greenfish artist and gardener

the tulip tree painting

2010-09-07T08:04:00.003-05:00

this is my come-back painting, the first of this size(22"x30")that i have finished in a couple years. i am very happy with the results. it will be making it's way to it's new home in chicago soon.

passion

2010-08-13T22:19:00.008-05:00

the purple passion vine painting

these are pictures i took quite a few years ago and have just come across them again tonight. they are some of my favorite pictures and also one of my favorite plants--these have led to one of my favorite paintings, a small one but still a good one. my passion has been reignited to paint these again, we'll see how a large format come out. see the small one above.

inspiration

2010-07-20T16:44:00.003-05:00

the lotus flower. a symbol of hope, beauty, the ability to overcome adversity, to come thru a mucky path and end up somewhere lovely. i really don't think there are many things more beautiful and inspiring, literally or figuratively. i came across these today in an unlikely place and i'm so thankful i had my camera with me.

austin plant discovery

2010-07-03T21:32:00.005-05:00

spiderwort--sounds like a plant i would want NOTHING to do with. i have a near-phobic fear of spiders and most things with more than four legs(bumble bees and a few other exceptions). *shiver* however, i love this plant--all the curly, furry blooms are so cool looking. i haven't been brave enough to try to paint this yet but i'm sure it will happen. the first time i saw this was on the first ever austin garden blogger spring fling. since then i have seen it at a couple nurseries around town. supposedly it can be invasive but i am going to plant some anyway, maybe in a container....

GIGANTIC peony

2010-06-29T21:50:00.003-05:00

wow!!! i started working in the floral business about 13 years ago and in all that time i have NEVER seen a peony as big, beautiful or perfect as this one!! i can't wait to start a painting, or two, or more, of it!! it really was almost as big as my head. and it's one of my fav colors that peonies come in, i think the really dark salmon color might be my other favorite. what is your favorite flower?? maybe i have already painted it...

yes, my entire hand would have been hidden behind it...

tulip tree blooms

2010-06-28T08:59:00.010-05:00

here are some very preliminary views of a new painting i am working on. it's based off of some pictures i took of some tulip tree blooms--very cool, you will see those next. anyway, there is still a long way to go with this one but so far so good.

i have never actually seen one of these trees close-up and now i know why people go crazy over them! the blooms are amazing! i think they come in different colors, someone i knew in new orleans had a tulip tree but i never got to see it in bloom. these branches came from a local florist here in austin. i am working on a painting of them right now, it's still in the early stages but it has promise....

bonnie's yellow plant

2010-05-02T10:03:00.004-05:00

my good friend and awesome gardener, bonnie, introduced me to her jerusalem sage last week. i can't believe i have never seen this plant before!! i instantly fell in love with the full, bushy shape of the plant, the wonderful yellow color and the amazing shapes of the blooms and pods. it reminds me of a cross between a lion's tail plant and a yellow shrimp plant--both of which i absolutely love. along with painting, my gardening urge is also being revived. it is amazing what divorce can do to you and how long it can take to let yourself love the things again that are most dear to you. all in good time i suppose. you can definitely be looking out for a painting of these beauties in the near future.

love

2010-04-18T18:02:00.003-05:00

i have found my painting mojo again, thank goodness. it really is the love of my life and i am so glad to be back in action. painting for me is like meditation, a different kind of meditation but still, i find it grounding and it makes me feel just a little bit saner and relaxed when i am doing it on a regular basis. here are a couple of my most recent gifts from the universe.

Verbena, #9 Jefferson Square, Austin, Texas 78731

2010-03-30T15:47:00.003-05:00

These are pictures from one of my very favorite stores in Austin, which also happens to be my place of employment! I'm really not biased though, the minute I walked into the store I loved it and immediately applied for a job. It's worked out wonderfully since then and if you live in the Austin area and haven't been here you must visit. We do floral designs for delivery and weddings and have an amazing boutique shop packed with all kinds of goodies... here are a few samples.

glass sea urchin vases

little wooden hands

horn bangles

Tokyo Milk perfumes and bath products

recycled juice glasses, or adorable little vases

faves in austin

2009-10-25T16:28:00.003-05:00

this post is for a good friend who may be moving here and hasn't been to barton springs, i figured some pics of the cool, clear water would be tempting--even if it is closed for the season.... always something to look forward to for next summer!

another one of my fav things is flip happy crepes just off barton springs and lamar where i will take my sister when she comes to town for a visit--something i can barely wait for! it will be an eating festival for sure!! yum! this was the peanut butter something... whatever it's called it was delicious! sugar coma for sure.

and some shots of the cute trailer and colorful picnic tables.

keep austin weird

2009-10-10T09:25:00.007-05:00

we have a saying for our fabulous city here, "keep austin weird" so i thought i would post some of the stranger things i have photographed lately. these first couple aren't weird at all, just cool things i saw in shop windows downtown on 2nd street.

these hanging paper decorations were super cool--extra fancy origami.

and then there was the rat... ha ha!! i couldn't resist. but i think it's really a stuffed rat. yikes. i wonder if it was someone's pet?

then everyone's fav animal, the lovely armadillo... these are outside Threadgills cast in concrete. i actually think they are really cool looking.

bird of paradise

2009-09-30T22:17:00.006-05:00

here is a photo and some close-ups of a commission i just finished painting, not my usual kind of subject matter so it was interesting and different to do. now that i am looking at it unattached i realize it needs more detail in the petals of the blooms, and i would like to add some very subtle leaf textures to the background. we'll see when i will get to this, let it be a lesson in discipline, something i tend to lack.

datura dreamland

2009-09-12T01:21:00.004-05:00

i had to dedicate one whole post to the amazing datura plants i found at the botanical gardens. i have never seen such an enourmous group of them before, it was really amazing. they were slightly tricky to grow in new orleans, for me at least. anyway, they are one of my favorite blooms(actually, the double one with the purple exterior and white interior is my very fav). enjoy!

bat face

2009-09-11T11:04:00.008-05:00

ok, how funny is this??? i always thought i got the "bat-faced" cuphea before, but no. not until i got home yesterday and looked through all my pictures and saw this tiny face looking at me did i really, truly get the name!! how funny! i love it.

anyone who knows me well knows that i am obsessed with bats and am super happy to be living in a bat city with a bunch of other crazy, bat-obsessed people. so here's to austin, being a cool bat-friendly city and all.

these were blooms on one of the water plants in the front pond at the gardens, i love the contrast of the very yellow-lime green stem in the background next to the lavender and purples.

and i really will never tire of looking at the passion flower blooms, so very geometric and amazingly complex. i wish the red one had been blooming as well, it was full of buds but no blooms.

eggplant blooms are another of my favorite flowers, just so pretty and sweet

cactus thingy. cool and spikey. don't you love how technical i am with the names??

zilker botanical gardens

2009-09-10T11:57:00.004-05:00

in between the mosquitos eating me for breakfast i managed to get some decent shots at the botanical gardens. here are the water scenes, taken at the front pond at the entrance and the koi in the japanese gardens. more later.

a life question

2009-09-07T17:14:00.002-05:00

WHAT WOULD YOU ATTEMPT TO DO IF YOU KNEW YOU COULD NOT FAIL?

scary thought. my list is way too long for my liking. about to change all that though.

patio

2009-09-06T21:05:00.004-05:00

as promised, here are some pics of my patio. difficult to photograph because of the small size of it and i wanted to get my water dragon in there--gotta have a good balance: water and dry right? yes, it's all about balance. yin and yang. black and white. it's all there...

some shots of my new pots. i really love the complementary color scheme, especially since the plants are a bluish green-excellent combination. makes me want to paint.

i couldn't resist putting in this shot of the aloe with the afternoon sun casting nice shadows on it and really highlighting the different shades of greens and blues and accenting the little spikes that add so much interest to the shape of the leaves.

