The Garden ~ A Work in Progress

Laying out grounds may be considered a liberal art, in some sort like poetry and painting.

~ Wordsworth



The garden path is completed, the seeds are sprouting, and seedlings rising up to soon proclaim their bounty.

I remember a story I read to my kids over and over of Toad and Frog in the Garden. Toad planted seeds and would not leave the garden while he waited for the seeds to sprout. He became very impatient thinking they should poke through the ground immediately and he fretted over what was wrong. He watered, and in the end even sang to the seeds trying to get them to grow.

Planting a garden is work but it's contemplative work. Then you wait for the harvest. Of course during that wait you have to weed a lot and water and sometimes fight with the pests.

Here are pictures of green bean plants, tomatoes, gourd seedlings, squash, and the last blooms of the bearded iris. I think I snuck a picture of one of my cats in there, it would be Moo lazing in the sunshine.

Garden Path

The last few mornings have found me out working in my garden. I am fortunate to have a screened garden area that keeps the deer away and most other varmints with the exception of the occasional gopher. I have raised beds and have gopher wire laid under the soil but sometimes these critters will tunnel under the path and find a way to hop out and over the bed side to get at my plants. So I'm laying down weed cloth, then stepping stones and gravel on the path to see if this will thwart them. It's been really hot here the last couple of days so I haven't made as much progress as I'd like. I've had a bit of help of course, my husband brought the truck load of gravel up and he fixed the flat on the wheel barrel. My son Tony built me a trellis for the ornamental gourds I planted to vine onto.This is the beginning stage but within two weeks more seeds will have sprouted, plants will start blooming, and the path with hopefully be finished.

Time got away from me in regards to posting on the blog. I had some issues with teenagerdom that I won't go into and well.......... anyone who has them or has raised them knows about this trying stage of life.

My Mother's day weekend was pleasant. My husband fixed a nice dinner and both the boys were here with cards and chocolate for me. (I raised them well) Now that my oldest is 21 he also bought me a delicious bottle of wine and he got to have some with me.

I forgot to post yesterday with the self portraits but I have a very good excuse. I was on jury duty. I had to report to Santa Clara Superior Court on Tuesday and was immediately called up to the jury box. The initial twelve people selected had to go through all the questions and we were sometimes asked to expound on our answers. Then some were eliminated and new people were called up and they went through the questions. Then the defense attorney got to single us out and ask questions and then the DA had the same privilege. By the end of the day the jury selection process was not finished as two new people were called up and we would continue the process the next day. So yesterday I reported in and waited in the jurist room until our group was called up to the court room. When we were called all 68 of us proceeded to the courtroom only to be detained in the foyer for an hour. Standing there waiting for an hour, what the heck was going on? Finally we were called in and seated. The judge came out and announced that the defendant and the DA had reached a settlement and she thanked us for our service and said we were free to go. We were all pleasantly surprised but that didn't mean there was a champagne brunch waiting for us. Oh well where do our tax dollars go?

I'm glad I didn't have to report for jury duty today as I'm going to a concert in San Francisco tonight with some friends. It's about 1 1/2 hour drive for me and I didn't want to have to sit in court all day, drive to the city, stay up late, and then be back in court on Friday. The concert I'm going to see is Teresa Anderrson Amazing that she creates all the sound herself with live looping. I think this will be so cool to see in person!

Self Portrait Wednesday

Misty has been posting self portraits on Wednesday and has encouraged others to do so. I like this challenge and although I may not meet it every week I haven't given up on it. Here is a pencil drawing I did as a self portrait in high school. It doesn't really look like me but it was my attempt at that time. I know Misty is away teaching and she may not be able to post her pics today but you can see previous Wed. where she did post.



And these were a couple I took last year from a restaurant balcony in Hanalei. The images are reflected in the glass walls between the inside of the restaurant and the balcony. You can see the mountains and the bay in the background, you can see the people inside and the hanging lights. BTW I'm the one with the camera in my hand so a definite self portrait.



I experimented more with reflections when in Kauai a couple weeks ago but still need to get them onto my computer and sized to post. Maybe those will be my next weeks self portrait post?

This is what the view from my house has been for days but this morning the sky is blue and the sun is shining so I hope it dries things out enough for me to plant the tomato, cucumber, squash, and beans in my garden before I leave this weekend for a trip to Lake Tahoe with girlfriends. We decided this would be a great mother's day gift for us.

Pitfalls of Outdoor Art Shows

I awoke yesterday morning and finished loading my car up with my inventory to take into Santa Cruz and set up for the May Day show. It was raining here in the mountains and from what I could tell from weather reports it was probably raining down the hill too, but it's not always the case so I took off. I got to Nancy's house where the show was being held and it was raining there too. Not a hard rain, not windy, but a steady rain. The space I was to set up on was a wooden deck with a hot tub I was going to use as a table top and there were small trees extending into the space. With the rain I could not set up without a canopy and I couldn't put a canopy into that space. I ended up having a canopy on the front lawn, After hauling my stuff from the car to the space my felt hat was saturated, my hair was dripping and my boots were soggy. I set things up but I had to keep everything away from the edges of the canopy so they wouldn't get dripped on which made the garment racks and table all smooshed together. The mist from the rain drifted in and covered the silk flower pins I was displaying and the rain dripping from the canopy sloshed off the ground and back up to the hems of vintage slip dresses and on the hanging silk and velvet ruanas. After an hour of this I decided it wasn't going to stop anytime soon and I was a miserable, dripping mess and I gathered my items back into the garment bags and packed my stuff up to leave. I drove home, hung my garments up in the studio, removed my wet clothing and climbed into bed with a heating pad and took a nap. The steady rain was perfect to stay inside and be lazy. I watched the Giants game and then read for a while and finally got up to fix a snack and see what I'd fix for dinner when my girlfriends Diane and Devra returned from their day out. We had roasted chicken, artichokes, brown rice with asparagus and watermelon and then we watched "Young Frankenstein" and still laughed as hard as the first time we saw it.

Nancy's house is the only place I do outdoor shows because her yard is so lovely and inviting and we have the same ideas about the shows. However, the wind usually comes up and it is not my friend. My silk scarves and garments look lovely blowing in the wind but not when they land on the ground and get snagged on branches. I have decided it stresses me too much to deal with this anymore and I will probably decline doing the outdoor show again. And then again next year Nancy's contagious enthusiasm might sway me to sign up.

Here are photos of a previous May Day show at Nancy's on a nice warm, sunshiny day, but the wind did come up in the afternoon and ........... sigh.