updated blog links

I've found the most interesting blogs by following links on blogs I love... I've finally gotten around to updating my blog links.

What you'll find now is an eclectic mix of blogs that I try to visit at least every other day...some art, phenomenal writers, home decor, and pugs... it's really more of a reflection of me now! I'm sure I'll be adding to this list as I go, but this is a good start (since I've done no new art).

Max joins our family!

Max, a black pug, is the newest addition to our family as of Thursday.
He is the sweetest thing and I'm really thrilled to have him.
Yes, three dogs is enough and we'll be stopping now!

here's a few pictures of the newest beast:

ahhh, the dog days of summer

If no answer...I'm in the Garden

We've had gloriously not-too-hot weather and as usual, I'm trying to soak up as much sun and get yard time as possible.
Here's an update on how big the sunflowers are now.
oh, you can't tell that the sunflower is over a foot wide from that picture ? Here's Emily (all 5'3" of her) standing next to them for some perspective. I love her pose when I requested she stand there !
My asters have finally started blooming. I'm a little frustrated that it took so long when I winter sowed them and they were the first things to come up, but they look fantastic now.

There are many, many more yard pictures to be posted, but I must mow the lawn while the doggies are napping.

Lordy, Lordy look who's 40

today was my birthday... I cannot believe I am this old.
I took a few self portraits for posterity....
I like this black/white one the best-

here I am in color -
yeah, not a good hair day, but when it's almost 90 and really high humidity I'm lucky my bangs even stayed straight!

Black and White

One of my Yahoo groups is working on a black and white book to submit for publishing...
here's my page. You can't read it too well in the scan, but the text I found in my local paper says "there's more to us than black and white". I was so happy when I found that !

Photos from my garden

I spent a little time this afternoon taking photos of the flowers in my garden.
Here are a few of my favorites:

Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate (aka love lies bleeding). These are 4feet tall !

Sunflower in my front yard:

Sunflower in the side yard:

Sunflower on the other side yard:

Zinnia in the side yard (3ft tall!):

Oh no, where's my mommy?I think I see her !

Some of the pots that had plants in them:

Some pots my friend gave me (will have plants next year). I love the colors in this one.

The Yard - during

as promised (to who? I've no idea if anyone ever reads my sporatic postings anymore!), here are the "during" pictures of the front curb and side yard.

Here's the front curb now:


here it is before (June 5th):
and here's a closeup of now (I am going to have to move some of these already!)


the side yard now:

here it is before (May 29th):

here it is up close - the fence is 4ft high and the sunflowers are almost there already!

Here are some photos from my front yard.

The peeing boy statue was my birthday present last year - you can't see him peeing since it's blocked by the delphinium.

One of my planted chairs. I love chairs in the yard. The whole front yard is purple, yellow, and white after my alma mater Nazareth College.
this is the succulent chair. It was a tad more full last year, but I lost a few over the winter. Behind it, the tall daisies are about to bloom...below it are the coreopsis, petunias (both grown from seed this year) and my lavender.
More yard pictures to come as things start blooming !

The Yard - before's

I have spent every single day working in the yard or greenhouse since March - not a whole lot of that reflected here, is there?

I thought I'd share a few before pictures from the end of May/beginning of June.
Tomorrow I'll share how they look now (I just love a good before and after, but since it's past midnight, the pictures would be a tad dark now, eh?)

I've spent lots of time looking at other people's garden photos, but most of them live where it was warm much earlier than upstate NY. We have had really odd weather this year with it being 80s for a bit in April then 40s end of May going to 90s in the beginning of June. This can be a bit exasperating, but I tend to plant heavy (and too close together!), so I don't worry much if a few things don't make it. This is the first year I've grown nearly all of the annuals in my yard. Anyhow....

