cool thursday

It's going to rain. The air is cool and muggy. A light smell of wood smoke in the air.
I thought I might pick a rose for the house.

Babu looking a bit chunky despite my effort- and his- to not eat as much

yet he still comes back into the kitchen while Muji is eating to circumnavigate the food perimeter

as he has elected himself clean up crew

Muji's pickiness and Babu's too just lately sends me out into the garden

The pink and white geraniums are looking decidedly old-fashioned.

The Dahlias seem to like their new home.

Stepping down off the deck, the Echinaceas

my destination: the Rose

but I couldn't cut it

I have many vases but only artificial flowers in them.

I can't seem to bring the living things in the house.

The grapevine looking as scraggly as ever

the grapes don't seem to be growing, barely larger than a month ago

A white sky day over the hayfield looking SSE

The vetch and lupin seed heads with goldenrod coming in as we look out over the grassy islands the mower left in the hayfield almost 2 weeks ago.

A long enough search and now I know what has taken over our backyard making it an eyesore:

Buckhorn Plaintain.

but what a pretty seed head.

The peas are coming in thick and furious. Last night they went into a tofu "stir steam". Delish!

It's hard to capture how massive the Hydrangea stand has become.

This is what we get for pruning it back so well last year.

And what's this? I don't think it's the leafcutter bee, but I could be wrong.

It appears to be eating breakfast, and certainly let me get up close to it

so maybe it is the gentle Leafcutter.

Here's another beast whose immensity I found hard to capture.

The maple leaves in the hedge to the right are as big as the spread of one's hand.

I love this old ash, wondering just how old it is.

And finally, a piece I worked on for quite a while building up those layers in the background with coloured pencils. I've been wanting to break out of my old one subject style for a while now, but have trouble coming up with my own ideas. I decided to go for a 1940's fashion motif. I'm going to have to break away from the limited palette of the Jane Davenport "Magic Wand Pencils" as I'm tiring of it too, for now. It's a pleasant palette but I struggle with creating depth with its cheeriness.

I've been wanting to share a particular video with you. I hope you find it as interesting as I did.

My friend, Jane, put me onto it.

oh, and the rain has started.