Wednesday, June 30, 2010

mmmmilkweed

This milkweed is my favourite colour in the garden. And the structure of the little flower sections is so neat. Luckily it seems to pop up everywhere like, well, a weed. I think in the Fall I will dig up some of the orange day lilies (which I kind of hate and are EVERYWHERE, choking out and shading plants that I actually like) and let a few more of these fill in some of that space.

Monday, June 28, 2010

little pink roses

little maple

One of the maple trees in our yard is in rough shape and has been seeding like CRAZY (a last ditch effort to reproduce before it dies - which it won't because we're making sure our landlord takes care of it. It needs a large branch removed, and then it should be ok). There have been thousands of seeds falling in the yard - hundreds of huge clumps of seeds. I think they've finally all dropped, but now baby maple trees are sprouting up all over. Sometimes I find one like this that still has its helicopter thingy attached. Cute!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

goodbye darlings


I managed to get a few things done in the garden today and take some pictures before a thunderstorm started. I had to say goodbye to my peas. The vines are tired and seem to be pretty much done producing, and my cucumber babies and tomato babies need the space to grow. The tomatoes are getting HUGE. I found the first little tomato growing today. That helped to soften the blow of having to tear out my pea vines. I really got attached to them. They added such lush green-ness to the garden, and I will really miss their exquisite blossoms, delicate leaves and adorable curling tendrils. Sigh....

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Adventure with ROCKS

How fun and exciting!
 From here.

Monday, June 21, 2010

jumper romper onesie?

A while back I posted about some summer fashion I liked, and mentioned a jumper I picked up last year at a thrift shop in Thunder Bay which I hadn't worn yet, partly because it was winter, and partly because I was a little nervous about pulling it off. Well, I wore it today for the first time (only around the house and to the grocery store) and I am pretty sure I don't look like a mom from 1991 (my mom from 1991) or a phony hipster. I think it's pretty cute and summery. I had Andrew take an awkward picture of me wearing it. I probably should have put on some shoes... And I propped the camera up on the couch to get this detail shot.

The detaill shot shows the fabric better. It is a super lightweight perfectly worn-in cotton with a slightly linen-ish texture. And there's my new coral-red nail polish that almost matches my new coral-red lipstick (I'm kind of loving this particular colour being matched on the lips and nails). I think that pop of coral really helps to make this jumper look more contemporary.

I have to say that I have serious respect for you girls who regularly post personal style self portraits. You guys always look amazing and I love looking at your photos, but seeing my own I feel like a total goof. I'm sure some of you have the same camera-shy tendency I have, and I really appreciate that you are able to get past this because I really do love to see your outfits and be able to match your pretty faces to the words I read on your blogs. I probably won't be doing many of these kinds of posts, but we'll see. If I'm feeling particularly interested in something I'm wearing, maybe it will happen again? I can get pretty excited about clothes, but I generally don't think what I wear would be remotely inspirational to anyone else. In this case, I guess I'm mostly just curious about what you guys might think of my borderline-frumpy jumpsuit...

Sunday, June 20, 2010

i had to have it

One of my favourite things to search for lately on ebay has been anything relating to caves and caverns. I've discovered a whole world of cavern-themed material culture. Like any tourist attraction, these caverns have produced all kinds of souvenirs from silver spoons and shot glasses to view-master reels and postcards. A lot of these items, while appealing in an odd kitchy kind of way, are really super tacky. But some of them are actually beautiful. Like this plate. There are a variety of plates like this out there, but when I found this one I had to get it. I am a little worried that this may turn into an actual collection that I can't really afford and don't have space for, so hopefully I can exercise some restraint and keep it at just the one. But really, a collection of cavern-themed china!? Wouldn't that be amazing!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

greeeeen



The garden has been making some pretty major progress thanks to all that hot weather near the end of May and rain at the beginning of June. The garlic scapes are curling elegantly, the lettuce is filling out lushly, and the pea vines are huge and producing lots of delicious snap peas and snow peas. The shelling peas aren't quite plump enough for shelling yet, but the few I've tried are nearly as sweet as candy.

I tried a new technique for trellising my tomatoes this year. I made a bamboo structure with vertical strings to hold up the tomato vines. So far it is working great. It is so much easier to maintain than the stake and weave technique I tried last year, and I love how it looks. It reminds me of Japanese scaffolding or something. The tomato plants are crowded between the shelling peas now, but the peas will come out soon enough to give them more room.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Weyer's Cave, Virginia, 1880

From here.

scabiosa

How can such a pretty flower have such an unattractive name?