stuff about artstuff.

Unexpected Gifts from the Garden.

That is, a terribly neglected garden.

I suppose before going any further I have to admit that somehow I never got around to the fall cleanup of my garden beds.  The typical stuff that respectable gardeners do automatically after their last satisfying harvest.  Cut down spent plants, mulch, tuck everything away for a neat and tidy winter so it will be composted, fresh and ready again in the springtime.

All I can say is that I was in denial when fall came.  We never really got summer around here. I was like a little kid who can't keep my eyes open or my head up but fights to the bloody end to avoid going to bed.  No, I'm not tired!  I'm not finished yet!  My 11 tomato plants are taller than me and I've only harvested 3 ripe fruits! 3!  It's not over, it's not!  It's not! Noooooooo!

Kicking and screaming and refusing to accept it, fall and winter happened anyway.  They always do.  I normally enjoy working in the yard in the wintertime, even in the cold rain I'll be out there planting bulbs or doing whatever needs to be done, muddy and soggy and happy.  But not this winter.  The disappointment that was The Summer That Never Camewas still too fresh.  I really seemed to take it personally and I simply couldn't deal with it.  So I put on my clutter-blinders and vowed to get out and do some early spring cleanup when I was feeling a smidge less bitter about big, dumb winter.

Alright, the beds are still quite sad looking.  I know, it's March.  And my first early plant sale is in a couple weeks.  But I returned home a few days ago after a week and a half away, and saw something interesting.

I had been noticing something leafing out the last month or so, maybe an old cabbage or something, I hadn't really focused on it before.  But as I hurried past to get back into the warm house the other day, there it was, practically glowing.

The Romanesco broccoli I never got last year.

I'd planted a couple varieties of cauliflower and broccoli early last year and was pretty excited about them.  Nothing seemed to be happening until tiny buds appeared the week before I went to New York for Surtex.  By the time I returned from the show, they had all bolted and gone to seed (must have been that one day of sunshine we had in May) along with all my other early-season greens.  Sad, tall, weird Seussian flowers, all of them.

I'm not sure when this one decided to sprout back up again.  I wasn't paying attention.  But it was a smart one, growing so vigorously while all the slugs and bugs and little green worms are asleep under their rocks.  The flawless, perfectly-intact leaves span a couple feet wide.  Even after a long warm saltwater soak, not a single tiny critter floated out of this.

And it was delicious.  Crunchy-tender, and so sweet it made my mouth water.

This funny little flower the size of my fist fills me with that pre-season hope that this will be the year.  The year that the sun shines, that things grow and thrive.  I will sprout, plant, and nurture - relying on faith and hard work.  Spring is coming soon, the season of new growth, rebirth, and hope.

Nice to be reminded that even in a neglected garden, we can find unexpected gifts.

Aaaaahhhh.

Smell that.

On a cold, damp February day here in the Pacific Northwest, that sweet, heady scent could pretty much only mean one thing. The Northwest Flower and Garden Show.  I hopped a bus downtown on Saturday and met my sister (who had hopped a ferry) for an absolutely perfect day of smelling, staring, soaking in, sharing, and all-in-all being inspired and rejuvenated.

As usual I came away with so many more ideas than I will realistically be able to incorporate into my own yard, but as usual I will try.

Each year it seems the display gardens feature more and more funky, repurposed, and recycled items - my own Granddad's quirky style has become mainstream - I often wonder what he would think of that.  He'd probably just shake his head and chuckle with that light, airy little contagious giggle he had - just imagining it makes me smile.

My very favorite thing I saw this year were these amazing fountains crafted of musical instruments and random objects.

They appeared in a booth in the marketplace and featured in display gardens.

It seems this guy shares a common artistic vision with my Granddad, shown here with his own amazing "Commotion Machine" back in the 1970s.

Another favorite funky feature I saw in multiple locations throughout the show were these little friends of mine.

I visit them (or rather, their friends and cousins?) on regular strolls through my favorite store in Seattle

and have vowed to bring home a carload of them someday to join the many other goodies that have followed me home from that place.

Found-objects-turned-art popped up over and over again, inspiring my hoarding side a little too easily.

I'm not sure if this entire "beneficial insect hotel" by Innovative Landscape Technologieswill someday appear as a stand-alone sculpture in my backyard but some of these cute little niches tucked away into fenceposts and corners do seem like a neat idea.

Other cool ideas from their garden included this neato musical deck and old picture frames used to highlight a specimen or provide support for plants.  Oh boy do I have a lot of raggedy old picture frames I could do this with...
Their garden also included a practical "rain garden" surrounding a ground drain that would sure be nicer than the old hose that currently drains my rainbarrel runoff down to the gravel alley.

