Tag: coneflowers

Added to my store

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I am catching up and getting the newer paintings added to my online store. These are only for reproductions as I am taking the originals to the art fairs that I am selling at. This painting is Titled “Just Visiting”. A beautiful Luna Moth stopped by in my yard for a short visit till it hopped the next breeze that came through. This reproduction can be purchased in three sizes and click here to go to the store.
This painting is called “Heart of Man” and it has 44 different species added to it. I enjoyed researching and painting each and every one. I had taken an early painting and gave it a facelift. The early painting was titled “Pursue the Passion” and it is listed in my shop also. To find “Heart of Man” click here. The original painting is sold.
“Rejoice” was completed two weeks ago.. It is a mixed media painting and the next time I will be showing the original is at Market on 6th in Auburn, Saturday September 4th. This barn owl is showing it’s beautiful wings while it lands on the nest sheltering three precious eggs. The title came from the Henry David Thoreau quote used on it. Click here to go to the store for a reproduction. It can also be purchased in three different sizes.
“Lets Party” has finally made it to the store. I started this years ago then misplaced my pad. I then started another which can be found on my store titled “Party Cats” which it is very similar but smaller. These are some of our family cats who I thought needed a party. They have their hats, balloons, confetti and must have started dancing on the wall. This is perfect to give to a cat lover for their birthday. It comes in three sizes also. Click here to go to the store.

I will be posting more this week and also working on a larger blog post about other events that are happening in our lives. I have lots of pictures to share.

New Starts

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This canvas is 16 X 20 and I really felt the calling to paint a garden scene again. I like to do one every so often. This one will majorly morph but I started it out with Cleomes, then I have plans for purple Liatris. The various colored background gives it so much interest behind the flowers. It will also have various mediums and marks too. I love doing these paintings and they are not fast to do. It takes much research and thought behind it.
I have so many quilt tops, quilts in progress, quilt material that I would not need to buy anything for the rest of my life. My Mother quilted and I quilted and that is where I acquired all these wonderful items. I have made a pact with myself to get working on these a little at a time and not buy anything extra.

This quilt is my own design and I love needlework and applique so this has both. I decided not to use a hoop to quilt so I can just fold it up and take it easily where ever I go. I found a cute piece of fabric in my stash made by Riley Blake Designs for the backing. Then I decided it would make a great mask too.

I am not being picky about the quilting because I haven’t quilted for a while and if I am too picky it will take too long to get it finished.
This is our resident turtle that goes between retention ponds. I am always surprised when I see him come out of the water making his way to the other pond. He looks like a pretty good size and we can’t see the rest of his body in the water when he is popping his head up. We always wonder what makes him go back and forth. One is much more shallow, maybe one has better food. He moves pretty fast for a turtle.
These next pictures are the flowers that are blooming right now. This daylily is so big and pretty. It is so smooth and buttery.
I say this every year, this is my favorite. It is named Betsy Ross and starts blooming during the Fourth of July. I think the red is just fabulous!
The balloon flowers always amaze me and they bloom around the fourth of July too. The star shaped blooms are perfect for this time of year.
These coneflowers have the most beautiful color. Just vivid!

Another thing I have started working on is sorting all the loose pictures I have before digital. They need documentation and then we have old pictures from Tom’s family and mine too. This is a large project also. Something to do a little at a time.

Hope your fourth was fun, we had quite the fireworks all around us. Our heads were spinning back and forth plus we watched the Macy’s fireworks on tv which had to be spectacular over New York!

