Those charity quilts are coming along. This week I quilted and bound the big one and yesterday got the binding strips sewn onto the last small one.The hand work won’t take long. I am SO ready to start the next Inspirations piece!

I have also been knitting and completed 2 more sweaters from that fun one piece pattern; one for a new baby girl and one for her big brother.

They are knitted exactly alike, just with larger needles and yarn for the bigger one! Quick and fun!

Yesterday I entered two more shows and discovered that it was too late to enter one that I had planned on. It is surprising how long it takes to do show entries. They are all different so it never becomes routine.

A new book is out, “Cutting Edge Art Quilts” by Mary Kerr. I have quilts in it and my copy finally arrived. It is a beautiful book and I have enjoyed looking at all of the amazing work!!

“Just Dandy” is in the Topeka Designer’s Show House and I have reports that is looks wonderful there. I hope to get by and see it soon.

I was really glad to be asked to participate because it is good for people to see how nice quilted art looks in a home setting.

In between all that I am still battling the weeds, a never ending war that I seem to be loosing. Now that the weather has turned hot, with no rain all week I am having to water the new things.

It was a busy weekend; we went early to the annual Gardener’s plant sale on Saturday, but it was not as good as usual. I didn’t get much. From there we went to the Farmer’s Market where I found a few more things. Even so, it was hot and it took me most of the afternoon to plant everything so I guess it was a good thing I didn’t find more! Checked the peach tree and it looks like no peaches are developing so I guess the crazy weather wins in spite of our diligence in covering up. We did loose quite a lot due to the stress of the drought last summer and the harsh winter/spring. I keep finding missing plants and dead shrubs.

Sunday was the great grandson’s third birthday party and he had a great time, especially with his favorite gift, the John Deere tractor! It’s battery powered and he mastered steering and even backing up very quickly.

I knew it had been a while since I’ve posted but I didn’t think it had been THAT long! I have been having a very tenuous connection to the internet lately, sometimes going for days without being able to get online. I finally called for a technician to come out and investigate and after he found and fixed a couple of problems, now it works like a charm!

We’ve also had water problems, probably due to the extremely dry soil the pipes had a leak somewhere between the road and the house which involved digging equipment and considerable time, but now, over sixteen hundred dollars later we are leak free. What next??

I have managed, most days to sew at least a few seams and the dog’s portrait is progressing nicely. The process is slow as the Komondor’s corded coat requires many seams and color changes.

 

Between sewing sessions I have made some show entries, written a magazine article, caught up on emails and orders that piled up during the offline time and worked on the account books, so I have not been just laying around!

The weather has been alternately freezing cold and Springlike and in the garden the Snowdrops are blooming and the Lenten Rose is sending up buds. I can’t get used to flowers in January.

Ooops, it’s been awhile, and I was doing so good!

Last Friday was First Friday and I attended the reception for “Inspirations”, that collaborative exhibit of art inspired by photography. This year we had the main show of new work at the Classic Bean in Topeka and my entry “Prairie Power” won first place in the “People’s Choice” voting. It’s always gratifying when a quilted piece is recognized as art amongst paintings.

We also had an exhibit of some of previous years’ entries at another venue, Nexlynx in Topeka and “Majesty” received a Second Place there.

The Boxer is finished and I am happy with how it turned out. I always prewash all of my fabrics because I still do find some that will run, and when I wet this piece to block it one of the hand dyes did run in spite of that. It was a green so any bleeding it may have done on the front is not noticeable, but can be seen very slightly on the back. Luckily it was not a problem, but it does reiterate the need to prewash.

This shot has too much pink showing, because the morning sunrise was hitting it. Adding green helps but makes the background greenish.  It is nice and sharp though and shows the quilting nicely.

