Mechancial Crow

A new mechanical Crow painting. Available in my etsy store.

Yellow Spider

Found this yellow spider in the flower garden. I hope it is eating a lot of annoying pests like aphids and things! Someone mentioned that my yard looks like a lot to keep up with. Well it could be...we chose to keep it all a bit wild so that the work is more minimal than if it was all manicured. We also use less water that way and the birds and wildlife have more areas to live. We also have a bit of a mess inside the house and probably spend more time outside doing things than cleaning. (laughs)

Tour of the homestead

poppy


bush beans


pole beans and garlic


the girls waiting for a night time cookie


the blueberry bushes


euphorbia


the fire pit


lemon balm and forget me not


garlic


a little monster in the garden


moose antlers


the newest garden bed


the flower garden


the onions


something orange and pretty


the pole beans




the potatoes






the rock wall


sedums


shed


thistle


yellow poppy

Adding straw to the potatoes

We added some straw to our potato bin to hopefully increase the potato yield this year. The straw is a bit soggy now because of our weather so I am hoping I haven't made a poor choice.

Potato Progress

Our potatoes are making great progress! They have grown so fast. Last weeked I added straw so they will have more room to produce. If I get around to it I will add some long poles to the 4 corners and run wire around so that as they grow taller they will have even more room to make potatoes. I also took the top screens off last weekend.

If you want to see us plant potatoes check out my art video cast Scribblecast

Bellsie takes over the computer

If you see all my stuff being sold on ebay...we will all know it is Bella looking to buy more pounce.



Only Bella could get my old cat Io to tolerate her. It is amazing.


Even Tutu loves her

Buying local means...no celery

I have no celery but I want to make a potato salad. So what did we do? We went out in the yard and cut down a thistle. It looks and tastes very much like celery when cut and trimmed. Most people cook the stem if they are going to eat it. But it was great in this potato salad. It didn't keep long though so I would recommend making just enough to eat in a day or two.

The thistle in the yard


The gear


The thistle hunter hard at work trimming off the leaves




The stem trimmed of leaves


Trimming off the fine hairs on the stem and the outer stringy part


The stem all ready to use


Split...they are looking more and more like celery


Tastes like chicken! I mean celery....


Add your favorite potato salad fixins
Local farm fresh eggs


Potatoes of course and yummy sweet onions from the farmers market


Canola Mayo and some Dijon mustard


Finshed! Yum!

Art blog tag

Looks like I have been tagged byDiane

Here are the rules:

1. Link back to me for tagging you
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. Share 6 unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag 6 blogging friends.

Six Unimportant Things About Myself...

1. I drink a LOT of coffee
2. I don't like telephones or talking on the phone
3. I have been making art since I was tiny
4. I am uber messy
5. I am currently an almond M&M addict
6. I haven't painted in weeks! (Which is very rare for me)

My virtual studio

I just opened a virtual studio in second life (tm). If your a member check it out on axis mundi.

Apple Pie on the fire!

I have been wanting a pie iron for a while now. We found one at our local hardware store (they have everything at Henery Hardware). So I made some pie dough with gluten free flour and instead of lard I used a spectrum vegetable shortening. I also made an apple cinnamon filling. Then I just pressed the dough in the bottom of the cast iron pie form and then put some filling on. So it would not be too dry I added some rhubarb jam that I had made a few days before. I added about as much as I thought would fit in the pie form and then added the top. I pinched the dough together and put the top of the form on. Then I stuck in in the fire and checked on it every couple of minutes. I think it may have taken about 8 or 10 minutes in the coals and it was done. A perfect apple pie on the camp fire!

''

That isn't a racoon that is Binah! Looking at the pie iron hoping we will give her a bite of pie.