Vegetable garden

We have had a very rainy June.  Marcia did a yeoman's job of pulling the big weeds.  Here, a growing pile is flanked by still more work to come!

She persisted and cleaned up a spot for planting more beans and summer squash.









Here, the old Troy-Built horse (red) prepares the ground for raking and planting.  The old gray horse (vertical) keeps it under control and guides it along the needed path.

The newly seeded areas are in the midground, flanked by peppers and tomatoes on the right and bean plantings in the middle.  Onions are visable on the left.  We won't show you the corn planting to the far right which is a disaster!

More summer flowers - 2

Our water lillies are getting old and may need general replacement soon.  It is still nice to enjoy the beauty of the occasional flower, and the frogs to enjoy the leaves as floating rest stops.  The criss-cross shadows are formed by the sun shining through the lattice and netting across the pergola covering this pond.  The little plants are the encroaching growth called "duck weed."






The nice red blossoms are from lambs ears rose campion (lychnis)and are interspersed with various ferns in the perennial garden.  They make a nice contrast and a beautiful composition.

[Thanks to friend Pat Pauly for correcting the identity of the flowers!]














The baby's breath in the foreground nears full flower, and the red growth on the bayberry adds a subtle emphasis to this picture.









The hostas in the left front do well in the shade.  Not all things grow without problems.  The white wrapped trunk of the dead Japanese maple cries out for replacement.  We'll look for something with height and a spreading crown.

More summer flowers

The deck planters develop more fully.  The vinca vine on the lower right spreads as usual, and the spirea plants in the background add color and volume to the growth patterns.

The mugo pine on the right adds height and soft greeen to the deck area.  The astilbe plant at its base contributes the soft violet stalks.

This deck planter is flanked by rosemary and thyme.  We leave them on the deck to protect them from hungry critters.  So far, so good.

The old spectacular trumpet vine blossoms for the 25th+ year.  We trim it every fall, and it returns faithfully.

Quick trip to Chase Lake

 

Friends Pat, Bev, and Jeanne volunteered to help move the Jeep from its winter home in our barn to its summer place at Chase Lake in the Adirondacks.  Bev got to ride up with me in the Jeep, while Jeanne was in charge of driving us all back home.

After a picnic lunch, it was time to check out the views of the lake.   And we also had to test out the new dock.

We were visited by a mama duck and her two babies, and we grabbed our cameras.  They swam and posed for us for several minutes, and I'm sure they were hoping that we had brought them some snacks.

This looks like the babies are waiting for Mom's next instruction.  Most of the time, they were paddling close behind her.

From Pat's camera -- another view of the lake from the dock.

More summer flowers

This prickly pear cactus was a gift from a Michigan friend almost 20 years ago.   When we visited her, she sent us home with a couple of small pieces, which turned into two large plants.    This cactus produces these beautiful blossoms each year to welcome summer.  We bring it inside during the winter and return the potted plant to a sunny spot as warm nights return.

Inspector Suki likes to use the edging stones as her personal path as she checks out the area.  The plant is full of penetrating thorns, and she has learned to avoid close contact.  We use gloves when we move  it, but some barbs always reach skin no matter how thick the protection.







Another gift, this one from our friends the Berardi's, a pretty small iris, blooms each year in front of the house.  Their purple-violet color draws many admiring comments.










Our oldest contribution to this medley is a 40-year-old bush rose which survives some 10 feet from the road and serves as a nice adornment to a pole that feeds electric, telephone, and computer lines to our house and barns.

Sewing Day

Several people made it for a sewing day. Some machines were brought, but the majority of work was being done by hand.









Nancy helped Jeanne hang up her piece, so we could all offer our opinions on what more might be added to it. Should there be a bottom border? ...in black? ...in gray? ...in green?














Bev hung up some of the pieces she made during our dyeing day at her house. She screen printed the piece on the left and monoprinted the pieces on the right.

 

These are more pieces that Bev screen printed.

Dyeing Experiments

Several months ago I found three bottles of dye solution in my freezer -- golden yellow, fuschia, and intense blue. I let them thaw and left them sitting at room temperature until a few days ago.

My fabric had been soaked in soda ash and dried. I placed the folded fabrics on plastic and poured the dyes over them. I covered the fabric with plastic and let them batch in the sun.










The question was, How much color would result from such old dye solution?
(... more than you'd expect!)


The piece on the right was yellow with a small bit of the blue, while the piece on the left was given all three colors.












The pieces on the left are showing quite a bit of color, and the piece on the right was given whatever dyes where left over.









These two yards are the result of trying out some brush strokes with both thickened and un-thickened dyes. The fabric was previously dyed a light pink color and then soaked in soda ash.

Dyeing Day at Bev's

We gathered at Bev Kondolf's for some work with fabric and dyes, and we were met by her rooster, who is the self-appointed king of the barnyard.




Bev cleared out her barn so we could set up our tables out of the sun.

Linda did some screen printing with thickened dyes.














Pat also did some screen printing, but here she is checking on some fabric that she monprinted.














Nancy worked on a table outside, where she was stamping on some of her discharged fabric.

Bev's yellow lab was keeping Nancy company and enjoying the shade of the table.

Summer Flowers

Another clementis climbs the pergola in the entrance to the perennial gardens.  This variety features off-white blossoms tinted with shades of blue and purple, which do not show well under direct sunlight.





The wonderful clethora (summer sweet) hedge encloses part of the tea garden.  One of the stone islands lends depth and structure to this presentation.  The fragrance is strong and pleasant.





The bayberry bushes, developing ground cover, and yellow yarrow bushes line the path through the perennial garden.  A timber fence raises this side of our display with height and color.









A pretty blue balloon flower shows early color.  This part of the garden evolves into a moonlight display, reflecting the full moon with light-colored dusty miller and similar plants.

More deer

A couple of weeks ago, this cute young baby wandered through Pat Pauly's yard and into her flowers, finally settling on this spot for a nap.    He scampered back into the woods, and we hope his mother was nearby.


And today in my back yard, a mother deer and her baby walked right up to my studio doors.

Of course, by the time I grabbed my camera, they were on the move, and the mother was already through the fence.



Aren't they cute? Now, let's talk about the hostas and new raspberry shoots they munched on....!!

Fiber artists at work

The sun came out -- followed by the work tables and the hard-working artists.

Bev, Pat, and Jeanne assembled their fabrics and supplies for some discharging.









Finished fabrics are draped on the bushes to dry.












And even though it was quite hot outside, everyone pressed on and made some wonderful fabrics.











Suki was happy with her job of guarding Priscilla's bag of fabrics.