Gardening in Miniature

I've been enjoying this book~~Gardening in Miniature by Janit Calvo. It's filled with ideas and plans for constructing your own miniature garden.  Even though I really like having a real life-sized garden, I don't have the room for much of anything other than the basics...herbs, a few tomato plants, and lettuces.  With this book as a guide, I can construct my own "Secret Garden"...a place for my mind to wander in the upcoming heat-infused months.  

                                         

                                           

No weather complaints from me yet...I'm just happy that Spring has finally found us!

Weekend Fun

Yesterday was the Ohio Valley Art League's Kitchen Tour, just across the river in Henderson, Ky. Five kitchens were on display scattered all over town, and there was a chef stationed at each location. We sampled seared Ahi tuna, graham pralines, old fashioned homemade banana pudding, bananas Foster bread pudding with rum raisin sauce, and finally...the best for last...pizza from a wood-fired mobile pizza oven. Delicious pizzas...Bee Sting Pizza, a breakfast pizza, white pizza, and my favorite--Fig & Pig pizza--a fig and prosciutto pizza topped with peppery arugula. So good.

The kitchens were beautiful. I can't imagine cooking in a few of them...they were too perfect. Beautiful homes, beautiful landscaping...maid and gardener service required.

I picked up ingredients for pizza making...fig preserves, prosciutto, cheese...and had dough ready from my bread machine. I used the recipe from the Pioneer Woman's website...delicious!

Busy, busy, busy...

Sometimes things just get a little out of control around here.  It's been a busy week at work...painting class on Monday, faux flower making class on Tuesday, and Dear Jane quilting on Wednesday.  Whew!!  Now I have all kinds of ideas percolating in my head...new classes and programs for July and August...plus personal DIY's to do for me...and friends.  Seriously...my head is spinning.  I like to push people into things...going beyond their comfort limits and climbing out of the box.  I need to do that for myself...not so much getting out of my comfort zone...I do that on an almost daily basis.  I need to create things for myself...to actually make/do things....instead of carrying all of this "stuff" inside of my head.  I saw a really cute fabric cuff on Etsy a while back, and made one a few weeks ago.  I've collected beads and findings...I need to manufacture.  Coming home and going to sleep is just so much easier.  Spring is still playing hide and seek here...maybe that's part of the problem!

Playing around...

Relic Necklace 4.14.13

Bring it on~~Spring, that is...

 We've been having roller coaster weather here...sort of warm one day, freezing rain and sleet the next.  I'll be glad when things moderate a bit...I'd like to play in the dirt!

In the meantime, I decided to craft a terrarium necklace...simple, yet "green" enough to satisfy.

I used small bottles obtained from Hobby Lobby (the Tim Holtz Idea*ology set @ $5.99 less 40%), and filled them with chartreuse reindeer moss.

I had some silvertone chain in my jewelry-making supplies, and a hammered necklace clasp made in one of the classes I've taught at the library.  Easy-peasy.  Now to roll some little eggs out of robin's egg blue Fimo clay...a little colorful addition to the terrarium.

Think Spring!

A quick trip through Fresh Market yesterday, and an empty tea canister from this morning...the start of a windowsill herb garden!

Valentine's Day is coming...

Happy Sunday!

Super, or otherwise!

Minutiae...live it, learn it, love it




by Flora Bowley...Brave, Intuitive Painting

 

I woke up this morning with a few things on my mind...nothing too heavy, but they are weighing me down nonetheless. The year began with my word for 2013...optimism. Trying to look on the sunny side; not so much the glass half full thing, nor the finding the silver lining thing. Just trying to hold out hope for the best...in life, activities, friends and relationships--both professionally and personally.

 

Some days I tend to get caught up in the minutiae...those little pesky things that can throw you over the cliff or under the bus {{both phrases I am sick-to-death hearing}}. Lately I seem to be fighting the minutiae on a daily basis...either through interpreting things for others, or trying to read too much into things--"overthinking" has been my strong suit of late. Maybe I should just stop thinking...as one of my co-workers says (constantly) "I am not paid to think"...that surely can't be the answer.

 Referring back to previous posts---I must have been previewing this feeling back in the summer of 2008---my "mini-rant" in July and my "something to think about" in June of the same year. Maybe I need a real vacation...away from the cold and frozen car doors. Away from demanding and unappreciative people...away from thoughtless and careless people. Heck...maybe just away from people. What a concept!

File this one under "pity party"...

Dear Jane

This quilt picture hung around my sidebar for at least a year and a half...the Dear Jane quilt.  I started constructing blocks in 1999...and stopped in 1999.  A couple of years ago, I bought the software that will let you print out the patterns--and still didn't work on the quilt top.  This year marks the 150th anniversary of the completion of the original Dear Jane...so I decided to create a library program around this theme (it's EVPL's Centennial this year) so we could have a support group of sorts...we had our first program this morning and there were ten of us in attendance.  Some novices, some dabblers, and some quilters...this is going to be fun {{if it doesn't kill us first!}}.  We will all have our own quilt tops by years' end.

Sunny Monday

Rumor has it that all of the snow and ice hanging around these parts will be melted by weeks' end.  That's exciting news!  The sky is ultra blue today...and the sun is shining brightly.  I really couldn't ask for more.  The day started out with a painting session in the basement of the library.  I was joined by two other people, and we had a great time.  I'm working on two canvases, and I really have no idea of how they'll end up.  Ronda finished her painting, and Sandy worked on three canvases.  Ambitious.

Our work is on display at Central Library, beginning today.  Click the link, and you'll be transported to the online version.  So exciting!

New stuff...not finished.


Where I left it today...1.7.13