Here's the front curb. I have always hated mowing it since it's just a bit larger than one pass with the mower and a real challenge around that tree. Now I put plants in it every year... there are a couple perennials, but normally I fill it with annuals since they stack the salty snow right there in the winter time.
Here's one side of the back yard- tantilizing view of the neighbor's parking area, isn't it? I can't put in a real/solid fence because there is a drain that runs directly under the property line and the village has an easement to access it.
Stay tuned for updated pictures tomorrow !

Spotlight on Sam

I thought I'd share a few more pictures of Sam.
He is the funniest dog, like a big dog trapped in a little dog body. He spends his days in the backyard burying his bone and then stealing Henry's !

here's a rare pose from the curious little guy:

Here he is wondering why I am calling him - he has things to do and discover !
Here he is in action. I love how his mouth looks in this picture even though my camera takes terrible action shots.
and here are the two best buddies together (awwww aren't they cute? they're just waiting for a treat or they'd never be still this long!)

My Peony

I have the coolest Peony... don't ask me what the variety is (but if you know, please leave a comment!). It is not the classic peony...only two layers of petals. It is gorgeous, but it only lasts 2 days, 3 tops since inevitably as soon as the blooms open, it rains.

Here's the proof:

Before

After

Plant Sale was...

a bust.
No one wants plants when it's over 90 :(
well, I shouldnt' say no one, but pretty much no one. So sad after all the time I spent getting ready for it it. I bet I melted off 20lbs sitting in the sun waiting for buyers though!
Here's one of the beautiful signs I painted (the other was a "sandwich board" kind of sign):

New Art

There was a minor plumbing err explosion in my studio and I'm still trying to get up there and clean when I can... it's too distracting to be up there and *just* clean and not make any art...

I actually finished this piece I started a while ago. It began with pages from a vintage book, texture and plain (black/white) eyes and turned into this - not sure what my mood was since I never use red !

Henry gets brother - meet Sam !

Henry has a new Pekingese brother named Sam. He is so adorable and looks like a little lion.
He hasn't quite figured out what "say cheese" and "look over here" mean yet...we're working on it.

This is *my* New York

someday...when people hear "new york", they'll think of this instead of NY city ! (this is two minutes from my house just off Ontario Pathways)

Yard Work

The past month has gone by like a whirlwind. I've tried really hard, but I cannot get good pictures of the plants in the greenhouse...one I back out of it to try and capture pictures, it gets cut off by the doors. Trust me, things have grown huge from inside the greenhouse and most of my winter sown seeds have grown and been planted in the yard. What happened to mid-May for the last frost?! guess I shouldn't have held back.

Consequently, I'm spending every day outside working on the yard (yeah!).
Look who stopped by to visit me !

It may have been the sound of the pond (thank goodness it is still covered with a net ! one year I was so excited that ducks were in my little pond until they ate all the plants and stirred everything up), but I like to think it's all the plants and edibles in my yard. There must be something good or the mole I keep trying to kill would have moved on by now.

I give it a few weeks and there should be tons of pictures of the flowers in my yard. I am so thrilled...I've always wanted to get my yard to the point where I could sit and paint the flowers and take great flower photos - it's looking like this is going to be the year !!

Walkin' Ontario Pathways again

A few days ago, Henry and I took a break and went to Ontario Pathways. Here's some highlights:

Henry in the dandelions...the one time he didn't lick or sniff them...just like when you try to get your kid to do something they always do until you ask them to !

Henry on the rocks.

Henry...wondering why on earth I keep asking him to sit. I wish his face wasn't so hard to capture without just the right light. I was trying to get him in front of that waterfall back there.

On the way back, Henry got this little stick. If you have small dogs, you probably get the "kabob" treats for them...just about the same size as this stick. He carried it proudly in his mouth for a good mile and a half.

We walked nearly 4 miles down the path and it was really nice and relaxing !

Henry's first trip to Canandaigua Lake

yeah, can't post without a picture of my dear little Henry. I wish someone would have told me he'd go from 7lbs to 101/2 lbs in 3 weeks !!