Life is in the details

cottage garden and veggie/herb garden living harmoniously?

I love the casual abundance and the beauty of a cottage garden/cutting garden and I can't live without my herbs and veggies so I need to find a way to combine the two. Previously one area in the garden was just for the veggies but it only looks good at the peak of  summer when everything is getting ready for harvest and the rest of the time it looks downright ugly since there's nothing permanent there to ground it. So if anyone has any good links to articles or garden plans that combine these two please let me know as I'm on the hunt for things to add to my garden notebook. This year I'm taking an experimental approach and planting the cucumbers and butternut squash near the tomatoes so that I can run their vines along the wooden rails of the deck. Some of the english peas (which are my FAVORITE - and Jessi's too) are near the tomatoes so they can climb the tomato cages. The peppers and eggplant are in front of the lavender, columbine, and basil and occasionally they are alongside the bush green beans. So now many of these little seedings

have now been planted out in the garden.

The strawberry plants are spreading out (a little too much for my liking) on the side where the annual veggies used to reside. Behind them and against the side wall of our house I planted Mammoth Sunflowers as well as Sunrise-Sunset Mix Sunflowers. The first peony blossom has shown itself and IT. IS. MAGNIFICENT! I am in love. Although the white azalea bush is getting the boot. Every time I pass by it while gardening I take another branch off. Double roses will soon take it's place. Basically I'm winging it this year and things are looking good. It has the potential, at this very moment, to be the best garden yet.

And while walking to school the other day Jessi and I dreamed up a vision that includes climbing roses, clematis, and a garden arch. I've always envisioned a garden arch and I'm so excited to have someone who can see the beauty of this as well. It will be part of our plan for next year. We're going to research which color roses and clematis (and any other flowers that might be suitable for this garden feature) we want. A bean teepee for the kids sounds fun too. And a sunflower house. I think I've been reading too many gardening books... especially ones by Sharon Lovejoy.

 

Sunflower Houses and Roots, Shoot, Buckets, and Boots make me want to go grass-less and just have pockets of garden fun sprinkled throughout the yard. Doesn't planting a rainbow sound FUN?!! And reading underneath a tower made of sunflowers? A Pizza Patch Garden? A Moon Garden comprised of flowers that open up at night? I think I need an extra acre or two (and I don't even have half an acre in my yard) for all of the projects that I want to try from just these two books alone! But it's so enjoyable to have many projects to choose from and little gardeners to dream with.

Have a great weekend!! This weekend we'll be celebrating Mother's Day since last weekend didn't work out to be a good time. I think we'll be needing to visit the farmers market and  stop at some farms/vineyards/animal petting zoos for the annual farm tour going on in our county. Have FUN!

Oh and I forgot to mention that I just received I Love Dirt, which I had pre-ordered from Amazon and it looks to be a great little idea book for getting outside and connecting with the kids you love and nature. I'll give a more in-depth review when I finish.

Reminder: send any ideas on mixing cottage gardens with herb/veggie gardens my way as I'm definitely needing some inspiration on how to do this and what things I should avoid doing.

I love Coldplay

Mike informed me of the Coldplay concert schedule last night and they are playing nearby this summer. With a little searching on the internet I found out that tickets go on sale TOMORROW (not Saturday as we previously last night - so Mike if you're reading this I need your HELP in procuring us some tickets - although I guess I could reschedule my haircut).

Coldplay is in my "top 5 of bands I want to see in concert this year or next" list - along with Green Day, Jakob Dylan/Wallflowers. And whenever U2 goes on tour again we are THERE - and that's just a standing lifelong promise that Mike and I made to each other a few months ago. Oh, yes, there WILL be more live music in my life! Yes, there will.

I took an evening class with Carla Sonheim called drawing blast where we did a bunch of drawing exercises including drawing with our opposite hand, drawing something without taking our pencil off the paper (so using one continuous line), making a scribble and then trying to transform it into something identifiable.

And then she had a bunch of things that she had us draw...like a stuffed animal, a bird statue, a sculpture, etc.

But taking day classes AND night classes just proved too much for me as I mentioned in one of the videos. I ended up leaving this class a bit early to get ready for bed.

more from Art & Soul

Here were some of Diana Trout's journals (I LOVED the binding on one of hers and really want to make one myself using the coptic method (when I did a google search for the method there a ton of results):

We also learned how to marble paper using a Japanese marbling technique called suminagashi, which you can read more about here) in which we used some photographic fluid and inks.

More of Diana's journals... that middle one is the coptic binding.

Here's a doodle painting from Traci.

