Gardening

by

An Old-Fashioned Summer

We watched the much-anticipated Barbie movie this weekend, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie. The film is fast, fun, feminist, and empowering. It’s a feast for the senses, with gorgeous sets and costumes, fun dance numbers, wink-wink satire, and a beautiful message for all. Gerwig wrote and directed the film, and Robbie is one of the producers. Dame Helen Mirren narrates.

The critics consensus on Rotten Tomatoes: “Barbie is a visually dazzling comedy whose meta humor is smartly complemented by subversive storytelling.”

Outside the theater, life-sized photo booths designed to look like a boxed Barbie added to the fun. I couldn’t resist.

Sunday morning, we ventured out to buy corn, peaches, apricots, and tomatoes at the last working orchard in San Jose. I chatted briefly with Mr. Cosentino, letting him know we appreciated his small farm stand, lovingly nurtured since 1945. It’s a gem, and so is he.

As we returned to the car, I asked Mike to snap this photo of me with a towering sunflower. For perspective, I’m 5’10” or 178 cm. This plant is by far the tallest sunflower I’ve seen. Given its proximity to the orchard, I imagine a squirrel planted and forgot about the seeds. This house has no garden to speak of, just a pair of majestic sunflowers.

Back in our garden, neighborhood squirrels continue to munch on Acer seeds, showing their agility as they move from branch to branch. They drink water from the fountain outside the window before bounding up the side of the tree.

It felt like an old-fashioned summer seeing a movie in a packed theater for the first time in three years, visiting the farm stand, and staying up too late on a warm Saturday night. I’m dreaming of a few more weekends just like it.

by

News from the Garden

I planted Mammoth sunflower seeds in mid-May, and thanks to the squirrel-proofing domes, most of the seeds germinated.

Imagine my surprise when a second stand of sunflowers self-seeded, apparently immune to pilfering squirrels. The sunflowers I didn’t plant are over five feet tall, blooming in orange, yellow, and red. The Mammoth variety is heading skyward, but they have a way to go before reaching the promised height. Next year I’ll plant them sooner.

Another fun surprise has been the emergence of more California poppies Eschscholzia californica. The latest batch have an hombre-like coloring, with most of them growing up through dry gravel. Since they’re native to California, they adapt to a number of climates and water needs.

The assorted coleus Plectranthus scutellarioides are doing well on our deck, and one of the plants just flowered.

The leaf motif panel behind the planter box is a happy accident. I had a pair of these panels in the back garden under the neighboring pine tree. The heavy pruning of the pine tree last November damaged the support structure, separating the panels. I leaned them against the fence during the winter months; then, we moved one of them to this spot. It fits beautifully.

When my son moved in to his condo a few years ago, the homeowner left her patio plants behind. I inherited three healthy jade plants pictured behind the rocking chair. Lucky me!

The tomatoes have been ho-hum with just a few cherry tomatoes on offer. The plants were healthy, well staked, watered, mulched, with a bit of garden compost for good measure. They get full sun, a mild breeze and still not much going on. The strawberry plants were a complete bust. I’m too embarrassed to show you.

Check out our Bougainvillea! The vine grew slowly until July, but has grown exponentially in the last few weeks. This beauty nearly covers our bedroom window, providing much-appreciated shade. A variety of succulents grow below.

The California gray squirrel pictured below is feasting on seeds from the Acer palmatum, commonly known as Japanese maple, just outside the window. Moments later he jumped from the tree to the roof, upsetting the wind chimes and startling everyone including the cats.

One of my fairy gardens is deep undercover beneath this beautiful hydrangea. The miniature garden stays cool and sheltered all day. The pinks and blues of the Hydrangea macrophylla are slowing fading to pale green, but they’ve lasted for weeks in this gorgeous state. A few lingering, brightly colored nasturtiums wrap around the base of the fountain.

Thank you for joining me for my informal garden tour. There’s always more to see, and how I wish I could invite you over for tea and a chat on our deck.

In the meantime, I hope you are coping with the excessive heat or heavy flooding, too much or too little rain, wildfires, and all the other challenges nature is throwing our way.

by

Gardenias and Memories in a Vase on Monday

It’s hot and getting hotter, so I had to dash for a few blooms to fill today’s petite vase.

I bought this tiny vase on a trip to Mexico several years ago. Mike traveled there for business, and I got to join him for the last few days.

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

Once again, thanks to this winter’s heavy rains, my gardenias have continuously flowered for weeks. I’ve been clipping three at a time to enjoy them indoors, deadheading as I go. Even after the blooms yellow and sag, the potent scent remains.

Today’s vase features gardenias, lavender, and a tiny purple flower I can’t seem to name. It grows along the edge of our deck, and most summers, it finds a way to take root and grow through one of the crevices. That always makes me smile.

If you recognize the name of this purple beauty, please let me know.

Please visit the Cathy’s to see what they and others have created for IAVOM. 

by

ScrapHappy: So Soon?

The 15th of the month arrived in a flash. I hate to miss one of Kate’s ScrapHappy posts, so I pulled some paper scraps and made a pair of cards.

