Outside: irises (part 1)

As I've mentioned before: irises are my favorite flower. While I may spend a lot of time wandering around photographing other people's flowers, flowering trees, trees, the sky, tree bark, etc. — irises are my favorite flower and I have a menagerie.

Yes, somewhere in my past there has been a great deal of money spent via the Schreiner's catalog. So, they're like my children. And every year when they appear I finally remember to weed them, and then I take a ridiculous amount of pictures. So, this is Part 1 of at least 4 parts...

The first picture is a Merlot, the second picture - I have completely forgotten the name, and the last 2 are Gypsy Romance. Gypsy Romance — I completely fell in love with these when I saw them in the catalog. I had to have them. I assembled an entire order just so that I could justify buying them...
*swoon*

I guess it's beyond about time to start working on the graphics for the 2012 calendar; there's always something with irises...

Outside: birds in spring

Well, Happy Easter!

Maybe since it's technically Easter Sunday as I begin typing this at 2am EST — I'll get around to coloring some Easter eggs today. It just wouldn't be me if it wasn't done at the last minute.

Truth be told, I've been sick. I seem to have acquired some sort of cold. I never seem to just get the sniffles, no, every cold has to be some sort of hacking / coughing nightmare with a sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, and a fever. I slept for 11 hours today... and believe me, I did not wake up feeling well rested. I think I want to go back to bed.

Anyway, the weather seems to have decided to coordinate with the way I feel. It's cold and rainy and dull, and rainy, and then it hailed... You know, c'mon, weather — it's April, could you act kind of springy already? Could we have some sunshine and some calm skies.

Anyway, before I was hit with this virus, I wandered out and took some photos. The red-winged blackbirds are holding steady to their territory in the marsh. And yes, that third shot is a sandhill crane — believe me it is not a Canada Goose. We have Sandhill Cranes and Great Blue Herons in these parts — so when a giant bird flies over I always have to pause and wonder which one it is. Sandhill cranes fly with their neck fully extended. Great Blue Herons fly with their neck tucked back to their bodies.

The last three shots were taken in the backyard. The bluebirds have returned (sometimes we wonder if they really ever leave). They're scoping out territory in the backyard and waiting for warmer weather. The pussy will has been waiting to bloom. It got all fuzzy and cute... and then the weather got cold. Hell, it even snowed one day. Yes, there was the magnolia bush out back covered with buds which were blanketed with snow. Really, weather, c'mon, enough with winter already.

It seems to be warming up, so hopefully I can ditch this cold... particularly by Friday - because that's the Art Walk. If you're anywhere near Tecumseh, Michigan: Friday 29 April 2011 is the annual Tecumseh Art Walk. I'll be at Timeless Stitches, so if you're in town, then please stop by. The event is 6-9pm. Hopefully this year it doesn't rain!

Sidewalk tourism: heirloom pumpkins again

This post is a sequel to my previous post about the heirloom pumpkin pile (which can be found here).
I took a lot of pictures of those pumpkins & squashes... I mean a lot. And then I went back and took some more photos a couple weeks later. And eventually I went back and dropped off some prints of some of the pics I had taken.

Anyway, since I do all of my wandering around in town where there are sidewalks (on which people presumably wander) - well, it's in town. There are a lot of two story houses with fancy architecture and tiny manicured lawns. So, when I saw this pile of pumpkins & squashes one of the things that I wondered was where they came from. There's actually a chain of grocery stores in the area that had been selling heirloom pumpkins and squashes, but those things were like $5.99 a piece (scroll down to the last picture and do the pumpkin math - eek!). That would have been a hell of an expensive decorative seasonal yard display...

As it turns out, the homeowner actually grew them on a friend's farm out in the country (like where I live; where we lack the city amenities such as sidewalks, city water, and street sweepers).

So, there was a lot of effort & care that went into this tremendous display.

Have a lovely weekend!

Summer is a busy season

My apologies for the lapse in blog entries... rest assured my own mother has repeatedly reminded me about the lack of new stuff...

This summer has been a busy one. That's not to say that I spent every previous summer doing absolutely nothing, but well, this summer has just been particularly productive from an Arts & Crafts standpoint.

According to the file on my desktop, I have made 51 8X10 paintings so far this summer. So, I have been busy scanning those... Additionally, I made 20 11X14 paintings back in June, which, of course are sitting around waiting to have hangers attached to their backs so they can be photographed... I have gone on a tear with papermaking. It's been a good couple of years since I've done it, but in the past 20 days I have moulded about 20 bowls from pulp I made myself... and now I have to paint them and finish them, and photograph them, and list them.

I'm not sure how to explain my decision to manufacture hair accessories from silk flowers & barrettes. But, I scoured the internet for information on how they should be attached, and there they are: sitting in boxes in the office...

And of course, as always there's the photography...

So, I've been working on some pictures of Queen Anne's Lace, as there seems to be a patch of it growing out in the garden, and I am too lazy to weed it. I'm good with photographing it, weeding it — not so much...

I really like the bokeh in the last image. These will probably all inevitably be for sale in my "sarahknight" shop on etsy.

Outside: summer flowers

It's nice to see some color outside...

I'm not sure of the identity of the first picture. The second picture are day lilies. The last picture is an Asiatic lily.

Snow in June

Okay, so technically, it would have been snow in May, but I got busy doing some craft project and didn't get around to selecting pictures and formatting them...

The snowball bush has bloomed!

The blooms are gone now, and the petals have fallen to the ground, and subsequently turned brown... but it's always pleasant to look at while it lasts.

That and I've been playing around with Photoshop and got an idea for a new filter... so, of course, I had to make it and then apply it. I wanted something that had the look of the way paint cracks on antique paintings. Amusingly, I was wearing an old concert t-shirt when inspiration struck. So, now I have my new photo manipulation filter.

And I was playing around with some "bokeh" from some of the snowball bush shots and made myself a layer of it, and now my sarahknight shop on etsy has a new banner : )

Outside: spring leaves

Some late spring leaves for a change of scenery...

I was out photographing the first irises to bloom, and saw the light hitting the leaves.

This is the rose bush, the only one in the yard. Miraculously, it has not yet been chewed into oblivion by those pesky Japanese beetles.

And this is the smoke bush. When the leaves emerge they're red, and then purple, and then become green. It's kind of like autumn in reverse.

Outside: weeping peach

It's raining again... I really wish it would stop raining, or perhaps it could conveniently rain when I'm asleep, and then be completely dry outside when I'm awake... so, it almost seems like it was ages ago when winter ended and the weather was pleasant, when really, it was about 2 weeks ago.

Anyway, in between bouts of rain, the weeping peach bloomed.
It's always nice to see the bright pink blossoms.

Otherwise, I've been inside playing around on the computer. I like etsy's new treasury, and I invite you to check out the ones I've assembled:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/people/sarahkdesigns

Hopefully, there's less rain wherever you are.

Outside: Lilacs

Every year I kind of wonder why I don't end up with more photos of the lilacs... and then every year when they bloom I remember why: it wouldn't stop raining... cursed weather.
It did, however, stop raining just a few times, and I think I got a good showing. These were some of the first branches to blossom.

On an etsy note:
I invite you all to check out my treasuries, which can be found here:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/people/sarahkdesigns
: )

Outside: irises in june

It's June, so the irises are in bloom... these are a few of my favorites...