Random Acts of Art Kindness

So we were playing Scrabble the other night and we always each draw a tile to see who goes first. We both drew a V. There are only 2 V's available. What are the chances that we'd both pull it?



I found this wonderful handmade postcard waiting in my mailbox this afternoon when I got home. It's paper, fabric and laminated fabric stitched together. It was made by Jan Hodgman as a RAAK. That stands for Random Act of Art Kindness. I LOVE IT, and it perked my day right up!

RAAK is from Millande's Art Group on Ning, if you haven't been there I highly encourage you to visit and join. Wonderful women sharing their knowledge, lives, insight and kindness. I'm inspired every time I visit, and I've learned quite a bit. It's caused me to work a bit outside of my comfort zone. and that's always a good thing.

Rainy days are gone, and the weekend is now

Baby tomato! This is Mr Stripey. When he grows up he is supposed to be red and chocolate striped. I've never grown this one before, so we shall see.

We got a ton of rain this week, officially 3.99 inches yesterday. My yard was a swamp and my driveway a river. The veggies loved it, the tomato plants look like they grew a couple of inches. The roses lost all their petals but overall look ok, but the impatients got all beat up.

I planted a Honeysuckle against the fence on the side yard; and strung up garden twine to give it something to cling to. It grows so fast I think if I stand there long enough I'll see it move.

On the crafty side:
I bought the equipment to make lampwork beads. Very fun! I get to use a torch!! woo-hoo!
so I've only tried it once so far and was not as difficult as I imagined. I did do one thing wrong: I set everything up outside. It was a gorgeous day, sunny, breezy and I was playing with fire.... so I set everything up on the table in the back yard. The blue part of the flame is the hottest so that's where you have to hold the glass. Well, in the sunlight or dappled shade you can't see the flame at all. All I could see was the wavy distortion in the air.
Problem two: nice and breezy. While that felt fantastic, you really don't want the wind blowing the flame around; it needs to be nice and steady.
In spite of that I made 5 beads. Not too bad for a first time:







I know that with practice I will get better, but now just to find the time to do it.
quilt
I have so many things I want to do this year.

I have 3 quilts in the planning stage and 1 a little less than half pieced.
I want to make the baby some clothes.
I want to work on layering in my art journal.
I want to go to the beach once per month.
I want to dance.
I want to continue to lose body mass.
I want to creatively landscape my yard and make it so nice we love to sit out there.

Here's one last pic:

Catching up

I've been so busy working in the garden I've neglected you!
We finished the Compost Bins and they are working quite well. No more stinky mess in the plastic garbage can I was using.
We also built the second bed in the side yard and fenced it in. Here's a pic of Patrick planting Cosmos and Petunias.




In the new bed:
4 tomatoes: Lemon Boy, Mr Stripey, Husky Cherry and Beef Master
2 red peppers
Bee Balm
2 basil and 1 spicy globe basil
a HUGE Rosemary bush
4 strawberries
5 bush beans
and lots of Marigolds for pest control and because they are so cheerful.

In the first bed:
Collards continue to go crazy and I will be harvesting, cooking and freezing very soon.
Purple Cabbage is starting to look luscious


the lettuce is almost gone
Freshly planted:
4 Cauliflower
4 Black Zucchini
2 Spaghetti Squash
2 Cucumber
Once the Collards are harvested I'll need to plant something in that spot. any ideas?





We spent all last weekend building a shed in the back yard. It's made of resin and is 6x8 feet. Took us all weekend to put the kit together with the help of my daughter, son and neighbor. Grandchild played in the wading pool for all of Saturday afternoon, kept herself entertained, what a jewel she is.

I don't have any pictures yet, I'll take some once I get it planted and settled in. They shorted me 26 screws so I have to make a trip to Home Depot to get some replacements to finish. Then I want to get some concrete pavers for just in front, a landing zone for the lawn mower and a path through the yard eventually. I'd love to do crushed gravel for the paths, but we will probably settle for mulch.
I got 2 ground orchids to plant by the shed, originally I thought I would plant them in front but as you can see the front is mainly doors so I'm not sure where I will put them.


