by

Fairy Gardens and Gossamer Wings

One of my fairy gardens is just outside our back door, mounted on the side of the house at eye level. It’s a daily reminder to stay in touch with my inner child, my muse, and lately, my sanity. Puttering in the tiny garden draws my attention away from reality for a few hours.

When we were young girls, my sister Sharon and I loved rearranging the furniture. It was a way to change our environment and to surprise our mother when she came home from work, and it didn’t cost us anything. We still laugh about it.

This week, I decided to rearrange the elevated fairy garden. I’ve had two small succulents planted there, but one has been struggling for a while.

They’re only a few inches apart, but one is getting too much sun. I transplanted it to a shady spot, considered buying another one, but in the spirit of rearranging the furniture, I opted for the assorted treasures I already had.

I moved the tiny garden bench to the spot vacated by the plant. Shade is essential during San Jose summers, so I crafted a wee sun umbrella. The umbrella’s structure is a lotus pod rescued from a floral arrangement sent to me as a thank you a few years ago. It’s been in the background of the fairy garden for a while. It’s now the base of the umbrella, with dried bracts from the bougainvillea held in place with sewing pins. I replaced the too-short stick with a twig from the fruit tree. Ah, shade.

A couple of small seed pods were the perfect size for tiny toss cushions, creating a relaxing resting spot for imaginary visitors with wings. Next to the garden bench, I’ve improvised a side table from a small bit of garden debris, topped with a green finding from my button jar. I wrapped the base of the table with a ring purchased in Victoria, Canada, a few years ago. I loved the look of the ring, but it is so uncomfortable that I never wore it. It works well in this miniature garden, and I can enjoy it in a different way.

Mike suggested a solar light for the garden and I happily agreed. I wrapped the light with sticky tape, then rolled it in dirt and gravel to help it blend in. It’s nestled in the remains of twigs that once covered hanging lights.

Next up, I added a garden arch that now separates the table and chairs from the lounge.

I braided three lengths of Nepeta, also known as catmint, while it was still soft, gently bending them into an arch and holding them in place with a length of florist wire. It’s drying nicely into a scented and wispy arch.

I invite you to close your eyes and imagine yourself in flight with gossamer wings and a light heart. The garden is ready for you. All are welcome.

by

ScrapHappy for Paper: Cards and Craft Kits

I have several scrappy projects to share this month. I’ve been in the groove, so to speak. At the end of this post you’ll find links for other participants of Kate’s monthly ScrapHappy challenge.

First up, crafting kits for our Little Free Library. These kits are part scraps and part up-cycling.

It’s summer holidays here, so children are looking for things to do. I started with a stack of envelopes that I’ve had for years. I had ordered Christmas cards with our return address printed on the envelope. Instead, they mailed plain envelopes. Without any prompting from me, the return-address ones arrived the following week. All these years later, I still have a stack of unused envelopes, which led to the creation of these crafty card kits.

I cut half of the envelope flap and sealed it shut, then trimmed the other half and closed it with washi tape for a “secret compartment”. I folded the envelope in half, then cut scraps of yellow paper to use as the cover. I used one of my tag dies to cut the white paper, stamped it with black ink, and colored the image with markers as a sample, but left it for the crafter to color it themselves.

The second card uses the same envelope but with the flap at the bottom to make pockets. I cut three shapes for the cover and added an iridescent butterfly to the kit. I hope the children enjoy them.

Next up, a thank you card for my friend and neighbor. Val brought me a box of chocolates from the Big Island of Hawaii. I made her card using leftover glitter paper and the front of an envelope I would have otherwise tossed, with an island-themed vibe.

I embossed the paper to suggest water drops, with a special thank you to World Wildlife Fund for the complimentary gift wrap and a cool envelope for card-making.

Over the weekend, I created the following card using a prompt from a Facebook card-making group. Natalie is all about clean and simple cards with a lot of white background. She presents sketches to the group as a starting point, and we build upon them from there.

I used a textured white paper as a background, then cut circles from the patterned mailer. After applying green and orange oxide ink to a scrap of white paper, I cut the shapes with one of my dies. I had just enough of the remaining scrap to create a sliver-thin border.

Please join us with your scrappy, crafty creations by contacting Kate for more details.

Kate has provided these links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy from time to time (they may not post every time, but their blogs are still worth looking at).

Kate, Eva, Sue, Lynda,

Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan, 

Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,

Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,

Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 

Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,

Viv, Karrin,  Alissa,

Hannah and Maggie

by

Tomatoes and Sunflowers: This Summer’s Garden Gems

We enjoyed our first, albeit small, cherry tomato harvest last week, sweet and perfectly formed orbs of goodness. The plant looks healthy, with clusters of green tomatoes just a few days away from another harvest.

