I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Wednesday, August 3, 2022

August Begins: Flowers Inside and Out, and Some Drawing

\


Good evening! Yes indeed it is August---the second month of summer has begun. A heat wave is coming again, happy to report my main AC is replaced and cooling beautifully. Summer's halfway point is mid-August, lots of time to enjoy every moment. I'm trying to plan--and do---one fun summery thing each day. Today I swam in my pool, despite the intense shoulder pain I have. So serene and calming.

 Mo and I enjoying my deck garden still, especially loving the new white windscreens and privacy. The cannas are a surprise success. I read up on them after being gifted with them for Mothers Day and discovered I had been planting the tubers too early and too deep.


In the end I left the volunteer marigolds in the smaller canna pot. They don't ''go'', had hoped to put neon impatiens and lime green sweet potato vine but they are brave and cute and flourishing, 

so go, marigolds!


The zinnia crop is odd. Good thing I impulsively bought the Dollar Store seeds this spring. They are growing well and blooming nicely The large flowers last a really long time.


















Terrible crabgrass in the area of the pot with the Baker Creek seeds! Were their seeds contaminated with the weeds? Like most crabgrass I can't get ahead of it and the roots are long and tough.

One Baker Creek plant has grown, the peppermint zinnia. I may a have a chartreuse zinnia coming from that batch too. Nothing on the other fancies.





The coreopsis and lilies pot is a bit in the doldrums,  though a few wildflowers also Dollar Store seeds, have continued to bloom. A bachelor button! Borage, baby breath, etc. The yellow coreopsis should rebloom in a few weeks as I deadhead it rigorously.

****************

Indoors, my Trader Joe flowers. The stocks were messy, I always forget that because I love their sweet old fashioned charm.





The ranunculas didn't last long but I do love having them.





Tiny bouquet in seaglass bottles. Much less to cut and bring indoors with the seeds failing in the big pots.


Bac on the deck, the gerbera daisy is blooming nicely. I thought I ordered cut flowers in June but this is what the grocery guy brought me.


Mo continues to adore deck time.


I found an ice cream that won't make him sick  and I don't give him his jerky stick chew at the same time. Either no chew or later, like now when I am doing boring to pug things like typing my blog. In the photo you can see his special ice cream bowl with the snowman, he sees that bowl and he gets so perky, dances all around. Pugs are 100% food motivated, but he is happy with only a few spoonfuls. [Dogster doggy ice cream]


He looks so fresh and sweet after his bath Monday!


But the groomer was rude and also nearly doubled her rates, from 50.oo to 80.oo. No tip for her anymore. Why do people, especially people performing a paid service think it is okay to be rude? What is their intention, to make me upset and angry? A NY behavioral mystery.


******

And here is a recent nature journal cartoon page:



I also bought myself this cute little watercolor set. 






Color me a lazy b#$%ch but I was annoyed that the little watercolor blocks came double wrapped, in both paper and cellophane. That's an hour I'll never get again, spent with a letter opener prising off all the layers and refitting into the box.


This is my usual little travel or field box. I love it but there are a few colors that this set's pigments just cannot produce: sharp pink, purples, bright orange / cheddar, turquoise. My colors!. 





So I added the second set. 


All because getting out my large box of watercolors and real papers seems like too big a commitment when my work is not so good, yet? ever?

********

Mornings on the deck are very hot now. Too hot to eat breakfast or lunch outdoors. But by 330 Pm the sun moves and usually a breeze begins. We will not have cool weather til November now and very little rain. Tomorrow we will finish the TQC Tiny Sampler maybe. 

Today I wore my boho cotton top from Old Navy. It is either too big or there's a flaw in the pattern. It sort of just falls OFF. Swimsuit underneath but still. At least I love the fabric.


Have a good rest of the summer, enjoy each day.


love

lizzy

gone to the beach....
















12 comments:

  1. As usual your photos are wonderful. It’s cold and rainy here, how I long for Summer weather. Our garden will be small when we move next month. I will need to be more selective in what I plant but I still want to plant Zinnias.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oooh I wasn't thinking of you all in the S Hemisphere---tho I do love winter too. You are anonymous but sounds like Dorothy? Anyway, glad you enjoyed your visit to my sunny home.

      Delete
  2. I love the zinnia with the peppermint stripes! Very cool! It sounds like Dollar Store seeds are the way to go for next year, too - better luck with them!

    Has the boho top been washed yet? Since it's cotton it may shrink...

    Glad you found ice cream for Mo!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What lovely photos of your little garden. I still slowly add to mine but need to get out there on cooler days and do more weeding and cutting back in the wild areas of the triangular paddocks. I bet you can't wait to use your new watercolour paints. Something I have always threatened to try!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My house is situated on sand/ beach do my only way to garden is my little pots. Always fun until I get fed up w watering twice a day. //I do want to try my new paints soon. Summer cleaning and uninvited guests may take up my free time tho, lol.

      Delete
  4. You make summer at the beach sound bearable even if it doesn't involve water. Just seeing it makes me relax. Mo looks great. Sorry you had a groomer without manners. The zinnias are great very nice and the ranunculus is fabulous - I'm going to have to get me some of those. I love the blue pineapple pillow on your bed.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love your flowerings--your nature journal drawings are really neat! I have gotten myself ( a rank beginner) a fairly good watercolor set and had so enjoyed it...and, yes, you DO NEED all those colors you love...
    Mo is looking very spiffy after his grooming;)0
    I was able to get you on my blogger RSS Feed--so will be getting your posts once more--huzzah!! ;))
    I really think that peppermint zinnia is lovely--hope you can get to sit out in the evenings now despite this awful heat wave....
    hugs Julierose

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your zinnias are just beautiful, Lizzy! Thank you for sharing so many photos of them.
    So glad to hear you have A/C again, and a new one, at that. What a relief!
    So sorry to hear about your shoulder pain. It hope it's something small that heals itself soon.
    Do hummingbirds come to your cannas? We had some (both cannas and hummingbirds) one year at our old house. But maybe they won't come in your protected area with screens?
    Your indoor flowers are beautiful, too. I really like the pitchers you use for them. I keep looking for white pitchers at the thrift stores but haven't found any yet. (Of course, with my daughter's cats here I can't have flowers inside just now.)
    Your nature journal drawings are really good--so much to look at on a page.
    Despite the time it took to unwrap two layers of covers for your watercolors (maybe to keep the humidity out?), I hope you enjoy them.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm loving your little sketches. So immediate, bright and busy. New paint boxes are the best. You want to keep trying and mixing all the colours.
    I have 'zinnia envy'. Your deck must be so beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Penny [I think}...with your fabulous african flowers you need not envy my zinnias, tho I imagine they'd thrive. Can you order seeds?

      Delete
  8. I'm not sure why my comment came out as Anonymous, but I'm having difficulties with Google/Blogger.
    I love your combinations of flowers and vases. The stocks are so lovely with your soft beach blues and white. So cool and soothing in the high temperatures.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love seeing what is growing on your deck! All so pretty! I may check the dollar store next spring for seeds. I don't do pots but I like to try and plant seeds. I brought some wildflowers to WY and threw them out on our property! Who knows how that will go. I LOVE summer and try and savor it as long as I can. No rushing autumn for me!

    ReplyDelete

Hi! I'm allowing comments from everyone, even anonymous for awhile, to see what happens. With comments moderation. Hopefully the awful porn spammer has gone elsewhere. Or you can always email me! I love to hear from everyone.