Zilker botanical gardens cacti sale

2009-09-05T19:39:00.009-05:00

i found exactly what i was looking for at the plant sale--great agaves and as an added bonus an aloe and a cute little cactus. i spent more money than i planned to but my patio is now beautiful and who can put a price on beauty??? i hung the finishing touch after it started getting dark out so i will post pics of the whole patio tomorrow. below is the aloe, little did i know they came this spikey and dangerous looking!

aloe peglarae

the adorable cactus i neglected to get the name of

whale's tongue??

and apparently the most photogenic of the group agave potatorum. funny name.

after shopping the plant sale i went to "the great outdoors" and got some really great italian terra cotta pots for a steal! if you're looking for some simple, sleek pots run over there tomorrow, there were still some left! very cool and a bargain.

another great day in texas

2009-09-04T23:24:00.002-05:00

ok, are we all getting that i totally love it here and right now am obsessed with all things texas? that's right, bring on the cowboys! ok, just kidding-unless they look like heath ledger(in his cowboy role). and yes, i did buy texas wine today at whole foods(started in austin). ok, so, today i headed downtown for IF+D, one of the coolest shops here-great art, furniture, stuff, etc... super friendly staff and customers! they are having a sale right now too!! i did buy two bar chairs and am trying to talk myself into my new art table...i'll let you know how that one goes. well, after spending a good bit of time there i ate lunch at jo's--amazing burger and some of the best fries i've ever had. i even ate outside and enjoyed the texas heat, it really wasn't that bad today.

even the birds were hanging out at jo's, getting free drinks from this dog bowl! i don't think he liked having his picture taken--get a close-up look at this guy's face! some serious eyes going on there...

so tomorrow is the plant sale at the botanical gardens, hopefully it will not be super crowded although i'm sure i will be. i love crowds. if i come home with a kick-ass agave it will all be worth it.

AUSTIN TEXAS!

2009-09-03T22:27:00.003-05:00

today is my one week anniversary of my relocation to austin, texas! my favorite city in the world!! i have to admit i am not the world traveller but of all the places i have been i love it here the most. a dear friend of mine started her blog today and inspired me to put up this post, i didn't think i had anything great to blog about so i'll just tell bits and pieces of the story of my move... here is my car that was filled to the gills with me, my stuff and my 3 cats! we all survived the nine hour drive, thank god that's over!

a view of the austin skyline from just south of downtown

a new favorite and what will be a regular culinary indulgence:dessert crepes made and served out of a super cool airstream trailer right here in central austin. these were nutella with bananas and that is my delish iced coffee in the background. yum!

this was a cheese plate i got at a wonderful little wine bar not too far from my place, yes, i have already had lots of yummy food--bbq from Rudy's, gourmet shrimp flautas, fish tacos, but tomorrow i am searching out the frozen avocado margaritas i have heard about. i will also be checking out the cacti and succulent sale that i believe starts tomorrow at the zilker park botanical gardens, i really want an agave for my patio! :)

thanks to christina for inspiring me to find the energy to put up this first little post of my new home! :) please check out christina's blog the blushing bride for advice, beauty, etiquette and all things wedding!

summer color

2009-07-26T16:46:00.004-05:00

this foxglove obviously has no idea it is almost august.... good thing it doesn't check it's calender regularly or i would miss out on this wonderful surprise!!

2009-07-12T19:42:00.001-05:00

the inspiration

the result

new art:a dahlia and friends

2009-07-03T06:32:00.003-05:00

even though i haven't been doing much gardening lately most of my inspiration still comes from a garden

birdwatching window and bathroom

2009-06-30T08:13:00.003-05:00

this is the "birdwatching" window, one of my favorite places to sit in the house to see who will come to have a meal or take a bath. luckily, it's usually not the human neighbors, just the birds and squirrels. a hawk and owl have also visited.

aaahhhh, and on to possibly my favorite room, the master bathroom. it's huge, has a gigantic picture window that lets in tons of light, a garden tub with jets, a separate double walk-in shower and a double vanity. nice! what more could you ask for?? oh, lots of wall space so i can set up my little nature-based vignettes.

elephant sea sponge and vase with fiddlehead ferns

ceramic pirhana with seaweed skeletons and coral. old-fashioned fly-catcher in the foreground

my snow leopard towels from west elm to jazz up the most important seat in the house.

my favorite place to relax and recover from a hard day.

for more information at Keller Williams Realty click here

FOR SALE

2009-06-25T11:09:00.009-05:00

this is my super awesome Ikea kitchen in my super cool house that happens to be for sale right now. seeing as how market is a tad bit slow i thought some extra energy couldn't hurt--and i love to see people's home's. it's a little inside scoop into someone's personality and design aesthetic. i majored in interior design at the university of texas at austin--where i will be moving back when the house sells--but since i did not follow that career path i try to apply my education to my own surroundings.

this door opens out onto the car port on the side of the house. behind the camera the kitchen opens up onto the great room that has high vaulted ceilings and an amazing picture window that i use for bird watching. most of my bird photos from other posts have been taken from this window.

curtain panels, wall shelves and pantry cabinetry all from Ikea. yes, the entire kitchen came in a zillion flat boxes that had to be put together. luckily, the instructions really are pretty clear and once you get the hang of it it goes along relatively painlessly. i will admit it took me a good five hours to put that island together. it's a solid piece of furniture though, i love it.

my tea collection, a bit low at the moment, is housed on those cool shelves.

this hallway around the corner from the pantry cabinets leads to the front doors and the rest of the rooms in the house. more tomorrow--the master bathroom is just as great as the kitchen! maybe better...

fresh food

2009-06-25T10:39:00.004-05:00

we have a great farmer's market here in covinton, louisiana. you can find amazing heirloom veggies, the most delicious fresh eggs, all kinds of sprouts from young mung bean to radish-the lentil are my favorite. tamale casserole is one of my favorite things to get, it's so delicious!! a wonderful man with his own orchard makes jams and jellies(i can't think of the name of the berry trees he has, they are a local fruit that make a beautiful, sparkling pink jelly). here are some things i found last saturday:

an heirloom variety of musk melon

below that is a zucchini next to the musk melon, zucchini might be one of my favorite veggies, i guess technically it's a fruit. mmmm.... whatever, it's delicious.

small red potatoes. i love them sauteed in butter with fresh herbs

morning light

2009-06-21T08:13:00.003-05:00

early bird

2009-06-17T07:40:00.002-05:00

how do you feel in the morning?

like this?

or LIKE THIS??
just wondering...

orchid dreams

2009-05-31T11:52:00.002-05:00

here are a couple orchid close-ups i captured at the Red Onion, i find them dreamy and surreal. speaking of dreams, the next one in the line-up is that my house will sell so i can move back to austin and rejoin the wonderful austin garden bloggers! i have a wonderful little house out in the country, it's peaceful and beautiful and surrounded by wildlife-birds, snakes, singing frogs, coyotes, raccoons, armadillos, etc... i also installed a wonderful ikea kitchen which i hate to give up but i'll just have to get another one wherever i end up. so universe, it's time to listen and send me on my way. my mom is also sending me her st. joseph statue as a good luck charm to help sell the house. i will have to say, it's kind of scary putting your earnest wishes out there for the whole world to read.

announcing dreams

2009-05-24T18:13:00.003-05:00

my life has undergone some big changes lately and as a result of those I am making some big plans. one of the plans is to sell all the art i currently have in stock. i just marked down all my artwork on etsy that was over $50 by half off. it's a great sale and i really hope to move some pieces which will add to the next part of my plan. i am putting these ideas/whishes/plans out there for many reasons, putting things in writing somehow makes them more real. more on the big plans to come....

ducks in city park, new orleans

2009-05-17T21:09:00.003-05:00

well, this one is pretty self-explanatory.... i had a great day shooting birds at the park the other day. there were all kinds of unusual and interesting ducks so i thought i should do a post just for them. sleepy

bad hair day

shy

aloof

snacks???

pileated woodpecker!!!

2009-04-30T09:34:00.003-05:00

as i was drinking my tea on the front porch this morning i heard very loud pecking sounds coming from the large oak tree in my front yard. along with the noises were big chunks of bark and leaves falling to the ground. i knew it had to be this woodpecker!! i love these birds, they are so big(about the size of a large crow) and majestic looking, i couldn't resist some photos. these are definitely not my best shots ever, most are blurry but you can get the general idea.