I'm not sure if it this moves by wind or some kind of motor, but this "kinetic sculpture" in the WALP garden was particularly mesmerising and I have the sudden and unrealistic urge to try and build one myself

(she's right, you know - he would have).

Also in their garden: this fabulous giant rusty guitar and some nice stonework.

Cool, industrial metal parts decorated all corners, nooks and crannies

including this beautiful shape which I am guessing had been a scrap; just what was left between some real parts of some sort.

I end up with pieces of paper and cardboard all the time that suddenly become more interesting to me than the piece I had meant to cut out, and it makes me happy that someone else shares a similar appreciation for their own scraps.

Old wooden pallets have been having a great year.  They have been popping up on Pinterest as anything from clever wine storage and flat-files to narrow tiered planters (a variation of which I plan on constructing in my own yard this spring).  I even saw one in the marketplace built to the same specs as the one I saw in Apartment Therapy.  But this one, by Artistic Garden Concepts, is my new favorite use for a pallet:

Isn't this table fabulous?  The legs make it, but the pallet is cool!

Their romantic moonlit garden sat nestled under a twinkling, star-like canopy of vines and mini-lights twining through a pergola - this idea I love, too.

It set a perfect tone for the vignettes below.

 I am a real sucker for blue glass,

and they had me at "bottle tree"

but looking beyond the blue into Susan Browne Landscape Design's garden, I heard angels singing in the form of

a shed.

A magnificent little garden shed.

Just look inside.

No, really look in there.
And if that wasn't enough, later a bluegrass band played gently along right in front of it.  Awesome.

More of these fabulous little structures by Bob Bowling Rustics appeared around the show, be-still my junk-loving heart.

I could just live inside one.

I also like to think I could live inside this giant root...

...I believe Elandan Gardens may have used this amazing specimen in previous show displays, because I feel like I have photographed it before.

I'm always drawn to this kind of stuff; I can't get enough when it comes to twisty

curly

tangly

textury stuff like this.

Oh, hellow.

Fancy Plants Gardens created a magical moving "stream" with dry ice which I could have stared at all day.

All show gardens label their plants with the latin names but this was my favorite, also in their display, cute!

I'm going to have to copy this cute idea for marking plants.  I've tried it before with a sharpie but eventually the rock gets too dirty and wet to read and I lose it completely.  It appears they used a waterproof sealer on theirs.

Guess what?

Chicken butt.

Sorry.

I suppose natural forest-scapes are probably something you don't find so much in the other garden shows, but here in the woodsy Pacific Northwest we go nuts for this stuff.

I love this.

But that's not to say that we aren't all about our colorful, cultivated, magnificent and splendiferous florabundance that makes a garden show what it is.

What a great day I had.  I can't wait until spring.

Still Here...

...sorry for the echo.

I actually do have lots I'd like to share, and will be catching up with all that soon.
Been busy as, well, this guy who I stalked long enough in the garden yesterday that he finally got fed up and rushed me (yes, I did my lovely and graceful there's-a-bee-after-me dance, ok even more impressive, my even lovelier there's-a-hornet-after-me dance with extra hopping and arm-waving).
Back soon!

5 Minutes

There's a maybe-too-often-used saying around these parts that goes something like "if you don't like the springtime weather here, just wait 5 minutes because it will change."

The other day after a particularly ark-inspiring rainstorm, amazing shimmering droplets in the branches just outside my studio window caught my eye.  Well, ahem (kicking the floor sheepishly here) the window is terribly dirty (funny how I don't notice this until I try to take a picture through it) so I wasn't sure if I'd capture them, and just snapped one after another after another for about a minute.
As I suspected, the sparkling crystals barely showed up in only 2 or 3 of the shots, and don't really do justice to the magical scene I was witnessing in that moment, but what happened to the sky in that single minute was pretty cool.

One of these days I've got to wash these windows.  But that's another subject for another day ... sigh.

In other happy spring news, the adorable little vegetable seedlings I bought at the Seattle Tilth early-spring sale seem to be surviving their first week out in the cold, harsh, real world, and that makes me smile.
Such a hopeful season, spring.
Hope you're enjoying it so far.

Spring.

I know, it's not really.  But it will come eventually.

It always does.

Doesn't look much like it now, at least here - and I'm guessing most of you are in the same boat.  Looks more like a sugary doughnut outside my window right now.  A bitter cold, hard, frosty, grey doughnut.  Ok, so winter might be losing some of its powdered-sugar charm at this point, but that's not what this post is about, it's about spring.  And new fabric.  Hooray spring, hooray new fabric.  Those are both nice, right?
My new April Showers collection by Henry Glass is available now at an independent quilt shop near you!  With 16 springy-fresh coordinates plus an adorable apron pattern, maybe our dreams of warmer, greener days won't seem quite so distant.

