Cones: A brief tale

A new drawing borne from a walk-turned-collecting opportunity, a newish pack of markers begging to be used, and a subconscious palette inspiration.

A few more garden critters

We're finding a lot of critters in the few minutes we spend outside each week. It's so hot I have a hard time motivating Mabel to play out there and should admit that I'm pretty happy to sink into the couch for a while each afternoon, too.

We found another batch of swallowtail caterpillars, both of which are now chrysalis. Saturday night I made a sorrel tart. The sorrel, straight from the garden to the kitchen, had lots and lots of little snails which I collected in a jar. I told M we weren't going to keep them, but they're still in the jar on her work table (aka the den coffee table). I'm thinking we could become Matthews, NC's first escargot farmers.  

Fishing, Barbie, and GMOs

Wikipedia image by Michael Maggs

Lately there's been a lot of talk about fly fishing around the ol' homestead.  We've done a little fishing lately (Charlie much more than I), and the idea of fly fishing seems much more entertaining than sitting around with a string in a lake.

From The Essential Fly: Anatomy of a salmon fly

The flies themselves are works of art. There's a whole culture based around tying flies, and while I'm sure the people that tie them wouldn't liken themselves to the comparison, fly tying seems a lot like playing with a Barbie Styling Head.

Wikipedia image by Michael Maggs

Not that I think we'll go salmon fishing anytime in the near future, but I've been especially intrigued with salmon flies.  Partly it's the actual flies, partly it's because I've been thinking about what a GMO salmon fly would look like. Let's just file that under "inspiration marinade" for a while.

And yep, I mentioned Barbie, fly tying, and GMO in the same post.

Gardens and Light

Tomorrow will be something of a somber post on a different topic--Monday night my friend and fellow Koinonia Permaculture grad Liam Rattray was hit and killed by a drunk driver.

While everything settles in my heart and mind to truly honor his brief presence in this world, I've found a few images from The Unpretentious Garden group on flickr; a photogroup dedicated to things that I feel capture Liam's very essence: ecology and seizing opportunity.

This group is a place where I can get lost in the images and a giant well of inspiration. If you want to see some shots of our garden (I think they've all been featured on here at one point or another) you can see my garden set here.

 

Image credits (in order of appearance):

ArtGardenfunckle, frillie designs, scrappy annie

breathe the fresh air

Anything that transports me from my desk to the dirt is alright by me. Enter tend. It's an absolutely beautiful collective of gardeners tending their plants and sharing gorgeous pictures that make you feel like you're right there with them.

Go breathe the fresh air and find inspiration.

Tend is:  Shari, Natalie, Julia, Heather, and Amy.

The prettiest nest you ever did see

Tell me this isn't the most amazing little piece of nature you've ever seen. It's a bee's nest made up of wax and flower petals.
From the NPR bit on about the bees:

The O. avoseta bee builds a tiny nest about a half-inch long using petals from the flower Onobrychis viciifolia. Each nest usually houses a single egg.

via paperbullet via npr