Mojo on the prowl in the herb garden… what can I say? - The bird population has shrunk a bit over the past year.

Something about the unopened bud that just captures me.  They’re so simple and less glamorous than their blossomes, especially for this lily.  It must be the pending explosion of profusion and beauty, lingering to show itself to the world!

I spotted this little gnome size bridge in the garden… leading seemingly nowhere but a tiny cave.  Hmmm….

Through writing exercises, dialogues and art making, we explore focused intention setting, clarifying our goals and visualizing the outcomes.  Each participant will create a portal from clay that will serve as a symbolic reminder and prompt for practice, reaching far beyond the scope of this five week workshop. No previous art experience necessary.

• 5 meetings, 2.5 hrs each, on Tuesday evenings, starting July 7 (7/7,14,21,28 & 8/4/2009)
• group meets at Wamboldtopia
• $145 per person, includes all art materials, handouts and clay firing

Please contact Damaris here or call 828.254.0988 to register.

Note:  This process is also available as part of one-on-one coaching.

Nancy Pope and Lisa Baker started Second Bloom this year. It’s a non profit that practices recycling at its best: taking flowers from events and other occasions, re-arranging them and then delivering them to nursing homes and other facilities where people appreciate the delight of flowers.

In the few months that they’ve been operating, the whole thing has literally caught on like a wild fire! Donors, recipients and volunteers are thrilled! Check out their web site at http://secondbloom.org/, they’re unstoppable - flowers galore! Nancy and Lisa are absolutely dedicated and are also hoping that their work will inspire folks beyond Asheville in other cities and communities, it’s easily duplicated. At any rate, if your holiday event is loaded with flowers that need new homes afterwards, please give them a ring! And if you’d like to volunteer for Second Bloom, you may just have a blast!

Finally!  The large elf tower in the front garden is finished!  Well, there are a few touch-ups and nothing’s ever finished but construction is completed and it’s ready for move-in!  The tower is 8′4″ tall, the top two feet of that is the, uh, extended roof, elf style.

It’s been in the works for over a year, Ricki poured a solid concrete footer and built the basic box from 2×4’s, then wrapped with metal lathe.  And that’s what’s been in the front yard since then while I had started sculpting work on the penthouse floor, windows, doors and details.  Seeing come together like this is wonder-full and we had a great time working on the final phase together, applying all the details with stucco.

The Rose Campions against the stone wall are stunning!  Hard to capture with a camera.  Their bright fuschia color and bluish foliage are gems no matter where… and there’s plenty of them this year since I’ve been happily planting volunteers into the flower beds and borders.  They produce A TON of seeds and thus can be invasive but I’m yet to hear a gardener complain about them!

Lakeside cottage, currently vacant.

Uphill Dragon and new flower bed

The pile of metal rings has shrunk… and a dragon emerged cascading up the wall along the front stairs!  The new flower bed beneath is doing well… transplants from last year and some annuals along with a tomato plant.

They paint the most fascinating pictures!

I have no idea if this is a moth, but wow, whattabeauty!

Peculiar little bugs, struck me like little alien faces until I got closer and saw they were bugs.  Fascinatingly intricate.

The piece… Nas called Bill O’Reilly a racists and some other bits:

Click here to watch the Full Episode

Lyrics:
[Nas]
It’s sly Fox, cyclops
We locked in an idiot box
The video slots broadcasting Waco Dividian plots
They own YouTube, MySpace
When this ignorant shit going to stop?
They monopolize and lose your views
And the channel you choose
Propaganda, visual cancer
The eye in the sky, number 5 on the down
Secret agenda, frequency antenna

Continue Reading »

This year the front of the studio really filled out with all the amazing plants that nature provides for us! The reddish bush to the right is Scotch Broom, a welcome addition. The two Rhododendrons are in their third year and literally went ka-pow this spring!

A friend recently asked me if I go out there every day to check on what grew and opened. YOU BETCHA! Besides needing quite a bit of attention, this garden pops out with surprises large and small every single day, couldn’t possibly miss it!

It’s all just a dream, a really beauty-full one!

Ricki is working feverishly to complete the pond connector… a little creek like trench that combines the water flow from our two little ponds. This is creating bird heaven: The shallow water flow attracts feathered friends of all kinds and sizes, sometimes the whole family! It’s the best show in town and we have front row seats… right here on our porch. I have not been able to capture images of the bathing beauties, the porch screen is a real challenge for the digital camera and it’s only a few feet away

We watch in awe how the birds relax, splash, bathe and drink. Momma birds are bringing their brood, showing them how to feed, helping them find their way. Sometimes there are a dozen birds literally fighting for their turn in the waters. Dragon flies are now starting to appear as well, was wondering about those beauties.

