Done!

Between the studio and the garden, I have been out of pocket a bit of late.  The cleaning out and sorting that began months ago, however, is done!  Remember that this studio is approximately 1/3 the size of the former studio, and you will understand what sort of job it has been.

We found an animal shelter Thrift Shop that was interested in sewing items (Good Will doesn't put this sort of thing out, so I don't take fabric or sewing supplies to them any more), and the manager's positive attitude made me very glad I took these things to the shop.

And my friends from Knoxville, when they came to Studio 508 for the May meeting, were kind enough to help me with the last of the cleaning out.  There was fabric, buttons, some thing-a-ma-jiggys and wool.  The felted wool was a large part of the parting-of-the-ways materials.  It is the tiny particles that break off of woolen items that makes working in that medium difficult for me, unless I do this in the nice weather and sit outside, cleaning myself with a lint remover as I work.  I have set aside a small amount of wool to try working with later, after I have the allergies better under control with weekly allergy shots.  If this doesn't work, there will be more felted wool, wool fleece, and an embellishing machine that will need to go.  Fingers crossed for successful de-sensitization to wool!

This post started out to show you how neat and clean the studio is.  That was before I decided to work through Gwen Hedley's Drawn to Stitch.  This is an exciting book, but messy in the hands-on department.  So, I have a mess on the embroidery table.

Now, in my defense, this mess is a lot of ideas that are beginning to percolate.

It's just that I don't do clean, neat things.  And I am intimidated by white pages in sketchbooks and cleared-off tables in my studio.  The blank pages and clean tables seem to be an accusation, my studio's way of being disappointed in the fact that I'm doing nothing.

So, pardon me for not catching the studio at the moment of its most clean-ness (which would have been five minutes before Jill and Margi and Beth arrived on Tuesday).  Martha Stewart doesn't live here.  If she did, the Queen of Clean and I would have some long, soul-searching discussions that might extend into the night.

(*sigh*)

It isn't easy being clean.

End of Spring Gardening, 2012

It is time to put the shovel away, to let poor hubby rest in the shade for a bit.  We have spent sooooo many mornings and even some early afternoons digging that the day we are not in the garden is the rare one.  I have two last small jobs to do, transplanting three variegated Jacob's Ladder ferns to the hill above the fountain, where they will get more water, and to plant the "Cast Iron Plants" I found when out wandering and checking out nurseries far afield.  I cannot resist looking at plants, no matter where we might have set out to go, no matter the weather!  But, for now, we shall stop the dirty part of gardening and simply enjoy our handiwork.  Although I garden with great zest, Charles only gardens to please me.  That is an admirable quality, and I try not to abuse it.

Some pictures of new acquisitions follow.

It would be difficult to miss the fact that I have a passion for hydrangea.  I found, at Autumn Hill an unusual Lacecap called Midnight Duchess.  The airy caps float on stems so deeply chocolate they are almost black!

This Fuji Waterfall bush is tiny, but look at the size of the blossoms compared to the leaves.  Neither Mophead nor Lacecap, it promises to be a show-stopper in a couple of years.

And Charles' Wave Petunias in  the upper terrace are the comedians of the garden this year.  They are just beginning to grow to the edge of the wall, and in this photo, they seem to be lined up, waiting to see who will be the first to "jump!"

The Veronica in the upper terrace is outshining the White Salvia, which is about to open.  The Balloon plant, also, is quite pregnant with buds.  It will be a light shade of blue, a compliment to he deeper Veronica.

My dear sister, Michelle, gave me the loveliest little table-top container filled with succulents and mosses.  The cobalt blue container is the perfect foil to the mix of colors— but, then, I am a collector of cobalt blue pottery for the garden, and this could be a bit of bias on my part!  Many thanks to her for her thoughtfulness.

The pink Begonias that looked so small and lonesome at the beginning of the spring have filled out, now.  They make a rich show of color as they line the walk leading to the Studio.  I am not a great fan of planting annuals, I think they can be a waste of resources when perennials will return for years, once established.  But there is something to be said for the look of these old-fashioned flowers, and I may use them here every year (or for as many years as Charles is willing to plant them for me).

The Asters are new this year.  They are such happy-seeming flowers, and I hope the plant receives enough light in this upper terrace plot to return next year.  If an annual makes it through a full season and returns that next year, I always want to have a little thank-you party for it and present it with an award for perseverance!

Along with the Asters, Snapdragons are new.  The two yellows lost their blossoms but the plants are struggling along.  The whites seem to be settling in, though.  Encouraging thoughts for them are appreciated!  The new Oxalise are doing well.  I planted Oxalise bulbs last year, but the chipmunks ate them.  They burrowed, made a meal of my struggling sprouts and threw the less tasty parts to one side, and devoured the bulbs.  This year I bought plants, trying to confuse them.  So far, so good . . .

There is more, so much more than I realized when I started out the door with the camera!  It all happened over weeks and weeks, and, quite suddenly, we have a spring garden!  A cup of tea is in order here!