Garden fresh cherry tomatoes

Our second tomato plant is an heirloom beefsteak variety. The fruit is taking longer to form, given its size, but soon they’ll ripen as well. Eating garden tomatoes is one of the great pleasures of summer.

Ripening Beefsteak Tomato

Our highly anticipated plum and apricot haul has been a bust, unless you’re a bird, an opossum, a tree rat, or a squirrel.

Bluejay foraging in the fruit tree

When the dog’s away, the rest of the critters play, moving through the branches, sampling the fruit, then moving on as the fruit loosens from its stone and falls to the ground. One of the not-so-great aspects of summer is sun-baked, rotting fruit and the fruit flies that love them.

Apricots on the tree
Sampled fruit
Dinner for the fruit flies

Not for the first time, I’ve mused that since we’ve encroached on nature to a great extent, allowing the neighborhood critters to feast from the tree seems reasonable. There’s always a local farmer’s market.

Last week, I crawled along one of the pathways in the late afternoon and cleared most of the stubborn weeds that grow under the gravel and the stone path. I counted on the late-afternoon shade to get the job done.

Cleared of weeds for now

Gorgeous pink Gladiolas came and went, spectacular while they bloomed. I’m still not burying the bulbs deep enough, so the plants lean as they get taller and heavier. I need to dig even deeper. That said, they were spectacular just the same.

Sloping gladiolas

A few weeks ago I discovered a praying mantis ootheca or egg case on the fence. The case looks like half of a walnut shell. These insects are coveted by gardeners, so much so that you can buy egg cases at nurseries and online. I’m delighted to have spotted it when I did, and pleased to have the resulting hatchlings in my garden.

Praying Mantis ootheca, also know as an egg case

We see several fence lizards this time of year. This one played an unwitting game of hide-and-seek with me, darting under a flower pot when I walked up the path, then returning to the sun when the proverbial coast was clear.

Eastern Fence Lizard

We would forget about each other, carry on with gardening and sunbathing, and then startle each other again.

A single sunflower seed planted itself not far from our bedroom window, and it’s now twice as tall as the tomato plant and quickly approaching the height of our house.

That corner is nearly impassable these days, between the sprawling bougainvillea, the expanding tomato plant, the sky-high sunflower, and the overhanging succulents. I like to think of it as my secret garden each time I squeeze through.

Here are a few parting shots of this summer’s garden. It never fails to delight.

by

Making Cards with Playing Cards

I’ve been playing around with different card ideas, inspired, in part, by an oversized deck of playing cards purchased at a hardware store. I don’t know why you would want to play cards with a deck this size; however, making cards from cards is fun.

I asked Sharon if she had a favorite number (three), and I knew she loved purple. It’s been her favorite for as long as I can remember. I had fun making her a card.

My friend Kristi’s birthday lands on August 4, and the color red floats her boat. This card was another fun challenge.

Finally, my friend and Pilates instructor loves pink and the number seven. I made a pocket for the card using velum, attached washi tape as a tab along the card’s top, and embellished it with various stickers and rub-on decals. I learn something new with each card.

Moving on from the playing cards, I’ve been challenging myself to use up these fabric-textured rolls of Washi tape. I bought two boxes with four different-sized rolls per box several years ago, but each roll has far more than you typically use. It lingered in a small bin for a while. I pulled it out of the drawer a few months ago and started crafting cards with the Washi tape as a focal point.

I backed the washi tape with paper, die cut three circles, then placed them on white card stock before embossing them with a subtle dandelion image.

A vertical stripe of butterfly Washi tape runs the length of the card. I cut a pink butterfly with a black silhouette and placed it on a subtle background.

This card went to a bird lover. I used an intricate die to cut the floral Washi tape, then placed it on a light blue background. The bird is a transfer from 49 & Market.

Two more cards using Washi tape.

Back to playing cards, my latest card is for a friend I’ve known since high school. Bonnie collects vintage Coca-Cola memorabilia. My artist friend Marcia gave me a vintage Coca-Cola playing card a few months ago, commenting that she knew I would find something to do with it. Indeed, I did.

I used a sheet of paper given to me a few years ago with a sewing pattern theme for the base of the tri-fold card, then used the playing card as a focal point. Scraps of red Swiss dot paper reminded me of sewing clothes in the day, and the yellow paper looks like linen if you squint your eyes. Score one for paper scraps. My paper supply has significantly dwindled, so I’m pleased when the right color and texture turn up.

by

Summer Solstice in San Jose

The summer solstice is upon us again, a great time to wander the garden with gratitude for nature’s gifts. I appreciate the warm, rich soil and the wonders that emerge from it. Tiny seeds grow up to be plants, shrubs, and trees, providing shelter, food, oxygen, and, for many of us, a place for quiet reflection and joy.