Soon I will have fat-quarter bundles and yardage available in my Etsy shop.  Right now, though, an extra computer is occupying the only fabric-measuring-and-cutting space in the house and it will remain there until I am sure I've retrieved all the important data from the tired, crippled old thing and gotten it safely into the new system (good times) but for immediate gratification, you can find it here or here right this second!

Another Summer Quickly Passing

Hey, look what I just found.

Just returning from vacation; my desk completely hidden under the stacks of stuff, I'm only partially through 200+ new emails in my inbox, not to mention the Volkswagon-sized pile of bags and storage tubs in the middle of the living room waiting to be unpacked, put away and/or thrown in the laundry (quite literally an elephant in the room) ... well, what do you know but I seem to have written a couple posts last month that never made it here (really, I was nearing burnout, my brain was not in the best shape ... I'm not sure why they were just sitting here but they were) so, in the spirit of "better late than never", and while I am busy catching up with the present, here is a little taste of the recent past:

Already the middle of July - how does this happen so fast? 
My little garden has always been lazier than most in the neighborhood; it tends to run about a week or two behind than the rest. While most others I see around here are nearing the end of their blooms, my daisies are just now popping open.


 
Although the season has been mostly cool and grey, one little artichoke shows promise. 
The salad garden is thriving

 
and the salads are delicious.

I wish I could just make this last longer, make the world turn more slowly and soak up more of this before it's gone.  I hope you're enjoying every little drop of summer and all it has to offer wherever you are.

Time Well Spent

After Saturday's epic all-day battle with that prolific and omnivorous ivy, Sunday was decidedly slower-paced. 
There are several more big ugly dirty projects to accomplish in the yard, but I was a little stiff and achy, and was more about dillydallying as I pulled a few weeds and trimmed stuff here and there. 
The girls enjoyed the more laid-back vibe of the day. 
They both got brushed (no, it's not a new pet, that is just a pile of their fur). 
 
The vegetables seemed to enjoy our little 2-day summer, sandwiched between all that cold, grey dampness.


 
And I finally got a chance to play with my new (well, I guess not so new any more) camera (more about this another day). 
My old tripod is currently buried somewhere in the basement, but I played around with closeups just holding it by hand, snapping away, not sure what I was actually getting. 
I was hoping to capture the super-light spray from some of the exposed holes in the soaker-hose that runs through the beds

 
and the droplets that lie suspended on spiderwebs in the grass.  This one has a dog hair in it, but then everything at my house has a dog hair in it. 
Or a cat hair. 
Or thousands of both.

I didn't even notice this when shooting the strawberries - but ew. 
Who is that creepy little guy?  No, really.  What is this?

I am fascinated by the textures in old glass. 
I could stare into these insulators all day long. 
After some weeding and trimming, I sat at the table for a while and watched stuff go on overhead.


 
After some more weeding and trimming, I laid in the grass and watched more stuff go on overhead.
 
Stuff buzzed and fluttered, and the robin stopped right above me to sing for a bit. 
Then someone told me it was time for our walk, and time to think about dinner. 
The clouds swept back in, and once again, summer in the Pacific Northwest went back to mild, grey, cool, and wet (until the last couple days!).  I'm glad I was able to take the time off to enjoy these little bits of sun in my garden, it was time well spent.

$2.17

My grandparents lived on a very large wooded lot right in the middle of town.  It was at the top of a hill and much of it was a fairly steep grade, and over the years Granddad had built terraced paths throughout the property, linking wooded gardens, picnic grounds, a horseshoe court, a rope swing, even the remains of tree-houses built for my uncle and mother when they were little. 

It was a magical place, words can't really describe it.  As did everyone else in my family who grew up anywhere between 1932 and 1998, I spent a majority of my childhood roaming the paths, entertaining myself in this wooded wonderland. 
Upkeep was constant: although both became increasingly crippled by arthritis, Granddad spent every waking hour of his retirement maintaining, cleaning, clearing, manicuring, and tinkering... 
and Granny's passion for gardening was apparent in the details. 
When we grandkids were given chores to do to help out, they were often made into some kind of game.  One of my favorites was especially for the littler kids: the fir-cone-Easter-egg-hunt.  Under 100 or so large fir trees, the paths could have easily become littered with cones - but not Granny and Granddad's paths.  Granny would send me outside with a big brown paper grocery bag, and would give me a shiny penny for every cone I picked up from the paths.  There was no cheating and reaching off-path to get a little extra cash, the challenge was to count just how many were on the actual path.

