Stumbling...

Painting by Margaux of Black Spot Books

Stumbling upon something like this has got to be the best way to do it...

Often times ill get a conversation from a fellow artist that they have been in some way inspired by something I've created... Either to make some bit of art or just to write about it in their blogs and such. But the best way to find that this has happened has got to be just to stumble upon it through my own curious journey.

Today i was fortunate enough to come across some tiny book necklaces by The Black Spot Books, which led me to the above painting she had done of the Shelf city I sent her. Made my heart skip a beat... I Simply can not wait until i have the funds to procure one!

What a lovely Surprise!

Photo via Jeannemcgee's Flickr

Once we finally arrived home from a long day working at the nursery, I sat and looked through some etsy business and then the fun part- the blogs! And the very first thing i saw was this perfect set of crumbly white leaves. This talented human being made them of just muslin and gesso (which i don't fully understand but am thoroughly intrigued by). I seriously wish i could just have them all, to hold in my hands right now. Somehow i don't believe that is going to happen. So instead i will go to bed!

In the Winter all i want to do is garden...

Photo via adlandscapesltd.

These bricks are delightfully colored...

I've been trying to use this time (winter) wisely and think more of solutions to the past years problems instead of how i want to arrange the veggies next year. One huge problem actually stems from our commitment to remain organic when it comes to our little piece of dirt. I have recently come to the realization that the reason i have to weed more than anyone else is that i allow "weeds" to run rampant in my lawn. I mean, maybe there's a way to rid myself of them organically, but i've yet to stumble on it.

I have a small L shaped raised bed that covers roughly 100-150 square feet in the corner of my yard with one side against the house and the other against a fence. The 3 exposed sides (though raised 8-10 inches or so behind wood) gather sooooooo many weeds! mainly creeping grasses which are such a pain to pull up. The other perpetrator being some type of huge mint that my mother planted back there when she was little -that has now taken over a good 10th of the entire property (I HATE MINT).

So, my idea, which would usually be an expensive one, is a small surround of bricks. Like i said, i love bricks! And my father and i have a habit of raiding homes on future demo sites in the middle of the night for various things. I know it sounds odd and possibly quite dangerous (and maybe even a little bit illegal) to go at an old fireplace with a sledge hammer in the dark of night... But we cant stand to see useful things go to waist. And who can afford bricks? Especially nice old ones?

SO thats what we do, and I've now got about 3/4 of a pallets worth of bricks stacked up in my back yard waiting to be the floor of my eventual greenhouse. But could they have a more pressing use? Thats what I'm currently trying to decide. Use the bricks now, and whine when we finally get to the greenhouse and don't have enough, or let the weeds move into the vegetables once again? WHat to do, what to do?

Couldn't be more amazing...

Every Now and Then...

Pincushions via elinart

I have to admit to spending hours upon hours admiring the many inspirational creations to be found on Etsy... But every now and then, something appears on that screen that just simply blows my mind. The epitome of textile perfection. Tonight that is what i was both lucky and unlucky enough to find. Above is a photo from the sold section of one of my most pined after etsy shops; elinart. Her crocheted moldy fabrics are so intriguing, but these pincushions have me leaned forward in my seat drooling. Found inadvertently through a treasury photo of another of her pieces... i was terribly sad to see they had both already been sold... However, i can always look forward to what she'll turn out next!

And, perhaps one day, when money is not so very tight (more on that later) I may just be able to lay my hands on one! A girl can dream, right!

I Want to live in England... and Ireland.

Cowslips via wrens nature notebook

Lately While perusing the vast and wonderful Internet, I've come across a few really lovely blogs, mostly involving crafts and gardening which just so happen to be two of my very favorite things... I see these gardens and am in awe of their beauty. I come to the decision that i just simply HAVE to have THOSE plants in MY garden! Then usually come to find that these gardens are in far distant lands, and contain plants that i can not easily procure in little Ol' Virginia. So, apparently in order for me to be truly happy, i need to move to England... and Ireland.

