one more, a task, and abundant blooms

I have to say I was very surprised by all the positive comments about the willow card, so, thank you all. I finished the red oak leaf and I think I’m done for now. 

I may do more in the future but I have cleaned off my small work table, put the watercolor pencils and crayons and paper and brushes away. I have some sewing things that need doing so that’s what I’m turning my attention to now.

I spent the day Friday doing house things. First I cleaned out the linen closet which hasn’t been done since we first moved into this house about 15 years ago. 

I emptied it…extra pillows, blankets, sheets and pillow cases, air mattresses…and spread it all out in the hall: five sets of sheets that we currently use ( two of which the bottom fitted sheet needs some repair), one set of flannel sheets that we haven’t used in 20 years probably, one extra top sheet, and 21 pillow cases not being currently used including 6 extra long ones from early in our marriage when we had extra long down pillows and five flannel ones; three blankets, one lap blanket, a bedspread, a tattered quilt, a hammock, 4 pillows, a heating pad, and an extra shower curtain. I weeded out 16 pillow cases, the lap blanket, the quilt, the flannel sheets, and the lone top sheet. I'm donating all that except the quilt and lap blanket to the Austin animal shelter where Jade works. She says they use it for bedding for the animals. Then I rearranged it putting the air mattresses on the top shelf getting them off the floor. 

And because that apparently wasn’t enough work for one day I vacuumed the whole house and mopped the kitchen, the hall, and the dining room area (well, I used a Swiffer).

I had to stop and pull into the driveway of the shop on my way to SHARE last Thursday to take a picture of the morning glory bush. I can see it over the fence and it was just magnificent. I’ve never had one bloom this profusely, like bouquets, so you're getting three pictures.

Speaking of blooming profusely, I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the night blooming cereus was putting on another round of blooms. Last week I stopped counting the buds at 30. Thursday afternoon I counted 35 that were on the verge of opening. I went out at 10 pm with the flashlight and no, not that night but def the next. 

So Friday evening I set my alarm for 11 pm but went out with the flashlight at half past 10 and whoa! All but two of the 35 had opened, some in clusters the buds were so close together. She certainly earns the name Queen of the Night.

Hard to pick just a few.

 

weekend activities and a rainbow bracelet

Fall blooming bindweed in the ditch in front of Pam’s house.

Saturday I finally got out there and trimmed the yard and my arms were sore for two days afterward. The trimmer is only about 9 1/2 pounds but holding up 9 1/2 pounds for 45 minutes, it gets heavy. I did that after breakfast and then dug the thorny dewberry vines out of the long daylily bed in the big backyard in the afternoon. They’ll all be back though as the roots go deep, too deep to really get them out and everywhere a vine lays on the ground long enough it sprouts roots. Last summer when I couldn’t work in the yard recovering from one procedure or another and when I did it was cleaning up all the damage from Hurricane Beryl, they colonized three of my flower beds. So now it’s a constant battle. Of course where they’re growing they don’t get enough sun to actually make berries so they are just a big pain in the ass for no reward.

Sunday I set the sprinkler out moving it every half hour and intended to only go around and pick up loose bricks laying around. When I had a wagon full I pulled it to the front and I thought instead of stacking them in the barn right away I’d shorten the arm of the big flower bed in the front yard because when Marc mows he knocks the bricks askew and add those bricks to the wagon. Except, after I dug up the society garlic and shortened the arm I thought why am I taking these to the barn when I can just finish lining this flower bed, something I had never finished. So that’s what I did, pulling grass and crabgrass out and I only had to scrounge up about 5 more bricks.

Now I’m inspired to finally do this one (these were already here when we bought the place).

Later in the day I collected Paisleigh and I taught her to play dominoes with the set of Disney princess dominoes I got from another donation at SHARE (we can buy donated stuff (garage sale prices) that’s not food). When she tired of that we colored with the sidewalk chalk and then painted with the watercolors. Then we went across the street and she helped feed the four boys and Momcat and then we walked Minnie and I delivered her back to her parents.

More watering yesterday, it is still so dry, and finished the willow card and abandoned the bamboo. All the trees I’ve done so far; the gingko, pecan, maple, are in my yard, the willow grows at the end of my street. No bamboo in the vicinity. I decided to do a leaf off the red oak tree by my driveway instead.

Yellow bells and rangoon creeper in full bloom over at the shop yard.

This morning I had a rainbow bracelet. 

arting and sweating

Saturday morning I went out to find the dish of the birdbath on the ground again. I may just leave it there for now and filling it with water for whatever creature that keeps pulling it down in it’s effort to get water.

I finally got out and did some serious work in the yard. Beside moving the sprinkler around every 30 minutes (we need rain desperately) I started on the far back flower bed which I have basically ignored since spring and the poppies went to seed. Haven’t pulled a weed or watered it except for the two clumps of crinum lilies and the dirt is dry dry dry. The first thing I tackled was digging up the dead stump of the confederate rose on the end that didn’t come back this spring. There is something that attacks my confederate rose bushes. A new one will grow fine for the first few years and then one year a branch will start growing deformed and every year after more and more will be deformed until it doesn’t bloom and dies. I have no idea what is happening, everyone I’ve showed the deformed leaves to have no answers. I’ve planted them in different parts of the yard thinking maybe it’s something in the dirt but if it is it’s not just one spot. 

Before, the dead stump/root ball is hidden under the desiccated crabgrass (that’s how dry it is) on the left.

After an hour or so I got out about two thirds and was so hot and sweaty I had to go in and cool off.

Went out again once that area was in the shade and another hour later the rest of the stump/root ball is out and I’ve cleared about half of the weeds. 

The plan is to dig up the clump of pink crinum lilies, which did not bloom this year, there in the middle and put them on the end where the confederate rose was.

I didn’t work back there on Sunday, it was in full sun when I went out so I opted to work in the shade. Years ago I built two small flower beds at right angles to the oak tree by the driveway and planted six azaleas, three in each. Only one of the azaleas lived so I divided the red crinum lilies and replaced the dead azaleas with small clumps. Making those flower beds turned out not to be a great idea because I think they prevented water from draining from the side yard so I decided to take them out and spread the dirt to the low spot. I’ll leave the azalea and make it a small bed with the fringe flower tree next to it but dig up the crinum lilies which aren’t doing well there anyway. So Sunday I started on the arm from the oak to the preexisting bed of ferns at the base of the enormous white crepe myrtle pulling up the landscape blocks and stacking them in the barn. We finally got a little shower later, less than an inch but grateful for anything, and when I went out after to go feed the cats I was surprised to see this small arc of a rainbow since the sky overhead was mostly clear.

Yesterday I got out there, pulled up the rest of the blocks, dug up the crinum (spell check keeps wanting to change this to cranium) lilies

and used the shovel and hoe to spread out the dirt. Need to work on that some more but was hot and sweaty and came in.

I’m working on another card but the mad rush to sit down and get it done is over. Now it’s a few minutes here, a few minutes there, less invested, though walking the dog after yoga yesterday I broke a few willow leaf clusters off the tree at the end of the street and brought them home so maybe I’m not quite done. I’ve already prepared to be done, have transferred two drawings, one for a watercolor painting and one in my sketchbook for a colored pencil drawing. And I’m thinking more and more about a more ambitious watercolor painting. It’s a piece I sketched to do in the pate de verre cast glass but never got to it (that's supposed to be cotton at the bottom).