We have been enjoying the most beautiful weather! I know, that is not normal and probably not a good thing. I quilted for awhile,

but it was just too nice to stay inside so I spent the afternoon weeding in the perennial beds after my walk. These are the same beds I renovated after returning from Maine in August but in spite of that and heavy mulch there are so many weeds! At least they come up pretty easily. Surprisingly, the earth is moister than I expected as we are way behind on moisture here. The prediction is for some snow soon so I will have plenty of time to sew. I watered the Hellebores and a few shrubs and roses and called it quits at 4 o’clock.

Saturday we went to a neighboring town for a short seminar on what to do with your water garden in the fall. It was interesting but there was a lot of information that wasn’t useful to us as we don’t try to overwinter Tropicals; don’t even have tropicals as I prefer the more natural look. Because of the drought and early leaf drop we had already covered the pond with netting supported by this homemade pvc rigging. It will break down for storage. Behind it is one of the beds I am working on that is not finished and mulched yet.

Last year, with the netting just stretched across and anchored with rocks we had problems with frogs and snakes getting tangled so this should help by raising it up and leaving a space for the critters. So far, so good. I have finished the waterfall and I don’t think there are any leaks there now, but there is a leak somewhere as the water drops to a certain level pretty quick. I don’t even want to think about that!

On the way home, we stopped at one of my favorite plant farms and came away with about 20 new perennials. I tried to limit myself to things that would be happier in the conditions that I have. Salvia, Lamb’s Ear (the smooth one, with hot pink flowers), Blanket Flower, Coreopsis, Caryopteris, Plumbago and Maiden Grass. And Raspberry Wine Monarda that does require more water. I could have gone on because the fall sale prices were so good, but the thought of planting more than what I had already, stopped me! As it was, during the planting, I had to separate several bunches of daylily and transplant those as well!

The front beds don’t look like much right now, because everything is small but come spring it should be nice. The Clematis Rugoochii (SP?) is enjoying the cooler weather and the support of this little tower. There are soaker hoses under the mulch.

The Chaste Tree is also enjoying the change in the weather. The milder winter allowed it to get an earlier and more vigorous start and for the first time we are getting a second bloom!

We don’t often see this much moisture on the roses, I’m sure they are feeling much happier!

But behind them you can see that the lawn, where it was newer and not very established is really struggling and will need to be overseeded. The bare dirt is mole activity. They are also enjoying the moisture.

Finally, the last of the Maine Botanical Garden photos, these having to do with rocks that have been carved,

There were three of these huge boulders set in a circular orientation with minimal carving to make them look like whales, each with a blow hole that went off intermittently.

In one of the woodland settings we came upon this tub carved from a large granite boulder, the outside left rough and natural but the inside smooth as glass with intricate organic leafy shapes around the top.

The surface made a lovely reflecting pool.

Scattered throughout the garden were many small sculptures. I was drawn to this raven for it’s simplicity.

This eagle reminded me of a Kansas Jayhawk.

Here at home, we thought we had gotten the waterfall fixed, but discovered a low spot the next morning after loosing a lot of water overnight. It was an easy fix and the water level is staying up, so now I get to finish my rock work there.

In the meantime I have been continuing the garden renovations. Yesterday morning I dug up a clump of Red Hot Pokers, divided it into a dozen or so new plants and got them planted, then did the same with a clump of ” Prairie Blue Eyes” daylilies. As I dig out the gardens we are mulching and installing the black plastic edging strips around the beds. I hope this will help with keeping things contained for the future.

Last night we got another half inch of rain and it is nice and cool this morning, so I need to get outside and carry on.

I AM doing some quilting as well. Last week I got started with the quilting on the Kansas scene, but it’s slow going as I am usually done in by lunch time from the gardening chores!

I have lots of rocks to work with here in Kansas so I am always looking for ideas. Maine has lots of rocks too but they are sure bigger than ours!

This rock wall appears to have been built around a huge rock.

Here is an interesting path that must have involved some shaping of the stones. Just look at the luxurious plantings!