Fireworks, Frida, cats and succulents

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This pot was just overgrown with succulents. Look at the next photo for comparison) I admit to not knowing much about how to do this. I went to good ol youtube and there are many videos with this information. The one I watched used a chop stick to make the hole for the stem of the plant, which worked very well. It was a good use for those chop sticks we brought home from the restaurant that we will never use.
This was that pot in December and it was much more overgrown by June.
The next pictures are the cuttings that I took from the plants. I know this one looks bigger than the pot but it was so cute. The pot came from an artist in Terre Haute. Kara Lovell Ceramics
Four more in my funky bird pot made by artist Kristy Jo Beber Stoneware. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.
Three teeny ones for this pot from God Children a few years ago.
Added this one to the fish pot my boys gave to me years ago. I just love it.
Freda is my newest mixed media painting. She is supposed to be a dog but I have been asked if she is a skunk, and I kind of think, with the narrower head a Llama. Whatever you want her to be and she makes me smile. She will be up later in my store, the sides have to be finished.
This is Mama. She would come to my porch in 2018 and stare at me until I would feed her. Those big eyes melted my heart. She then started looking a bit pregnant and we went through a whole ordeal with the kittens. I didn’t get her spayed quick enough and she became pregnant again. This all happened in April and August. So she no longer can get pregnant now and is living a good life inside and she is a good good girl. So loving…now you understand her name. The reason I am telling you about her leads to some new food I am feeding the cats. She would have her chin swell and the vets tell me that it is an allergic reaction to something. She also would have some flaky skin.
This girl is Lily and she came to us about nine years ago. She was soooo hungry and cried and cried outside the door. So she wore me down and I went out and fed her and realized that she had been pregnant but I don’t know where or if there were any babies. She would throw her food up and has probably been bothered by the food I have been giving for years. I decided to try sensitive stomach and sensitive skin food. I have tried Purina One and Hills. Both have worked wonders with these two. Mama’s skin is not flaky, nor has her chin swelled and Lily’s throw up episodes have reduced immensely. All the cats like the food, and it has made a huge difference with the cat boxes. They don’t smell and are so much easier to clean. I will not lie….it is much more expensive but if you have just one or two cats it wouldn’t be overwhelming.

Also a tip about cleaning carpet spots….a carpet cleaner told us one time to only use a spray bottle with ammonia and water. If you use one of the cleaners they leave a residue that attracts dirt. The water and ammonia dries easily and cleans the spots that are left really well. Just rub using a wet rag after dousing the spot with the spray bottle. If you have a large deep spot, take a glass of water and pour it on the spot. Take a thirsty towel and fold it put it on the wet spot and put pressure on the towel like standing on it to sop up the water. Do this as many times as it take until the spot is at least much lighter. Then you can try the ammonia solution.
A neighbor had some good fireworks this weekend that I was able to capture. I was really happy to get these, sometimes I can’t get my camera to cooperate in the dark.
Noelle, my neighbor gal had an art date with me on Saturday. Together we worked on a mixed media piece of her cat Steven. I loved how it turned out and we had so much fun working it out.
I love the color of these coneflowers and they are all getting ready to bloom.
The daylilies are starting to pop also. I have a few different kinds and everything looks quite pretty when they are blooming.
The delicate, yellow, coreopsis are also working their magic. Their fernlike leaves are so soft.

Stay well everyone.

A little dirty shirley

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After the terrible weather on Saturday, the rain and the wind, it was amazing that Sunday was gorgeous! It was cooler and sunny, the kind of day that I was waiting for to do this….tear out these dead, nearly wild roses. They just didn’t come back after our winter. We had quite a few and the others are hanging on by a leaf. I didn’t have the heart or the muscles to pull them out. I was pretty well pooped after digging out six. They hung on for sure, it wasn’t easy.

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To replace them I bought these really pretty coneflower plants. I love the different colors on one plant. They tolerate the heat, they stay upright and compact. I think they will do well in the spots. See that rose in the front, how half of it has nothing on it. I will give it a chance and see what it can do. I don’t get upset when something dies…I remember watching a master gardener on television saying that things will die and all you have to do is replace them, it just happens. So right they were.

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The only casualty we had from the wind was this daylily branch full of not ready to bloom buds broke off. I brought it in and put it in water to see what it will do.

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While buying the coneflowers I also purchased these beautiful blue delphiniums. I am very attracted to their eye catching color.

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They are a really nice addition to my flower garden. I didn’t water any of my new plantings because I knew it was going to rain the next day, and it did. Today was dreary again. So then after I had done the pulling and the planting and Tom had mowed the lawn, we sat down to watch the Tigers and have a Dirty Shirley beverage. We both fell asleep in our chairs on the porch getting a neck ache. The Tigers were behind and when we woke up an hour later they had tied it up and went ahead to win! It was worth falling asleep and missing the aggravation. Let me give you the Dirty Shirley Recipe. ice in a glass 1 1/2 ounces orange vodka1 1/2 ounces grenadine or maraschino cherry juice top off with sprite, cherries and an orange slice. Depending on how big your glass is how strong you make it. It’s refreshing…..and it will help you sleep! Thanks for visiting!