And here's a painting that Diana Trout brought to her class as an example of using glazing medium along with acrylic paints.

These were more paintings created by students in the class.

Here's Diana and Adrienne (one of my tablemates). Hi Adrienne!!!

Playing Catch Up

Mother's Day was pretty much a wash-out here in terms of doing fun things together. I couldn't get out of bed until 5 pm - but thank goodness for antibiotics!! My throat no longer feels that it's been slashed and last night I was able to get 9 hours of uniterrupted sleep (which sadly doesn't make up for the previous 3 nights where I didn't even total 9 in those three days). Ryan is doing better and is at school and Mike is now feeling the brunt of strept's evil ways. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Jessica to skate by unharmed. But the day started off wonderful... Jessi made me a bunch of adorable cards and I got to open my gifts... Mike bought be a FLIP!!! YAY!! I can't wait to start taking more videos with this now that I can just pop it in my purse. Our family is photographed a ton but we have almost ZERO video and that's just not good in my book. So all of that is about to change... our family video library is about to begin! With my Flip and iMovie... well all I can say, is watch out! Here I come! And there was also a wonderful book about painting flowers with acrylics which I am excited to get started in using. I don't feel much like sitting up and painting today and have to admit that I'm laying bed with a book, a box of tissues, and a cup of Ginger Peach Decaf with honey. And after writing this post I'm going horizontal until it's time to pick up Ryan from school. I need to add the (new-to-me) CD that the-kids-via-Mike bought me (Jeanette, you probably already have this one) - Bon Jovi's Crossroads, but that will likely have to wait until tomorrow as reading and sleeping is about all I have energy for right now.

So I have loads of photos from Art & Soul still to share. Ya ready?
This was from Traci Bautista's Doodles class

And I forgot to mention that I carved a stamp in the first day's journaling class. Here's what it looks like:

still here

... I'm just trying to make it through a case of strept. Ryan and Mike have it too. I hope to be back to blogland soon.

Play Station: saw this and had to share

I'm back from Art & Soul. It was fun... my favorite class was still the fabric journal book. Love that little book. I started painting in it today... I was inspired by some tulips that I bought at the grocery store today. YAY for making more time for painting!

For the last ~8 weeks I've been doing something that I haven't shared here. I 've been putting some MEGA limits on screen time. Yep the kids now no longer watch any TV during the week (I used to think that people who did this were crazy... now I'm one of them and it's the best thing I've ever done). And they watch very little TV over the weekend. I usually let them watch 30 minutes on one of the days and let them go on the computer 30 minutes on the other day. And I have to say it WAS NOT EASY. But it IS NOW!! The first week was like dealing with an addict. The kids were constantly asking to watch tv or go on the computer and I just stayed firm. Rewind to how this all came to be.

Jessica and Ryan were both becoming very rude and aggressive after coming off the computer even after a time limit. And Jessica especially. Mean to her brother, mean to me, prone to more tantrums than usual. She was also increasingly upset that we weren't having time to do things that she wanted to do together even though she was choosing to do these activities. So I just had to pull the plug. I had to provide other optinos. Have I mentioned that I would have laughed at you (or secretly thought you were crazy) if you had suggested this to me three months ago? Oh and there was the little tendency for Jessi to become addicted to electronic things in the past (like the time she snuck down to bring her Leapster up to her room so she could play the edu-tainment games after bedtime and when I came up and saw her with it she admitted that I needed to take it away and put it where she couldn't find it/reach it  because otherwise she would get it and play it and that she couldn't stop and needed my help. Very self-aware 4-5 year old she was at the time.)

So it was hard that first week because of begging and pleading for screen time and the crying and the very tantrums that I was seeing if I could avoid. But it was important to be persistence in those early days. If I had given up in the first 10 days (which would have been soooo easy for me to do - because, believe me I wanted a some quiet time for me after all the whining to watch Hanna Montana. Turning on the TV would have bought me some of that instant-gratification peace but at what price?), I would have never known the success that we have now. Eventually they stopped asking because we were filling the time with more fulfilling things and we were all getting time to do the things we wanted to do... and mostly together. Although I'm a huge fan of computers and have been for some time - hello DIGITAL scrapping (that and I can't remember the time when I didn't own a computer)!!... I just don't think they were using the computer productively. I mean, how could they? If you are going on everyday, even if you are playing educational games for only 30 minutes... at some point they just stop being educational and become more of a routine form of uncreative entertainment. It's not like she was on KidPix everyday. And even that wouldn't have any sort of variety. There's nothing tactile besides clicking a button on a mouse and moving it around.

