A little bit lately

These echinacea have now gone to seed. In the mornings goldfinches sit on top of the heads and eat the seeds, something I enjoy watching. Well I just spent part of this morning in the garden spraying the okra for aphids, using the recipe Natalie posted. We've never had trouble with aphids on the okra before. Then I walked over to the squash, harvested about ten squash, some of questionable size, and noticed we're getting squash bugs. Drat! Now I need to research how to handle those. Anyway, I didn't intend for this to become like one of my tend posts but I suppose I've gotten in the mindset of writing about the garden on Thursdays. Have you seen the great lineup of guests at tend this week? We're so grateful for their time in writing thoughtful articles about their gardening experiences. Stop on over. There's even a post scheduled for Saturday you won't want to miss!

A few links:
Aimee's new series: in the drawing room.

Recently watched: Waiting for Superman

Yesterday's sneak peek journal post at Blue Sparrow Press. The Shop opens Monday!

Weekly Roundup


Last night while M. and I were out on an evening stroll I said how can it be possible that it is almost time for the new school year to start? Weren't we just doing that for last year? And it seems we were just enjoying dinner with Alicia, Rachel and families. Yet it was already 'way back' in June. (pictured above)

Here's what has been interesting to me this week and a bit of my current projects:

Stephanie's project, 12 Countries in 12 Months. The first stop on her tour of Europe is Vienna, and she shares some inspiring views. You can also take part, find out here.

Silk screen prints by Nick Butcher and Nadine Nakanishi at Sonnenzimmer. Namely the tenth poster down on the page, work entitled "The Pains of Being Pure at Heart."

I've been looking at and reading about the work of Judy Pfaff. I'm especially interested in the prints she did in the early 1990's at Crown Point Press.

Slowly I've been working on the website for Blue Sparrow Press. And by slowly I mean it takes me forever to make tiny changes. However yesterday I took what felt like a big step and announced the shop opening date of Monday, August 22. Gulp. I mean Yay! There is lots to do to get ready but I am excited to have a fixed date.

This week I have had the opportunity to work on a really enjoyable commission, using these colors. While lately I have been focused on printing I didn't realize how much I needed to work in watercolor. It is so important to draw often, daily, and this project hit that point home for me all over again.

Have a good weekend!


A two hour vacation

Last weekend on a whim we took a little picnic. I packed a simple lunch of egg salad sandwiches, cherries, grapes, strawberries and homemade chocolate chip cookies. Looking for a wildflower field on west campus, we wandered dusty trails. I spotted a few fallen hedge apples along the way, a sign of coming autumn and picked up a couple feathers but we never found the field. We suspect it's been covered by new buildings that didn't exist when we were in school. So we decided to just find a place to eat. We spread the blanket near a pond under the shade of a locust tree. Even though the temps were in the nineties, a cool breeze skimmed the water and under the tree it was quite comfortable. After we ate M. dozed a bit and I tip-toed about to take pictures. When I walked up to the pond I startled some frogs that yipped as they hopped into the water. Then a blue heron flew off. I suspect my presence chased his frog lunch away.
When we left I said with a sigh, well, that was a nice two hour vacation. And back into our hot un-air-conditioned truck we went home.

Revisiting May, part one

Yesterday I got a roll of film back that I began in late May, during our trip to visit Erin. It took me two months to shoot that roll, good grief. It is fun to see moments from the trip, which really, how could it have been that long ago already? One day for lunch we went to a favorite restaurant of Erin's, El Mundo. The gentleman behind the bar intrigued me in these surroundings. I remember sitting with camera in hand as he moved from the bar to helping customers, and waiting for him to return. Rach and I both took photos of each other's cameras, and I'm sure you recognize the camera strap above. And of course I really like seeing the pictures of Rach and David.
Revisiting these photos makes good friends seem less far away.