This morning I picked a cluster of three large Pompeii Italian Tomatoes. I grew them from seed purchased from Renee's Garden. They are not as heavy as the standard large juicy tomatoes but weighed one pound total. I also picked a over a pound of the small Roma type tomatoes that I love and are so productive here even setting blossoms in our hot weather!

Borago officinalis

Borage.

See it here in my current garden next to a tomato plant. This hairy herb is a favorite of mine. The flowers are also a favorite of bees, tomatoes, and children. I grew it in my first "serious" herb garden in San Antonio and later when my kids were small. Kids like the cucumber flavor of the blue star shaped flowers.

When the children were helping me garden we lived in the almost desert prairie of West Texas on 2 1/2 acres. The ground was caliche rock and blow sand. It can be a carpet of wild flowers in any seasons with just a bit of rain. But the summers are hot, windy, and usually very dry.

We had a nice water well and one February I got a load of topsoil for my birthday...a dump truck load of dirt! That was my all-time favorite birthday gift! But even with the additional soil I could usually grow flowers and herbs better than vegetables. But we tried!

Borage is suppose to be a great companion plant for tomatoes. I am hoping it will deter the dreaded great horned tomato worm. We found one of those on a pepper plant yesterday but not close to the borage.

Memories in the Garden on the Farm

Some of my earliest memories are of time spent with my grandparents on their farm in Central Texas. I would help Grandmother plant seeds in a lot next to the barn. It had incredible dirt with all that aged manure and decomposing hay! This was the kitchen garden for beans, squash, okra, potatoes, and tomatoes. She always started her own tomatoes rather than buy plants.

They also had a few garden rows out in the field for black-eyed peas, corn, and melons. Grandmother grew herbs and flowers in the yard. I remember mint, parsley, dill, garlic, and those wonderful walking onions with the baby onions on top!

She grew chili petines for my granddaddy; they would reseed each year. Once I added them to mud-pies and got mud on my face and peppers in my eyes! You don't forget a thing like that!

I remember hollyhocks, petunias, bells of Ireland, irises, pomagranet bushes, lilacs, and climbable mesquite trees.

Gardening

We have been eating lettuce, spinach, carrots, baby bokchoy, onions, garlic, sugar peas, a few Italian bush beans, and small tomatoes. Also from friends and family with larger, earlier gardens we have had new potatoes and squash! We have small squashes coming if the bugs don't get them.

Not forgotten

After a long absence and silence here on the blog I am going to attempt a comeback.
No time for detailed backstory or excuses!
In the past year:
We have moved to a different house after painting the interior.
We have planted the whole backyard in garden.
Made gradual but definite changes in our diet...

I am struggling to find balance, learn to accept loss, and change, and I hope, to be content but not complacent! I am easily distracted from important but difficult areas of responsibility. There can be an exhilarating and almost intoxicating high from creativity. I can postpone thinking of other things while reveling in color, pattern, paper, paint, and fibers. I can numb my painful memories and present fears with a new project idea. Arranging and rearranging art supplies is a potent procrastinator's ploy!

But, I am still creating!

Sewing!

I have my Bernina back from the shop, materials gathered, and LOTS of ideas!


For about a year I have been gathering wool sweaters, wool yardage, silk blouses, and other beautiful textiles to re-purpose, from estate sales and thrift stores. I am thinking about projects to work on when I am not so busy. One recent weekend I made some small gifts and had a grand time sewing! I have several dolls to finish soon and want to make more animal characters.

Life is Time (passing too fast and spent in frantic busyness it seems)
Work to eat, serve, provide for the future...
Make art, be creative, where ever and when ever!

I have a new home!

My creative thoughts have been spent on color choices and how best to arrange people and furniture in a smaller but nicer space. I have looked through every copy of HOME COMPANION and VICTORIA magazine that I have saved over the years. I focused on what I had bookmarked previously as favorites. I chose "rest-full" green, gray, neutrals in the "public"rooms. I plan to accent with colors from art and textiles which can be moved or changed easily. My bedroom/studio walls are pale pink. I don't think I have ever had a pink room. I painted the 100+ year old iron a brass bed a dark aubergine.

The house appeared in wonderful, move in condition and was painted in a nice neutral cream. My only initial plan was to paint over the dark paneling in the living room. Back in March when I first met THE HOUSE, I had a dreadful head cold and was unaware of the smell that the house had from being smoked in for 30 years. When the furniture was moved out we could see outlines on the walls where pictures had hung! I wish that I had taken pictures but the worst rooms have already been painted.

My other creative pursuit has been thrift store and estate sale shopping. I am looking for sweaters to felt and silk for a quilt. I love fabric textures and colors. Alas, it means more store. I have meanwhile found that I can clothe myself and family in in silk, linen, and cashmere "for a song"!

And the winners are........
Drum roll....
I deleted my post and one procedural one from a friend. Then I used a random number generator to get 3 numbers between 1 and 85....

bunnychicboutique

Lisa

brines

congratulations to all for the fun!

ONE World ONE Heart
More gifts! I am adding an additional two gift packets of pretty supplies. On Valentine's Day I will draw three names from you who leave comments asking to be entered!

Add these two cards to the two in my previous post to be part of the ONE World ONE Heart blog drawings. The brainchild of lisa s. oceandreamer, this is an opportunity for me to give gifts! comment on any of my post with this topic to be entered in the drawings. Surprises will also be sent to winners!

"One World-One Heart" a blog-wide giveaway event. This is a wonderful way to bring bloggers from around the world together, that under other circumstances would not have met. This event enables us to discover new and wonderful people, and at the same time have the possibility of winning a prize or or many prizes...

I will also have a DRAWING on my blog for four original collaged and stamped cards and something else in the nature of a nice surprise.
These are two of my cards to give away. The others are similar but I don't have time right now to scan them! Time to get ready for school!

Please leave a comment and request to enter the drawing.