There were two walking mazes. The other one was a spiral that was meant to be walked barefoot. The outer edge had large pebbles embedded and they gradually got smaller as you got to the center.

This waterfall is huge! There are 4 tiers and it appears that some of the rock was naturally there and some was artistically placed to look as though it may have always been there.

The uppermost part consists of an enormous rock that was hollowed out to be a basin at the top.

I suggested to my husband that he might do that for our waterfall as it looks watertight,  because here at home we have our own waterfall problems! He was not receptive!  Just minutes before we had to leave for the airport we discovered that we had a leak. We did a temporary fix with a black plastic leaf bag and it worked great. After we got back home we tore it apart and laid in some new rubber liner. The can of foam that we had for sealing in the rocks didn’t last long so we were at a standstill until we could get some more. Then the rain came so now we have to wait for things to completely dry before we can proceed with the foam and the rocks to finish the job.

We got 3.5 ” of rain last night and almost an inch the day before!!  It appears that most of it has soaked in so this should help a lot! The well that we use for filling the watergarden/fish pond had gone dry so we have had to use city water and treat it for chlorine, what a pain!

As amazing as the plants and flowers were, the art scattered through out the garden were equally wonderful.

As you enter, these life sized animals greet you; there was a pair of wolves and a pair of deer made of rebar and smaller rods. So very realistic!

This over-sized chair made from driftwood looks almost like the skeleton of something that once lived! It was in the children’s garden and I’ll bet it offers an amazing photo-op.

This wonderful pair of wire birds stood out against the huge blooms.

On the wooded trail this glass orb literally glowed against the dark foliage. It is made from what looked like small pieces of broken glass, maybe windshield glass I think.

This life sized Heron near the waterfall seems poised to nab the real frog that cooperated in my photography composition.

These were only a few of the many artworks to be seen in the gardens. If I lived there I’d be a member for sure, and visit often.

Here on the home-front we are getting RAIN!!!  Yesterday morning I continued my garden renovations and dug out 125 (yes, I counted) Surprise Lily bulbs from just one bed. Now there’s a plant that likes Kansas but even it is not blooming well this year.

One of the things we did in Maine was to visit the Botanical Gardens. 248 acres of beauty that opened to the public in 2007. Only 5 years ago!!!

While I thoroughly enjoyed it, I couldn’t help feeling guilty at subjecting my own plants to the inhospitable conditions in Kansas where they languish or die. Seeing how they look when they are happy, makes me rethink my gardening here.

I have this variety of Hosta; it has about 6 puny brown edged leaves but at least it is still alive. Most of my Hostas died this summer. And I do water but apparently not enough.

Likewise the Japanese Painted Fern, the only fern I have been able to grow here. Mine do NOT look like this!

Remember how excited I was when I discovered the Hot Papaya Coneflowers a couple of years ago? Since then, I’ve killed three. Here’s how they should look, I feel like a monster.

These are so lush they can’t stand up! In the background the Russian Sage is only a little bigger than mine, so that is a keeper for here. The day was in the low 70′s’ overcast and foggy. There is more moisture in the air than we’ve had in Kansas all summer probably. No wonder the plants are happy!

The Rose Hips look like tomatoes!

Since coming home, the weather has cooled somewhat and I have been spending 2-3 hours a morning digging up the gardens because frankly there is not much out there to be disturbed right now. With the tops died back it’s not easy to see where things are, so I have unearthed clumps of daylily roots that I’ve separated and replanted as well as lots of Surprise Lilies that didn’t bloom this year and spring bulbs that needed to be thinned. I’m pulling out some plants that don’t work and when I shop the fall sales I will be looking for things that have proven they can deal with Kansas.

In the springtime when the rain is adequate and everything is thriving it is easy to get tricked into adding more “stuff”. Then along comes July and August to flip the switch, turn off the water, add the heat and remind you that you live in Kansas. I’m going to really try to stop trying to grow things just because I like them. Even native wild-growing trees are dying this year.