Field and Fen actually does something related to fields and fens

Well, to the outdoors, anyway, involving a couple of experiments. A neighbor wanted a purple sage like the one I have out front, a very reliable garden denizen, fades totally over the winter, no sign of her, comes roaring back in spring, blooms for ages with lovely sage-smelling foliage and flowers.

So I thought, well, since most of my gardening disregards rules, why not take cuttings right this minute,  never mind if it's the wrong time, and try some in a pot out of doors near the parent plant, and some in pots indoors in a more sheltered environment.  So we'll see.

Then I thought it would be nice to take cuttings off the snake plant which is living with me over the summer to recuperate from apartment living the previous year. 

So I did that and you see them, too.  Possibly I'll have to move both the outdoor pots to a less sunny place for the moment, but that's another decision.

So, as I say, we'll see.  While I was at this, one neighbor snook some sad little aloes into my kitchen for intensive care, and I added them into the pot with my own to see if that would cheer them up, and another (neighbor, not aloe), asked me to take a look at various plants and trees on her patio and discuss their future care.  Fun.

Now I'm sure those blogistas with acres and crops and barns and animals will be looking with great indulgence on these tiny antics, but that's okay, too.  My two  inches of ivory, says she grandly.

Late July on the patio, with summer visitors

This afternoon's pix of the resident flowers, sunflower type on left, blanketflowers on right, couple of gift marigolds under there, with a visiting caladium in the background. This is what you see when you open the back gate.  And honesty compels me to admit it's the best bit.

 
 and a whole bunch of campers, here for the summer from next door.  For some of them it's intensive care, for others just r and r. In among them are my own houseplants. Out of the pic on the left is my ficus, growing away, and I think it will touch the ceiling when it comes back into the house.

 I like having the house emptied a bit for the summer.  I bet my housecleaners do, too.

Ulysses still at sea

Just giving notice that I'm halfway through reading Ulysses, and Bloom's beginning to drag.  So I may retire it until next Bloomsday and read the second half then. That's the plan for June 16, 2015 to July 14, 2015.  Bastille Day is my independence from continuing for this year. I have spoke.  Vive la liberte!

The great part about owning it on a Kindle is that wherever I stopped is where it will open to next time, no paging back and forth and wondering, and cursing the cats for pinching my bookmark.

Artists Party On

Yesterday was the party for the local artists' association, to celebrate ourselves and the exhibit we all took part in.  Just a few quickpix to show you some of our friends in action, in typical poses, as they discuss their own and each others' work, which you see in the background.

 The son of one of the artists, an accomplished musician, played background, and you see him, between sets, chatting with a fan! 

since the theme of the exhibit, and the summer program, was It's All Greek to Me, the raffle drawing, a random drawing to award some small $$ to artists in the show, employed a Greek urn. And each winner drew the next ticket.  

One of the artists is also an accomplished gardener, who brought herb samples with Greek associations, and gave them to any comer.

Great fun, generosity all round.  Very well run by gallery manager Donna, who got a warm round of applause from appreciative artists.  Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon in summer.

In the running for Good Housekeeping Badge of Merit

In the course of what started out a quiet then reached a crescendo morning, I started out baking.   Feeling a bit lonely and alone and rather than get all down, would make a batch of hot biscuits with walnuts, since I was, aside from lonely, out of bread.

Then since I was already in gear and in apron, went out to clip herbs, long overdue for use in pesto making, and cut some of every herb I grow.  On the way back in the screen door fell on me, twice, and I replaced it, getting it to stay after a while.

Back indoors, used the pizza wheel to chop the herbs, kitchen smelling lovely by now, and in the middle of this, a whole bunch of kids burst in, led by my friend whom they're visiting, family from India, to play with my cats.  

Missing their own cats at home, they urgently need this!  so Duncan found himself in the middle of a press conference, three cameras going at him at once, posing with various new friends, having a wonderful time with all the attention. I brought Marigold down from her hiding place to see them, and she allowed them to look, nothing more.

After they left, the chopping resumed, and the putting into containers for the freezer until I'm ready to make pesto, and the labeling and the putting away, which entailed emptying and reorganizing the freezer.  Here they are, posing with the batch of biscuits, minus the ones I had at lunch.

And the mail arrived bringing the spring tension rod I'd ordered in order to shirr two scarves onto it and use at the top of the kitchen window to block the afternoon sun from shining through the tabtops right into my eyes, via the passthrough, in the next room. 

This entailed searching the whole room, including an open drawer, for the nut that leaped out of the packaging and vanished.  Successful outcome, you see topper in place.

So now I'm putting in for my Gardening, Baking, Preserving, Handyperson, Interior Design  and Hostess badges from the Good Housekeeping people. 

Particularly requesting extra credit for having done all these in one morning.

White Rabbits, July's Here, Hats Rule

The Dolliver hats are done, to their satisfaction, Call Me Michelle having seized on the preppy pink and green, and the others picked their faves.

So here they are, set up on their chaise, dressed for summer,cool drink at the ready, Elton serenading them into a summer of doing nothing or even less.

 

He rendered a few Good Old Summertime tunes, warming up for Friday's Fourth concert, Summertime played with great eloquence, Take me Out to the Ballpark (hat day, you know) and various noises he assured me were Beach Boy hits. Okay.  And he did fit in a  couple of choruses of O Canada in honor of dolls across the longest unguarded border celebrating their homeland

Nobody to tell the bears, now up to 21 strong about this hat deal. Some of them already have hats, but the others haven't grasped this yet, still getting used to their new surroundings.