Bayou Coquille

2009-04-27T21:30:00.003-05:00

bayou coquille is part of the jean lafitte park in barataria, louisiana. it is one of my favorite places to go in the spring to see tons of the great wildlife here. there is a boardwalk that runs through the swamp and then along the bayou - i have never been disappointed on a visit here. i have seen all the below plus owls, rabbits, different varieties of snakes, egrets, great blue herons, woodpeckers, warblers, turtles, fish and i'm sure more animals i am forgetting to mention. it's also a great place to see the irises in full bloom if you can catch them--it's kind of a short window of opportunity. there is always something great to see though!!

Red Onion cont...

2009-04-22T22:40:00.001-05:00

bamboo is one of my favorite things that grows out of the earth. there is a great little stand of it at the red onion that i could probably photograph all day long. here are a couple fun shots of it. enjoy!

The Red Onion:Baton Rouge, Louisiana

2009-04-18T08:04:00.003-05:00

I recently visited one of my favorite stores of all time. the red onion in baton rouge-if you live anywhere remotely near here and like plants/flowers/pots/interiors/art you must visit. Brenda, the owner, is really friendly and personable and has great company at work!

there is a great little shop on the grounds of a greenhouse and several growing areas

there area unique pots, glass votive holders, the one pictured below is fashioned after a log with holes in it for the candles

artwork, cement mushrooms, glass cloches and books

spring

2009-04-10T08:28:00.003-05:00

is it christmas?

2008-12-13T08:09:00.003-06:00

the unbelievable has happened in new orleans and the surrounding areas. it snowed!!! real, heavy, sticky snow that stuck to the ground. out where i live, about 90 miles north of new orleans, we had at least 3 inches, probably closer to 4. there is still snow on the ground now and this happened on thursday. it was amazingly beautiful but i didn't have power all day so instead of being able to sip my tea and watch through the window i was curled up in bed most of the day trying to stay warm. it was definitely a sight to see!

bellagio conservatory in autumn

2008-11-11T19:51:00.004-06:00

my mother has asked for more pictures from the Bellagio conservatory in Las Vegas, it is one of our favorite places to go see and she was not there on this past trip. I will have to say it was one of my favorite set-ups i've ever seen there because fall is my favorite season and i especially love creepy halloween-themed decor. fun fun. so here you go mom, all my pics from the bellagio--the trees above were really cool with water running down them, it was a strange contrast between the dead trees and the flowing water.

the tree and bug creatures were very cool...

the wheel mill was very cool too, life size and very realistic.

a great autumn

2008-11-05T21:22:00.003-06:00

here are some random pictures that feel like fall to me. and i must say that as of last night this season has become extra exciting!! i am not usually one to go into politics in a public setting but

OBAMA ROCKS!!!! HUGE CONGRATS!!!!!!!

btw, i don't know why that paragraph of words is underlined... i'm too lazy to rewrite it.

anyway, back to the subject at hand, the above photo was taken on a recent trip to las vegas in the bellagio hotel, one of my favorite places to sightsee and eat at in vegas. these were giant glass leaves suspended from the domed ceiling.

this amazing creature was staged in the bellagio conservatory along with other really cool creepy things like giant venus flytraps, garden fairies and an enormous arched walkway dripping with pumpkins, gourds, bittersweet and other viney things.

this is a mini-landscape planting i saw when i was on my hurrication during gustav in anniston, alabama at a great nursery called bloomin' miracles. they have one of the largest collections of japanese maple varieties in the country, if i am not mistaken. it was an amazing place to be able to visit.

back in action

2008-09-30T09:44:00.001-05:00

well, i have really been missing all my blogging buddies. i have been without a computer but my new laptop is supposed to arrive today. hope to be posting regularly again soon. i'm still here, sorry about the big gap of silence. hope to be in touch with everyone soon and thanks for all the new comments!

Gustav

2008-09-02T16:44:00.001-05:00

hey all, thanks for checking in on me. all is well, i have been hanging out in beautiful anniston, alabama while gustav was bearing down on new orleans. don't know when exactly i will be going back, hopefully soon but i promise as soon as i do, and as soon as i get my computer back from being fixed i will start posting regularly again. miss you all and thanks again!! xoxo, laura

still here

2008-07-20T07:41:00.003-05:00

i'm still here, just not posting. it's too hot to be outside and i've really let the vegetable garden go. even the okra is not doing well, ugh. anyway, i've been working on renovating the kitchen which is a huge pain in the butt, having no kitchen sink is a horrible inconvenience.

i have been working on some block prints and will get some of those posted when i return from a trip back home. look for some new art next weekend or in late july. maybe you will recognize some of the fish from my pictures from mexico!

akumal, mexico

2008-06-23T07:51:00.006-05:00

my one big disappointment in akumal was that i never saw a sea turtle. we even took a miles-long walk on a beach where there were lots of turtle egg mounds. nope, not a single turtle. so sad. que onda was the little "hotel" we stayed in for the last couple nights of our stay. it was cute and quaint and had a really good restaurant that served breakfast, lunch and dinner. the best thing about it though was the access to the Yal-Ku lagoon for a fraction of the price most tourists paid to go through the main lagoon entrance. the snorkeling was the best in the lagoon, by a long shot.

possibly the best cappucino i have ever had, it was smooth, sweet, delicious and the foam was to die for.
the que onda restaurant with thatched roof, cute gourd-carved lights and mosquito spray on the tables so you don't get eaten alive while dining. the mosquitos were really bad if you weren't right on the water getting the heavenly sea breeze.
the next 3 pictures are the yal-ku lagoon. it was filled with tons of colorful fish, including some barracuda, rocky caverns and sandy bottoms and fresh water coming up from the underground rivers that mixed with the salt water and gave the effect of oil and water mixing or heat rising off a highway. i'll post more pictures of that.

this beauty was at the wonderful galleria lamanai in akumal. he was gorgeous, fully beaded with beautiful sparkly glass beads--unfortunately a little out of my price range. i'm usually not one for sparkly things but he was gorgeous, i love iguanas.

snorkeling

2008-06-21T21:12:00.003-05:00

we did some amazing snorkeling in akumal, there was a beautiful lagoon with tons of colorful fish. i got a great waterproof case for my little canon elph digital camera and it worked wonderfully. i could use all the fuctions i normally can use out of water and there is even an underwater setting. it was still extremely hard to get great shots, what with fish being really fast, not being able to hold still underwater, the sun not being in the perfect location and cloudy water conditions. oh well, i still got some good ones. here are a few, they really don't do justice to the fish in real life but sometimes we have to take what we can get. the next thing i need to do is find a good book so i can id all these fish and have better reference photos for art!

Akumal, Yukatan, Mexico

2008-06-17T13:57:00.009-05:00

i spent the last ten days in an amazing tropical paradise in the yucatan. most of the time we were in akumal, a little town about an hour and a half south of cancun. we also spent a couple days in playa del carmen which was a little too touristy for my taste. i would go back to akumal in a heartbeat though. here are a few of my fav pics just to start off the tour...

just so we are all on the same page as to what kind of vacation this was--no running around like a crazy tourist....

snorkeling was a daily event but taking underwater pictures is extremely challenging

more later

heat bloomers continued

2008-06-05T20:58:00.003-05:00

lace cap hydrangea

blue salvia... not sure of the exact variety, just know i like it

buddleia, one of my favorite smelling plants. unfortunately this is my only variety right now, i wish i had tons of these, i really love them.

what would we (and the butterflies and hummingbirds) do without lantana in the summer??

ok, he's not exactly blooming but who gets tired of seeing cute lizards?

and i'll be out for about 10 days, we'll see what the garden looks like then....hoping for lots of rain.

blooming in the heat

2008-06-03T16:56:00.002-05:00

summer is really here, ugh. it is in the nineties every day and it feels like it. spring annuals and cooler weather vegetables are wilting in the heat but some things in the garden are looking very nice. the meyer lemon has tiny, green lemons all over it. mmm.... can't wait for homemade lemonade.