This certainly isn't for everyone. But it was right for us. It's working now and so we're finding we have much more time for art, nature walks, building fairy houses, climbing trees, riding bikes/jumping rope,blowing bubbles... all that good stuff that we really want to be doing.

And this was easy for me to decide to implement since I don't watch too much TV myself (usually about 20-45 minutes a night - gotta have my Jon Stewart and sometimes the Office, 24, etc.)... although I could do better on computer usage in my evenings, which I'm in the process of cutting down, for some of the same reasons as the kids. I'm not grumpy or aggressive but I find that I am not using my time as well as I could be. I find that I look at my watch and it's already time for me to wash up for bed and my whole night was spent checking blogs or my email instead of doing some of the things that I would have rather done - like writing, sewing, scrapbooking, reading, or painting.

So when I came upon this shirt over at Camp Creek Press I had to post it here.

Be the change that you want to see

I woke up to find this music video in my inbox and what a wonderful message to have upon starting the day.... any day. Check this out if you have a moment.

Video Blog for Art & Soul - Day 4

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Hope you enjoy! I'm having a great time and in all the time it took to upload this video I DID get a chance to stitch together my project. I love it. And I forgot to mention that the paper stitched to the inside is water color paper so I can paint with acrylics, watercolors, collage, etc. I'm looking forward to using this!!).

another video from Art & Soul

The audio problem from the last time is all cleared up (no longer using Quicktime to record the video).

Happy (Inter)National Scrapbooking day!!

To all you fellow scrappers out there... HAPPY (Inter)National Scrapbooking Day!!! Maybe I can come back after my class tonight before the vendor show and do some digiscrapping today. Yeah!! That sounds like a good idea!

Art & Soul recap of Day 2

Not sure why the video and audio was all out of sync in my videoblog post yesterday but I remember this happening last time I used Quicktime so later today I'll try to do one using a different program and hopefully that will be better.

Yesterday I took Painting with Acrylic Glazes with Diana Trout and here are some photos from the class:

Here's a part of our final class gallery.

But let me go back to the beginning.... here's Diana doing her first demo showing everyone how to set up their palette using the three primary colors.

My set up

My very quick drawing into the gesso. This was the most fun and something that I will definitely use at home... coating the canvas or canvas panel with gesso, then taking a charcoal pencil and just drawing very loosely into it, and using a swipe of gesso on top of any place that you don't like. It's meant to be done pretty quickly so you don't have too much time to second guess. (You can tell where I second guessed my nose! - The sketch we did before hand where we were even more loose - using less of our hand and more of our arm and body in the movement to create fluid lines but not a bunch of detail was something I was even happier with - and the nose, which I always feel is a struggle for me came out adorable - oh well! Practice, right?)

Here's my second one which isn't as visible because I was playing around with using the back of my paintbrush for some of it instead of my charcoal pencil because the tip was covered with dried gesso by that time!

Here's the finished painting. (We were told to stick with the three main colors and so this is much brighter than I'm used to since no white was introduced... only water or acrylic glazing fluid to lighten/stretch the color).

Here's the other one that I painted. At home, or with my white... those flowers would have been waaaay lighter but it's fun to try something that you wouldn't try ordinarily.

My palette. I think I definitely had the messiest one.

And here were some others in class that I loved:

I love lotus flowers... and to watch my tablemate develop her painting from something that started flat into something with depth and energy was so much fun.

This one tugged at my heart. In one of my original drawings I had created something like this but I didn't like the way mine came out... but this woman... I just love how she rendered it. I want to live inside that painting. Look at those trees and those hills. It looks like such a nice place to spend some time.

Art & Soul recap of Day 1

Recipe for Crayon Cupcakes (not for eating!)

I had some questions on how to make crayon cupcakes so here is how you do it.

Crayon Cupcakes

Supplies

• broken bits of crayon with the paper removed (metallic and sparkly ones added to the mix are extra fun)
• cupcake liners and  muffin tray (or metal disposable cupcakes tins - if you're using these then you won't need a muffin tin to bake it in since these stand well on their own. I would put them on top of a cookie tray just so it doesn't tip over while baking and is easy to get out of the oven when finished)
• oven
• oven mitts (to use when taking the muffin tin out of the oven)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
• Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
• Fill muffin liners about half way up the side with broken bits of crayons.
• Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes depending.
• Let cool completely before handling.
• Once cool, peel away the lining and color away with your new cupcake crayon!