I used my Silhouette Cameo die-cutting machine to cut the circles. It feels like a touch of magic when you fold the edges of the circle into a V, showing the reverse side of the paper. I alternated the pattern to show off both sides of the print.

It will surprise no one that I have lots of floral paper in my stash. It’s what I’m drawn to again and again. The last two pics are closeups of the paper quilt. I used white water-color paper, but for some reason it looks blue in these shots.

That’s my small contribution this month. Please click the links below to see what other makers are up to. Thanks as always, Kate.

 Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, Edith
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti, Debbierose, Nóilin, Viv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa, Lynn, Tierneyand Hannah  

by

Putting the Finishing Touches on the Yellow Room

Though I continue to fuss with the yellow room, the final pieces are in place. When my older son moved out, I redecorated, with the goal of creating an eclectic and relaxing guest room. You can read more about that in my post Decorating the Yellow Room.

The small desk I ordered for the room fits in style and size beautifully. I store gift bags and ribbons in this room, so the desk is a handy place to stage gifts.

If you’re a regular reader, you may remember that the lovely Ficus met its fate, a short-lived and expensive mistake. I moved it to a brighter location to no avail. It’s now part of the composting pile.

In its place, I moved the postage stamp table I created with my Dad’s collection and bought an affordable plant that gets by with low light to sit on top.

Peace Lilies prefer moderate to low light, and who doesn’t like a plant with the word “peace” in its name? The plant can have “mild toxicity” to cats if ingested which I read today, but neither of our kitties show any interest in our houseplants, preferring instead to roll in or imbibe the plentiful garden nepeta known as catnip.

Two more small additions include a pair of green shams for the bed and the embroidery hoop art I made for the garden bench. A couple of readers shared concerns about the longevity of the pieces if I hung them outdoors, so they now reside above the bed.

This project has been a lot of fun. Now I’m a woman in search of another empty room. Any takers?

What projects are you up to?

by

Celebrating Pride in a Vase on Monday

In honor of Pride Month, today’s vase celebrates love. My vase includes the colors of the rainbow flag, designed by Artist Gilbert Baker at the behest of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician.

Colors have been added and subtracted to the flag over the years based on practical reasons (the cost and availability of the dyes) and the need for further inclusion. I didn’t realize before today that each color is symbolic.

Here is a screenshot from Wikipedia:

I managed to include everything but turquoise. The representative flowers are pink (geranium), red, (sweet peas and Acer seed pods), orange (nasturtium, a flowering succulent and a self-seeded annual), yellow (salvia), green (nepeta, lavender, and nigella seed pods), blue (hydrangea), and indigo/violet (salvia).

Juno Dawson wrote the book pictured in today’s post. It was assigned reading when my eldest son attended university. It’s considered “young adult nonfiction, ” which tells me it should also be required reading in high school.

This Book is Gay, one of the Guardian’s Best Books of the Year, is described as “The book every LGBT person would have killed for as a teenager, told in the voice of a wise best friend. Frank, warm, funny, USEFUL.” Patrick Ness.

Sadly, I live in a country with powerful yet hateful, fearful, right-leaning folks that want to ban books and defend gun rights, strip women of reproductive rights and demonize anyone that doesn’t fit into a narrowly defined norm.

These flowers celebrate love and inclusion, compassion and understanding, and hope. They celebrate Pride. They celebrate Love.

Please visit the Cathy’s to see what they’ve created for IAVOM.

by

My Visit to the Quilt Museum

Earlier this year, my friend Mary treated me to an afternoon at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles. I’ve wanted to go for years but needed to make the time.

Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry: Nice Ice #2

Mary in front of Kit Vincent quilt entitled Fracas

I’ve always loved quilts and greatly admire the skill, patience, and artistry required to create one. Several of the bloggers I follow quilt to create functional quilts, pieces of art, clothing, and sometimes all three.

The SJMQT exhibit featured textiles created during the pandemic. These artists use fabric, paper, buttons, and even emptied toilet paper rolls to create pieces reflecting the time of lockdown during COVID.

Here are a few of my favorites:

A sample of quilts and textiles from Quilt National ’21

Jean M. Evans: Sun on My Patio Chair, 2020 Isolation

This quilt blew me away. It looks like a colorized black and white photographic until you get close and see what she’s done with the fabric. It’s extraordinary.

Created with toilet paper rolls, Artist Linda M. Kim, T.P. Mania
Artist Unknown, textile created with fabric, buttons and beads

Here’s one more for the road:

This is in the permanent museum collection. Sharon’s first car looked just like this one; a baby blue VW “Bug”.

About

The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles is an art museum in Downtown San Jose, California, USA. Founded in 1977, the museum is the first in the United States devoted solely to quilts and textiles as an art form. Holdings include a permanent collection of over 550 quilts, garments and ethnic textiles, emphasizing artists of the 20th- and 21st-century, and a research library with over 500 books concerning the history and techniques of the craft.

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles

I had hoped to share a link crediting all of the artists, however SJMQT hasn’t updated past exhibits on the website for three years. I will update this post in the future should more details emerge.

