Prairie Potholes Rural View

Prairie Potholes Rural View - In progress they need something I'm just not sure what maybe a good nights sleep and NO interruptions in the morning will help??? John was in my studio while I was working I have to admit I did NOT appreciate being told I had to stop because he couldn't hear the woman on the phone, you don't want to know what I was thinking but I did keep it to myself.

Prairie Potholes - Harvest No. 1

Prairie Potholes - Harvest No. 1 Working on a new harvest series, thinking about what makes the prairie the prairie as one really doesn't see a whole lot in the way of fens, marshes, potholes, etc., anymore. This piece available in my store.

Prairie Potholes Collage Mania

Prairie Potholes - Rural View Collage Mania pieces in progress.

Cardine

I started this piece sometime around 1999, working on Prairie Potholes No. 15 last night reminded me that I that this piece was still in progress. Cardine needs his eye lashes and then I need to finish the scene on the lower canvas I have some barbed wire some place to put on the lower half of the canvas section.

Angel

Canned Cole Slaw Recipe

Coleslaw to can or freeze

1 medium head cabbage
1 large carrot1 green pepper
1 small onion1 teaspoon salt SYRUP
1 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 cups sugar (we used ¾ cup for better results)
1 teaspoon celery seeds (we liked less seeds use ¼ tsp)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds (we liked less seeds use ¼ tsp)

Shred together vegetables. Add the salt. Let stand 1 hour. Drainwater from vegetables.

Boil syrup ingredients together for 1minute, cool. Add syrup to vegetables.

Pack into quart jars andprocess in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes, or put into freezercontainers and freeze. Leftovers may be frozen. This slaw may bedrained before use and mayonnaise added, or used as is.

Dede’s notes: 4/19/08 used 6 one pound bags of coleslaw mix with carrots. Added one large red bell pepper, diced, and one medium sweet onion, diced. Triple the syrup, but double may have been enough. Got 9 pints. GOOD STUFF.

NOTE: Dede gave me permission to share her recipe with the world, this is very easy slaw to can we haven't tired freezing it yet as we always can it instead.

Prairie Pothole No. ???

Prairie Potholes No. 15

In progress still. My 6500 was giving me fits last night so I didn't make it very far, I'm guessing here was something lodged in the tension discs. Ergo one flower mostly done and several more to go before she's done. Copies of yellow coneflowers taken by yours truly to ensure I get the petals close to being correct, this is after all a thread sketch.

Prairie Potholes No. 15 What Iffing

PP No. 15 what I'm thinking... I'm t hinking of adding another line drawing and seeing if I like it better ;-) I think it needs more.

NOTE: I added these lines in Photoshop they are not on the actual piece yet AND I was planning to add the flower in red but for some reason I can only get dark green to load ;-(

Prairie Potholes No. 15

The quilt needs to be stitched to the canvas base, however I've decided to add some beads and other embellishements to the surface first.

I'm thinking of adding a treatment to my base canvas, well the edges anyway, like the canvas in the above picture. I started the above piece two years ago and got wrapped up in moving the shop and never finished the thing. It has vintage paint by number pots glued to the surface, somewhere I have around here I have the images and collage items to add to the surface and then it gets placed inside of an altered clock body.

The thing about hanging onto a piece long enough is eventually you realize that it needs more and in this case PP No. 15 needs dimension, dimension in the form of beads etc. The base canvas covered frame needs more paint, I missed a few areas on the edging where it's most likely to be seen.

For some reason Blogger is really bent on loading all of my photos up sideways today, arrrghhhh!

Prairie Pothole No. 15

I was never happy with the way PP No. 15 & 14 looked hanging flat against the wall they just looked ackward like something was missing.

So while at Hobby Lobby today and saw that they sold pre-stretced 14x14 inch canvas'
So decided to purchase on to see how PP No. 15 would look stretched, needless to say the canvas is drying right now I painted it and I plan to stretch the quilt to the frame later tonight.

Chicken Paea

I have no idea if I spelled the name right or not it's a spanish recipe and it was delicious! I love simple one pot cooking meals!!! ;-)

Horse Manure

We picked up a load of aged horse manure last night to put on the east garden. First we put down a layer of chipped leaves and compost, then a layer of garden lime, then the manure, then another layer of lime. By the time we were done tilling up the remaining sod in the side yard, to make one continious garden space, it was too dark and too late to chip the remaining leaves to put on top of the manure! This is my first year lasanga gardening.

New Garden Space

South looking north, about 45 feet, maybe more, for veggies, herbs, and flowers.

I grew rather tired of the rabbits destroying my grapevines, like the local thief wasn't bad enough, so the grape arbor is now inside of the fenced area.

The fence runs along the sidewalk which will soon have thyme and other herbs growing to fill in the space.

Above - looking north towards the garden shed. Below - looking south towards the front porch and the street.

We enlarged the east garden combining it with the south garden beside the front porch. Dh will build a raised bed, octagon shaped, to go around the crab apple tree under which we will plant currants and goose berries.

No more fence hopping for me, John's also building a gate for the garden as well. One of the blessings of no longer having a large dog means I don't have to have a large yard for the large dog and it also means less mowing!!! Now to finish planning the guilds to go around the trees .

Trouble in a Tree

Trouble, our attic squirrel - well it is her fifth year or so of living in our attic not our choice mind you - eating crabapples competing with the robins and cedar waxwings.

Cabbage Seedlings

Oregano, Cilantrao, Basil (sweet basil)

Roma Tomatoes

Purple Cabbages (above) and Green Cabbages (below)

I'm hoping they will all make it if so I'll have a bountiful garden this year!

Studio Clean Up

Dh and I have been spending time cleaning the attic, laying down new floor, while it snows yet again, all of this cleaning has made me take a hard look at my studio. I no longer have a design wall AND I no longer have a space onto which to hang artwork.

This is NOT a good thing!

SO I'm looking around and trying to decide what I can live without, what can be sent to the attic to live with the bats and squirrels - seriously we have a mammal problem in our attic - and what is an absolute must for my studio. At this point I think it's important to have some of my finished pieces in and about the house so I can see where I have been, and what I have achieved.

Snow

It's snowing today, hmmm after several days of above 60F weather, it's supposed to be 8F tonight and my peonies and lilies have decided to make an appearance. I hope they survive this experience. The snowflakes are huge the size of half dollars!!!

Heart No. 3

Heart No. 3

Tomatos

I started 36 tomato plants tonight - since they are heirloom seeds that are older I planted extra to see if any actually would germinate. I have a couple of weeks yet before it's too late to start seeds. These are large roma variety that has been handed down from my grandfathers the fruit are about the size of grapefruits, a little larger actually, and occassionaly I get yellow romas instead of red. I'll know more in a week.

Silky 1998-2009

This was the last picture I took of Silky today - we took her to the vet around 5ish and sent her over the rainbow bridge. She just didn't have the energy to pull through this one.