Little Shop of Horrors

On my last post, I forgot to show you our very own Little Shop Of Horrors.
Here is our Venus Fly Trap enjoying a nice light snack.



On a much less creepy note, There is a lovely blog I read titled 2 Bags Full. At the moment there is a giveaway contest to win a gorgeous journal. I posted the link here if you are interested.

I hope you are all enjoying your week.
Talk soon.

Feeling A Little Lazy

I have one more night to work then I am off for a few nights. With all of these projects staring at me and no motivation to work on any of them, I feel lazy. This always seems to happen on the week ends I work. Then I remind myself of all the progress I have actually made during the week.

My Colourful Night Cat cross stitch:

I just have that grey outlining border to complete and it will be finished. I also need to vacuum off all of the pet hair.

My mystery knit a long socks are moving along nicely.

I just have to download the toe portion and I will have a lovely pair of Coexist socks!

Oh! You should see how our garden is doing.
The spinach is finally making an appearance.

They are small, but clearly visible!

The tomatoes are in excellent form.


So are my raspberries.

I just have to get to them before Jackie. She left me four to enjoy last season.

We even have a very tiny Thai Dragon pepper growing.


Since I have started painting a little more consistently, I decided to go out for a drive and see if there were any images that I can convert into paintings.
I came across this friendly furry creature:

He (or she, I respect his privacy) seemed really interested in the truck. Jackie wanted nothing to do the giant furry beast.

When we arrived back home I made a very sugary dessert. I am not even sure what to call it.

It is a mixture of honey, oatmeal cereal, currants, peanut butter and marshmallows, melted on together on low heat. Poured into a casserole dish and left to cool down in the fridge for a few hours. It was miles too sweet for Hubs, but Little Man and I loved it!

Last on my list of works in process are curtains for Little Man's room.

I have my fabric.
I have my idea.
I just need to execute.

I hope you are all having a great week end.
It is a little rainy over here but, that is perfect sleeping weather for me.
Have a good one everyone!

Drive Home

After a hectic week of work, I was finally able to complete my painting.

I call it Drive Home.
Oil on canvas
18 x 24"

I think it is complete. I might go in later and do some touch ups.
I usually take a break from a piece, then give it a good eyeballing to see if it feels right.

I started something else as well this afternoon.

It is a very rough draft. I am trying to plan and see how everything will work together.

We have had a lot of rain this past week so I have not had the opportunity to go and explore our garden as much as I would like.
I did however notices our Irises.


My Begonias are also doing amazing!


........and my Lemon Tree plant came back from the dead.


As a bonus to myself and my family, because they will be dining with me this evening, I am slow roasting a chicken using herbs from our very own garden!

This is pretty exciting for me. I love the smell that is coming out of my kitchen. I think the animals do as well because they are all gathered around the oven.

Now I am going to put up my feet with a large cup of coffee and enjoy the silence while I have the house to myself for a little longer.
Have a great day everyone!

Putting The Garden in Order

Yesterday was a bit windy, but otherwise a great day.
We decided it was time to put our plants and herbs in the containers.
I'm glad we waited because we suffered a severe frost warning the night before.
We planted a few tomatoes and a Thai Dragon pepper plant in the box to keep the spinach company.

I hope that spinach grows. I have plans!

I found most of the herbs that I use in my cooking.

Dill


Sage


Thyme


Rosemary


Chives


Oregano


Mint in its very own pot. It is quite a bossy little herb that likes to take over.


There is just something so satisfying about explaining you gathered those from your garden.
Now that we have the dehydrator, I can actually store these herbs for a while. I actually just finished using the remainder of last year's harvest in my roasted chicken a few Sundays ago.

I absolutely adore my patio to be surrounded by flowers. It provides a bit of privacy and colour.
Here are some of the flowers that will hopefully thrive.
I love how the pink and purple contrast with the blue of the container.

These little Johnny Jump Ups are my favourite because they remind me of Alice in Wonderland.




I was unsure the Begonias I started from seed would take, so I purchased a bright red one as an insurance.

The good news is I think they will make it. They just like to take their time. If you look carefully, they are there!




For a pop of colour along the fence, I purchased a Mandarin Lights Azalea bush.


After a long day of gardening, it was time to cause some mischief.


We also trimmed Napoleon's claws and he is not happy at all!

He has been giving me what for, for 12 hours now.
Eventually, he will calm down.
After all, breakfast is in 30 minutes.
Everyone settles down when the food hits the table.

I hope you all have a great week end!

Just Another Day

Except for the extreme heat and cold.
After I finish working a string of night shifts, I like to have a few hours nap so I can just chill with the family like other daywalkers.
As we were getting ready to go outside and enjoy the warm weather with our coffee, we spot this:





This happened in the little wooded area behind our house. It could have been set by anything from a shard of glass or a bolt of lightning.
I am just very relieved that the fire department arrived in a timely manner. This was all taken care of in 30 minutes.

And this is the reason why we all experienced extreme cold.

Jacob was pretty traumatized by the whole ordeal. The screams that emerged from that bathroom could be compared with any scream queen from the horror movies.
How bad can it be, thought I.
Pretty effin bad.
That was the fastest shower in history.
Jo did not fair much better.
He only washed the parts his underwear covered.

It was not all fire and ice.
There was also some wonderful growth in the gardens.


I wonder why this tulip has such a stunted stem?


Before the storm hit I was able to plant my spinach in the planter box that Hubs had built.

I only used half of the space saving some place for the tomatoes I am hoping to find this week end.

I have also enjoyed working in my special room!
My painting is progressing nicely.


I also put a protective clear coat on some buttons that were crafted for me by hubs.

When they have completely dried, they will be sewn onto a cardigan I had completed some time ago.

That is about all I can remember at this time.
I hope you are all well.
Enjoy the week!