lion's ear

to look at the gourds you would believe fall was really in full swing. however, it is still in the high 80's here in covington but we are supposed to get some relief from the humidity this weekend. it is really time to clean and weed the garden beds but i just have not felt like doing it yet. i am actually considering taking out my perennials that are in the front of the house and putting in a simple, clean looking landscape with an asian flair. maybe some stones and a couple japanese maples symmetrically placed with a bench on one side. i have always liked a wild looking english cottage style garden but i think this area calls for a different treatment. will have to think on that one some more.
hopefully things will successfully transplant if i do decide to revamp the front and move the plants from the front to the side of the house. i finally have a good looking lion's ear(or tail) and it would be a real shame if i lost it in a move. hazel, now dubbed "the hunter", discovered a visitor in the house last night who was probably looking for a place to make a home for the winter. she cornered a tiny field mouse in the hallway but didn't hurt it. it was removed from the premises and relocated to a more remote home.

it has been a busy week working and getting ready for the art market of new orleans which is held the last saturday of each month. this will be my first go at this particular market so hopefully it will be a fruitfull day.

succulents and houseplants

i must admit i have a love of houseplants, preferably unusual and interesting ones, but anything green and leafy will usually do. unfortunately, between poor indoor light and cats who love to munch on leafy greens it is hard to keep plants indoors. in an ideal world my whole roof would be glass so i would have tons of sunlight in every room and could grow anything indoors i wanted to. having live, healthy plants just really seems to give a room life, fresh air and a homey lived-in feel. we got a whole shipment of green plants in last week and there was a great selection of interesting things..
a hairy looking succulent a furry looking and feeling succulent

baby ponytail palms--so little and cute! by the time i am fifty this one will be 5 feet tall, if i don't kill it first

variegated mother-in-law's tongue--i never would have thought i would actually want to bring home one of those but...

various succulents

more varieties of the mother-in-law tongue, there was an especially pretty deep, dark green one that i did not get a picture of

goodbye summer

these are my favorite images from summer. this is fern, the youngest of my three cat children who was adopted, along with hazel, on june 30th. hazel, my middle child, who has grown into a long-legged sleek, shiny snuggle bunny. it's hard to photograph a black cat--usually i only get a black cat-shaped image with little other detail.

bronze fennel(ony of my very favorite plants)and a double purple geranium with some variegated nasturtium leaves

brightly colored coleus.

yellow ground or garden orchid. it will die back during winter and then peep up again in the spring. i would like to get the purple version i had a couple years ago to go with it.

a taste of fall

for the first time this year we had a nice preview of autumn. we finally overhauled our summer vegetable beds and got in our seeds for fall. we added some compost to the beds that needed it.this was my grandmother's tool. my grandparents were farmers in indiana where my family spent many of our weekends and summers. they lived about 2 1/2 hours from our house in chicago. my sister and brother and i loved spending time outdoors exploring the back acres in search of animal skulls, old trees to use for forts, and any exciting creature or treasure we could get our hands on. i transplanted the basil bushes and a tabasco pepper into pots so i could give them some protection in the coldest winter weather, those couple times when it gets down in the 20's at night.

our last harvest of summer veggies, lots of lemon cucumbers, a couple regular cucumbers and one last jalapeno.freshly planted beds(with 2 more to the side)of a variety of lettuces, carrots, beets, turnips, brussels sprouts, broccoli rabe and spinach. hopefully i didn't get the beets and turnips in too late...

fern and hazel also loved the cooler weather, and watching out the back door for birds and love bugs. we did spot one hummingbird who looked in for a second then moved on.

las vegas

my husband and i usually go to vegas once a year just to have fun or to meet up with the rest of my family. we were there in late june this year and for anyone who has never been there you are really missing out on some sights you will never see anywhere else. these pictures are frome the bellagio hotel which is one of the most elegant and visually fantastic places in vegas. this is the water show in fromt of the hotel which is choreographed to music, usually a well-known contemporary song or even opera. the jets of water can shoot so high in the air it sounds like thunder when it all comes crashing down again. this is inside the arboretum of the bellagio where a different theme with tons of blooming flowers and other displays are set up and changed seasonally. there weren't so many blooming plants this time but it was still fun. this was a life-sized ferris wheel, a small one but still...riding in the ferris wheel carts...flowers only please

a french market stand

a desert scene along route 66 complete with fake scorpions sitting on the rocks

the multi-flavored chocolate fountain in the candy store around the corner from the arboretum

a gigantic arrangement of bamboo, ivy and allium in one of the hallways

the main entryway with it's ceiling of blown glass blooms, which really are beautiful glowing and sparkling in real life.

the garden trellis

i worked yesterday at the garden trellis, a wonderful florist and garden shop in uptown new orleans. we just got in some bittersweet and the pumpkins. a whole batch of little concrete mushrooms.

concrete snail and frog complete with nice green algae growing on them.

lotus

SOLD

unfortunately, the painting today was not the fall or halloween themed piece i thought it would be. i opted for the less challenging and more comfortable water scene. not to worry, fall is on the way!

toad abodes

from top to bottom: mexican purple sage that started blooming last week, lion's ear which is loaded with these clusters of blooms waiting to pop out, an interesting fuzzy weed, scented geranium that has bloomed all summer and i believe that same blue weed.

the neighbor's dog discovered this snake, which i believe is a yellow-bellied water snake. it was quite large but non-poisonous.

today i went exploring outside and finally discovered who lives in the recently made holes at the end of my front porch. toads!!

return of the blogger

well, i have been back from vacation for almost an entire week now and haven't painted or posted a single thing!! i have been working at my very part-time job, a wonderful floral and garden shop in new orleans. it was closed for the months of july and august and reopened on tuesday the 4th. we spent all day tuesday and wednesday reorganizing and restocking and things are looking good. i will post some pictures next week of the shop, the garden trellis. i have also been busy reading the deathly hallows, after going back and re-reading all the previous harry potter books. i am about three-fourths of the way through it and have a hard time putting it down. i hope to have a new daily painting up tomorrow(maybe with a fall/halloween theme)and am posting some pictures i took while i was in chicago at the art institute.