A new addition to the garden, this Scotch Broom bush is covered with red/yellow/pink blossoms, spilling over the rock wall in the front. I found out that Scotch Broom is actually extremely invasive, some states have issued warnings, literally. This applies mostly to the common yellow variety, I have my hopes up that this one, bought from a nursery, is a manageable hybrid. With this in mind, I am cutting off the tops after the bloom to keep the seedpods from forming…

This is where I get to go to work every day. Is it real? Is it a dream?!

Looking at the Alliums close up… almost like fireworks going off!

I was riding with my husband Ricki in his pirate truck, coming home from an early dinner. Before making the left hand turn onto our street, he slowed down to yield oncoming traffic, when the car behind him continued impatiently to come uncomfortably close, as if urging him to move. With a bit of aggravation, Ricki made a hand gesture out the window, turned left and drove us home. The bad news: the car followed us. The worse news: The guys in it were on a mission.

We stopped at the house, the car pulled along side to the left, window half way down. The driver, a young African American man, leaned over to share some threatening words, ending with something like “do you want me to blow your mf’ing head off?” at which time the passenger rolled the window down even further. Having remained calm, Ricki’s main gesture was to block me from their vision, almost leaning out of his window. His answer: “well, then I’m dead and you’re going to jail.” The tension and silence stretched the next moment into an indefinable time period. The two young men decided it obviously wasn’t worth it and took off, probably high-fiving each other on scaring the living crap out of us.

What surprised me most in this experience was my own reaction, or lack thereof. My awareness encompassed the following: This is not how I had expected to go, but I accepted. The love for my husband was overwhelming and I hoped for a fast conclusion. Tremendous gratitude for being together in this. I was surprised to feel compassion for the boys. I have received and lived so much already, nothing feels incomplete and I’m happy with my share. Now, these thoughts didn’t exactly come this linear and spelled out (OK, except for the “let it be quick if it’s happening now”), but rather flooded me as a knowingness. It’s actually not much different than how we live our daily lives: In awe of the daily gifts, together, grateful, ready for what life presents.

I value this experience as an enormous gift. And one those is definitely enough for now.

Whether I’m working on a sculpting project, like the transformation of the fairy garden entrance here, or grooming a flower bed, this little seat is helping my (somewhat, ahem) aging body to deal with all this low to the ground work.
It folds down, as shown, for a low seat, flips over for kneeling, or can be used as a stool. All that with weather proof padding and a robust frame. Spotted it at Improvements Catalog.

Diane Cassada creates original handbags from one of society’s most abundant trash items: grocery bags. And there is a never ending supply of “thread”!

Grocery bags must be cut in strips that are then used to crochet these sturdy and very handy bags. Diane sells them to friends and family, currently hardly keeping up with the demand. No surprise: she sells them for around $25-30, only a token for the hours spent creating each bag. She delights in “creating something out of nothing” and absolutely loves that her materials are free. She’s experimented with different colors, too, some bags come in bright yellow, green, or blue.

This is, in my eyes, the ultimate form of recycling: Re-using, re-purposing (although the purpose actually stays the same here). If you are interested in buying one of Diane’s bags, carry them in your environmentally friendly retail inventory, or would like more information, please email me for Diane’s contact information.

Couldn’t paint this if I tried. Within days, the most magical creations appear on rotting wood stumps.

After years of struggle in the herb garden, this rose is coming back full force this year. I’ve always said I won’t mess with roses for their upkeep can be a chemical challenge. Well, it made it and is now covered with buds like this first one. Definitely worth the effort (which btw included no chemicals here!).

Well, my brain cells are aging and the tag’s missing, so I have no clue what the name of this flower is. But now in its second year, the clump has doubled and I’m thrilled!

Somewhat difficult to capture in a photograph… the layers of texture: The crisp peony buds on their bright green foliage in front of spikey rosemary, with the stone backdrop of the house. I stand in awe. (and yes, the rock’s making waves… :-)

This penstemon is about ready to open. So delicate, so precious.

My friend Nancy is a fellow garden nut and I’m always inspired by new additions to her collection. While mountain laurel is native here and grows profusely around their house, this hybrid is absolutely spectacular! The color in the photo is pretty close to real: the buds literally look like candy, about as pink as it gets!