Weekend before last the temperature rose into the 70s for the first time around here since mid-September, and I was finally (sort of) caught up enough with work to take a couple days off and tend to my own little yard. 
I started Saturday by pulling weeds from the flowerbeds, 
but ended up spending most of the day reclaiming one whole side of the backyard from the ivy that annually threatens to overtake us all ("Feed me!" ).  A really lousy job, clearing ivy.  I'm sure you already know this, but I had to say it again.  Really, really lousy. 

Molly thought she was helping me with all my digging.  Um, we'll discuss that another day. 
To entertain myself while doing my own digging, pulling, and trimming, I played the fir-cone-Easter-egg-hunt game.  All day long I counted every single cone I picked up from the grass and from the mess of ivy that had once been (and soon will soon return to) grass.  There was no cheating and reaching into flowerbeds, the challenge was to count just how many were in the actual lawn-area. 

Keeping count became a Zen thing, and although sweaty, aching, and covered head to toe in bugs and dirt ... I quite enjoyed the day.  Although I get no shiny pennies for those 4 garbage cans full of ivy, I managed to collect 217 fir cones ... not too bad for a day's work. 

Almost Heaven.

Guess what I can smell?

Oh my gosh. 
No, really - get even closer.  That's it.  Now smell. 
My apologies if you haven't yet upgraded your Internet Options with the Smell-O-Vision add-on.  I suggest you do that right away.

I can't stop sniffing these so hard I am sure to suck this entire twig right up into my brain cartoon-style.  We're sorry to hear about Beth, apparently it was a tragic lilac-sniffing accident.

I know, they're not yet all-the-way open and will smell even more heavenly next week, even the week after (hence the "almost" in the post title) ... but returning from last night's evening dog-walk I saw the slightest hint of open-lilac-color among the darker buds and I just couldn't wait; it was almost  disturbing how desperate and junkie-like I moved, snapping the little branch and pulling it to my face to inhale as deeply as possible.  Time seemed to freeze momentarily while the scent-memory pumped through my veins with each heartbeat sending the heavenly aroma to the tips of my fingers and toes and back again.

A welcome fix after the week I've had (I'll spare you the drama and heartache, but it has been a week), this kind of attitude-adjustment could not have been more timely than it was last night.  I feel like those little buds were a small gift, a blessing, and I am grateful for that and will hold that thought close to my heart.  I can't remember the last time (if ever) they bloomed this early.  Spring here in the Northwest is a strange and fussy predictably-unpredictable thing ... if nothing else it does keep us on our toes, wondering what will happen next.

Now I guess this whole it's-really-spring thing is official.  As if the beautiful little sun-breaks between alternating rain, hail and snow storms, busy noisy birds, and the usual pre-Surtex flurry of panicky-excitement hadn't made that clear enough.

So once again, happy Spring everyone! 

Garden Inspiration

Last month was the triumphant return of the Northwest Flower & Garden Show. I am not being silly and dramatic here, it was pretty triumphant after not knowing if we'd ever have one again for most of last year.

I spent a glorious day with my 2 sisters soaking in every single thing we could ... it was a blast. It was a little smaller this year, but that only made it easier to cover the whole thing in a day without killing ourselves.

There were the usual dramatic textures,

 

Elandan Gardens

gorgeous water features,

Plantswoman Design

serene and inviting settings,

Pacific Stone Company

Ravenna Gardens

and heavenly scents (so welcome in early February!).

But there also seemed to be a little more playful whimsy in the display gardens than usual.

One of my favorites, by Fancy Fronds and Albe Rustics, was full of cool stuff I just want to junk up my own garden with! There were monsters popping up right out of the ground. Can you see his snout, shrimp-eyes, and further back ... wings?!

Maybe if Dune had taken place somewhere more cuddly and Seussian...

I love the glass fiddleheads...

and how cool are these metal ferns?

Even the pavers became a splash of color.

There's No Place Like Home by WSNLA, Partners for Water and Innovative Landscape Technologies was complete with a flying monkey (I love me some flying monkeys)

and they cleverly landed the entire display on top of the Wicked Witch (ding dong).

And to top it off, the frieze along the green roof reminded me that my favorite quote really needs to be somewhere in my own backyard ... hmmm. I'll work on this...
All the displays incorporated sustainable themes: there were green roofs on almost every structure and I noticed several really clever treatments for rain-barrels - the design dilemma faced by so many of us who want to conserve water but hate that giant plastic glob taking up all that space - my favorite was in the Seattle Tilth and NW Bloom display. Not to mention the way cool blue-bottle downspout, I so want to do this!

