Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Escapees from Squash Patch

You may recall last year on this post when the New Greenhouse was displayed.

Now here we are in August with God and Gene growing tomatoes that are producing daily, squash in abundance, and sweet corn ready to eat almost daily.  Beans are almost ready to harvest.  Also, our neighbors' good will is being tested by ample offerings from the hothouse and garden.  Thanks to Paul down the street, he has provided excellent sweet beets to go along with our other healthy vegetables.

 A side view of some yellow squash
 
 The greenhouse holds tomato plants
 
Carnations



Cosmos !


Squash and corn

Warning: Two Zucchini Squash
Watch Out! They May Be Apprehended on YOUR doorstep at any time!





 
It has been a lovely, productive summer thus far.  How is your garden growing?
 


Friday, August 9, 2013

Liturgical Art for Lutheran Church

Church calendars say that we are now in "Ordinary Times", that is, beginning with the first Sunday after Pentecost and going through the last Sunday before Advent. 

Creating some art work for the church for the fall season in Ordinary Times led to begin painting a triptych in acrylics.

Each canvas is 2 feet wide by 3 feet in height. The canvases will be spread out with twelve inches between each, creating a larger object for the church sanctuary.  Upon completion, the mathematical calculations end up with the triptych being 8 feet wide by 3 feet high.

The husband first made this large easel so that all three canvases could be worked on simultaneously.  He spent a couple of hours making it, and so far, it is doing the job of holding the canvas frames.  Just have to be careful of the wind coming up as it is on the outside covered patio.  So far, I've been hit in the foot by one falling canvas.  A small bruise was the result of the canvas escaping from the easel.  What one won't do for art, right?


These pictures gathered from Pinterest and the internet gave pause for thought and inspiration.


(Most of the saved images are on my iPad, so I just took pictures of the pictures through the film screen saver, but you get the idea.)


 
Here are the canvases in process:

 

 
The picture above shows the bottom of the middle and the end canvases.  Both need shadowing and more details.  A light at the end of where the trees meet up will be painted in, along with a person and perhaps a dog at the end of the path.  I have an idea of what this triptych will represent to me, but I would be very interested in what you might think about when viewing these canvases.

For even more inspiration, you might like to listen to this magnificent rendition of an old hymn.



Be Still My Soul by Lisbeth Scott and Paul Swartz

Sunday, August 4, 2013

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Just finished my second Fair Isle knitting project.  It is rams and sheep designs knitted into the fabric to make a dog's coat.

Fun facts about this project by Kate Davies, with the pattern cleverly termed A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing:
  • Nine different colors of wool are knitted into the pattern
  • Each of the nine colors is from a different type of sheep that are raised on the Shetland islands
  • Learned how to knit in the traditional Fair Isle style this summer in Scotland
  • I bought the kit while visiting Jamieson & Smith Wool Brokers over the summer in Lerwick
  • It was so much fun to knit that I finished it in ten days
Although I made only one sweater, each of our dogs can wear it.  In order to lessen their jealous streaks, I'll be making a second sweater.  There is plenty of yarn left over in the kit.

Some modifications were made because our dogs are a bit smaller than the size given.

Our models:
Libby Sweatpea has her ears back and looks embarrassed, doesn't she?
 
 

Mercy has attitude, right?  She thought it was a bit warm to be modeling this coat in August, but what is a girl to do when she is being featured on the runway?