sunflowers

a yellow ground orchid has come back from last year.

the dutchman's pipe with the biggest bloom yet!!

a perennial geranium whose blooms are the most beautiful shade of purple with tiny orange centers, none of which showed up in this photo.

dragonfly

2008-05-26T18:42:00.001-05:00

i wish this guy had landed on a different colored background but i couldn't resist the beauty of the brown in the wings.

goodbye bees

2008-05-16T10:32:00.002-05:00

well, the bee swarm was gone the next time i checked on it, maybe two days after i first saw it. i have no idea what happened to them, hopefully someone came and gathered them up and put them somewhere safe. i wonder if this one visiting my larkspur was part of that crowd?

i really never tire of watching the monarch caterpillars munching away at the milkweed, i have yet to discover any chrysallis though--still looking for those.

this iris, that i have had for at least 2 years now is finally blooming. i believe i got it at our folsom native plant society booth but i honestly am not sure.... it's very similar to our native louisiana iris except the leaves are different and the blooms are all clustered down around the bottom of the plant instead of shooting up and out of the leaves. i haven't tried looking it up yet to see what it really is. it was exciting though, to finally see it in bloom.

bees and babies

2008-05-04T16:44:00.004-05:00

my husband discovered this bee colony(?) near our neighbor's driveway today while he was mowing the grass. i've never actually seen a whole mass of bees like this out in the open, usually they are in a nest or hive or whatever. very cool. i'm sure some of these must be the same ones that visit my garden.

and here are my babies on the yellow asclepia i recently planted. so cute! they are very small, fingernail cuttings size. thank god for macro settings!

bloom of the dutchman's pipe vine!!

2008-05-02T21:46:00.003-05:00

i really don't think many words are necessary.... how cool is this??

a new bud getting ready to open!

tea wrap up

2008-04-28T09:41:00.005-05:00

i've been meaning to do this for awhile, wrap up my tea posts now that summer is quickly approaching(at least here down south). i wasn't sure what exactly i would write but i think i'll just go over my favorites from this season and introduce another great brand from chicago.

my sister and i ate at a wonderful cafe/coffee house in chicago. they had an extensive tea selection so i had to try a few. wow--i am so glad i did because a couple of these have become my new all time favorites! this green kimono has replaced my Republic of Tea kiwi/pear as my new favorite green tea. it has a wonderful. light flavor but the sweetness of the pineapple really comes through and the spiciness of the ginger is the perfect balancing flavor. this tea tastes just like it smells--which is unusual, i find in most teas. delicious!!

and this, which i have never been brave enough to even try to pronounce is one of my favorite black teas, although i don't know if i could ever find one that can beat the Vampire chocolate/blood orange i picked up in Boulder. i'm not really sure what makes this so great, maybe the blend of green and black teas. the fruity flavor is perfect--not too sweet and not overpowered by the taste of black tea which can sometimes make fruity tea taste bitter.

and here, my all time favorite couldn't-be-more-decadent-tea. Vampire tea no less!!! who could ask for anything more!! my friend in boulder said she could see my fangs growing when i spotted this one! ha ha. this tea and the german one above are both seasonal varieties so i am really hoping they will be available again someday. i really should have ordered more of this chocolate/blood orange--i am almost out!!

and on a lighter note, i really do love the kiwi pear and the ginger lemon grass. if you LOVE ginger then this is the tea for you. it's actually a nice, light green tea but definitely has that strong kick of ginger, i love it.
so, hot tea drinking season is almost over--i do still drink tea in the morning in summer but not all day like i do in winter. the good thing about summer is that i can make all my not-so-favorite teas into iced tea so it's not wasted. i love making iced tea, you can blend flavors together and use really nice flavored agave sweeteners that really add another level of taste to the tea. you have to try these if you haven't already. i have only been able to find them in places like whole foods and central market, i'm sure other gourmet or green grocery stores will have them too.

random

2008-04-24T19:14:00.002-05:00

a random collection of pictures i've taken over the past few days i find interesting...

green anole looking for a mate on our a/c unit... too bad i didn't get the nice pink throat flap in the photo...

walking iris--i love that color combination, so unusual

rain tree frog peeping out of the saucer of a rabbit-foot's fern

i couldn't resist posting more foxglove pictures--they're really prolific

and i really couldn't resist an update of the giant dutchman's pipe!!! i know a bunch of my fellow garden bloggers have these but i've never had the giant variety before so i'm super stoked!!! i still even get excited about the regular size so this is just really crazy. i really didn't expect it to get this big and it's not even open yet!!! i can't wait to see it in it's full, chocolatey, velvety glory!

in bloom part 3

2008-04-22T20:57:00.004-05:00

nasturtiums that i grew from seed, i don't think i'm in love with this variety though, i'll have to try a different one next year--or a few different ones. you just can't have too many nasturtiums!

foxglove, i did not grow this but it is one of my very favorite things...

i'll have to go outside and check the tag on this one. i got it in austin and had seen it several times in different gardening magazines--it looks like something right out of a dr. seuss story--i love them, little eyeballs.

i am curious as to what different people call this, i usually refer to it as strawberry begonia

and my yesterday, today and tomorrow. i love these, a great old fashioned plant. i can't wait til it gets big and covers up the ugly electric box on the side of my house!

blooming now part 2

2008-04-20T09:57:00.003-05:00

just to clarify--all these pictures are not things i have grown from seed, just some of them. these sweet peas are though, i really love the color combination.

heirloom sweet peas "cupani's original"

sweet pea buds

different colors of larkspur, there's purple too

the meyer lemon tree all budded up

this is my most exciting bud, a giant dutchman's pipe vine that i also got in austin while in town for the garden blogger's spring fling. it was at one of my favortie nurseries there on south congress, the great outdoors i believe it's called.

blooming now

2008-04-20T09:42:00.002-05:00

this is the first year i have planted an entire garden worth of flowers by seed. as spring started to creep in i was really worried that things would not come up because i had planted them too late or too early. i don't really have any hardcore gardening friends that live in my area so i couldn't consult with anyone about their garden and what was blooming. well, much to my surprise and happiness i now have a garden overflowing with nasturtiums, sweetpeas, larkspur, hollyhocks(these are not blooming yet but are getting big), and lots of other things returning from last year or newly planted this year, not from seed. here are some of the beauties blooming now--this will be a series of posts over the next few days.

louisiana iris

variegated scented geranium, rose

the beautiful variegated leaves of the rose scented geranium

a perennial geranium i got in austin during the spring fling, the leaves are a beautiful silvery blue/green

another scented geranium, lemon?

spring fling

2008-04-14T13:17:00.005-05:00

more pictures from the amazing spring fling garden bloggers get together in austin, texas!

an awesome collection of cacti and succulents

i feel like i know what this is but the name is eluding me right now...

blogger buddy bonnie and i enjoying a great garden tour

crazy voodoo lillies that we thought were metal sculptures at first glance

close-up

orange beauty(not the name of the plant, just what i think of it)

garden bloggers rule!!!

