ORANGE

Sometimes it's green, but lately it's orange.
Not peach, but persimmon.
Not Tang, but tangerine.
Never rust, but terra cotta.

French Quarter Wall

Dale Chihuly - Desert Botanical Garden

In the Seattle Sculpture Garden

Same Sculpture Garden

Napa Pumpkins

Anniversary Party

Jellyfish

More Fall Splendor in Napa

In the Backyard

Mardi Gras!

Sedona

London Gardens

Desert Botanical Garden

Canyon de Cheley

Finch?

Lichen on Lake Tahoe

Summer Toenails

Raquette Lake

Montana Koi

Celebration!

My Needlepoint Pillow

This just back from the finishers. It's a box pillow. I was really concerned about the fabric the finishers might select, so I went out and bought my own. It's a faille; the ridges barely visible in this photo. I was pleasantly surprised to see they had added a border of twisted fibers that pick up the main colors.


Thanks, Andrea, for providing me with the wool for this project. The design is a rip off/ combo. of a few designs by a needlepoint artist that I like. Meade is the artist responsible for the small bumblebee.

Wish I could find the photos of the work in progress. Will add them here if and when I do.

Meanwhile, it's happily ensconced in my bedroom away from dogs, food, and children!

spring pots

Another semester of ceramics, this time with a fabulous teacher.

I was prolific, if not skilled. I'm looking forward to keeping at it through the summer.

Majolica bowl with pumpkin details

Cream and sugar with fern mist glaze

One of several turquoise bowls

The smaller of a pair of owls

To be glazed...I'm working on these now.

african violets

As long as I've had house plants, I've tended a few pots of African violets. My current four pots seems to be particularly happy right now. There are two pots with regal purple flowers (particularly abundant) and two, curly-leaved pale pink blossomed plants. You can see the fuzz on the leaves.


My violets remind me of my grandmother's. In Nat's kitchen window above her sink, glass shelves held her collection of healthy, colorful violets. They were always there, in a sunny window, where she could enjoy them every day.

A friend once gave me a few small pots of miniature violets. She gave them to me when she moved away, but they died when I moved shortly afterward. I've never seen any others like them (the tiny kind). Too bad, but these four pots are doing quite well.

Tomatoes

I have a long-held desire to garden, but I've never gotten much past indoor plants. About twenty years ago, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, I had a small backyard garden that included tomatoes (successful) , peppers (stunted in growth) and basil so hardy that the stems were woody. I think we even grew some carrots. Since then I've been limited to a pot of basil each summer. Now that I'm in Arizona, I have to learn the zones and growing seasons anew.


This past fall I bought my requisite pot of basil along with a cherry tomato plant. The tomato plant didn't like the heat but did manage to survive our month away thanks to religious watering.

But once the cooler night came along, it started to blossom. Now, in January, it is filled with green fruit of all sizes. A handful ripens each week.


This is this morning's harvest.


And this is my favorite garden pig snuffling his tiny tomato friend.