This one is tall, about 2 and 1/2 feet and then a smaller one with peachy pink flowers.
I also got this little guy to protect and be a backyard mascot:



I've been wanting a bird bath and didn't like any I've seen so I decided to make my own. I bought a plant saucer and plant stand and I'm painting them. I'm going to weight down the saucer with a large quartz crystal so hopefully it won't be tippy.
I'll post some pics once I'm finished.

I also painted the bird feeder, once again no pics but will take some on the weekend. The bird feeder is done with the colors I'm doing the back porch with. I started painting the porch 2 weekends ago but the stepstool I was standing on to paint the ceiling collapsed under me and I fell. Luckily I fell on my head so no permanent damage done. Anyway the ceiling and supports are turquoise, the back door is purple and the trim around the windows in the door will be coral. I'm still looking for a saying to paint on the beam that you see as you walk out to the back yard. So far in the running:
Love Lives Here
The Amazing is Happening Now
Dance with Creation
Love is your true nature
choose love
what's your idea?

Compost Carpenters

I've been wanting to build a Compost Bin for awhile now. For the last two years I've been composting in a plastic garbage bin. It gets pretty slimey in there as there's no air circulation. So this morning after dumping the bin out in the yard to turn it; I decided today's the day. Compost building day!
Off to Home Depot for lumbar since my search for free pallets has come up to bupkiss.
Of course while we were there I dumped a whole package of nails everywhere. oops. Not my fault! Someone had torn open the end and set it back on the shelf. It was booby trapped I tell ya.

Back at home and I even managed to talk my son into helping. Doesn't he look thrilled?

and check out those Redneck sawhorses...

I'm putting them in the back corner behind some large bushes, a straight walk out the back door from the kitchen, but hidden from sight. Here's Patrick swinging a hammer.


And here we are nailing the last side together in the dark. We still have to nail a board across the bottom of front, then hardware cloth on all sides.


We also still have to build the front pieces. These will either be removable or swing open like a gate so the compost can be easily turned. They will be a wooden frame with hardware cloth stapled to it, just like the sides.
didn't the guys do a great job?

Valentine's Art Swap

I joined in on a Valentine Swap that Lemoncholy offered at her blog: Lemoncholy's flight of fancy.
She's a wonderful artist and I love the blog, go visit.

Here is my contribution; water color and markers.





And here is what she sent me!! I love, love, love it. There is nothing like coming home on a dreary, rainy day after a hard day at the insurance mine to find lovely lovely decorated mail in the box.

It's about 8 inches long, and quilted and puffy. I'm taking it to work to hang on my cubbie wall where I can admire it all day.

I'm working on a card for the significant other, but you will have to wait till after I give it to him for the picture.

Indoor Gardening

FxCam_1295302411670.jpg, originally uploaded by corvaequeen.

My Amaryllis bloomed, it was gorgeous. Too bad it only lasted about a day. When I got home the first day it bloomed the flowers and the stalk had fallen over. Too heavy I guess.
Glad I have the picture to enjoy!

Saturday update

I got this pot of dirt and a bulb for my birthday, it's been steadily growing for the last month, and at last a huge bud. I'll get a better picture once it blooms.
We've had some very low temperatures in December and January, but the garden has come through with just a few casualties. We lost the tomatoes, but I was expecting that. Lost the Basil and the Spinach which should have done well in the cold just never did right.
The Collards are huge and gorgeous, and the turnips are now showing purple just bursting right out of the soil. The late planting of red cabbage is looking good but I'm unsure if we have enough time before the warm weather comes.
I have 4 small Rosemary plants, and the way we mow through them, I'm thinking of planting about 10 more.
I had a friend from work come over today to learn how to quilt. Today we worked on cutting the fabric. So she learned how to use the Rotary Cutter, the mat, the ruler, and the importance of ironing. She's making a baby quilt for her new grand daughter. I'm so happy to have a quilting friend.