2008-04-09T20:37:00.003-05:00

well, it's been 4 days since the big garden blogger saturday and i have needed this time to let everything soak in. i'm sure i won't be able to adequately express what an amazing experience it was--writing is not my strong point. what an amazing group of people!! my only regret is that i didn't make it around to talk to every single person there. i did meet some wonderful people though who i think will be lifelong friends, hopefully. here are some pictures and i'll be posting more about the weekend later.
you can't go to austin in the spring and miss the bluebonnets!! so beautiful!

cactus in the ladybird johnson wildflower center--sorry, don't have the name of it.

forgot what this was too, but i love the photo
allium? garlic? onion?

gardening weekend

2008-04-03T08:23:00.000-05:00

i'm off to my favorite city, AUSTIN, TEXAS, for the spring fling!!!

easter in chicago

2008-04-01T23:14:00.004-05:00

i know easter is long gone but i had to post this picture of colored eggshells--i think my nephew would have colored twelve dozen eggs if my sister let him. i flew in for the weekend, to several inches of snow on the ground!! ugh! i do not miss those winters...

besides getting to spend time with my family, my sister and i also ate out at a wonderful cafe/coffeshop called julius meinl where we had the most incredible dessert of white chocolate mousse with mango and raspberry gelee in the very center, it was incredible.

it was so good, in fact, that we ate there twice, so i indulged in a bananas-foster latte... mmm...., it was also delicious, the flavors were not very strong or sweet which was nice. the perfect thing for a wintery afternoon of shopping(at anthropologie, possibly my favorite store ever)! oh, i also got some incredible loose tea at julius meinl, which i will post later--all i wll say is "pineapple".

bathing beauty

2008-04-01T19:05:00.000-05:00

luckily for me, we have year long blue bird residents. i have not been this lucky though, to catch one bathing right outside my window--and to have my camera handy!! how can you not love that blue??

a little poetry

2008-03-29T14:00:00.004-05:00

Two Fish

when two fish spoke
their speech was scarlet

they met in a bowl
of molten gold air

they swung in an arch
of seven rainbow sheens

they swam in a grotto
one of a thousand grottoes

they shook their fins
in a green feather dust

-author unknown

fern's feline friday

2008-03-28T18:08:00.003-05:00

sometimes only those who like to be photographed get to be on the blog. here is my little supermodel, fern--doing one of her favorite activites(we have alot in common).

feline friday

2008-03-21T08:19:00.006-05:00

fern--guarding my binder

hazel napping

cool eyeball shot

a special thanks to the wonderful people who read and leave comments on my blog, i have several responses to write and will get to them as soon as i get back from my cold trip up north next week. i really appreciate all the feedback and insight!!

candy stripe tulips

2008-03-18T16:19:00.003-05:00

we got this amazing variety of tulip the other day, i don't know what the real name is but it reminded me of candy stripes--so beautiful and unusual.

they got even more beautiful as they started to fade, the colors softened and you can really see those great striations in the petals.

in the garden

2008-03-16T15:47:00.006-05:00

tassle fern, putting out nice, furry new fronds

foxglove, one of my favorite plants that i can now grow, living further north of new orleans where it was really too hot

my absolutely favorite tree, the japanese magnolia

blueberry blossoms

geraniums

strawberry begonia blooms--tiny but beautiful

orchids

2008-03-13T21:29:00.006-05:00

i have tons of orchid pictures from the Garden Trellis, my great part-time job. here are some of my favs.

birds

2008-03-09T20:36:00.011-05:00

i am ending my animal week with my favorite bird pictures, all taken around my house. i love the cardinal's wind-swept look. ha ha.

a painterly-looking bluejay.

looking for somthing?

the female cardinals have the most beautiful color to me, so soft with the tiniest hint of blush on their breast.

look at that eyeball!

look at the space between the beak and the nut he is about to grab, i love that.

i really love this photo--the subtle difference between the softness of the background and the actual softness of the bird's little body.

a woodpecker that flew into our bedroom window, under our front porch--that was unexpected. my sweet husband picked it up in the towel and spoon-fed it some water. it made a fell recovery and flew off.

now, now.... their's enough there for everyone!

Global Wildlife

2008-03-06T21:55:00.005-06:00

continuing on with my animal -themed week, here are some picture taken at the Global Wildlife Center here in Folsom, Louisiana. it is a huge plot of land that houses herd animals and is open to the public. we have gone several times and it is always tons of fun. you can feed the animals and the driven tours are usually about two hours if i remember correctly. the longhorns are my favorites, of course, beind a UT alumni. go longhorns!

there are five giraffes, this is the baby. they will come right up to the "train" and stick their heads in to eat from the cups of food you can buy.

the zebra is the only animal you are not allowed to feed. they will bite you for affection or aggression, so there is really no safe time to feed or pet them, unless you want to be bitten. that doesn't stop them from trying though.

there are lots of geese, which have to be fed away from the train or they will run right under the wheels to get food and can meet an untimely doom.

once a month there is a huge food round-up where a big tractor dumps corn in a huge circle around the train and almost every animal in the place comes to eat. it's a sight to see. this is a small sampling of the huge herd. some of my favorite animals i don't have pictures of that you can see there are llamas, burros, american bison, and i'm sure there are more i am forgetting.

i'm green

2008-03-04T14:41:00.007-06:00

i found this cutie on my back door yesterday so of course i ran to get my camera. he will definitely make a great subject for some block prints, i'm sure.

another visitor to my house, nestling among the leaves of my giant grape ivy, i can't remember the true name for this great plant but i usually just call it stegosaurus because it is so huge and prehistoric looking.

speaking of prehistoric... one of the oldest reptiles around and one with poisonous saliva--how cool is that?? the kimodo dragon. he was posing nicely for me at the new orleans zoo. there were also some baby kimodo dragons--very exciting--but i did not get any great shots of them.

well, i think this guy has been around longer than the kimodo dragon, also at the zoo--thank god i did not find him at my house. you never know, being here in alligator land. actually, we are not in a swampy area but they aren't too far away.

hazel's birthday and animal week

2008-03-03T15:22:00.005-06:00

yesterday was hazel's first birthday. i can't believe she is already a year old. we got her (and fern) on the same day and hazel was four months old at the time. we did't have a huge birthday party for her... i did tell her it was her birthday though. this might be one of the best pictures i've gotten of her--it's really hard to photograph a black cat, especially one that isn't prone to being photographed.

i also got some great photos of a cute, green amphibian today which i will post tomorrow. it seems the animal kingdom is wanting to be on my blog this week so every day i will post animal pictures. hope you enjoy them!

it's hard to believe she was once so tiny!! now she's my sleek and shiny leaper, she has a long body and long legs and is sometimes very chatty. when we adpoted her i found out that black cats are the least popular kind to be adopted so if you're in the market for a kitten make sure you consider the black ones!! it's fun having a "halloween" cat, fall is my favorite season and this year i am definitely going to photograph her surrounded by pumpkins that have come out of my own garden--that's a promise.

an unusual animal

2008-03-02T08:22:00.006-06:00

the giant anteater has been one of my favorite animals ever since i saw one at the new orleans zoo, one of the prettiest zoos in the country. i went yesterday for the first time since hurricane katrina and could not believe my eyes when i got to the giant anteater exhibit(which it shares with the three-toed sloth) and saw that it had a baby on it's back!! it was the craziest thing i have ever seen! the male anteater was penned up in a different section but at one point the male and female met up at the chain link gate and were putting their noses together.

here is the baby on the mother's back--the white and black thing that almost looks like a panda head is it's left front foot, you can clearly see it's long grey snout, black eye and little round ear.
some things to know about giant anteaters: they have no teeth

they can flick their toungues out to catch ants and termites up to 160 times per minute!

the giant anteater can weigh up to 86 pounds

they find their food using their sense of smell, their eyesight is poor.

violet

2008-02-29T14:43:00.002-06:00

a walk outside

2008-02-25T15:14:00.008-06:00

it is a beautiful day here, i had to get outside for a walk and to see what was blooming...

one of my neighbors, i think i made him nervous--or was it the other way around?

lichen and moss growing on a branch

some of my violas

a crawfish hole!!

orchids underwater

2008-02-22T15:36:00.001-06:00

just some fun eyecandy--an orchid stalk broke off the plant so we submerged it in a vase of water. i love the distorted magnification of the blooms.

day of the baltimore oriole

2008-02-19T09:48:00.009-06:00

this morning i spotted a baltimore oriole at my birdfeeder, i always put out a fruit and nut food and i really feel like i get a wider variety of birds than i would with a cheaper food. i have only seen a baltimore oriole one other time-december 2006 so i was really excited when this one showed up. i watched it for a long time and only ran to get my camera when it flew up into the oak tree. i didn't get a great shot but oh well, i got to watch it eat.

here is my favorite woodpecker, the red-bellied woodpecker. i see these almost every day at the feeder but i got some nice shots of it today too.

look at that cute face!