Do you visit museums in your hometown? What would you recommend if I could travel there?

by

ScrapHappy: A Bit of This and That

I have an assortment of scrappy projects this month.

First up, three cat beds for a rescue organization called NARF. I made a pattern from a grocery bag the last time I made them so I would remember the size of the cat’s temporary enclosure. The first cat beds were too large. When the cats are adopted, the little bed goes home with them.

The purple Minka fabric posed some challenges since the scraps were mostly triangle-shaped. I ended up piecing scraps to make one side of the bed.

The tie-dyed material has been around for years. My friend Laura used to host tie-dye parties in her driveway. This purple tie-dyed muslin came from an afternoon of playing with purple dye.

The final cat bed is a repurposed toss pillow cover. I turned it from a square to a rectangle. I used padding from my former patio cushions for all three cat beds.

My second scrappy make is this palm leaf cover to place under the acrylic top on my garden bench. I cut one long, narrow piece in half, then stitched together lengthwise. After hemming all four sides, it fits within a 1/4 inch. It really pops.

My final scrappy make is a soft shawl for the Teddy Bear. It’s a no-sew accessory to celebrate my permanent retirement from ever sewing slippery, shedding fabric again. Please quote me! I made the bear years ago for my younger son. Now it belongs to Tessa (our cat).

There you have it! Three cat beds, a garden bench topper, and a well-accessorized plush bear, all made from scraps.

Thanks as always, Kate. Please follow the links below if you would like to see what the other makers are up to.


Kate, Gun,Eva, Sue,Lynda,
Birthe,Turid,Susan,Cathy, Tracy,
Jan, Moira,Sandra, Chris,
Claire, Jean, Jon,Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny,Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera,Edith
Ann,Dawn 2,Carol,Preeti,
Debbierose, Nóilin, Viv, Karrin,
Amo,Alissa, Lynn,Tierney and Hannah

Nike Animal Rescue Foundation

Nike Animal Rescue Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, all volunteer organization dedicated to providing assistance to cats and dogs in need. All the cats and dogs available for adoption can be viewed on the site. We hold adoption fairs in the South Bay several times a month where you can see all the pets in person. You can read more about their volunteer efforts here.

by

In a Vase on Monday: Nostalgia in a Teacup

I filled my Beatrix Potter teacup with an assortment of sweet peas, evoking memories of an earlier time. My friend Carrielin bought this cup for me over forty years ago. I’m sure we’ve consumed gallons of tea over companionable talks. Friendships that endure are a gift; when I use this cup, it reminds me of her.

The cup also evokes memories of my time in the Lake District of Northern England. Ms. Potter donated almost all her property to the National Trust. Her forethought preserved much of the land that now constitutes the Lake District National Park. It’s pristine.

Sweet peas also evoke a sense of nostalgia, so they were the perfect choice for today’s vase. I tucked in a few green sprigs of lavender, and as a nod to the cat illustration on the cup, I added a small cutting of nepeta (catnip).

Thank you to “the Cathys” for inspiring this Monday series. It’s fun to think about what’s available in the garden and share it with others.

by

Spring Gives Way to Summer

Spring is slowly giving way to summer here, though our temps have been moderate for May. I’m happy to bypass the heat waves, but it is strange.

Nasturtiums viewed through the garden bench

We spent the three-day weekend working in the garden, with breaks for meals and a night out. It remained overcast most of the time, so the work was comfortable. 

I’ve been cutting the California poppies back to the ground and collecting and drying a few seeds for next season. For the most part, the poppies self-seed, but it’s nice to have backups just in case. The same applies to our sweet peas and the nigella, or love-in-a-mist.

Now that I have room in the curb garden, I planted Mammoth sunflower seeds. I found these clever domes online to keep the seeds underground until they germinate. Otherwise, the squirrels eat them as fast as I plant them.

Sunflower seeds don’t do well when started indoors, so covering them is the best solution. Ironically, I noticed what looked like sunflowers already growing in the box. They seemingly popped up out of nowhere, but given our rain, they may have been lying dormant for some time. Of course, that doesn’t explain how they survived foraging squirrels, but I’ll take it.

I planted a packet of forgotten cosmos from my seed collection. Some seeds do well even when past the use or sell-by date, so I hope that’s the case. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Most of my gardening time in recent weeks has been spent digging out once-charming now-invasive violets. When they initially appeared in the garden, I thought they were derivative of annual pansies. We don’t generally see wild violets here in San Jose.

It was, however,  a surprise to read on a couple of blogs that wild violets are considered weeds. Now I know why. They’ve spread all over the back garden, growing in clumps under other plants. Like a lot of weeds, they propagate in a variety of ways, and they protest removal from the ground. I have a system: pull out fistfuls of large clumps, then go after the remaining roots. I dig out the small seedlings using my garden fork since the seedlings have shallow roots. I’ve been clocking the time spent removing these invasive plants, and as of this writing, I’ve spent eight hours digging them out. Can you imagine?

As Mike is fond of saying: “Job security!” As if anyone could fire me from this passion. Another day, another weed equals more time in the garden.

Tessa agrees.