And the giant colored-pencil obelisk-trellises (or bean-teepees, depending on where you're from)...

...extras just sat in a giant pencil cup by the door. Suddenly, in spite of the hundreds on my desk, there are not enough colored pencils in my life: I must make giant ones to sit in a giant cup in my yard. Ohmygosh.

They had me at the rain-barrel. And the giant pencils. And the lime green cold-frame. But this display also had chickens and little goats. Look, you get me in the vicinity of little farm animals and I'm suddenly 5 years old again. I want to pet them. Mom can I have a chicken? Please? Why not? I want a little goat then. Please? Please? I want to bring him home. Why can't I bring him home?

And finally, this:

Crops for Clunkers ... a small pickup decked out as an amazing edible garden, by Seattle Urban Farm Co. A-flipping-mazing, this thing!

And the cab had been refitted as a chicken coop.

Yes, that blob on the left there is a big fat chicken butt. How awesome is this? I was in love. This is a scary thing for someone like me to see, as I tend to get a little too attached to my own old cars and have actually threatened to turn them into planters when that sad day does come.

Don't worry, frightened neighbors, I probably won't.

The day really was inspiring and fun and time with my sisters is always a blast.

(obligitory view-from-the-convention-center photo alert)

But all that was back in February, and here it is already the second half of March, time to get moving on the for-real garden! Kicking it off, this weekend here in Seattle is the Seattle Tilth Early Spring Edible Plant Sale. Tilth's plant sales are great ... it's the place to get your healthy, hearty little organic heirloom (and other interesting varieties) starts for your edible garden as well as other goodies, you can even stock up on Cedar Grove Compost for only $5 a bag! This is the first year they've added the early sale to their usual May event.

I'm expanding the vegetable/sunny-garden beds again this year ... I had meant to get this done over the winter but since this pile of wonderful rocks showed up on a soggy morning last November
all I managed to do was stack them neatly between the existing beds and the parking area
and at the end of that day,

I was pretty much through with rocks for ... well, apparently for 4 months. I finally started bed-building this afternoon, and the good news is that after all the digging I still seem to have internet service and a telephone this evening (remember last year?) so I'm off to a smokin' start.

This weekend, I'm ready - it's garden time, and I'm excited! Especially when I saw this tonight...
Whoo hoo! 68?!

Hope you all have a great weekend too!

There's One Every Year.

Tomato with a face, that is.

I had wondered in the last month or so if this would be the year - the year there was no face in the garden. A little upsetting, I must admit. But today while wrapping the last few green ones plucked from the icy grips (alright maybe not quite icy yet but wet and miserable for a tomato) of November's rain and hail storms to ripen inside, I finally found him. Quite adorable, I must say. Tomatoes can have the cutest faces.

So now I feel complete somehow; satisfied with the harvest ... and I will be savoring these last few juicy tidbits as they ripen, before cardboard-tomato-season begins again (sigh).

Blooming Sunshine.

If someone showed me this picture I wouldn't be able to guess what it is.  Can you?

It's this guy.

The other day I thought maybe by taking their pictures I could get my sunflowers to finally open.

They are twice as tall as me, but just barely thinking about blooming.  They've been dillydallying all summer, while everything else bloomed its little hearts out...the sunflowers have just been thinking about maybe someday reaching up there and possibly going to the effort to bloom.  Maybe.  So far, one has decided it's time.

On the other hand, these have been blooming all summer in the LTD catalog.

Another beautifully made product from New Seasons: a sturdy reusable box filled with cute and useful goodies...a notepad and assorted note-cards; even the envelopes are decorated to match.  I do love what they do with my art!

September Garden Notebook

Nothing to say, really (I know, shocking, right?) but just sharing some things that make me happy...from yesterday afternoon in the backyard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Illustration Friday: Magnify

From my garden journal.

I shot a photo of this golden ladybug on one of the daisies blooming in June.  What I didn't notice until the picture was magnified, though, was the bright green little aphid nearby that was sure to become her lunch very soon.

If I would have noticed this little scene of impending garden-pest doom at the time, I may have pulled up a chair and a magnifying glass and watched.  I mean, first of all, ladybugs are so darn cute that even feeding on live prey isn't gross.  Admit it.  They're adorable.  And have you ever seen a ladybug devour an aphid?  Voracious little eaters, ladybugs.  They put mere human-gluttony to shame.  And they're helping out, I mean who wants aphids eating their flowers?  I'm impressed and appreciative.