Here are some of the simple pleasures outside our door.

Our 15-year-old grafted fruit tree once produced four types of fruit. For several years now, production has been limited to apricots and plums, and with an active squirrel population traveling the highway known as our back fence, most of the fruit is partially eaten and tossed to the ground for night critters to feast on.

This summer is different. My youngest son is home for a time, along with his sweet pooch, a playful, burly husky/shepherd mix. Mike has a theory that the squirrels are steering clear of the dog.

To our astonishment, the tree is heavy with ripening fruit, which should be ready for picking next month.

We have a few raspberries growing in the shade of the same tree, which are melt-in-your-mouth good.

The tomato plants we bought earlier in the season are beginning to pump out green fruit. Homegrown tomatoes are the best. We have a beefsteak tomato plant in a small sun area and a cherry tomato growing near the nepeta.

The annual sweet peas came and went quickly this season, but it all worked out since I needed to make room for the established Russian sage. Every year, someone asks if they can have some seeds. When I pulled out the last vines, I left a pile along our walkway for neighbors to help themselves. I’ll send what’s left in a week to the composter.

Pink gladiolas populated the front and back gardens this year. I planted several in our curb garden last fall, feeling proud of myself for getting them into the ground on time. Then, the City of San Jose said my curbside planting box was a “safety hazard,” so when we applied for a new tree permit, they tagged the curb garden and told me it had to go. It’s a different story for another day. The gladiola bulbs have turned up in several places and are making a lovely show.

Throughout the garden, seasonal volunteers spread into empty spaces, including a single sunflower and a handful of purple nigella. Several plants are comingling with die-hard nasturtiums trailing up the salvia and just out of reach of the fruit tree.

A nasturtium with wanderlust traveled up a small table in between the slats. Nearby, an ambitious tomato plant grew out of the sides of the compost bin.

As the sun set, I took these last few shots, casting a yellow glow across the pittosporum. Summer has arrived in San Jose.

by

The Necessary Goodbyes

My sister had her final visit with Queen B on Sunday. Her sweet kitty had been declining for some time, with last week’s visit to our vet confirming mild anemia, dilute urine, and cancer. Letting the kitty suffer was never an option, but facing those final decisions isn’t easy.

Initially, Sharon wanted to be with Queen B when she passed. It proved too much for her, so she asked me if I would be there and of course I said yes.

Queen B was humanely euthanized this morning at the Cat Hospital, our long-time vet. I kept a warm hand on her side as she slipped away, sobbing uncontrollably before I could pull myself together enough to leave the room. I wrapped her frail body in the warm, soft blanket they provided, knowing it no longer mattered but compelled to do so just the same.

Sharon has lost so much to the ravages of MS. Saying goodbye to Queen B has been another blow.

We will cherish the good memories, and our tears will dry, but for now, our hearts ache with the heavy sadness of seeing out this tiny cat’s gentle soul.

by

Rocky River Musings

I flew to the charming suburb of Rocky River, Ohio, last week to visit my friend Barbara. Rocky River is about 15 minutes from Cleveland, and a short drive to Lake Erie.

Barbara and I met in California through a non-profit we were both involved in and remained friends through the years. Three years ago, she sold her Santa Clara home and moved back to the community where she grew up, rekindling hobbies and friendships.

When planning my visit, we penned it as “part work, part play” so I could help her organize parts of her spacious home. In between projects we drove to an Amish community, 

attended a fabulous production of Fiddler on the Roof, and I got to hear her perform with her 35-piece ensemble band, the Rocky River Community Band.

As with most travel, the trip’s highlights are often the unexpected. When I arrived, I had fun watching a pair of robins caring for four hatchlings on Barbara’s back patio. By week’s end, the birds fledged! Robins grow to adult size in two short weeks.

I slept through the first three leaving the nest, but I saw the last of the four robins begin exploring a new world.

Fiddler on the Roof was extraordinary! The ensemble performed at the Allen Theater in nearby Cleveland, a theater once used for silent movies. The building is a stunner.

The production included color-blind casting, a main character in a wheelchair, and a few audience members seated on stage, all contributing to an inclusivity not currently celebrated in the US. We were encouraged to take photos during intermission. The well-reviewed production received a standing ovation. It was all the things good theater evokes, uplifting us as we made our way to the street.

I enjoyed the cooler weather, a bit of rain, and a rare-to-us Californians, thunderstorm. I was less crazy about the storms when they delayed both connecting flights, but so it goes. Travel days are always tedious but worth it once you arrive at your destination.

I had a nice time away, and while I missed our San Jose felines, I got to spend time with sweet Ophelia.

