blog. She has been the most supportive about my nature journaling. If you take a look at her blog you can see what a gift this has been for me. Thank you Judy.

Sadly for us all Judy is losing her battle with cancer. Her spirit will live on in all of us that love

nature and especially Cactus Monday which Judy always participated in when she could. For more about Judy and other Cactus Monday art go to Teri's Painted Daisies.

Animal Wednesday - Beetle

The bug I drew here was inside the house on the trash can. I couldn't believe it. My DB said he put some garden debris in the trash. It must have been scooped up in the leaves. I looked it up on the web site What is this Bug. It is a Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle. As you can see I also gave the Lettering another go. I like this one better.  Happy Animal Wednesday to you all.

Anemone Tomentosa

My first stab at word art. It depicts the Japanese anemone that is blooming in my garden right now. Happy Blooming Tuesday to you all.