I've always wished I could keep a lovely garden journal.  But what I've done is very inconsistently compile 20+ years (skipping several as if they never occurred) of random notes and grand-plans-since-scrapped and seed packets from plants-long-dead and photos and diagrams and sketches and records and magazine pages and seed-catalog orders and some pressed odds-and-ends into a large, unattractive and very bulky 3-ring binder...it's a mess, really it is.  Aesthetically, a mess.  As a practical record, a mess.  Did I mention inconsistent?  Random?  I know, but I'm mentioning them again.

Then I fell in love with this neato little book with when I discovered this shop on Etsy last year. 

Cindy creates these amazing little "reinvented" journals and sketchbooks from cool old books she finds in her travels...fills them with nice drawing paper, cool odds and ends (like ledger & graph paper) and fun little random pages from old books that go with the theme of the journal,

(I can't wait to get to this page) then binds them artistically...each one is really a treasure in itself.  If you sketch or journal you really need to check out her shop.

From photos and wish-lists from the Garden Show...

...to notes on tomato varieties...

...to lists of plants I bought and where I put them, I am loving this little book.

And hopefully I will be kept in line by my desire to fill it fittingly...and when it's filled up someday I can thumb through it and smile quietly to myself, maybe even feeling I have finally joined the ranks of those cool people who actually keep a lovely garden journal.

What Heaven Tastes Like.

I've always said that it's tomatoes...freshly picked, red-ripe, warmed from the sun.  No question about it.  But I realize that this is Heaven we're talking about here...it doesn't have to settle for one single flavor.  It can taste like any number of things...fresh-from-the-vine tomatoes being my first choice if someday I find myself fortunate enough to be greeted by a smiling waiter just inside the pearly gates asking what I'd like to eat.

It will probably also taste something like Molly Moon's salted caramel ice cream.  If not stopped, I will eat this continuously until I die...which pretty much locks up me not getting to enjoy that Pearly Gates scenario I just described.

I was fully prepared to feast on tomatoes from the garden this year, and I have.  But when I planted 2 little artichoke seedlings back in May (my very first, ever) I figured I wouldn't see anything significant until next year.  I was absolutely giddy when I saw this little bud...

...and once matured, although still pretty small (and I think I left it on the vine longer than I was supposed to) it was still everything I wished it would be.  

That funky little chemical reaction that makes everything surrounding it taste sweeter...artichokes are magic.  Steamed, served with a little melted butter mixed with mayonnaise.  Nothing fancy necessary...done the exact same way I enjoyed my very first one in 1969 when my sister and her friend blew into the kitchen in a flurry of teenage enthusiasm, tossing some funny looking bud onto the counter and squealing that we had to eat this new thing they found...that very hour my love affair with an odd thistle plant began...which brings me back to where I started. 

This...this right here...this is also what Heaven tastes like.

The Fruits of Victory

Don't you love the sound of that? So grand. So strong. Stalwart and proud.

One could say (if they don't care how dumb or corny they sound) that 2009 is the Year of the Vegetable. I don't need to read any statistics or polls to tell you more people than ever are growing their own food this year...I see it everywhere I go. Since early spring, on daily dog-walks through the neighborhood, I've watched lawns disappear, raised beds go in, seedlings nurtured, and gardens flourish. And from the brief, friendly passing chats started with a simple "looking good!" or "wow that's a lot of work!" I've found that many of these are first-time vegetable gardeners.

Much like the Victory Gardens of World Wars I and II, for many folks this is a simple necessity with grocery prices what they are. Many are reevaluating our carbon footprint and finding that growing some of our own food is a simple and enjoyable way to conserve...whatever it is, we're doing it.

Feel proud of yourselves...those of you who dove into it for the first time ever. Congratulations. This is the stuff of homefront war-heroes, self-sufficient DIYers who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty.

Now that you have been relishing the fruits of your labor (literally) you're ready for the next step: preserving and sharing your accomplishments with gifts from your garden.

And for that, do I have something for you!

HugClub members have already received this one...it's my new "Canning Garden" collection from pcCrafter, so you can add a fresh and modern touch to your wonderfully classic and old-fashioned gifts from your garden. For those of you who can and preserve your bounty, there are labels and lid-covers (wide and narrow-mouth sizes). Coordinating plant markers for cuttings and seedlings, and a DIY seed packet that you can personalize with comments about the variety and even add a little photo of the plant in full bloom.

Have you saved seeds before? It's a great way to preserve (non-hybrid) varieties you are especially fond of...and if you're not already familiar with them, you must check out the Seed Savers Exchange. It's a great organization, the ultimate resource for seed-sharing and heirloom plant preservation.

