Beautiful Veggies

It's not often that you hear someone say " These vegetables are delicious." This definitely has never occurred in my house - - though I dream of the day when my kids will eat some form of vegetable other than a carrot or something I have hidden in spaghetti sauce.

Maybe you are one of those people in the produce aisle, enamored by the sight of seasonal fruits and vegetables, ripe and luscious in their prime. Maybe not?! Well, you should be! Bask in the blush of an apple, picked in a local orchard, or a giant head of broccoli fresh from the field. You shouldn't have to wander far to find a market with local faire.

I photographed these beauties at Holla's Produce and Greenhouses while on a getaway up North.  I never knew veggies could be so photogenic!

There's something so satisfying about growing your own food. When I  think of all of the time and effort put into a garden over a season - - I find it amazing that fruits and vegetables don't cost more money.

After months of watering and pest control and weeding - - you end up with a beautiful plant that will be harvested and consumed rather quickly. (Which, come to think of it, makes me feel extra guilty that I let that last head of lettuce wilt in the fridge.)

Exquisite Poppy

 I'm obsessed with the poppies in my garden. So far, they are the only things in this backyard that I haven't touched since we moved in six years ago. They have stayed quite to themselves in one clump in my garden. I have re-worked the garden around them.

A friend of mine thinks it's unusual, since her poppies run amok in her garden, that mine stay in place, but I'm sure it's just the variety.

I'm actually a bit scared to upset them in any way. As hardy as the plant seems to be, the blooms look so delicate and only last for a scarce couple of days. Is that why I love them so much? Because of their fragility?

Bold. Strong. Exquisite and alien, the poppy never fails to impress.

A look at a flower

Clematis

Poppy

Iris

Clematis

Poppy

Iris

Considering the amount of rain we've had,  (see : None) my garden isn't doing too badly this year. I thought I'd add a few photos I took today.

"Stop and Smell the Roses"
There you go, I've said it. Very cliché, I know. Also, my roses aren't blooming, yet. But, take a moment and have a good look at a flower the next time you're in a garden, or are given a bouquet. They are amazing things! Every year, those same poppies come up and I try to find a way to photograph them that can show the detail and texture, and every time, nature says, "Good luck, lady."

I never have to go very far to find something inspiring to paint. The colours in these few flowers alone are amazing. Also, I found a dead bumblebee in the grass which I have put aside to paint later. Am I the only one here who does that kind of thing?

I'm becoming known for collecting "natural wonders"for reference for my art.
Someone brought me a dead butterfly the other day, and I just received two lovely old nests (a tiny one woven with birch bark and what may be spider webs and pine needles) possibly a hummingbird's and an empty wasp nest from Mike's Aunt and Uncle up in Verner.

I have a frozen hawk in my downstairs freezer awaiting a permit and a bird wing in my upstairs freezer awaiting painting. I found the wing of a woodpecker on the road the other week when I was on a walk with Oscar. It had been run over a few times, but cleaned up pretty good. It's sitting with my acorn collection in an old robin's nest by my front hall mirror at the moment.

I need my own studio space! I paint in my livingroom at the moment and must take out and put away everything each night. It's getting quite cluttered here!