Sad and Glad

It's been a sad last few days for me. Last week we all heard the news about Michael Jackson, and later I found that Farrah Fawcett had lost her battle with Liver Cancer, and Ed McMahon has passed a few days before. Sunday while driving home from the lake, which is now nothing but a dried up river bed, literally, they drained the lake to fix the dam, and now its nothing but a foot wide little stream inside a mudbed. I wondered and worried about the wildlife which is rich in that area. Deer, bears, skunks, and other small creatures, not to mention the fish , which I wondered what happened to them? And also the birds that relied on the water for water and food (fish). All the Geese were gone and we didn't see the osprey we have had the pleasure of watching fish the last two times we've been there.

This picture you see here was taken about a month ago along with the one of the osprey flying overhead of me. I didn't take my camera with me this time since the batteries have been giving me lots of problems, but you can now walk across that land bridge and down in. I don't think a sparrow could drown in what's left. I sure hope they fix it soon, I love to go there to think and just enjoy the creation, listen to the birds and hubby was going to get a fishing license to fish, not now for sure!

Anyway, we were on the way back home and about 1/8 mile from my driveway we saw our two red tailed hawks. I say, 'our' because they were born in one of our trees and fledged and grew up right in our yard last year. They still hang around and I've seen them many times looking out my patio doors while on the laptop, terrorizing my squirrels and birds I feed everyday. They were perched up on top of a telephone pole, looking out over the field I guess for mice, rabbits, whatever they could catch. I had seen them the two days before on the same pole. Also last week when we had a break in the rain I saw one swoop down outside my window as I was taking some pictures on the shelf by the window of my new necklace. It looked to me like he was after one of hte squirrels that was frolicking around one of my dogwood trees. But he missed, sat there for a second and I raised the camera in my hand and off he went. I got a great shot of him almost horizontal to my camera, and saw him land up in a tree on the edge of our property.

Well when my husband came home Sunday, we mowed the grass, I helped a little bit to get away from the computer for awhile. I looked down into my neighbors driveway and saw one of them laying at the edge with wings out. I quickly called my husband over and that was when he told me that out on the road near where we had seen them, someone had hit one with a car! I couldn't believe it. I thought maybe this one was hit and was going to call our Hawk Sanctuary. He was in the sun and had his mouth open. But before I called I wanted to make sure he was actually hurt, so I started to walk towards him slowly, talking to him gently, and he pulled in his wings, slowly, not scared, and then flew off over the lawn, just a little bit away and landed on top of my neighbors house.

He stayed there about 5 minutes and then moved down the field a bit. It threw a bunch of birds in the evergreens into a tizzy though, and they carried on, flying in and out for quite a while, but I don't think he had any intention of going after them or their nests. I heard a very faint hawk cry. He did this on and off and yesterday too. I finally realized that he was mouring the loss of his brother or sister and it was so sad. I think why he was laid out on the driveway was because he was in shock of losing them. It is so sad, I still hear him out there and it reminds me that life is so short, I wish people could realize that. Some day it will be too late to say that nice thing to the one you always should have, or made reconciliation instead of being stuborn, or realizing your mortality and know it is but fleeting, and can be gone in an instant.

People mourning, birds mourning, life , death, sadness, happiness. Sorry for waxing so philosophical, it's been one of those days, we've been under severe TS watches most of the day and had quite a few blow through, 60 mile an hour winds and virtual hurricanes as well. But I wanted to share that I found out late yesterday that my first try at entering the monthly Challenge at ART BEAD SCENE caught the eye of the judges and they picked yours truly, as Featured Artist of the week. A honor I share with another artist since it was the last of the month before choosing a winner.
You can read about it here, needless to say I was shocked but pleasantly so, it helps to soften the sad a bit and I am thankful to those who felt my first effort worth honoring with the featured artist post. Thank you Tari.

3797

R.I.P. Michael

I grew up listening to Motown. I had requested for my 13th birthday party ( the first I'd ever had just for me, usually mom would combine everyone whose birthday was in the summer in one party, which included, Dad and both grandparents, everyone but HER!) Anyway, I received my own stereo that year as my gift and Dad allowed me one real LP to play on it. I choose the Motown double anniversary record and played it to death! I didn't have a picture of the Osmond brothers on my wall from Teen magazine, I had pictures of Michael Jackson and the Jackson5. You see I could relate, Michael was only one month younger than I and I thought it so cool he had these older brothers that let him in their band ( little did I know at that time that he was carrying them all! ).




Through the years I've watched him on and off. Of course I bought the Off the Wall album and Thriller! Wore those tapes out too. But in later years all I could feel for him, no matter what the tabloids said, was deep sorrow, for the little boy he never was allowed to be. He never got to find himself. I don't really know what happened and I'm sure people will be talking and twittering and text messaging about it for months, maybe years, but one thing I do hope, is that he finally found Peace.





3694

Treasury Divided Loyalty

Treasury Divided Loyalty
Originally uploaded by OrganicOdysseys

I have been blessed recently to be included in many treasuries done by one of my etsy teams. I don't want to bore you with each and every one. Each one is great in it's own way but this one struck a chord in me. I love the color combination of caramel or is that bronze and grey or is that silver, and the white, ivory? Maybe it's because I have been experimenting lately with my botanicals in a more antiqued metallic look but this palette has me itching to get to the studio work table and see what I can do with these colors. Not to mention there's some pretty cool stuff there! It's still going so have a closer look right here.



3670

Color Study of Squares JUNEABS

Color Study of Squares JUNEABS
Originally uploaded by OrganicOdysseys

I've been reading the Art Bead Scene blog for a few months now. I have been intrigued with art beads for some time. For years I have experimented with various beads, mostly ones that are faux semi precious stones or just your average stone that is carved. I wasn't sure if I could deviate from that but decided to give a try to this challenge. As a former quilter one of my favorite designs was the square within a square and I made many variations on this theme, so I figured, why not in clay? It wasn't as simple as it seemed. I tried a few ideas, trying to take the whole painting and make individual tile beads but I didn't like how that was going. That is when I decided to put my own spin on it and make his circles my squares and his squares my circles. I think it turned out fairly well, although different than my usual pursuits that is why I decided to enter in the first place! :) Let me know what you think and give a visit to Art Bead Scene and read about the challenge, its a very cool blog! And check out the other entries at Flickr!


3655

I've been Tagged!

Why does that make me think of hunting? I'm not a hunter by a long shot, but anyway, I was tagged by my lovely guild member Sharon of Sharon'sJewelryGarden and I have to tell you six things, no, six Silly things that make me happy. Then I have to tag others and make them do the same! heehee!

Ok, six things:

1. Snuggling into a fresh made bed with nice clean 300+ count sheets after a bath.
2. Saving a dollar on a bar of clay because I have a coupon and that's all I want in the store for now.
3. Watching out my patio door at the circus in my backyard, be it the crazy squirrels fighting over a huge pile of corn, or even standing down three growing fawns, the chipmunks racing back and forth and making the doves fly up in a panic and the young birds learning how to use the birdbath and many more backyard shenanigans! Better than any zoo , my own Greatest show on Earth!
4. Being the first to open a special Magazine, with no creases in it!
5. Watching the fireflies light up the night because they remind me of the twinkle lights I keep throughout my house year round for that soft lighting look.
6. Sniffing my Jazmines head. I've never heard of this from anyone else, but I swear it's true, when she's Happy (most of the time) when you sniff right in the middle of her forehead you can smell something like perfume, not overly sweet and cloying, but a wonderful scent, almost like babies have their own special scent, so does she ( Jazmine is my Dalmatian) :)

I'm sure there are more silly things but that is all I'll bore you with right now. :)

Now, my victims...................

alice-at-runalicerun
ittybittiesforyou.
ixela-thoughts
linenme
palumbojewelry
polymerionline
sarahjohnafana
WonderfulWire

So if you have been tagged, this is all you have to do. Here's how it works: List Six Silly Things That Make You Happy then post and link to the person who tagged you. Tag six of your favorite bloggers to play along. Come on and play, it's summertime fun! ( I tagged eight just in case some are too busy to post). :)


3611

Procrastination?

Did you procrastinate and forget to get something for hubby or Dad for Father's Day? Well it's never too late, and 'Better late than never' or one of those cliches! How about making it up to him with a really fine gift like one of these pens or sets of cuff links from CreativeWriting?




Keith does marvelous things with Polymer clay, especially his faux finishes like, Crocodile, pig skin (football) Aged and laced leather even! Check out the authentic looking golf ball and football tie tacs too~!



He also has some beautiful designs for discriminating ladies if you know of anyone with a Birthday or special day coming up soon! Just look at this luscious cloisonne fountain pen!


You can see more at his etsy store right here! CreativeWriting.etsy.com


Happy Father's Day to all you Daddies out there!

562

Cool Clay things in the Mail

Remember I told you I was in a bead swap with fellow pcagoe members? Well my last set arrived in the mail on Thursday from David Revonav. They were late ( by a couple weeks :) ) but were certainly worth the wait. I was wondering who else had drawn my name and now that mystery is solved! He couldn't have picked a nicer palette of colors for me. I love the chartreuse and the purple veined turquoise beads. I didn't know quite what to expect as I have only seen much of his work involving silver with PC accents, done in the very uniquely Revonav way.

You may remember about a month ago me making a post featuring a new earring design of his. Now that I think of it, those colors were in those earrings, perhaps that is why David choose these for me, since I raved over them so much! :)

I am still thinking of ways to use them effectively and have not decided yet wither to make a necklace with them or a bracelet and matching earrings. But when I do I will be sure to share with you. I must mention that he was so generous to send me a wonderful gift of his silver earring blanks. I have been wanting to try something like this for awhile and been pondering taking up silver smithing but I think my husband would kill me if I got into one more medium! This gives me the chance to experiment and have some of Davids silver work at the same time! Thank you so much David for such beautiful pieces!

Friday, brought the mailman to my door with a box of something I have been waiting literally months for! I ordered this back in the deep freeze of winter (February) and have just received it now in Summer. I am a little disappointed that the promise that was made to me to email me with a heads up (this was back in April when I feared it was getting late in the year for sending polymer clay because of the heat factor) when it would be mailed so I could look out for it and not let it partially bake in the metal mailbox which stands in the sunshine all day, this request was not honored.
Oh well , live and learn, and I guess I shall buy my clay only directly where I can see it and get it when I want it. If some of you don't know, Polymer Clay starts to cure in only 90 degrees according to Donna Kato who has intimate knowledge of the properties since developing her own brand so I think she should know! :) This can make it very difficult to work with and make conditioning near impossible. Being that this is a new clay I wanted to try it under the best circumstances possible. I am really half afraid to open it because last I heard (about two months ago? I can't remember it's been sooo long) it was laid up in customs, and who knows how hot those places get or the containers coming over from Germany? Well, I think I'll open it now and see.

Ok, I've opened the box, and I won't ramble on and on but I must say I am pretty disappointed. I think I waited more than long enough, it even ran past the time limit PayPal gives you to get a refund (3 months) I waited 4 months for this to arrive. Again I got no email to tell me it was on the way (well I did find a USPS auto email but that was not from the seller who told me she would inform me and keep me updated and did not). I opened the box, the packing slip was just a regular packing slip with pre-printed , 'Thanks for your order', no hand written note, 'Sorry it took so long', nothing! To me this is inexcusable. I did find two little packs of the clay in there, I suppose it's supposed to be a bonus? but not a word about that either, and the colors (neon orange!) are not something I can think of a use for unless I tone it down with another color.

Then came the 'jars', which I had been looking forward to as I love to recycle and thought these would be good for storing and sorting out baked PCbeads that are too large for my other bead holder boxes.

I have to say, I am glad I don't have pet allergies, because everyone of these jars were covered in some kind of pet hairs. Some crinkly, some short and curly, some white, some orangey looking and some rather dark. On every single jar! Along with other 'debris'. It took me two hand wipes to get it all off! (I took pictures if someone wants to see and doesn't believe me, but I'd rather not post them). The one jar of Ivory (seen in the picture) the top was filled with the hair and debris and I wiped it off, looked and wiped again, dried and then noticed that even after the hair and debris were cleaned off this top was so badly scratched it had lost all aesthetic value.

At least the colors I ordered were correct. I did not have colors to go by when ordering (but I don't remember right now because is was so long ago) , so I went by the names. It seems though that the Turquoise and Jade are in the same family, the Jade just being a lighter version of the Turquoise. Not what I would call Jade, but pretty nonetheless. The other colors look ok, and when I get over this whole thing, I may open a jar and try it out. Frankly I am hoping one of two things, that I really don't like it that much and won't be wanting to buy it again or if I do there will be more than one place in the whole US to get it from!

If you'd like to know more, just drop me a note and I'll answer you privately.

3550

Need Inspiration? - Rain, Rain Go away!

I think we are in our third week of constant rain. Just yesterday under 24 hours we had an inch, that on top of over two weeks of rain, severe thundershowers, and downpours and more rain, and I don't even live in Seattle! And yesterday despite all that rain we lost our water for half the day! What's the old saying, water water everywhere and not a drop to drink? We did get it turned back on right in time for making dinner though, I'm sure glad I drink bottled water and have lots of waterless hand cleaner and wipes around!

I hate to think what this is doing to the crops at the farm. I know that the strawberries are getting watery, this past week we didn't even get any of the spring greens, their tender leaves beaten by the downpours. And only a handful of peas, seems like last year repeating itself with a vengeance. At least I grabbed a few for molds but that may be all I see.




It is hard to be stuck inside because of the weather, especially with the weekend coming up, I know the South is getting super high temps, so although sunny, too sweltering to go out. So if you are going to be holed up in your house this weekend because it just is too horrible to go outside maybe this is the time to spend at something creative? I thought I would offer you a few avenues to view and perhaps pursue, if something strikes your fancy.

Ready?

Paper Crafts, Scrapbooking and Photo tips

For those who love Scrap booking, and using your pc to get the greatest pages, I found a site that has loads of tutorials on all aspects! Check it out at Cottage Arts. These aren't just for scrap-bookers though, anyone with an online store is sure to be able to use some of the tutorials to make their photos look oh so much better!

Need some graph paper to lay out your ideas, maybe the kids need some for a project, or hubby needs it for a presentation? Don't waste gas and make a trip to the store, you can download and print out your own of any size from this great site! And Polymer Clayers! if you print out the Engineering Graph paper in inches and in the 1/4" engineering graph paper size onto a transparency, you can cut this up into all kinds of measuring templates to use in jewelry making, such as tiles, blocks, and even for color mixing. Just choose your template (I have one that is 2" x 8" and makes a great measuring device for bracelets, pendant, anything you want perfectly square. Also since it's transparent you can see through it to line up on the clay very easily. If you take some 800-1000 grit sandpaper and gently rough it up so it's not so slick it will stick to the clay and stay while you make your cut using both hands to get a straight cut. Just be careful not to scratch it or it will imprint that texture in your clay.

Polymer Clay and Jewelry Making

Do you scrap book AND use Polymer Clay? If you do you know that there are a lot of tools and embellishments that are interchangeable between these two crafts. Check out what one scraper uses to condition her polymer clay.

Another way to use some items in a scrapbookers arsenal is in making jewelry. This website offers many ideas and lots of pictures to follow. She uses dominoes as the base, but these can also be used with certain papers ( treated with maybe a gel medium first) as well as polymer clay. Take a look at The Enchanted Gallery for all kinds of ideas.

Ever try making a flower cane? Maybe this weekend is the time, since you can't be out enjoying the real thing, making this may be the next best thing! This tutorial is from Naama Zamir, a very talented Israeli Polymer clay Artist.

Organic and Environmentally Friendly ( Recycling, Up-cycling)

Got kids? Drink a lot of Milk? then you probably have these hanging around or can save up some very quickly. Great elegant recycling craft, and would look fabulous on a back porch or deck. I think it has that Capiz shell lamp look (and those are quite pricey too). Esprit Cabane

Drink a lot of soda or other beverages in cans? You recycle, right? :) But what about those pop tops? Check out this very detailed tute (lots of pictures so you can't go wrong) that only takes the pop tops and some pull tabs (these can be bought at your local dollar store if you don't happen to have some on hand). And if you haven't gotten together with the kids to make something for Daddy yet for FATHER'S, DAY ,this could be the thing. Very cool, manly, and 'green'!


This next project could be done using recycled materials. If you go to any yard sales, thrift stores, things like that and can pick up an unused canvas, you will be saving it from the landfill. This has a neat theme to it, but right now I am thinking FATHER's DAY so I am suggesting if you need a gift for Dad, young or old, this would be a great gift. Quick to do, and very inexpensive if you have a blank canvas and some black, brown or navy paint. You can use the words they have or how about, 'We love you Dad! ' This can be hung next to his dresser and used as a night light, and he can still see it in the morning while he dresses for work and be reminded of his families love. If your Father is elderly this would be thoughtful to hang in his hallway to give a little light and love while he passes by on one of those inevitable trips to the 'library' at night :)

Really this can be used in so many ways! You can make the color hot pink with the words: 'Princess' and hang it in your daughters, or granddaughters room. They are so quick and easy, you can gift just about anyone with these with the appropriate phrase! Have fun and here are the directions from Design Sponge.

Something Tasty

Art is food and Food is Art, how lovely! I always wanted to learn how to do this!

My favorite comfort food even in the summer! and here's 10 ways to indulge! I can't eat many of these but they sure looks yummy! Why not give one or two a try?

Hope for things to come from the Good earth! I love these Love Apples! did you know there were so many kinds? If you can't wait until they ripen, try this recipe. Or just read the book or rent the movie!

Want to let the kids make breakfast for Dad on Sunday, (Father's Day) keep the mess to a minimum AND be 'green' at the same time? Try this cool recycling project that lets you choose the ingredients (good especially for those who use GF mixes or homemade batters). Don't forget the Pure maple syrup!

Treats for the Soul

I wouldn't want to farm these but they sure are a joy to behold! Aren't all those greens fabulous?!

Perhaps the most patient Artist alive?

I got Sunshine, on a cloudy day.................


And I leave you with this and hope you have a pleasant weekend! Hey and let me know how you like these blogs and website and if they've done anything to perk up and inspire you this weekend, I'd love to hear from you!

3516

Banner Treasury Week!

I recently was asked to join a new team on etsy, one whose goal is to promote fellow members of the team. When I joined my first team on etsy I thought that was the goal of that group as well, but I have found that the months I have been on there ( going on 8 months) have been far less productive, promotion wise for me than the few weeks I've been on this new team. Mind you I have put every effort, and hours, days even promoting my other teams members, but the reciprocation hasn't been overwhelming, and in this day and age of limited areas of promotion I can access as well as time and money constraints I feel it is time to concentrate on what is most productive, all around.

Today is only Tuesday and already this week I have been in over a dozen treasuries! Which happens to include all my shops. For example right now I am featured in nine treasuries. I know there were a few more over the weekend and today both go off so I am likely to get in one or two of those, but wow! What a team! If you'd like to see the latest, I've been keeping a photographic journal at flickr of them, so as not to bore you here with every little one I'm in, and if you'd like to see it, go here and just click on the Treasury set.

But a picture first, since I can't seem to post without one! From that great tool Craftopolis!
And that is just for Organic Odysseys, my other shops PolkaDotSandals and AlmostARTifacts also have treasuries.

3486

New Material, New Ideas, New pieces

Remember me telling you that the farm where I get my organic produce opened up a couple weeks ago? I guess that helped to jump start me after a long winter. A winter I thought I'd be really able to be making a lot of things with all the texture plates and molds I'd taken over the course of last summer and fall. But it was not to be. Other things got in the way. Things I thought I should be doing and things that helped everyone but myself. It took it's toll on my health and well being and I was barely making a handful of new things per month. Recently I've had a relapse in my health and have decided that in order to be able to do what I want and what I need I have to learn to stop apologizing for not being able to do everything and volunteering and just say no. This is very hard for a classic INFJ to do, this group isn't called the Nurturers or Protectors for nothing. But I have to learn first to protect myself and nurture my innermost being first else I am no good to myself or anyone else. As it is I haven't even been able to go out to the farm yet, hopefully this week that will change.

So without boring you, my dear reader with any more of this, I have just decided to stay away this past week or so from places and people that bring negativity into my life and who squelch my creativity until it can hardly raise its head. It's taken me a bit to recover, especially since this affects my heart from over stress and anxiety and instead of it pushing any further and possibly giving me a heart attack or stroke, I have chosen self preservation. :) And in this time of healing (much bed rest) I have been able to actually make some things, fill some commissions and basically get my schedule back to normal again. I'd like to show you some completed pieces and one which is in the prototype stage.

First is this 'coin' necklace, which is made from various hand mixed shades of greens and copper clay and finished in various mediums. Then all joined together with bronzed findings. In the pictures it is attached to a bronze chain but the final produce will incorporate a gun metal lava stone which I think will harmonize with the 'coins' well and repeat the circular theme. As you can see by the two pictures, it is reversible, so even if flipped while wearing the viewer will always have something to enjoy looking at. I have stamped Aux Fine Herbes on the central focal bead, and even though these are not the classic mixture called generally aux fine herbes I thought it was an appropriate title. ( NOTE: you can click on the pictures to get a larger view if you'd like).

Then I have finally finished a retro Black and White Checkered set I started a few weeks ago. Making the squares was a bit difficult as I wanted the tiles to go all the way through and there to always be a black touching white. But once sculpted and baked I was not sure how to put them together. I choose to use some black and white eyelets to finish the holes but didn't want to use a black or white ribbon or cording, I wanted that retro 50's look. After going through my boxes and boxes of findings, I came across this ball key chain, I had purchased them in sizes from very large to very fine. I knew the pendant would work ok with this but was not sure how it would work with the earrings, but I figured it out! I think they came out great, and as one who loves black and white ( as I sit her typing under my zebra shaded lamp with my Dalmatian lying behind me ;) ) I can tell you it looks pretty fine! Very bold, graphic and nostalgic at the same time, but timeless all the same. I hope I get a chance to revisit this theme again, and will be putting this today into my Polka Dot Sandals shop if I can part with it!

One other thing I'd like to share with you is what I did with the set of beads I received from the Bead Swap I participated in with my etsy guild. These green jade beads were made by Jill Palumbo. She is a French and Japanese HS teacher and I asked her to carve something in Japanese into what ever she was making me, (she asked me what I'd like, not knowing we were to keep it secret until sending them, but I was happy to have the chance to get something very unique from this lady who is very versatile with her clay!). So I pondered it a bit, knowing that I would not have this chance again and choose to have the first seven words in the Torah inscribed in Japanese on them. I think she did a wonderful job carving them (she told me she hadn't ventured into this avenue of experimentation with Polymer clay yet and was happy for the chance to give it a try!).

I had no idea what the beads would look like and waited in anticipation for them to arrive. When they did I was thrilled! They were done in a very realistic Jade, carved on one side, Genesis 1:1 and embedded with a flower and butterfly cane on the other. I studied them for awhile wondering how to string these. They are quite large, the center one being about 2", but after looking through my bead collection I think I found the perfect match. I strung these on a steel cable for strength and can't wait to wear them out somewhere! Thank you Jill for such beautiful beads, I will treasure them always!

She tells me that they read from left to right and from top to bottom and basically translated:

When there was yet nothing, God created Heaven and Earth.

Pretty Cool, I think!

3409

One Blog leads to another

I was reading through my blogroll and found today is the last day of this bead contest! Usually I find these things a day late so I am pleased there are still some hours to go. It's a blog worth taking a look at, some interesting reading and some great photos of lots of beads there. So if you happen to catch this post stop over to Silver Parrot and check out the Bead Giveaway!


3345

Ever been to a Yart Sale?

No, I didn't forget to check my spellchecker I spelled it right, (at least that word lol). I have always loved treasure hunting, and in the spring, summer and fall, where I live you can do this most any weekend. It's called various things in different parts of the USA, tag sale, garage sale, yard sale, and more. The theme is the same though, to clear out your house of items you have grown tired of, no longer need or use but more basically it is about making room. This is the idea behind the Yart Sale. It is basically for artists who have a new line to introduce and need to make room for these new items, and the shopper becomes the winner!

It combines the two words, Yard and Art = YART Sale! Many artists and museums use this event to raise money and clear space for more ART~!

So join me won't you? check out all three of my stores, which for this event will have a special section with items listed that are anywhere from 10% - 25% off~! Start your holiday shopping early, or reward yourself or someone you love, 'just because'.

The Yart Sale at etsy starts today and ends on Sunday June 14th. (Note my shops will be closed on Shabbat (Friday evening to Sat evening) so please do your shopping before or after).

Each item will have this logo within the listing. There are many shops participating, to find out more all you need to do is to go to this etsy.com forum and look each day for the official thread titled “SECOND ANNUAL YART SALE sponsored by Team ESST – June 10th, 2009”. The Yart Sale is hosted by the ESST Team of Etsy.



Be sure to check out all my shops to see what cool art bargains you can pick up as well as some vintage stuff!

Here's the links to all three!
AlmostARTifacts
OrganicOdysseys
PolkaDotSandals

And remember, it's virtual, so you don't have to spend any money on gasoline, or worry about hot, humid weather, or rain cancellation! So, go, Have fun shopping!


3315

Team T Treasury

Click on Treasury to see - on view until June 9 Tuesday 8:30pm EST

I finally got a chance to post a Treasury for my new team. I was asked to join a little over a week ago but hadn't caught a treasury since, not for lack of trying though. I had this one all ready so when the Treasury West opened early Sunday morning I snatched one right up! It's that time of year, brides, grooms, weddings, guests, honeymoons. Love is in the air. .......


3283

The Farm is Open! New Art Material at last!

Yes, the Farm where I get my organic veggies, fruit, herbs and much inspiration for my art opened this week. We picked up our first share, an abundance of greens. Lots of spinach, mesculine greens, arugula ( a favorite of mine) bok choy, butter head lettuce and turnips.

Aren't they beautiful? Almost too beautiful to eat, but I made a stir fry with the spinach, bok choy and turnips, (yes turnips, they are great stir fried) right away. We are still working our way through the 1 1/2 lb of spinach and a pound each of the other greens. This week we've been promised we will start picking strawberries, and I can't wait. I love them sliced on top of a spinach and arugula salad with red onions and a orange ginger vinaigrette.





Even the peas are coming up all nice and green,
looking beautiful with the sun coming through them and planted in successive plantings so we have many weeks of picking them. I don't think they will be ready this week ( this picture of the peas was taken last Sunday), but soon. This year I will be sure to get more embedded into the clay. I love their curly little tendrils, reaching out for those strings to grab a hold of and grow up strong!

I've got many new ideas for the herbs, vegetables
and fruits this season. Stay tuned for new debuts. I use every part of the plants, seeds, leaves, blossoms, fruit, stems and even some of the dirt from the farm itself gets mixed into the clay once in awhile.

For those who are new to my blog I have been a member of an organic CSA, which stands for , Community Supported Agriculture, for three years. A Share is an investment (purchased) in the farm each year. I travel about 10 miles one way once a week to pick up the 'dividends' of my share of the crop that week. There is also a section of the farm devoted to crops grown that the share holders can pick for themselves. We have peas, beans, edamame, peppers, tomatoes, herbs and a great variety of flowers, as well as strawberries and fall raspberries. It's the next best thing to having your own farm or large garden. But with the joys of the harvest and none of the work! :)

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