Every year I watch the ants on the peonies in the back yard. From the time that small flower buds appear, each one has a few ants on it. They seem to be just hanging out, not busy tending to other insects or substance. Correction: the substance must be the fragrant aroma of the peonies. No doubt intoxicating! It seems that the ants are literally getting high on the scent.

A friend told me that there is actually some kind of symbiotic relationship between the ants and the peonies, that the plant would not flower were it not for the ants’ attention. Interesting. Haven’t been able to find anything on the web on this, would love some more info! Until then, I’m enjoying these fabulous creatures, green and legged ones alike!

Planting this barberry bush in the herb and flower garden was an experiment - a successful one may I add. This baby is simply stunning, the photo doesn’t really convey it. The red is deep and morphs toward green at the base of the stems where the sun doesn’t hit. Right now, tiny red berries are forming. All year long, this simple bush adds color and texture, I love it!

The backyard is filling out nicely. Every Thing is so lush. I can’t even bring myself to mow the buttercups! The whole fence is covered with honeysuckle, just about ready to explode into bloom and fragrance. The somewhat “contained” bed to the right in front of the angel is full of raspberry bush, loaded! It’s the first year. I have a feeling I’m kidding myself that this baby will let me keep it contained like this…

This one’s happy sitting in an inconspiciuous spot between rocks and mulch.

There are moments that I’m in complete awe of creations such as these. It’s all a dream…

Seeds from a friend’s garden started the two red columbines. Now in their second year, they are almost three feet tall and a couple of feet wide, a huge cluster of red and yellow blossoms. Think I’ll be spreading some more of those seeds.

The black columbine was added to our friends’ resting spot (a.k.a. the pet cemetery) last year and came back with a vengence this year, tons of black blossoms! Well, they’re actually closer to a dark purple, not quite what you see in this image.

Buddha’s chilling out by the “creek” that’s now making its way across, or rather through, the walkway. Fresh flowers in a tiny blue bottle, one of the many bottles that still keep emerging through the garden floor. The steep, once wooded lot was obviously at some point also used to dump their trash. Serenity reclaimed.

These purple clematis blossoms are a good 8″ across and absolutely stunning! Ricki cut old chainlink fence and attached strips of it as trellisses for the clematis plants. Seems that a few hours of direct light are definitely enough for these delicate beauties.

I mistook these delicate beauties for Maybells, or Lili of the Valley, but they aren’t. If anyone knows their name, please let me know.

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This fantastic new bush behind the dog cabin is like a tall leggy dandelion bush, with yellow pom-pom blossoms all over it! Planted last year, it’s doing extremely well despite the mostly shaded spot.

Blooming Beauty

The latest addition to the North Garden is this fairy-sized trellis along with flagstone (here still in progress). The trellis is perfect in scale with the cabin and defines the fairies’ garden! Not like they exactly stick to any kind of perimeter, but this little section of Wamboldtopia is perfectly sized and inviting to the little folk. The construction in the background? Well… that’s the outhouse and it’s still under construction. :-))

The purple pine cones are now about 1″ long

Getting this close was thrilling! What a fantastic being!!!

Dean Kamen invented this nifty machine that extracts H2O out of just about any liquid to deliver clean water! I’m first in line for the home unit… once it’s affordable! YES PLEASE! Watch video of the interview with Kamen on the Colbert Report.

These blossoms belong to a common plant, a beauty-full little bush draped with white blooms -and there’s a pink variety, too - and I don’t remember its name. Nonetheless, it is absolutely delightful!

This little pine tree was rescued from certain death last year from our friends’ building site. It wasn’t the only one to be yanked but this one seemed to ask for refuge: it was about as scraggly and sorry as they come and I simply couldn’t resist. So I came home with this 6′ twig that had a handful of thin green pine pom-poms and looked like it would make better kindling then a tree. My excitement in seeing this healthy new growth can hardly be described! Without a clue whether I’m looking at tiny purple pine cones or or new leaf growth (wisdom, anyone?), I’m simply elated to see this little guy grab onto new life: a sunny spot, not much competition and lots of TLC. It’s the little pine tree that could.

emerging Tulip foliage… absolutely intriguing and fascinating close up!

The force of life, wonderful to watch.

Over the past week, Ricki and I have been noticing the bees that have been coming to the pond to drink. They carefully land on the rock or moss where they can safely get to the water without falling in, their feet cannot hold on to vertical slippery surfaces. We didn’t think much of it and just watched as they do their dance! Yesterday morning, however, I went outside to toss old bread out to critters and walked by the pond, when I noticed a steady and low hum. Not the sound you hear from one bee, but a huge hum that came from A LOT of bees! As I turned my head to the pond, I saw bees swarming about and a small bee carpet along the moss! The photo shows only a fraction, hard to capture it all without getting right in it! This rapid growth in population had me a bit concerned, although the bees were definitely not aggressive.

