A friend of mine,
Judi of Olde Time Dolls, posted something today about a favorite apron that she's retiring. I know how that goes, having retired a couple pairs of favorite paint jeans that could no longer cover my aspect. The last pair of these, I made into this silly giant rag doll, who hangs out with me as inspiration and reminds me not to take myself too seriously. I bring her to doll shows, and have had to put a NFS tag on her. It temps me sometimes to make dolls like her FOR sale, but deep down, I know the love of silliness, the creation of art for art's sake is what people respond to. Any attempt to fake it would just not succeed.
I might make some silly rag dolls, for the fun of it, but this girl is mine, and makes me smile. (Click on the photos for closeup view.)
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| The girl has attitude. |
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| But a big heart, and a love of art. Seems like we should make another rhyme there, doesn't it? |
This weekend we spent two whole days just being lazy. Reading, lounging about, with a minimum of laundry and dishes done, putzing around with a few minor chores, but essentially recharging the ol' copper-tops. I did find the motivation to take a few photos of the Instant Fence and some other bits of landscaping that are thriving, so I figured to share those. The bees, butterflies and hummingbirds are seriously happy with me right now. Once the sunflower seed heads dry, the doves and squirrels will be too!
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| The Instant Fence, from the inside. The tall grass looking stuff is lemongrass. |
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| Instant Fence, fromthe outside. |
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| These are my favorites--I love that deep rusty red. So do the bees. |
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| These seed heads weigh a lb apiece, and before they started drooping, the plants stood seven feet tall! |
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| Sunflowers and palm trees. My happy place. |
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| This bed started out so sadly bare, but has almost filled in within the last three months. |
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| I'm covering the mailbox with morning glories. Because I can. The pink flowers on the far trellis are Queen's Wreath, or Coral Vine...a native of Mexico. That whole trellis will be covered by the end of the summer. |
Hope everyone is enjoying the summer, whether that means playing outdoors, or hiding under the AC.
I Love your inspiration Rag doll! You have inspired me to make my own Jan. Your hard work is certainly paying off, your gardens are beautiful and I bet your neighbors are enjoying the fruits of your labors as well.♥
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ReplyDeleteThere are always fun things going on at your house, inside and out. The lushness of your plants tells me you are getting rain this year. Your big rag doll is definitely a keeper; will remember her next time I have to retire an old favorite piece.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty flowers. I love the sunflowers. I think you would need a rest after all your hard work. the rag doll is very cute. She does have attitude, but sweet.
ReplyDeleteCute doll! And your garden is so neat and tidy! Love the sunflowers. For some reason, sunflowers always make me smile. I like that you planted morning glories along with them.
ReplyDeleteYour yard is lookin good. Your love of gardening certainly shows. I see you have iris. Although I don't have a green thumb, in our old home I had lots of them. I don't think it's possible to kill them, so they were a good choice for me. Besides, I love the flower. Enjoyed your photos. I have been gone some and sharing the laptop, I'm on Chapter 10. So far so good!
ReplyDeleteI would never have thought to turn an ole pair of jeans into a girl with attitude! You are the queen of make do!
Jan... the gardens are looking great. Keep in mind; I have those blue flag iris ready to dig and ship when you are ready for them! Just let me know... they are good-to-dig anytime now that summer is indeed winding down. Daryle
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