Mon Bouquet du Jour

It's a Jungle out there.
A jungle Bouquet. 

Grapes and Morning Glories fight for attention. 
There's no room to walk past. 

Morning Glories are winning.  

I will be painting.

Glaze is applied next, pencil sketch lines disappear during firing.  Will fire to 1790 degrees Fahrenheit.  

Glaze and powder pigments fuse during 24 hour firing schedule. 

You won't see much of me next week. 

I will be painting and painting for the Artist Studio Tour.

Have a beautiful weekend and a wonderful week my dear 

Blogging Friends. 

Gina 

J

Enough of this

Enough of this constant Weeding and Watering.

Our Artist Studio Tour is just around the corner.

I must paint.  I have to settle down and paint something new. 

Just out of the kiln, a new Tondino Platter.  

As long as the vegetables can still be seen and still grow among the weeds I should not feel guilty and be happy with the abundance which our garden offers. 

Have a wonderful remainder of the week my dear 

Blogging Friends. 

Gina 

http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Always a surprise.

When you gather flower seeds.

You never know what will bloom the following year.

In 2012, flowers from seeds from an old bucket found in my barn.

Seeds collected from last year's flower bed produced this variety in 2013.

From this in 2012 to 

 this in 2013.

I think I know what happened.  Of course each year growing conditions are different.  However, I noticed last year that many Zinnias did not get pollinated before the first frost hit. 

That is why I love to grow annuals from saved seeds. 

So many discoveries, so many surprises. 

Have a wonderful remainder of the week my dear 
Blogging Friends. 

Gina 

Carnage

I must rid myself of images which haunt my nights.

Photographs had to be taken
 of a scene of terrible destruction.

I will not post the photos here.

 We had a terrible thunder storm a few days ago.

Lightning struck one of our pastures.

They were all standing in a circle.

All 17 of them.

It killed four of them, instantly.

Four beautiful Charolais Cattle.

Gina



Two for Two

Cucumber Salads.

One for you and one for me. 

Peel and thinly slice cucumbers,

add salt to taste.

Place heavy weight on top of cucumbers and let stand for an hour.

Pour off liquid.

Add a dollop of sour cream and a small amount of sugar to taste.  

place in refrigerator until serving time.

Serve chilled and in crystal dishes. 

These dishes are more than 75 years old.  They belonged to my mother who always served this particular salad in these dishes. 

They are the only treasure I have from my home by the Baltic Sea.

  

This cucumber dish is Mr G 's favorite. 

Peel and slice cucumbers, pour light vinegar and water brine to cover.  Add salt and hot pepper flakes to taste.

Add onion rings. 
(Wash onion first).


   

Every time I pull an onion from my garden I am reminded of an evening in the South of France.


Have a great week my dear 
Blogging Friends, 

Gina 

Mon Bouquet du Jour

Sometimes

Three's a crowd.

Sometimes two is enough.

And sometimes just one will do. 

Have a wonderful weekend my dear 

Blogging Friends.

Gina 

FREE. They are Free.

Sitting at the top of our Lane.

A box of cucumbers. 

We can only pickle, preserve and eat so many cucumbers and eat so many cucumber and watercress sandwiches.

Free to anyone who passes by. 
So, if you're in the neighborhood...

Have a great week my dear 

Blogging Friends.

Gina 

A juggling act.

This time of year I keep the jam pot boiling and my artist brushes busy.

It's a juggling act. 

The fruit is ripening and needs attention. 

Red Currants first and then the apricots. 

My owl didn't show up this year.  The marauding birds have become very brazen. 
They have eaten every single cherry from our tree.  

Can't make Kirsch Likör this year. 

Have several commissions for hand painted tiles. 

Have finished some of them. 

Rows and rows of vegetables need to be harvested.

Dilly beans, or what I call cocktail beans,  go into jars next. 

A hundred flower pots have to be watered every single day.

 Pots get moved around to add color where needed. 

Choke cherries need to turn black before I can harvest them. 
  Have to cover the tree with netting to save them from the birds. 

Choke cherries make the finest pancake syrup. 

Weeds are outgrowing the crops.

Must pull a few. 

But there is always time to sit and admire Summer.

Hope your Summer is going well my dear 

Blogging Friends. 

I appreciate each and every one of you.  Thank you for your visit.  

Gina