Ophelia
by

May Flowers

As my mobility improves post-hip surgery, I find getting up and down in the garden easier. Over these past weeks, I’ve brought the weeds under control, making daily weeding more manageable.

Yesterday, I looked under the veg trug, now home to a collection of well-established succulents, and spotted a just-out-of-reach oxalis, an invasive plant considered a weed in this area. My inner monologue cautioned against it, as I would have to kneel on the gravel path, bend at the waist, twist my neck, and then reach back to grab the weed. If you know anything about oxalis, you’ll know that the roots are strong and rarely willing to part company with the earth. I could have retreated and found my kneeler and a garden fork, but impatience got the better of me, and I went for it. Success! The weed is gone, I returned to an upright position, and I’m none the worse for wear. It’s the little things.

As I putter about, there’ve been joyful discoveries in the garden this year. Just a few days after commenting to Mike that I missed the self-seeding cornflowers, a beautiful, single, purple stem of one appeared in the front garden. They used to produce an impressive array of colors in pinks, blues, and purples, but equally rewarding, the birds loved the seeds.

The first of the cornflowers

When the plants were producing well, I spotted several birds feasting in the late afternoon. I left the plants past their prime so the birds could enjoy the bounty, and I assumed my seasonal crops resulted from dropped seeds. Then, for reasons unknown, they didn’t return. Seeds can lie dormant in the soil for various reasons, so perhaps they’ve been missing the garden secret sauce required for a prolific crop. Now at least one has returned. It makes me happy.

Also new(ish) is a tall, slender, annual flowering amongst the California poppies and nigella along the driveway. My phone identifies the flower as a Delphinium. Last year, a single flower emerged in the same spot, so I looked it up to be sure it wasn’t a weed. It went to seed and then I gave it a good shake, allowing the seeds to fall to the earth below. Now they’re back, standing tall and looking lovely.

For the first time, a sweet pea, usually prolific in the front garden, traveled with some transplanted bulbs last fall, and it’s now growing under the maple tree in the back garden. I gently wrapped the trailing vine to a trellis, and it’s growing with abandon.

The carnations we planted last year have doubled in size and production, enough so that I’m comfortable cutting a few for a vase.

Mike dug holes for a pair of tomato plants, and as always, we cross our fingers and hope they like the new spot. Our tomato production is spotty at best, but the sweet flavor of a garden-grown gem keeps us trying year after year.

I’ve been playing in the dirt my whole life, and though my body has aged, gardening never gets old.

by

ScrapHappy: Dressing Up the Garden

ScrapHappy is a monthly challenge hosted by blogger Kate of Tall Tales of Chiconi. Participants create and share something made from scraps. 

This month’s inspiration is a well-loved, past its prime dress, pulled from my fabric drawer.

I loved wearing this soft rayon dress, but it didn’t stand the test of time. Unable to part with it, I stashed it in a drawer with other sewing supplies and waited for inspiration. With spring underway and the weather calling us outdoors, I decided to “dress” the garden glider by recovering a pair of cushions. After removing the bodice from the dress, the skirt fell into fairly symmetrical rectangles, just enough to cover both cushions. After multiple washings, the rayon dress fabric is amazingly soft, so they’ll be perfect for napping.

I stitched a fairy garden bench cushion using a small piece of the remaining bodice. I fashioned a tiny table covering to coordinate with the bench.

This fairy garden is mounted on the wall outside our back door and remains covered under the eaves.

Thank you for hosting, Kate. 

The links below feature other ScrapHappy bloggers. It’s always interesting to see what makers are up to.

Kate, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan, 
Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Viv, Karrin,  Alissa,
Hannah and Maggie

by

In a Vase on Monday: Carnations and Sweet Peas

It’s that time of year when my garden fills with blooms, and I wish I could slow down time. Nature is something else, eh?

Today’s featured vase is a birthday gift for my longtime neighbor and friend, Jasmin. I used a container from an orchid that’s moved to a larger pot. The white provides a nice contrast to the flowers, which include purple, white, and lavender sweet peas, cuttings from the Pittosporum, emerging Nigella damascena, and Dianthus caryophyllus, also known ashybrid carnations, including ‘Georgia Peach’ and ‘Key Lime Pie,’ and the tiniest little flowers from Brunnera macrophylla.

I crafted a card to go with the flowers using a die designed by Eileen Hull to emulate postage.

I’ve been saving a stamp from the Philippines (Jasmin’s country of origin) to use on her card.

I added a birdhouse transfer, something she collects, and rounded out the other spaces with flowers. Jas is a gardener, too.

I’m grateful when bloggers come up with ideas to share mutual interests and to support each other’s creativity.

Thank you to “the Cathys” for inspiring this Monday series. You can visit Cathy at Rambling in The Garden at this link to see several stunning vases worldwide.