And of course, there are cute tags and little decorative details to personalize each gift from your garden. I hope you enjoy this collection, and have fun finding creative ways to share the fruits of your own gardening victory!

Summer Passes...

It happens so quickly, this summer thing. Just when you start to get into it, the airwaves are full of "Back to School" advertising. Back to school? End of summer? Sssshhhh....stop with that. Listen to the birds, soak in some more sun.

Although most of my summer has been busy with work...new contracts, new projects, catching up (always catching up), family stuff, business stuff, life stuff. You know, just stuff. I think I've been inside here at my desk way more than out there...but when I have been out there, I've soaked it in extra hard. It's been amazing. Rarely are June and July this summerish here in the Pacific Northwest.

The bluest skies, day after day after gorgeous day.

And warm. Well, some days warmer than others.

But nice, all of it.

In June I started to see the promise of delicious treats to come.

Since then, we've been feasting on goodies from the garden. Every meal marked by something fresh, flavorful, and grown in our own backyard.

Everyone is thriving in this sunshine.

Pinks and pink-nosed-dogs, daisies and other perennials taller than me, and tomatoes ripening earlier than ever before, we are all stretching and soaking in as much as possible.

For the first time I noticed a tiny downy-woodpecker enjoying the sappy (and apparently buggy) black locust tree. The garden has also been enjoyed by our usual visitors: butterflies, hummingbirds, and songbirds, lots of bees, and this pretty little golden ladybug.

And now it's already August. How did that happen? Last night it rained all night for the first time in months. Everything smells fresh, cool...there's a calm and quiet today that there hasn't been in a while. I know that quiet...it's the sound of summer winding down. Soak it up while you can.

What I Look Forward To...

So as promised, even though you didn't ask...this is what I look forward to most this summer.

There are some fun things coming up...getting together with family at the ocean cabin, taking some little road trips with Husband Guy, the zoo auction we enjoy every year, a concert or two that we've been kind of excited about, and to top it all off I get to be in a very special wedding of 2 people I love dearly and am so happy for...the icing on an already pretty sweet cake.

But you know...predictable old me...what I'm so excited about is my humble little garden. I am so looking forward to spending time there, and enjoying the food that we're growing this year. It's not as much as I'd hoped to plant...but it's more than I've had in a long, long time.

Of course, the highlight is these precious guys. My favorite food on the face of the earth. And with the basil planted nearby, forget about it. This is heaven right here.

I look forward to enjoying fresh salads...

...one of which I had better enjoy right away, like tonight, and thin out this arugula.

The little cucumbers will, hopefully, eventually climb up the arbor around the back gate. Mmm, I will slice them up with Walla Walla sweets that are growing nearby.

(by the way, those aren't weeds next to them, it's actually more arugula).

And the peas. I suppose they should have been planted much earlier and I should be eating them, like, now...but you may remember the tragedy and drama in simply digging their bed...oh the humanity...

And then, finally...I look forward to going outside tomorrow and finding this piece of grass in the center of the photo and pulling it up by the root.

Funny I didn't notice it when I was actually out there. This is eye-level...that sneaky grass is just quietly hiding in there, "nobody here but us pretty flowers, hum hum hum..."

So yeah, that's me. Finding my heart's desire right here in my own backyard.

Happy summer everyone.

Happy Summer (and Winners)

Have you been waiting for me?

I'm sorry. I've been waiting for the sun most of the day...I was hoping for a break in the clouds for a winner-picking photo-op, and wouldn't you know, I got that. And all is right with the world.

First of all, happy first-day-of-summer to all of you. And happy Fathers' Day to any random dads that happen to stumble across this. And happy coaster-winning day to...oh wait, you thought I was going to give it away just like that? First thing, without a lot of talking, pictures, and more talking? You should know me better than that.

So...I was in here working to meet a Monday morning deadline (what else would I be doing on a lovely Sunday in June?) and I saw a patch of blue sky out the window. I had everything ready to go for the name-drawing photo-op, so I ran outside to catch the sunlight before it was covered again. And wouldn't you know it, there was dog poop scooping duty to attend to. While doing so, I couldn't help noticing that the grass really could use a mow. While mowing, well good gracious look at those tomatoes, what are you doing sprawling all over the...you need to be staked already? Here, let me fix that. Now what are you doing trying to grow these extra little branches...I need to pinch those off. Oh would you look at those weeds someone needs to pull them out before they get out of control. Now you peas stop flopping about you get right up there on the fence and stop wrapping yourselves around those poor onions. Are you kidding me, I really never got that Thai-basil into the ground? Here you go, poor little things just sitting there in pots. Oh my everything really could use some water, couldn't it?