I turned to my friend, experienced bee keeper Debra Roberts, who gave me excellent advice about these bees. She writes "For me, this is an utterly delightful photo! And there is nothing to worry about. These are honeybees and on these days that are over 50 and especially 60 degrees, the honeybees are emerging from their winter hives and starting to forage for pollen, nectar and water. These bees are drinking, for themselves and to take back to the hive to water down the stored honey to then feed the babies (babies in brood form, babies in newly emerged form). As the weather gets warmer, this is a population explosion time. These bees won’t bother you unless you sit on them or put your face close to them and breathe on them. Honeybees can fly over 2 miles to get water but probably live closer to you in a local bee keeper’s hive somewhere in your area. It is less likely they will live in a local tree because feral bees hardly exist anymore. This is not a swarm (which is also a very benign thing). If you are a gardener, this is a happy sight because your fruits and veggies, esp, may get a visit from these girls later (but not in these numbers at once). These bees do not live by water, they just visit."

Great advice! We will continue watching the bees with fascination (and respect…)!

The first Hyacinth! Their vigor and massive blossoms are simply wonder-full! This one came into the house with me and its fragrance fills the bathroom with lovely sweet scent for about a week!

Through the fall leaves poke the most delightful anemones. They close their blossoms in the evening, protecting themselves from the harsh spring night temperatures.

The back section of the garden has been somewhat neglected. The fence has been slowly falling apart and was torn up last year by Jessie, a sweet husky that the neighbors had unfortunately tied to a huge chain, he almost hung himself several times trying to climb over this fence! They have since moved, I hope Jessie is well. The old trunk is rotting away slowly but I can’t bring myself to toss it, it’s just a great piece of yard art! The double narcissus add a golden light to the scene.

Know anyone who builds fences? :-)

The rosemaries are just starting to bloom, tiny blue blossoms on robust woody rosemary stalks, fantastic!

Although many of the 20 species of the Helleborus genus are toxic, it remains an absolute favorite in spring! The clumps of star foliage and delicate flowers make their way through thick ivy and announce spring despite freezing nights! These two beauties were wedding presents from our garden ceremony and will continue to spread throughout the yard (with a little help from my trowel, of course…).

when it’s coming through your outlet!

Haven’t brought myself to get it outta there yet since I discovered it a couple of days ago, it’s just too hilarious!

But seriously, this wonderful and vigorous plant can do a bit of damage, I’ve seen it push stone and concrete walls apart, so watchout! This baby is crawling up under the siding on the outside and has also found its way into our crawl space under the house, some serious eradication is in order…

As I look around in the garden, my eye falls on this brass compass, a piece I had purchased years ago in a second handshop in West Asheville. Nothing spectacular, one would think, but seeing the tiny sedums come up through the leaves and the metal just makes my heart jump… Spring’s here!

One of the NYT editorials made a wonderful statement: The truth is this: Americans cannot expect immigrants to serve them — to make their beds and meals, feed their babies and ailing parents, and pick their crops — while living in fear and hopelessness.

The political approach to the immigration challenge certainly needs to change, and it needs to move towards embracing the people who come here and those who are already here. Unless you are a full blooded Native American, you or your ancestors came here as immigrants. The Earth is not that large and our human population is growing, people are naturally following their intuition to where opportunity greets them and their lives flourish.

It may be helpful, for the presidential candidates as much as anyone else, not to treat immigration as a separate issue. It’s not an issue at all, actually. It is a demand, something that’s not to be stopped but observed and embraced. No so-called foreigner is separate from a citizen anymore, really. The lines are blurred. We are all habitants of this Earth, let’s stop separating and start making stronger communities. The global village including its trade and migration, the Earth’s health, provisions for all its inhabitants…. I hope the next leader of this country will have a broader and all-inclusive vision of where we’re heading.

I am a legal alien in this country and feel extremely grateful and blessed to be here. My obstacles have been minute: I didn’t have to walk through the desert and cross the border illegally, work for people who exploit me and live in overcrowded housing, working for years before raising my standard while being discriminated every day in some circumstance. My motherland Germany prepared me with plenty of schooling, fluent English, and skills to jump right into the educated work force. It wasn’t always easy but nothing compared to the challenges non-English speaking illegal immigrants face.

Interesting times we live in…