Sunday, July 29, 2007

More Florida . . . (and a wee bit of quilty content)

I've been home a month, and I still have not posted all my doings while I was there. So, here's a catchup. .

Sean had mentioned to me before I arrived that he'd appreciate some help redoing the garden planter than is in their front yard, under the dining room window. It was a big raggedy- we ended up tearing out everything except three bushes that were close to the house, and had lovely yellow blooms. Unfortunately, I neglected to take any "before" pictures!

And gardening in Florida - at least in the summer- is hot, sweaty work. I figured out very quickly that this is something one does early in the day, before the humidity gets overpowering.

Marly and I went to a neat nursery close to their home. Loads of fascinating plants, most of which were new to me, since they'd never survive in the high desert I live in. And the flowers on most plants are BIG!! We were trying to find mostly perennials, but ended up with a mix. After planting what we'd bought, I realized that it needed even more, the bed is actually quite large. So, on Monday I got up and returned to the nursery alone- I think I was there shortly after they opened at 8 am. I asked more questions, and got another truckload of plants. I really was trying for contrast in color, texture, and height- with, hopefully, minimal upkeep.

I got them in the same day, and was very pleased with the results.



This is what it looked like just before Sean put red mulch over the entire bed. When they say red mulch, they mean it- it is the reddest bark I've ever seen!

And here it is in all it's glory, after mulching--



Our timing was just right, that night we had the first big rainstorm since my arrival. So the plants got a good soaking shortly after being transplanted.

Clouds was something that fascinated me while I was there. It could be sunny in one part, and pouring rain in another part of town, with menacing black clouds. I took a bunch of pictures while we were traveling, and actually got some decent ones despite the freeway speeds!





More later. I've got some of my discharged pieces from a couple of weeks ago batching in a brown dyepot after I re-discharged with a stencil. It's a different brown than I used before, so this will be interesting. I hope it tones the orangey cast down. And, I decided to do the last part of my journal quilt differently than I did my study piece. Already auditioned some fabric for it.


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