Let me know if you give it a try and how it turns out!

leaving for Art & Soul

I'm leaving after dinner for Art & Soul and I will greatly miss my family back at home. And I've also gotten quite used to taking care of these:

I am hoping that they will survive my absence, which reminds me that I had better leave some instructions behind to help ensure their success.

I finished up my deadline yesterday that I've been working on during, what seems like, every spare moment of nap time/bed time/school time. It feels so nice to be done... but there's that nagging feeling like I left out or forgot something entirely. But I think that's just the way it feel sometimes.

I'm packing my yoga mat, a yoga DVD, an abs DVD, my exercise bands, and my workout clothes since I think the hotel gym has a bike that I can use. I'll post some retreat photos as soon as I can!

More seedling/gardening photos:

Moon & Stars watermelon seedlings make their appearance

Cucumber seedlings are in the house:

One of the two trays of tomato seedlings:

what was old is new again

This weekend we put our broken crayons that we've been saving for over a year to good use.... we made new crayon cupcakes! They are a welcome addition to the supplies on our art table.

Today the kids were painting some fairy houses (bird houses that they want to use for part of the fairy habitat that's being constructed around here these days). It started in our neighbor's yard and then spilled over into ours. Tomorrow we'll likely work on some shelter construction with some twigs that they've been collecting.

Here are some photos from the weekend fairy building:

Jessica has really been into wearing dresses lately. It's so cute... there must be something in the air since I mentioned not too long ago that I am really digging skirts these days. Mind you, I haven't been wearing any because I don't own any besides the kinds meant for more somber and/or professional occasions... but the next time I go shopping I am definitely going to be keeping my eye out for some... and if all else fails, there are the ones that I am forever in the middle of sewing.

Oh and the kids have been very into dressing up lately.... and Ryan has taken to dressing up in..... Jessica's dresses. I promised Mike that I wouldn't post any of these photos to the internet (but I do have them for future girlfriends when the time is right). But here's one that I took of both of them quietly playing from this weekend. They were joining their stuffed animals together into one big, happy circle time (I think... that's what it looked like to me anyway) and labeling them with post-it notes to make sure everyone knew who belonged to who when play time came to an end and clean up time began. (And Ryan is dressed in Jessica's pajamas!). He looks up to her so much and it's such a privilege to get to see this. Having no siblings of my own, I'm always amazed at the complexities in their relationship.

day out with Thomas

I'm sitting here with a cup of warm tea to try to chase away the chill. We have a soggy day today, and in Spring fashion, it's a whole lot colder than last week. I am in the middle of uploading some photos from this past week, including some of our weekend fun. And school starts back up for Ryan after having the whole week off so it's nice to sit here with some quiet and work on the deadline that I have to finish up before I leave for Art & Soul.

Yesterday, Ryan and the rest of us had a fun day taking a ride on Thomas the Train and visiting the roundhouse that was full of activities for the little train lovers. I think this is the best photo of the four of us in a long time. Don't be surprised if you see this on our holiday cards in 8 months!

And the kids got to take their photos with Sir Topham Hatt too.

Ry mesmerized by a Thomas video while Mike and Jessi went to call a cab for us to get back to the restaurant near where our car was parked.

Since I've been keeping my daily gratitude journal I had to take a shot of this when I saw it.

We had lunch at a place Jessi couldn't wait to go to so we could play air hockey a few times: the ESPN Zone.

And they even tried bowling.

Um, guys, you're supposed to stand on the other side of the line. Despite our suggestions, they clearly liked the idea of being closer.

hey do you scrapbook anymore?

YES! I have been doing some scrapbooking projects but they are for upcoming classes so I can't always immediately share the stuff I'm working on here right after I create them. But here's one I CAN share.

outdoor art

Last week before the rains came we had a fun outdoor art session. The kids are loving the new paint and supplies.

growth

Some seedlings (mostly peppers and basil) were ready to be given a bigger home.

And some new seeds needed a starter home (some squash and green beans). And these were the first round of pots I made myself with newspaper.

This week Ryan's school is closed for Passover so we're planning on going around town today running some errands because it's downright buggy outside and neither one of us wants to be out there in the yard today. We're going to try to get peonies again and also to get Jessi come spring/summer clothes since she's out grown all of her shorts and stuff from last year.

Last night I was able to make it to my pottery class (I attended the first class and then had to miss two weeks so I felt a bit lost when I walked in and people were glazing their beautiful creations)... but I quickly got reacquainted with the wheel and made three things that DO NOT look like collapsed ear bowls. How happy am I!??? Note to self: next time make sure there are other beginners in the class (rather than being one of two who have never done this before).

Peonies here I come!!!