gifts from the tended earth

In the center of the evolving sunflower house, I planted lots of red leafy lettuce. I wanted to utilize the space until the time came for it to merely be a floor (: We have had an abundant supply of lovely, yummy lettuce in that space and have made more salad than we are used to eating, which is a great thing. The garden is also surprising ~ and delighting us ~ with gifts of yellow beans and pickling cucumbers, which we all eat straight off the vine while playing outside. The yellow tomatoes are almost ready to be harvested too! How I love the garden!

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the little gardener

Jude really seems to love the garden. This makes my heart happy (:

{{ this moment }}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~ inspired by Soule Mama

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Mandalas made by children

Jason has been teaching children's summer art classes through Meta4 gallery in Port Perry and doing some really great projects with the kids! This is a collection of some awesome mandalas that they made this week (: I love the way they all look when tiled together! So pretty! I am envious of the ease with which children create...They just do whatever comes to them and inevitably it turns out great because art is meant to be enjoyed as an outlet for unhindered expression. As adults we spend so much time on the intellectual pursuit of creativity which is not nearly as productive or fulfilling. Well, I do anyways ~ always too much thinking! Bah!

New Art Cards in the shop!

Illustrated Bird Art Cards ~ a set of four diffferent designs!

All of these lovely bird cards feature my original illustrations!

I'll be offering them as art prints in the near future as well (:

I love birds so much, especially at this time of year when they greet me upon waking with their gorgeous, happy morning chorus..

I thought it would be fun to print these brush & ink bird illustrations onto some brown recycled paper my Dad collected for me... I love the simplicity of the black line-work mixed with the intricate patterning (:

These are now offered in sets of four in my etsy shop!

morning garden moments

Each day brings to us a completely new garden. How it changes with each new sunrise!

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Plush Owls!

I just added these two lovelies to my shop! Plush owls that have been created from my original illustrations ~ printed onto unbleached muslin and stuffed to perfection! Very cute! ^__^

Plush Lady Owl (:

Plush Brown Owl

I love the two of them together (: They are a jolly pair!

Pop over to my etsy shop to see them there!

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a walk on the land

outside tea

diapers drying in the sun

clothespins are beautiful

my baby and my baby belly

yet another campfire

Mom's husky-dog, Amarook

As I stroll just about anywhere, my creative eye spots an infinitesimal number of beautiful things. Simple things. Things that represent life, or what I think life is really all about. I carry my camera with me quite a lot, for there are many beauties to capture (:

new pants for Jude!

I just finished these lovely loose, light pants for Jude! I actually constructed them ages ago..over a year ago I recall, when we still lived in California. I had sewed up a bunch of pants suitable for his big, cloth-diapered bottom but then realized I had no elastic to finish the waistbands. Into my fabric stash they all went, waiting patiently...I don't think they were really that disheartened. They wouldn't have fit him back then anyway!

I made them from an old shirt of mine, a cottony black and white striped one. I was thinking he perhaps had a Parisian flair while donning them, but Jason thought Venetian was more the look (-; I do love to sew. There cannot be anything more immediately gratifying than making baby & toddler clothing too, for they stitch up so quickly and from a small amount of fabric. And then there is the immense satisfaction of watching your little one dance and run and play whilst wearing your creation (:

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{{ this moment }}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~ inspired by Soule Mama

^__^

this week's flowers

Poke, poke! One of our first beautiful morning glories (:

Echinacea, soon to be cut and dried for cold~weather teas

Lilies that transplanted here from my sister's garden earlier in the season

Gorgeous, gorgeous morning glory!

Pink morning glory has done it's duty to the garden and is now ready for a sleep (:

music box music

pretty!

a bunting~!

I have never made a bunting/garland/banner before. I have always loved them, and how can you not, they being so simple and fun and delightful a way to decorate a wall and a room? With a new baby on the way I thought I should certainly make one finally, and so I have cut out many many triangles in anticipation of some sewing machine action (: Yay!

more lovely garden moments

Our garden just gets more lush and beautiful every day (:

One of the most lovely surprises is that some sneaky chamomile has commenced growing all throughout the garden: along pathways and in between beds of flowers and vegetables ~ I had grown a lovely garden in this very same spot more than 11 years ago and the chamomile that I so lovingly tended at that time has made a repeat appearance! What a gift! Jude readily identifies it now and picks handfuls, along with bunches of lemon balm, to drop into our teapot! It's funny that no one realized that the chamomile was still growing there, but I suppose the garden had been forgotten; it grew in with grass and weeds and then became repeatedly mowed with the rest of the grass on the lawn. I'm glad it waited so patiently for me to return (: