Invitation to Drawing Challenge # 158 : Aqua

Hi everyone,A good friend, Kathryn, sent me some beautiful beach glass to do something wonderful with. Thank you so much sweetie. The first thing I thought to do was call a new drawing challenge. So how about Aqua! Can you imagine the wonderful possibilities?I know it's Tuesday already, but I hope the challenge is broad enough that quick options might present themselves. So, all you DC loves and anyone else who can pick up a camera, pencil, paint or even gather a bunch of blue hyacinths, everyone come join in!Leave me a comment telling me you're in, and I'll link to everyone's web sites, FB pages, anywhere else I can link to next Friday the (gulp) 13th and we can visit on the weekend. :DAnd, don't forget, there's a little giveaway happening this Sunday here, for the most charming memoir gardening book in the world. :DQuick addendum: Thru my FB invitation we have: Annon, Becca, Linda, Ariane, Barbara, Susan, Carole, Sonja, and Lara joining as well. It's going to be a fun one! I'll keep adding. :D Even more: Melodye, Emily, Amanda and maybe Patrice, plus everyone who left a comment.

Some gardening books I love, and a little giveaway

Well, back to the rain!This afternoon I made myself a cup of tea and brought Merry Hall back down to the library and decided to stay a while.I feel so lucky to have this beautiful room full of my most favourite books. Robert and I built this library/TV room. When I bought this house, there was a broken pipe behind a wall, and R and I had to take down the wall, fix the pipe and replace the plaster...etc. Then, we took all the Ikea Billy shelves I had and bought a couple more, then, we cut some down, screwed the rest together, built a ledge under the window, and that's how we constructed this beautiful, bespoke library.So, I turned on my "happiness lamp".And, on this cold, dreary, winter day, I thought about picking up my long neglected needlepoint, but, you know how it is, once you read one brilliant gardening book, you want to read more!In this room, one entire book case is dedicated to R's books: Alexander Kent, Robin Hobb, Terry Brooks, Michael Moorcock, Peter Cheyney. One entire case is dedicated to a joint love of Terry Pratchett, Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie and P.G. Wodehouse.But one whole case is full of my gardening books, and those are my loves.I suppose I have all the books I'll ever need about gardening. I've got Gertrude Jekyll, RBG Kew books, Rachel de Thames, Monty Don and the books from almost all the other Gardeners World presenters, I've got all the wonderful books which I needed to study for and get my Master Gardener degree, and I've got an addiction to collecting vintage gardening books; there are plenty of those. But there are some books which I love so much, that I come back to them time and again. These books are so loved, that I wouldn't want to be without them. I bet you know exactly what I mean.I pulled out some of my favourites...it was so hard to choose...but I wanted to share them with you.My first love, and the book I told you about before, is Elisabeth de Lestrieux The Art of Gardening in Pots. Oh my gosh, this is garden porn to the max!I got this book before Amazon, and it wasn't available in Canada. I sent my parents, and more to the point, a British relative, on a wild goose chase to find a copy for me. They came thru with a 1990 copy from the British Antique Collector's Club. I love it today as much as I loved it then.(PS. My hoya doesn't look anything as stylish as this one snaking around this amazing window...also, I don't have an amazing window like this one!)My second best love is good old Martha Stewart Gardening. Oh come on, you know you loved her then. I have a strong bond with this book because, 20+yrs ago, I was expecting Chloe and in danger of losing her, and confined to bed for the last trimester of a high risk pregnancy. I sort of believe that this book, the hope of gardening in the future with a happy, healthy, fat and cherubic baby in Moses basket sleeping beside me while roses and irises bloom away, I believe that it saved my sanity.Admit it, we all loved Martha of the old Turkey Farm years, before the Martha Inc.But damn Martha anyway. The price of ironstone, hobnail and jadeite has absolutely gone thru the roof thanks to her.One vintage book I would never want to be without is Roy E. Biles The Complete Book of Garden Magic. I searched and searched for this book for a few years, even looking in the vintage book shops in London, (only to be told that...well...it's American...isn't it...and a little too...er...new for the London shops), but I finally found a copy. (pre Amazon, remember?) Then I found a second, newer version, and, I'm afraid it may be like my Agatha Christies. Must save every copy of Garden Magic I find!It's full of the most wonderful advice...some I've never heard of but have followed with the best of success. One caution though, vintage gardening books are big on pesticides and herbicides. Guess they didn't know any better back then...even the pesticide spray pumps were called "widow makers" for a reason...but then, we're much more enlightened these days, aren't we?I have a thing for "Veronicas", and read In Veronica's Garden when my garden architect friend Adrian lent it to me, and then decided I needed to own it. This Veronica was Veronica Milner. She was born and raised at Glin Castle, Ireland, and she gardened right here on the West Coast. She was a friend of the queen and hosted some members of the royal family there, even Charles and Diana. She offered them a quiet respite from the paparazzi flashbulbs while they were visiting the Vancouver Expo on 1986. She is gone now, and her garden is safe in the hands of the University of Victoria, and people can come visit and experience the peace that is there.Two absolutely fun books, which I read over and over are, The Gin and Tonic Gardener, by Janice Wells, and Tottering in my Garden, by Midge, Ellis Keebler.The Gin and Tonic Gardener is a brilliantly written bunch of anecdotes by the witty columnist Janice Wells. Robert bought me this book for Christmas one year, and then he bought me her second book Another Splash of the Gin and Tonic Gardener. With a title like that, you know it's going to be funny.Tottering in my Garden, is the memoir of an East Coast Canadian gardeners, Midge Ellis Keeble. It's one of the most rewarding, loving, heart-warming books I've ever read. It is in this book, where a young mother, who knows next to nothing and goes on to build one of the most beautiful gardens where her daughters got married in, that I first discovered Roy E Biles and his Garden Magic wisdom.So there you go. Some of my favourite gardening books. And this post is long enough and I haven't even scratched the surface of my collection, but perhaps that's best left for another time.In the meantime, I have a second copy of Tottering in my Garden here in my library. It's practically brand new and I'd love to send it off to someone. I'd love to also include a little journal and maybe some art cards and maybe some other little surprises. So just leave me a quick message in the comments and I'll do the random draw thingie this next Sunday.Happy gardening friends. I'm sure the rain/snow/frost will end soon and spring will be greening and popping and springing up all over the place. :D

Hello from Sunday night, the gardening edition

Oh my goodness, I can hardly believe that the rain let up for today.It's been over a solid a week of rain...maybe two weeks, maybe two months, I've lost count...but today it stopped, and, as I took stock of my garden, I found some of my beautiful winter blooming plants in full swing.Wow I love winter blooming flowers. I'm one of those garden maniacs who live for garden flowers, always can't wait for the flowers to come, so the earliest flowers are really important to me.Years ago, when R and I met, we found out that we had a love of Beverly Nichols' gardening books in common. How obscure! We thought it was amazing that we both read and loved these books. Do you know about them, have you read them? Oh you should. They're so incredible. In Merry Hall, Nichols talks about his patch of iris stylosa.He says, "They were pale blue, flushed with mauve, stripped with a deeper blue, lit in the centre with gold. There were about fifty of them, in a big white basket under a lamp, and their petals were so frail, so delicate that they trembled in the draught."I don't have that many, certainly not 50 to pluck and put into a big white basket under, (undoubtedly), a golden lamp on a mahogany table in the music room, (which I also don't have). I have only, maybe, nine in total and will only sacrifice one to my bedside table at a time, but I'm working on it.As I was puttering around the garden, I found a fifth tiny little tea pot. I don't know if I ever told you, Kerstie had my granddaughters hide seven tiny little tea pots and one mushroom in the garden, and I still have two tea pots to find!I took out one of my ink bottles with water and made myself a little posy for my bedside.And just as I cut some winter flowers, look what I found! SWEET VIOLETS!Oh my gosh I love sweet violets to pieces. I just had to pick all the little buds I could find and put them into my special, tiny violet vase and put that on my bedside table too! :D One looks like it might open tonight, and the rest will follow tomorrow. I love the smell of violets.Kerstie loves violets too. Actually, they are her favourite flower. So much so that Bunny's name is Isla Violet. One year, when she was about 12 or 13, Kerstie came home from a visit with her father, and brought me a bunch of violets, which she dug up and put into an Eaton's bag. I painted that little treasure the very same day before I planted the violets in the garden. I've lifted those little plants and moved them from house to house for years.Here's that little oil painting. It's called "Kerstin's Gift". I love it.R gave me my house plaque to remind me that there was a time when I didn't create drama at the house. Well, I'm sorry my love, but with all these winter blooming flowers, I just can't help myself. :DThere are plenty of books by Beverly Nichols, but some of the ones which I love are: Down the Garden Path, Merry Hall, Sunlight on the Lawn, Laughter on the StairsSharing with Judith and the mosaic bunch. :D

Gala, Katrin's drawing challenge

Oh what fun! Just in time to get ready for the Oscars...no?I have to show you what I did as a little girl. Well, I got my first barbie at age 9. I remember we had just left everything behind us in the Czech Republic, and, as political refugees, immigrated to Austria where my aunt Vera was living at the time. My aunt Vera gave me a barbie doll when we got there. I thought she was the most beautiful doll in the world.So what does every little girl do with a barbie doll? Take her clothes off and dress her in something else of course.Problem was: money was extremely tight,barbie was not going to have a wardrobe.Solution was: grandmother's scarves!I used to wrap the barbie in my grandmother's, aunt's, mom's silk scarves, fasten the gown with a straight pin, and my barbie would saunter off into my barbie stories, happily ever after.Here is one of Binky, Bunny, and Ziggy's barbies in a vintage Hermes scarf. (Nothing is too good for barbie)The absolute truth is, we love us a good dress up! Oh yes we do! Years ago, my father gave me his old Dr's bag, and it houses my collection of sparkly shinies, so we're always ready.But wait, this is a drawing challenge.So I decided to do something I've always done for myself, for my daughters when they were little, and now will do for my granddaughters. Make beautiful paper dolls for them to dress up.My girls really only got straight dolls, but Binky, Bunny and Ziggy are going to get fully movable and posable dolls like this one. Then they can learn to trace around the body and make beautiful gowns for wonderful gala evening.So just look! This snow white princess is joining flapper girl and mermaid, and Nick Bantock's Man Descending thinks he's died and gone to heaven. :DBut, what I wish I could do, what I really wanted to show you, is this dress I'm wearing. It's about a million years old and hand sewn by one ...I can't remember...women family members (mom, two aunts or grandma). And worn by my mother to a gala evening. Do you see the design? My aunt Vera painted it!Oh yes she did. Isn't it the most fabulous thing in the world? She painted it with her oils, just like she painted a little childhood dress of mine (that one with sunflowers and a little caterpillar). My aunt Vera was the most amazing artist. I think I told you before...and I don't care, I'll tell you again...I used to bug her and bug her to be allowed to paint with her oils. I still remember the day she stopped painting and gave me her oils and her brushes. I'm still using them. She was my true inspiration and reason why I paint.Well there we go. Are we all ready for our next gala evening? For us round here it'll be the Oscars. Maybe we'll dress up.Speaking of dressing up, pop round to Katrin's and see all the rest of the glamour and glitz! :D

Hello from Sunday night

Hi everyone,Happy Superbowl Sunday. Did you watch the game? Did you have a party?We did round here. That is to say, we had the party, but we didn't really watch the game. Football, as it turns out, is not really our thing. We watched the newest episode of Top Gear, and the movies A Girl Most Likely and Long Way Down. I read the book Long Way Down a couple summers ago and really loved it. The movie was fantastic. Actually, both the movies were fantastic, and Top Gear is always hilarious.I did buy some cupcakes with the Seattle Sea Hawks logo though; actually for no other reason except that we like Seattle. :DIt's been a most uneventful Sunday round here and that was really good because our Friday and Saturday were a bit of a nightmare. Morgan has become such a sickly cat lately, and has developed some kidney/bladder condition which necessitated an overnight vet stay. Well, over the night she managed to rip out one of her claws and in the morning no one could get close to her. So I came in and calmed her down, and just as she was calm enough for a urine sample, she freaked out and got me with her remaining claws. Two deep gashes, one on each of my wrists. My poor little cat. She got a couple injections, some more medicine, and I took her home Saturday morning and closed her in my bedroom, where she was nice and calm all day and over night. She's much better today.Enough drama round here!But nothing that a little retail therapy can't fix. :Dhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbdMCYzD8sE&feature=youtu.beSharing with Judith and the mosaic bunch. :D

The Unexpected, Joke's drawing challenge

Oh the possibilities!!! When Joke first proposed this brilliant theme for our drawing challenge I just had so many ideas that I didn't know where to turn first. Can you imagine the art which can come from THE UNEXPECTED? Oh I can, and I think I love it!So, here in Rain City, we got a bit of unexpected sunshine. It came streaming into the bedroom this morning and lit up my butterflies and made sparkly prism stars thru my collection of hat pins on the little window ledge in my closet.And as I sat there glorying in the sun and having my tea, I thought of all the new beginnings this year. I thought about all the art I made last year, and all the new art to come. and I planned and sipped my tea. And then I had a second cup......and then it hit me. A new New Year is almost upon us. A Chinese Lunar year completely chock-a-block with the unexpected. New surprises, new challenges and new happiness to look forward to. Last year, the year of the horse, I painted myself those three horses symbolising so much to me. And this year is the year of the green, wood sheep.Green wood sheep...hmm...that to me sounded like a bighorn sheep, running wild and free thru the forests and mountains, not a penned up lamb on a farm. A big majestic bighorn.And so I picked up my oils, chose a piece of driftwood...which, to me, symbolises my Pacific West Coast, and I painted that bad boy right there on it.And there we have it. The unexpected...bring it on. :DAnd when the Lunar New Year dawns on February 4th, I'll be ready. :DThank you so much Joke. Can't wait to see everyone's unexpected works. You all know by now that you can pop by Joke's this weekend to visit everyone, don't you? Sure you do. :D You're drawing challenge savvy like that. ;)

Who's a spoiled princess?

That would be me! And it's not even Christmas any more. :DThe other day I spied the first snowdrop in my garden. So I ran out, picked it, and put it on my bedside table inside the little ink bottle where I've forced some forsythia, pussy willows and poplar twigs. Waking up to this little bit of captured spring makes me feel so very pampered.But then, you'll never believe what happened next!A gift arrived from Norway, from my wonderful friend Vibeke. In it was this beautiful hat, the rosebud hat, which she knitted herself. Isn't she so clever to be able to knit such a beautiful thing? But I didn't just get the hat. V also included a lovely notebook and some tea. I absolutely love notebooks and absolutely love tea.I've already worn rosebud on a walk at the beach and it's so soft and warm that I can tell it'll be a treasure for years to come. The notebook will be filled with daily positive thoughts, and, in that way, will also become a treasure for years. Thank you so much dearest V. If you all have a chance, go visit Vibeke's beautiful blog "a butterfly in my hair". Guaranteed you'll love it...and her...as much as I do. Oh, and I have a big secret to tell you. She will be hosting a humongous giveaway in the month of March as part of her birthday celebration, and some of my stacking rings will be involved.So I was just feeling spoiled to the max, when a lovely lady came to the door. Her name is Rosemarie and she reads my blog. She came to my Art in the Garden weekend, and has been keeping in touch ever since. She is so sweet. She brought me a beautiful little book and some Ms Grey tea.She had to send away for this sweet little book to Castleton, New York!!! It's called "If You're Afraid of the Dark, Remember the Night Rainbows". It's written and illustrated by Cooper Edens.I love each and every page, like this one; which says:If tomorrow morning the sky falls, have clouds for breakfast.And this one:If you have butterflies in your stomach, ask them into your heart.Butterflies in the heart. I love that. Much better than asking them into my brain...which I must be doing because it's where they usually end up...butterfly brain...that's me. :D Thank you so much for your thoughtful gift Rosemarie.I also have to show you two other little gifts from two more thoughtful friends. My neighbour to my East snapped this photo of Morgan sitting on the old window box supports outside my bedroom window. My neighbour loved it so much that she made some cards from it and gave one to me. And, the last time I visited Dalyce, at my most favourite used book shop, she threw this little booklet into my selection of books for free. She's incredibly generous and always saves me old books, photos, pictures, old magazines, anything she thinks I would love or can use in my art.Love this little booklet. It's written in that strong salesmanship style which promises financial freedom, untold riches and fame if only the customer buys the course. The 4 page, hand signed letter was written to a Mr. R. T. Williams P.O. Box Drawer 687, in Victoria BC on May 3 1921. I wonder if Mr. R. T. ever took the school up on it's SPECIAL OFFER FOR TWENTY DAYS ONLY SO ACT TODAY splashed in red all over the newsletter, and, especially since the cost is "a trifle" at $65, and 15 yr old Rob Brennan is already selling cartoons to a newspaper just days after beginning the course.Somehow, I suspect not, because the stamped return envelope is still there in the pocket on the first page.What fun for me to have this pristine little piece of history.What ever shall I do with it now. I think I want to paint on it. Hey, do you know about my FB friend Mark Powell? He's the most incredible artist, and, like me, loves to draw on old documents. Except he uses black pens. He's amazingly talented. Bet he'd fill the pages with some wonderful portraits.Off now to gather my thoughts and maybe do some painting.Oh, Drawing challenge, if anyone would like to join, is hosted by our friend Joke right over here, and the the words are: The Unexpected. Pop over and tell her you're in and she'll link you up for the weekend. What fun we're having. :D

The important thing is the rhythm.

Always have rhythm in your shaking. Now a Manhattan you shake to fox-trot time, a Bronx to two-step time, a dry martini you always shake to waltz time.But our annual grow your blog time...that has a rhythm of its own!

Hello everyone, my name is Veronica. Welcome to my world.It's full of art. All kinds of art.I was born here in Prague,and now live with these two: Robert: mad genius, inventor, engineer, builder of brilliant machines which race at 200 mph, and Chloe, communications expert, saver of the world, bilingual blogger extraordinaire,in this quirky 1950s cottage in Oxfordshire, England,and this 1920s cottage in Vancouver, BC, Canada.That means I log a lot of travel time, can pack a suitcase in my sleep, and am experienced in the fine art of jet-lag survival.I photograph pretty images for stock agencies, but all the photos you see here on my blog are all for you. I'm big on sharing.I'm also big on learning, and love of learning and sharing means that I post a lot of how-to posts. Everything I've tried, from enamelling to silversmithing to wood carving, every one of the practical classes or lessons I've taken can be found here, usually under the "Try This, a Tutorial" tag. If you find that you want more info than what I managed to show in a post, then just ask. I'll tell you everything I know.I have a love for vintage, exploring, gardening, and often you'll find us somewhere far away at some car boot sale, thrift store, specialty rose grower, botanical garden...museum and so on. I also love anachronistic British cars, and, with Robert's generous help, have restored a vintage Austin mini, and a series 3 Land Rover, (which were both saved from the scrap yard). I love to drive my cars.And, along with saving bits of the past, I save old papers from the recycling bin, and give them beauty and new worth thru art.Mostly I like to use paper which is close to or more than 100 yrs old, but in reality, I'll paint on just about anything, and, when I get my act together, you can find little bits of art or silver in my Etsy shop.So won't you stop by for a cup of tea with me and say hello while you're here? That way I can come visit you too.I'm here most days. :D2014 grow your blog link2013 grow your blog link

About the January drive for fresh, new, spring, clean

You know what I do when I need to clean up?I buy flowers!And what's better than one hyacinth? Two! :DAt the moment they are gracing both sides of the kitchen sink, but they might want to move to follow me around the house.So I swept the floors and got to the dining room floor and suddenly the cat hair and dust stuck to the hardwood. I thought, "what the heck?" I thought it's my miracle orchid. It tends to drop sap drops from its blooming spikes. So I washed the wood underneath it and kept going.Imagine my surprise and then imagine my horror when I discovered sap under my saved palm! "Oh, oh", I thought, and had a good look and my worst suspicions were confirmed. The dreaded scale!Oh boy! I've thrown plants out for less. But this palm is already four feet tall and luxurious and I actually love it. But scale is so hard to control...and there was a huge infection! Right here is the reason I don't really do house plants! So what to do? Save or compost?Oh alright then...Save!I got a large (2' x 3') plastic tub and filled it with warm, soapy water, stuffed newsprint into the pot to stop the soil from falling out, and tipped it sideways into the soapy suds and grabbed an old toothbrush and scrubbed the living daylights out of each and every piece of that palm for over an hour!After the palm, I really wanted to put away the few Christmas decorations which got missed......but ended up playing with Morgan instead. She commandeered the box anyway.Last night C took down my spotlight and vintage tripod to take some photos for her work.She finished her photography and said, "Mom, I think your spotlight might have an electrical fault because it really smells like it's burning."Oh no! Not another thing wrong round here! :DThen we investigated and guess what we found!!!A wasp nest? What? A little wasp nest was burning under that super strong light bulb.Well, that makes sense. I haven't actually touched this spotlight since since last May or so. (Counting back, May and June were fine for light, summer I was in E, and since Sept there has been that other bit of nonsense happening...so that makes sense)I should really get back to work, but today is cold and rainy, and so we all feel like Morgan looking out into the drippy world. Well, maybe I'll put the rest of those decorations away since Morgan is out of the box. :D At least I will have accomplished something today.Boy, I really have to get back into my strong work ethic.

We all live under the same moon

Yesterday I took a walk on the beach at sunset and I thought about how intensely I miss Robert now that he's had to return to E. Then I looked to the West, into the setting sun, and then at the rising moon, and thought, "that's the same sun that warms him, that's the same moon that lights his way at night."It's a comfort of sorts.