In other news, Now that I'm reaching the end of this flu of mine, for some reason my body has seen fit to inflict a cold upon itself. Just LOVELY! I dripped snot all over the unfortunate people who wandered into the nursery today....

Exciting!

Today I've dreamt of Paint...

Photo via jpegmag.com

When i stepped off the back stair this morning to let the dog out, i didn't feel a temperature change... It seems to me that 75 is a bit on the warm side for November, but who a I to lecture the weather. I was planning to sit myself down all day today and churn out as many Shelf Cities as I could muster... But seeing as the air is so warm, i might just have to change my plan.

I also Stumbled upon this photo of a sweetly painted house that i wanted to share. Reason being, these are the exact colors id like to paint our house one day when we remove the bane of my existence- these horrid fake rocks on the front of our house... Ill get there one day, but for now ill just drool over this lovely image.

I did begin to pull out all of the overgrowth in the vegetable bed yesterday morning, but got called away for a day with visiting relatives soon after. And though i worked about an hour, there is still far more to do. I mean i really let things get out of hand once we hit the heat of summer this year. Things flourished, they just did so under a blanket of morning glories, volunteer tomatoes, and stubborn grasses. So perhaps ill get some more of that done today... as well as some house work, i suppose :(

Well, I've eaten a bowl of warm cinnamon oatmeal and I've opened all the curtains and let the light in, which never fails to do the trick...

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

Autumn...

Photo via wrens nature notebook

So anyway, i still have ferns on the brain. But I've also added strawberries... And i suppose I'm somewhat ahead of the game in trying to plan my spring garden beds tonight... But, Oh well.

...We have gotten so much reading done today, the two of us. Cuddled under two quilts. Much richer way to pass the time than watching television, for sure. I don't do much reading, as i am incredibly picky in such things, but when i find a good book, it gets read and reread. Besides, i was so achy going into work this morning, and with first physical effort i truly felt how sick i was... so laying in bed reading was a very welcome comfort. If only that darned book didn't stir up so many exciting ideas id be asleep by now.

When i saw this photo i imagined all of the young ferns tucking in to sleep?

Good night all.

Wanting for a shade garden...

Photo found here.

This week has been a blur of sickness... Stephen and i both got some sort of flu from one of our bosses at the nursery. I got it first, but he's gotten it the worst right now. He sounds terrible. The worst part for me was the migraine i got today on top of the ache and cough...

Any how, this afternoon (while even further avoiding glazing some shelf cities due out), I hunted through google images of fern gardens. There is such a small gallery. However, i satisfied my need to dream of the gardens of my future...

Our house is on about a 5th of an acre. and when we moved in a few years back, had only one very sad looking cedar tree on the back property line and a dogwood in the same sort of shape up front. Since then, we've planted 2 cherry trees (one of which failed), A clump river birch, 2 apple trees, and 4 redbuds. Id still very much like to add 4 more river birch and remove both the dogwood and the cedar. Although i would feel guilty cutting down the dogwood since my mom and dad planted it for my grandma before i was born. Yep, thats right, i live in the house my mother grew up in. Even more strange, we sleep in her old room...

See, i love the outdoors. However, I hate the 3 months of summer where its too hot to do any sort of enjoying of it... So, slowly but surely, I'm attempting to grow myself some shade (that and i much prefer woodland shade plants to the sun lovers). So for now, all i can do i dream of the gardens of my far off future... full of ferns, hellebores, may apples, mountain laurel...

Ah, those will be the days.

Autumn Wandering...

We've Been spending a lot of time in the woods lately. Trying to take a decent walk every day... I was so pleasantly surprised to find on both of my latest woodland adventures, some rattlesnake plantains. Which are my favorite woodland plant. Of course i neglected to take pictures to share with you... But here are some stephen took of some purple aster and my feet?