We’ve been getting Saharan dust like we do every summer but Tuesday morning when I opened the garage not just the sky looked hazy but the very air looked dusty. This was the sunset Wednesday night. My eye saw a uniform light orange/pink sky but the camera saw this.
I finished the painting of the robin. I procrastinated doing it until there was nothing else I could do until I did it because I thought it was going to be difficult and I would have to start over at least once but it turned out to be not that hard. Once I had the head done the rest was fairly indistinct, just added a few pencil lines in the wings to give them a little definition. Now I’m ready to cut it out and add the foam core backing and make my final determination about the spacing and then glue it all together. I’m almost done y’all!
And now days later I’ve got all that done.
So today I’m working on gluing the leaves and the robin to the background/backing and hopefully it will all line up with the edge of the background (which is blue sky) and I can slide (more like gently push it in since it's a fairly snug fit) the whole mess into the shadow box. This is the nerve wracking part, getting everything lined up with the edges but not over. Still a little concerned about a shadow being cast across the top. I'm already considering the next one, a yellow angel trumpet and a shallower shadowbox.
A while back either I read or someone told me that if you cut off the butt end of celery and put it in water it will continue to grow. So I tried it, figured if it developed roots I’d plant it. Well, it did start growing and has started sending out roots! Can you see the little roots in the second picture? I may never have to buy celery again!
But then I talked to my neighbor who tried it and when his had a good healthy set of roots he planted it in dirt and it promptly died. So maybe I’ll try a hydroponic approach.
I’ve been seeing more butterflies; hairstreaks earlier in the summer (though I surprised one yesterday tucked down in a flower) and fritillaries now, a few sulfurs, and a satyr comma. Unfortunately I didn’t have my phone on me so no pictures.
SHARE was moderately busy yesterday, steady food orders but not overwhelming. It also rained for about an hour yesterday evening, starting just as I was leaving for yoga but Thursday’s class is here in Wharton so I drove through it. Had it been in El Campo, I would have stayed home. And of course it rained. I had just earlier watered all the pots and refreshed the two birdbaths and two small animal water stations in the yard.
A few more miscellaneous pics. I never showed the room Robin (mostly) and I painted (nothing is back on the walls yet). The cone ginger has sent up its cones and its little cream flowers. Seems a bit early. And the phlox is blooming.
Love the robin surrounded by those attractive leaves. They really complement each other nicely. I'd never heard that celery could be rooted that way. I'm not fond enough of it to give it a try, and I don't have a place to plant it, anyway. I suppose I could try it in a pot, out of curiosity, but I'd probably end up throwing it away. I rarely buy an entire stock; instead, I got with the smallest pack of HEB precut sticks. It's less waste in the end.
ReplyDeleteIf you wrap the celery stalk in foil I lasts longer. I cook with it and use a little in salads.
DeleteThe robin and leaves are wonderful. I look forward to seeing the finished product. I don’t think I’ve ever seen cone ginger. That’s not actually dust from the Sahara, is it? What a long way to travel!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'm pretty pleased with it so far. And yeah, dust from the Sahara. It happens every summer, gets caught up in a jet stream.
DeleteYour post has that nice feeling of accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteI had to google cone ginger... pretty cool.
I'm getting there anyway. I have another ginger my friend called honey ginger which it turns out is the same as the cone or pinecone ginger but it hasn't put up a cone yet.
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ReplyDeleteLike your idea and the box. Robin isn't done unless you're done?
Don't think it's Saharan dust.
What do you suggest for the robin?
DeleteIt is most definitely Saharan dust. It happens every summer, the dust plumes get picked up by the trade winds and while the Caribbean gets the brunt, the Gulf Coast is affected. https://www.fox26houston.com/saharan-dust-model
Codex
DeleteParticles from wildfires on top of it. It's why everyone is seeing beautiful sunsets; it doesn't settle.
Same as always and a quick fix: add depth to the Robin. It'll pop out more. Dark orange on the edges of the beak, little darkest blue on the Robin. You can use prismatic they cover watercolor.
*prisma pencils*
Might be smoke from western states, Arizona maybe. There's fire everywhere. We are now in the flood and drought, fire and ice phase and say goodbye to comfort. The smoke in Chicago and Detroit was hazardous level of toxic micro particles, and it smelled sweet like a sauna. Pretty poison. 2023, 2025 and now this. Get used to summer smokes and annual polar vortex
ReplyDeleteNot smoke. It's a phenomenon that happens every year and it helps suppress tropical storms and hurricanes. The dust plumes get picked up by the trade winds and blows it across the Atlantic. The caribbean gets it worse but it affects the Gulf Coast too.
DeleteBeautiful robin! and as for celery, I will write an article about growing it and publish it on my blog. best regards! Jasna
ReplyDeleteThank you. It remains to be seen how long the celery survives.
DeleteNo doubt Trump is now contemplating applying new tariffs to Egypt and other countries that share the Sahara. They had better learn to manage their sand better!
ReplyDeleteNo doubt. And I read this morning the idiot is ordering signs outside the Smithsonian Museum of American History warning people that the information inside is inaccurate because the Smithsonian refuses to whitewash our national history to suit the idiot.
DeleteSmithsonian/Koch brothers
DeleteI think your shadow box is going to look amazing.
ReplyDeleteI accidentally grew some celery this year and I believe it must have come from compost celery. Unfortunately, it was quite bitter.
My pinecones haven't started putting out their cones yet unless I just haven't seen them. I haven't actually looked. My phlox have been going strong for about a month though. The firespike by the fence is looking good but hasn't bloomed. Same old thing- not enough sun. It will.
I really like that shadow box work, great!
ReplyDeleteWe did the celery thing as a school project of my daughter and it sort of worked for one generation but everything afterwards was flaky and bitter and then nothing more. Maybe you need to gte orhanic celery or a variety that is actually grown to produce new roots, many commercially available varieties are dead, i.e. meant to not produce.
Like you, I always wrap my celery in foil and it lasts so long. Can't wait to see the finished shadow box!
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