Eventually, to the name-drawing: there was a terribly scientific and involved method in which this occured. First, I printed out your comments and then cut and folded each one twice.

Then there is the hat. This is an important step in name-drawing, the choosing of the hat. This is a very special and treasured hat...it was my Grandma Allie's gardening hat.

It is very, very old...probably a valuable antique that shouldn't be worn with a sweaty head while gardening or messed around with in the grass while playing around taking pictures for a blog post. But it is a useful, practical, and comfortable hat...and today it is a name-drawing hat.

The names go in. They are tumbled about.

I can't really see what I'm doing because I'm looking through the camera which I'm holding in my other hand. That's how we know this is random and fair.

Then I pull out a name. Well, I seem to have pulled out 2. Now didn't I do this before? This must be a sign. So in the spirit of, I don't know...let's say it's a June/Gemini/twins thing (today is the last day of that, right?) or it could be a Fathers' Day thing...did you know I had 2 dads? There's a tasty tidbit to drop on you with no explanation...I'll just say I was blessed in the Daddy-department, a very lucky girl indeed, and leave it at that for now. Anyway, in the spirit of one of those things, I will draw 2 names and give away 2 sets of coasters.

Let's unfold the first one....it's

Annette Richter! And the second (this is hard while holding the camera) is

Meagan S!

This name-drawing was overseen and verified fair and accurate by the Accounting Firm of Molly the Long-Toed Bony-Knuckled dog. Thank you, Molly.

And thank you everyone who commented...and who shared the fun things you're looking forward to this summer. I thoroughly enjoyed the fun little peek into each of your lives and the cool things you'll be doing. From baseball to getaways to gardening (first vegetable garden ever, how awesome!) to great household projects to exploring new exciting ways to express your creativity...I hope you all have an amazing summer! I so appreciate each of you, the fact that you indulge me in this and visit my blog and say nice things...well it just makes me smile. Thank you for that!

Annette and Meagan, could you both email me privately (beth@artstuffltd.com) with your mailing addresses and I'll get these little guys on their way to you right away!

Thanks again everyone! Oh and...I know, you didn't ask, but there's more to this: I want to share a few things I'm looking forward to this summer, and I'll be doing that in the next post.

On Trees, Tiny Little Small Towns, and a Big City.

It seems I've been on a bit of a tree kick.

I mean what's not to like about trees? It's not like this is a controversial subject or something.

I suppose they're a comforting thing in an unstable world...sturdy, stalwart, refreshing, lifegiving. Constant, yet changing. Adaptable.

I haven't really thought about why before I started to write this post, but I have noticed that even more than usual, my eye has been drawn to them wherever I go. When I doodle and sketch, it becomes trees. Creating new collections for my licensing portfolio the past several months, it seems to be awfully tree-heavy. When planning my booth design for Surtex, it became all about trees. Trees trees trees. Trees around the edges, trees overhead, a big tree behind me. Here, this crazy lady who wandered into my booth will show you.

The day after the show ended, my friend Jane and I had a few hours to wander around Manhattan before flying home. The weather was gorgeous, and it felt so good to be outside after 5 long days spent inside Javits Center.

We just started walking, just to walk. Wandering around just a few of those tiny little small towns that all crowd tightly together t0 make New York City.

And wouldn't you know it, I was drawn to the trees. I know, I'm so predictable.

Tree-lined streets.

When I was a little girl I fantasized about living on a street like this when I grew up. I wanted to be That Girl. With those fabulous outfits. But not with Donald. I planned on marrying Mickey Dolenz.

But I digress.

Look at the amazing little gardens on this street.

Oranges. Yes, oranges.

And these perfectly aged and chipped boxes. Fabulous tiny little gardens.

Gardens. Another thing that's been occupying my thoughts. These healthy little beauties in Union Square made me miss my own seedlings waiting patiently for me to get home and put them into the ground.

And this amazing splash of magenta reminded me that I never did get around to planting my radish seeds. Oops.

Just look at that color.

Every single thing in the farm stands was flawless and mouthwatering.

And of course, the lilacs...it is May after all.

Even underground I seemed to be drawn to stuff with treeish characteristics.

More wandering, soaking in the colors...

...the smells...

...the shapes...

...the blue sky...and always, the trees.

So to celebrate the trees, I am offering prints of this design, the big tree from my booth, in my Etsy store right now.

Just a little reminder of the comfort and strength we gain from the simplest most basic acts and thoughts. Life is too short not to soak in and celebrate every possible smidge of positivity around us.