and then, when i was finished taking pictures i turned around to discover fern drinking my tea!! it was a good one so i can hardly blame her--black wild blueberry with a splash of vanilla soy milk. mmm...

so i had to put in a shot of hazel too so she wouldn't feel left out...

amaryllis block print

2008-02-18T10:18:00.006-06:00

this is the design for my latest block print, inspired by my dried up amaryllis blooms. i love the lines and the different weights of them. hopefully i will be able to carve the block well enough to illustrate the different thicknesses. this is the tracing paper i drew the original image on which is taped onto a piece of graphite paper which is taped onto the lino block so that i can transfer the image onto the block. below is the block(colored in red)with the image completely transferred. i love the graphite paper itself with the "negative" image left on it.

the whole block, actually upside down!, waiting to be carved.

a close-up of the block. i am carving away the parts covered in graphite so everything that is red is what will print.

the carving has begun and i plan to finish it today. last week i didn't even touch it because i worked at the flower shop for valentine's day--glad that is over.

tea in the mail

2008-02-09T20:31:00.001-06:00

my buddy in austin who made me two wonderful cowls and an owl(dig that rhyme!)sent me the cutest thing in the mail recently in this candy bar box! so cool. she also sent me two different varieties of david rio teas to try and to review. i remember having tried this brand a while back and wasn't crazy about it, i can't remember what flavor i had though. i think it was in a green box... the green passion, dominant flavors being papaya, pineapple and cornflower blossoms was good. however, there is some underlying flavor that this whole brand seems to have that i am not crazy about. it may not even be a flavor but the way they process the tea or the actual leaves they use--i'm not really sure. i would give a thumbs up to the green passion though.

i was really excited about the tahitian tangerine because i have been on a citrus kick lately and it really smelled amazing. however, the taste was really overpowering to me and very powdery tasting, like someone crushed up a vitamin and mixed it into the tea.

i guess overall i am skeptical of this brand, i would not go out and buy it but obviously there are alot of people out there who do like it, i see it all over now. i do like their packaging and they have interesting flavor combinations. so thanks to my friend for the samples--i love trying new teas even if i don't end up loving them. i'll have to do a post soon about her knitting and etsy site. thanks JR!

more amaryllis

2008-02-06T12:33:00.001-06:00

just some more pictures of my amaryllis from holland--i kind of lost these in another folder but am glad i came across them now.

happy mardi gras!!!

2008-02-05T14:29:00.001-06:00

today is mardi gras day, the last day of our parades, balls, partying, carousing, etc.... i don't really do all that anymore now that we live across the lake from new orleans but when we did live in the city it was fun to go catch some beads and people-watch in the french quarter. usually i associate mardi gras day with the coming of spring. my box turtle is usually coming out of winter hibernation around this time and today i was out in the garden planting some seeds and some fun color.

i am devoting this posting to the traditional mardi gras colors--purple, green and gold. i do have a more open definition of purple (including hot pink and magenta) than most people. for some of the green, below are my brussels sprouts which are actually bearing sprouts!! very exciting!

and here is a foxglove, one of my favorite plants that is much easier to grow here a little north of new orleans. hopefully i will have some blooms in a couple weeks.

snapdragons--i usually don't go for this flourescent yellow but i was in the mardi gras spirit so i planted in anyway.

cute yellow/gold violas

winter jasmine

geranium

amaryllis

2008-02-03T16:59:00.000-06:00

some shots of my amaryllis. sorry, but i think in macro--there is not a photo of the whole plant. this bulb came all the way from holland as my souvenier from my great friend and boss at the Garden Trellis. she knew exactly what i would love.

although not as beautiful in the same way, i think the dried blooms are as interesting as the original luscious blossoms.

another variety--a huge double of snowy white color with that great splash of bright green and the terra cotta peachy stripes. this one came from one of my favorite shops in the whole world, Gardens in Austin.

travelling with tea

2008-01-27T13:56:00.000-06:00

i have to show off my wonderful (but poorly photographed) new tea cups. i had them specially made by a potter on etsy, mepottery, who has loads of other wonderful things. i wanted a stoneware or ceramic cup that would fit in my cupholder in my car and i couldn't find any without a handle or that were slim enough on the bottom to fit. it's terribly inconvenient to have to hold a mug of hot tea on the entire drive to work in the morning.

fern, the oh-so-curious cat who loves to be photographed. she was "helping" with the photo shoot of the mugs. perhaps that is why i couldn't seem to focus correctly.....

my first block print

2008-01-22T09:05:00.000-06:00

i went to a short but fun lino-block printing workshop this weekend and i am definitely addicted. we really only had time to cut out one simple design, mine is a 5"x7" block, and make a couple prints. i have never done any kind of printing like this before, involving printing inks and brayers etc... it's really fun thinking backwards about the image, it prints out the reverse of what you carve and unlike drawing or painting, the lines you make by taking away the surface are what does not print.
this is the actual linoleum block that i carved. it has been colored with a red permanent marker and a print was made on it before i took the picture.

anyone can go to an art supply store and get a linoleum block, some black printing ink, a basic carving set and some paper and do this at home. it's really pretty self explanatory although i like to be able to watch someone do it and ask questions etc... i will share a couple of unexpected things i learned to make the whole process a little easier. first, the instructor had us cover the linoleum block with a red permanent marker so that as you are carving away material from the surface of the block it is easier to see the contrast between the red and the color of the block. you can still tell what you are cutting away without coloring the surface but it's alot harder to see. the trick is that you have to use a truly permanent marker so that the color does not mingle with the ink you will roll on later. a second tip was to take a regular clothes iron and use it to heat up the surface of the block so that it is softer and easier to cut. you need to put a piece of cloth on top of the block to iron on or else you can melt the linoleum. the iron can be set on a medium temperature and you just iron until the fabric on top of your block is very warm to the touch. you can go back and keep doing this as it cools off. i'm not going to go thru the whole process but these were a couple things i woudn't have known to do by myself.

here are just a couple close-ups of the block after i had made an initial black print and then washed the block off. you can see the black stains in the crevices.

and here was my first print--this has a name and i forgot what it is called. basically you do a testing print to see if your lines are coming out like you thought they would, then you can go back in a carve anything out more if you need to.

this is my second print which was fun using a "rainbow roll" (that reminds me of sushi), where you put down a couple colors on your "pallette" and they mingle together giving that nice gradation. this one was made with red, orange and yellow. i didn't do a great job burnishing it though-there are alot of white blotches where the paper is showing through.

my tea accessories

2008-01-14T18:08:00.001-06:00

my everyday teapot i could not live without. and a little teacup belonging to a set i got from my mom, so pretty.

i have been asked where i store all my teas. well, for now, until our kitchen is remodeled i have this baker's rack in my dining room with my "tea nook". my electric kettle is there, tea pot, cups, and all the tea. the teas are pretty much confined to the woven basket and the asian looking wood box next to it. a little tea goes a long way. today i enjoyed "mate latte" by republic of tea, chocolate/blood orange and ginger peach green tea also by republic of tea.

this is my favorite clay teapot. i don't use it regularly as i now have my metal teapot which is not as prone to breaking. i did use this one today though because a friend was over and my metal teapot is a single serving size.

this is another clay teapot, an unusual leaf shaped pot. the lid is broken and the pieces are still around waiting to be glued back together.

this is not exactly a tea related item but i use these little bowls to photograph some of the prettier teas in. my mother-in-law got me a set of 6 of these with different aquatic life forms in them. they are wonderful, thin, raku little soy sauces dishes, or whatever you want to put in them. i love them.

a trip to whole foods: tea installment #3

2008-01-08T10:12:00.000-06:00

well, the tea series could go on for quite some time.... just a warning.

