Tuesday, May 10, 2016

tuesday tidbits

During the recent week of rain, the amazing epimedium continued to produce masses of tiny gem-like flowers:


 The flowers are passing, but look at what the leaves are doing!

~~~

In other perennial news, the little wild ginger plant I added last summer was one of the first plants to return this year. It's leaves looked exceptionally lush against a palette of Forest Floor:


Charming, isn't it? 
One day I made a little line drawing:

~~~

Several readers have asked about Project Windowbox.
Thanks for asking! Here's an update.

The design decisions were easy, thanks to all the good advice I received here. I am very grateful! This is the kind of thing that can hang fire for years while I hem and haw. The choices made:

1) sturdy white plastic boxes
2) continuous wooden supports built across the long walls

After a long and fruitless online search, I found boxes locally - a nice surprise. I also ordered gallons of a cedar-oil-based wood preservative, because the exterior walls of the porch needed to be protected before installing the boxes.

No big deal.
My occasional hired helper and I could work together and get it done, lickety-split.

On the right:
product applied but not yet absorbed.

Then...for nearly three weeks my occasional hired helper and I experienced a baffling series of miscommunications. By the time it was straightened out, the rainy season (it really has felt like an actual season, with soup and tea and a barn coat that never quite dried out before I had to put it on again) had begun.

So, for the past two weeks we've been working as often as weather and schedules permit. Working on several now-overdue tasks.
Working hard.

Current status: most of the porch now has two coats. The gable peak has one. A third overall coat may be needed; we'll see. Either way, fingers crossed the painting will be finished by next week. We finally had a sunny day yesterday, and another today, but my helper has not been available...so, no progress yet this week. Yes, I could crawl up that ladder and do the gable myself, but moving and setting the higher ladder is hard for me to do. So I'll wait.

Meanwhile, one more piece fell into place on Saturday, when I found a source for the potting soil recommended to me by a blogger who gardens like I can only dream of gardening. I've never been so excited about the opportunity to buy dirt. I'm really pushing the boat out on this project! 

Soon...I'll keep you posted!
~~~

P.S.
I'm sure LeShodu would like to thank you for your kind birthday greetings, and especially the suggestion of "special carrots."

"'Special' is a unit of measurement, right?
Is it equivalent to a pound?
Or is it one carrot for each of my 12 years?"
~~~~~

Sunday, May 8, 2016

birthday girl

Today is LeShodu's birthday.
She is my foundation doe;
the Matriarch of Cloud Harvest Cashmere.
Every goat on the place is related to her.

She came here in 2010, at the age of 6:


In Spring 2011, LeShodu introduced Violet and Lily of the Valley :


 


Acer and Betula followed, in Spring 2012: 



Reluctantly (it was my idea), LeShodu took a year off in 2013...
"Humphh."

...then produced Vinca and Dara in 2014. 



LeShodu was formally retired as a breeding doe in 2014.


Again, it was my idea.
LeShodu's clear preference was to continue growing her herd.

Can a Queen ever have too many Subjects?
LeShodu does not think so.


Of course, LeShodu has not retired from either brush-clearing...


...or producing very nice cashmere.



Happy 12th Birthday, LeShodu - Queen of the May!
~~~~~

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

rainy day #4


Chickadee

(It's a start. Sure feels like a long time since DrawingAugust!)
~~~~~

Monday, May 2, 2016

murky monday

Mourning Dove

It rained yesterday.
It's raining today.

Nuthatch

The forecast is rain for the next six days.

SIX.
Days.

Chipping Sparrow

So to keep our spirits up, here are a few snaps taken way back when the sky was not grey and the air was not clammy and raw.
About two days ago. 

Goldfinches


Thank you for helping me with "what shall I draw?"
I really appreciate it! This "poll" gadget is new to me, and last night I discovered that correcting a typo in 
my original post somehow broke the buttons on the poll. Oops. I quickly rebuilt it and posted the replacement. Fortunately I had looked at the poll results just before fixing the typo, so I jotted down those numbers to add to later counts.

Last night, tree was well ahead of the other choices, followed by leaf. But tonight bird has sailed to the front! So exciting! I was beginning to feel a little sorry for stone and landscape and boat, but now they each have one vote. And after reading Maywyn's intriguing comment, I googled and learned the trick of figure-eights and boats. Who knew?

This little poll is turning out to be fun, which is especially welcome on such a gloomy day. I'm going to leave it up til tomorrow then add the numbers and get out my sketchbook.
Thanks again!

Meanwhile, here's one more cheery bird:
Purple Pomegranate Finch
Thanks :)
~~~~~

Sunday, May 1, 2016

drawing...May?

Dear readers,

In a fit of crazy optimism, I'd like to start drawing before #DrawingAugust2016, and since this is the first day of a lovely new month, what better time to dust off the sketchbook, elbow a few things aside on my worktable, and give it a go? Maybe not a drawing every day, but at least a daily attempt.

The good news is, there is inspiration everywhere I look.

You might imagine the result: I have drawn nothing.

I am immobilized by an overwhelming abundance of inspiration.

Not complaining! The world is glorious!

But...no drawing yet.

Help me out?

I've come up with a few simple subjects/themes, and made (I hope! it's an experiment) an interactive poll. Please click whichever choices strike your fancy, then click the "vote" button. I particularly invite readers who don't usually comment to "vote" in this little poll...it would be very encouraging to see a lot of clicks :)

Thank you!

what shall I draw?
 
pollcode.com free polls
~~~~~