yesterday i went to one of my favorite stores, whole foods. i haven't been there in quite some time so there was lots of great new stuff to see and smell. they have installed a small bulk tea section since i was there last--very exciting. i came home with a total of 6 different teas, 5 new and one an old favorite. Probably the most exciting find was a Republic of Tea variety that i had never seen before, Bing Cherry Vanilla. i am constantly on the lookout for a great cherry flavored tea and so far have only found one i really like, Republic of Tea Spring Cherry which, i believe, is a green tea. the bing cherry vanilla is good but the black tea in it is really strong. i had to add sugar to bring out the cherry and vanilla flavors, i haven't made up my mind about this one yet but i do love the canister and it is the first tea i have seen by the republic of tea that has an announcement that they have partnered with whole foods market "by offering the first Whole Trade full-leaf organic and fair trade certified teas. The Whole Trade Guarantee is a commitment to ethical trade, the environment and quality of products. One percent of Whole Trade product sales is donated to Whole Planet Foundation to help end poverty." it's nice to know that drinking tea is helping end poverty. bonus.

one of my alltime favorite teas that i could drink every day is a Celestial Seasonings white tea Perfectly Pear. it is so creamy, naturally sweet and delicious and is on the lighter side because it is a white tea. it has a nice, clean flavor which i do not always find with white tea and it also has my favorite tea character on the box, the painting siamese cat!! kudos to the artist who created this cat--is it a self portrait? while i am on the subject of artwork and packaging i also have to mention this delicious looking, wonderfully packaged, and affordable cereal i found at whole foods. the brand is dorset cereals and there were several different flavors all in wonderful packaging that did not include a huge box that is half empty like the usual cereal box--i know they put that air in there to keep the flakes from getting crushed but come on.... here is a close-up of the box and the goodies within.

lastly, here are the four loose teas i got from the bulk section. i have tried two of them so far. i was most excited about the orange dulce tea by mighty leaf. i am still on the fence about that brand in general and was slightly disappointed in the tea. it has a wonderful, tart, really strong orange flavor but the taste is very mellow and sweet so your nose is telling you "watch out for a great, strong citrus taste" but your mouth is getting a subtle caramel/soft orange flavor. it is unsettling to me when nose and mouth get different messages, a nice tasting tea is almost ruined because each time you take a sip you are expecting something different. kind of like when you think you have been handed a glass of water but it is really lemonade, even though you love lemonade you are shocked and don't know what you are tasting at first because your taste buds are expecting water.

well, that was a long-winded explanation. secondly i tried the tangerine ginger by rishi. i will probably blend this tea with the orange dulce and see what happens. it has a nice flavor but is an herbal tea with no dominant herbal flavor thus ends up tasting like hot, unsweetened fruit juice to me. not a fan of fruity herbal teas, they just don't have that magical zing that the tea leaf adds to a "tea" tea.

i'll save the other two for the next tea installment. thanks! go drink a cup of tea!!

lotus pond : a waterscape

2008-01-07T09:32:00.000-06:00

title: lotus pond : a waterscape
medium: watercolor
size: 10"x 22"

details from the painting

the square tin, second tea installment

2008-01-06T11:54:00.000-06:00

i was pleasantly surprised by the world market brand of tea, a nice quality loose tea. the desert sunrise is a very nice blend of black and green tea with a pleasant but unusual fruity scent and flavor. the other ingredients are sunflower petals, cactus blossoms and other natural flavors. the white ginger citrus i don't like as much, there is not a strong enough citrus presence for my taste, the overall flavor is a little muddy to me. even though i was not crazy about that one i would definitely buy more of this brand.

the harney and sons teas have popped up in barnes and noble/starbucks cafes around here, replacing the tazo brand that starbucks normally carries. the tea is in silky, triangle shaped bags inside the tin. the peppermint herbal was good, very strong and zippy peppermint flavor but nothing extraordinary as far as a peppermint herbal goes.

the bangkok, however, is really one of the most unusual tasting teas i have ever had. the coconut is probably the dominant flavor but is offset by the lemongrass and ginger so it's not too sweet. maybe my friend jennifer at rosydelights will give her opinion if she remembers what this one tastes like. i really liked this flavor and will probably buy another canister. as much as i liked it my good tea drinking friend was completely repulsed by it. she is a huge fan of thai food so the flavors were very appealing to her but she did not like the actual flavor upon tasting it. it just goes to show that personal likes and dislikes are just that, personal. my favorite thing may be another person's least favorite, but it's fun to compare and contrast.

first painting of the new year

2008-01-04T20:19:00.000-06:00

dahlia blossom
watercolor 8"x8"

tea drinking season

2008-01-03T12:04:00.000-06:00

by far, my favorite thing about winter is drinking tea, inside of a nice toasty house. ooh, i hate being cold and my birthday is in january! oh well.

i have promised that i would write about my collection of different teas. as i am writing this i am drinking ginger peach green tea by the republic of tea. they definitely are one of my favorite tea makers, i love their flavors and the packaging is beautiful.

first off, i have to say that the most important part of a successful cup of tea is the steeping time. i always put the timer on when i make a cup of tea to make sure it steeps for the correct amount of time. in general, black teas should be steeped for 3-5 minutes and green teas for about 2 minutes. white teas are usually about 5 minutes but i always check the recommended time and then adjust accordingly. if a tea is steeped too long it gets bitter and if it's a flavored tea, which are my favorites, the delicate flavor is usually overpowered by the tea leaf.

overall, my favorite teas are flavored black and green teas. i do not like plain green tea, that grassy flavor is too strong for me so i am glad that there are so many flavored ones to choose from. i am not really a fan of rooibos either, although i did enjoy the numi brand of red tea while we were at my in-law's house over christmas. usually the rooibos smells like olives or play-dough to me. yuck.

one of my favorite flavors, especially in winter, is chocolate--in tea. here are my favorites so far.

i was absolutely thrilled when i came across this very unusual tea in boulder, co. just the name and label alone were more than enough to make me buy it but the flavor is amazing! it's a ceylon black tea with flavors of chocolate and blood orange. i had never seen a chocolate-orange tea before and it really is in my top 5. unfortunately, it was a limited edition flavor so if anyone out there knows of a tea with these flavors please let me know what it is.

this is also one of my favorite teas and an exception to my dislike of rooibos. if you like a rich, chocolatey flavor you really have to try this tea. i would recommend getting the loose tea, it is beautiful and of a higher quality than the tea bags. i believe they have changed the name to yerba mate latte but it is the same flavor.

this is a simple but delicious tea i found at "the leaf store" in boulder, colorado. it is chocolate peppermint, a black tea with pieces of chocolate and chopped mint. you can order online with them at theleafstore.com but it was nice to be at the store where they let me buy small quantity samples of several different flavors. there is nothing worse than getting home with a whole bag of tea that you don't like.

the tea in the foreground, spicy chocolate mint, by the republic of tea was a real disappointment. i was so excited to see a new flavor and it really sounded delicious but it really has no distinct taste, just kind of blah. i would love to know if anyone else has tried this and what they think. maybe i have not found the right steeping time to bring out it's best flavor....
well, that's all for the chocolate tea. there actually is one more that i love but i am out of it right now and don't remember the exact name. i think i can find it at whole foods so i will have to check there just so i can have a complete record for the tea story!! any excuse to buy new tea is good enough for me!
more to come...

2007-12-23T19:15:00.000-06:00

merry christmas!!!

YAWN

2007-12-17T23:44:00.000-06:00

this is how i feel after being sick for a week, working during the holidays, and not being able to sleep because i can't stop coughing!!! this will most likely be the only post i get up until after christmas. after, however, i wil be doing a nice long review of my teas--ratings, reviews, favorites, etc... there will be some new additions, i'm sure, after a visit to one of my favorite tea spots-central market in austin where they sell tea in bulk. there are many, many kinds and they are very, very inexpensive to buy in bulk. :)

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Holidays and all the best!!

five random things

2007-12-03T18:18:00.000-06:00

i have been so busy working because of the holiday season it seems i have had little time for anything else, including my blog! it stresses me out when i don't post regularly, i don't like it when my favorite blogs are not updated on a regular basis so i hate doing it myself. here is a good reason to write.

i have been tagged by awesome artist Linda O'Neill at Abby Creek Art to reveal 5 random/weird things about myself so here goes...

1. i love heavy metal music, my favorite band is Metallica but i also love tons of other hair bands from the 80's and other classic hard rock bands. but i also love enya, theme music from cirque de soleil shows and irish folk songs--rock on bagpipes!!! some of my other faves are misfits, scorpions, van halen, red hot chili peppers, stevie ray vaughan, and eric johnson of austin, tx.

2. i hate high heeled shoes. if anyone were to see the shoes i own (which amount to a total of 9 pairs--4 of which i really like) and nothing else about me they would probably think i was a lesbian or a schoolteacher-and i say that jokingly.

3. when i was a little girl the two things i wanted to be most when i grew up were a nun or a zookeeper.

4. i would really love to practice the art of falconry. i go to renaissance shows mostly to see the birds of prey--they are so beautiful and something you normally never get a close-up view of. i am afraid of the commitment it takes, though.

5. i love tea!!! i have over 30 varieties in my house right now and i just finished up a cup of green ginger peach by the republic of tea. mmm..... i don't think i could live without hot tea or hot baths.

Rules:Link to the tagger and post these rules on your blog.
Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

since i haven't been blogging very long this is the hardest part for me--tagging 5 other people!! but here goes:
rosydelights
in a garden photo blog
swallowfield
jamie's art fair
kate smudges in earth, paint and life

daily painting

2007-11-25T17:27:00.001-06:00

title: snow blooms

size: 8"x8" square

medium: watercolor

summer is back!

2007-11-25T14:20:00.001-06:00

well, we had a nice, short winter--one day. just kidding. kind of . today it is rainy and gloomy like yesterday but almost 70 degrees!!

my new meyer lemon tree likes it. here are some pictures of it and a couple other things blooming outside today.

meyer lemon, the fruit is almost more like an orange--big, round and sweeter than a regular lemonnicotiana-the shorter, non-frangrant variety

belladonna

flowering maple

2007-11-24T12:38:00.000-06:00

it finally feels like winter here--yucky and cold and gray. why was i waiting for this? why can i not seem to be content with whatever season we are in? fall never seems to be long enough and spring never seems to be warm enough-but then suddenly summer is here and we are all sweating to death and wishing for fall. well, it is a good time to be painting so i have started on some more little 8"x8" watercolors. i have started some larger sizes too but don't seem motivated to finish them. they are so close too... i feel like i am on the brink of a new discovery/path change in my painting. i would really like to get back to doing some encaustics but i don't have a stove or an aluminum plate to make the prints on. gotta work on that. anyway, a little eye candy for the day. title: lotus land
size: 8"x8"
medium: watercolor

two koi and a goldfish

2007-11-20T06:59:00.001-06:00

this koi, rock, lotus and waves(the colored in portion) were the first installment of my back tattoo. in fact, at the time, i did not realize that eventually my entire back would be covered. such is the nature of the addiction--once you start it is hard to stop. the black rock covers up a small gecko tattoo i got when i was 18. 12 or 13 years later it was looking kind of faded and blurry and because it was so small with small details(tiny feet pads)it would have been impossible to sharpen up. the whole design of this initial koi was interesting because it had to be in a precise location with the black of the rock covering the gecko. my tattoo artist placed a piece of saran wrap over my back and traced the gecko and surrounding landscape(neckline, shoulder blade, arm, etc...) then he came up with a few rough sketches based on my request for a koi and lotus flower. after that the finished outline was done and i went in for the actual work. if i remember right the design and drawing process took about two weeks. the tattoo itself took about 3.5 hours(of pure agony).

so, the installment of the rest of the back was pretty much a rerun of the first part, tracing and then designing. this part was trickier because i started out wanting an asian style dragon. we couldn't really figure out how to incorporate it into the bigger plan so i came up with the idea of a "fish pond" instead. i think the little chinese goldfish at the bottom is my favorite part--i can't wait to see it colored in. the outline took another 3-3.5 hours, also really painful. my tolerance is about 2.5 hours and then it gets really bad. so friday night i went in and we started filling in and around with black shading which has made an astonishing difference in the appearance of the whole tattoo. i will post pictures of that in a few days--it is now starting to peel and looks kind of funky.

turnips and tattoos

2007-11-19T13:43:00.001-06:00

i pulled up the first turnips on saturday, the one on the right was almost a perfect little globe!! we haven't eaten them yet, maybe tonight. we have been eating a variety of lettuces and arugula, which to me is in a class of it's own. i love it's spicy but rich flavor and if you've never had it fresh out of the garden(yours or someone close by) you are missing out. arugula bought from the store or even in salads at restaurants is usually seriously lacking in flavor. mmm, i love eating it on rice and fried eggs with cheese--and avocado when it is in season. i couldn't live without our zojirushi rice maker which provides us with hot, fresh, delicious rice at all times. rice is definitely a staple in our house that we eat with almost every meal, it really goes with everything. sometimes i switch between brown rice and white but jasmine is by far my favorite, just the smell of it cooking is delicious.

tomorrow i will post the ongoing progress of my tattoo with photos so if you don't want to look here is your warning. i know i am a liberal person but i am still surprised at how many people are really repulsed by tattoos in this day and age. almost half of the population 35 or under seems to have one. to me, not only do i make art but i AM art!!! i have been told by good friends that i have "ruined my body" and other similar negative remarks. one woman who learned about me from her sister actually said to me in surprise when she met me "oh, you're beautiful!" she was obviously expecting someone in biker gear, all black attire, old and haggard, who knows really but clearly there was some expectation about the appearance of someone who is tattooed. i am not implying any kind of negative connotations about people decked out in biker gear or all black attire--just putting out some stereotypes that i think some people associate with "alternative" individuals. i guess it just reminds me that firstly, this is louisiana and not los angeles, and that old ideas die hard. i would love to hear how other people feel about tattoos and how many people reading my blog have them.

more encaustics

2007-11-18T10:50:00.000-06:00

i have decided to post more pictures of encaustic monotypes since many people seemed to enjoy seeing them the first time. almost every piece is done on a different kind of paper, most are fine art papers as well as drafing vellum. the type of paper and it's texture have as much impact on the appearance of the paintings as the application of the wax onto the hot plate and the taking of the print. here goes. title: rapid growth
size: 12"x 13"

title: meadow horse

size: 18"x 10"

title: natural rhythm

size: 8.25"x 10.5"

title: dot or square?

size: 21.5"x 16.5"

fog+mushrooms

2007-11-13T20:04:00.000-06:00

today was our first day of serious fog, ooh i loved it. the day ended up being bright, sunny and almost 80 degrees. who would have thought? i enjoyed it while it lasted(the cool, foggy weather).then i happened upon these large mushrooms in the backyard--i love mushrooms and have always wanted to paint them. maybe now i will.

back to the garden

2007-11-12T10:25:00.000-06:00

after weeks of waiting for something exciting to happen in the garden, i finally have some decent sized seedlings coming up--only a couple though. my nasturtiums and sweet peas are really starting to look like something. alyssum, pansies, larkspur, hollyhocks and a couple other things are still just teeny tiny. and now i know why many gardeners start plants in flats--i have been unable to mulch or even add more plants to the bed for fear of disturbing the seeds that have not started sprouting yet or burying tiny seedlings that i cannot distinguish from weeds. the nasturtium and sweet peas are definitley an experiment, there is a good chance they will get frozen if we get an early cold night but i am keeping my fingers crossed. i still have seeds left so i can start over later in the spring if necessary. hopefully i will be able to keep the plants covered through any cold snaps.

here is our first turnip poking up from the dirt. mmm.... i can't wait to dice these up and caramelize them with a little butter and sugar.

purple beebalm seedhead

pretty fall foliage of the beebalm

the lion's ear just keeps on blooming--it has such amazing architecture and textures. pointy and soft, sleek and fuzzy, soft and sharp.

i just planted this amaryllis bulb brought all the way from holland! it is the papilio variety, one of my very favorites. i can't wait to see the bloom.

and a new tenant in one of my raised beds... anyone from louisiana or other gulf coast state will recognize this as a crawfish hole!! i have never actually seen the crawfish but i think it is funny that it found a home among my turnips and red beebalm, oh and the thai basil.