Blueberry Season - The Final Score for 2014

This year's blueberry season lasted from early July to about August 10th.  There were still quite a few unripe berries left on the Elliot bush when we stopped picking, but the birds picked the remaining berries as fast as they ripened.  There must be some fat, happy birds in our neighborhood.  I saw robins, cardinals, blue jays and catbirds in the garden.  And there were some small critters, such as chipmunks, enjoying the bounty too.

We picked a total of 63 cups of berries.  (Last year we picked 34 cups.)  Of those 63 cups, about 15 cups went to neighbors, a few we ate fresh, and the rest were frozen.  I gave a bunch of bags of frozen blueberries to my sister.

I have been enjoying peach/blueberry smoothies made with fresh peaches and frozen blueberries for breakfast many mornings lately.  YUM!

A successful blueberry season.

The Shed - At Work and At Play

I knew from the beginning that there would be a certain element of "play house" to my garden shed.  Up until the time it was delivered, I insisted to myself and to Eric that element would be small and temporary.  I warned Eric that the stinky, dirty lawn mower and gas cans would have to stay in the garage for a while longer.

But when I started filling the shed with stuff, it became obvious that the "play house" element was here to stay.  One of the first things in the shed (after the curtains and candle lamps in the windows) was a small wool rug that had been languishing in our garage.  And then a collection of children's tea sets...

And a spare picnic table, dressed for a tea party.  

The shed will always be a working garden shed -- storing rakes, shovels, grass seed, a wheel barrow, hand tools, outdoor furniture cushions, umbrellas, and etc.

It also serves as storage for my gardening books and a place for me to do garden planning and garden day dreaming.

That's my "grab and go" bucket of gardening hand tools by the door.

And this storage cabinet can easily be turned into a potting table by removing my tray of "curiosities" and adding the potting tray stored on the loft shelf.

But, to me, nothing says "Garden Shed" louder or more emphatically than this Waterford crystal table lamp that I bought at an estate sale.

Or the antique cherry drop leaf table that replaced the old picnic table.

It is Blueberry Season!

We have 11 blueberry bushes -- four different varieties.  I know that 5 of the bushes are Elliot, but I cannot recall what the others are.  Four of the Elliots are not even close to producing -- they are under 2 feet tall.  Our goal for them this year is to help them survive the rabbits.  We have them caged to protect them.  

Last year, 2013, I covered several branches on each of the 7 bushes that were producing with floating row cover to protect the berries from the birds.  I only picked from what was covered.  What was not covered got picked clean by the birds.  Between June 29 and August 11 of 2013, I picked 34 cups of blueberries. Wow!

This year, after pruning the bushes for the first time ever, I was worried about the bushes being less productive.  My fears were totally unfounded.  Actually, quite the opposite is true.  The bushes are more productive than they have ever been.  One of the bushes is so full of berries that the branches are bent over and touching the ground.  

For at least the last two weeks, the robins, blue jays and chipmunks have been feasting!  And I have been picking!  Last year at this time, I had picked 7 cups of berries.  This year's total, as of today is 12 cups.  And we haven't covered a single branch with floating row cover.  

A Gift for Lois

In the event that you are looking for that special gift to buy for me, I have discovered the one thing that will make my life complete:

The auto in the picture is a 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Convertible Sedan.  I am not too particular about the year -- I'll take any model from the 1920's thorough the 1930's.  But the color is rather important -- only green will do.  And, of course, it must be a convertible.  

If only every gift giving dilemma could be solved so easily...  

Nib Creep and a New Lens

After over a month of waiting, I finally received my new camera lens.  It is a Sigma 105mm 1:28 macro lens.  I was anxious to play with it, of course, so I pulled out a few fountain pens and gave the lens a spin.

Here's a photo of my Parker IM fountain pen, inked up with Diamine Red Dragon.  The crystals/junk on the nib and feed are what is called nib creep.  Not sure why it happens, but it was neat to get such a close up picture of it.  

By contrast, here is my Cross Solo, inked up with Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses.  You can see that the nib has a slight amount of ink on it and the feed is clean. (Well, if you don't count the cat/dog hair that is dangling from it!)  That's how a fountain pen should look.

These four pictures were taken outside (natural light) and using a tripod.  I tend to be very over-confident of my ability to hold a camera still.  I really hate to stop what I am doing and drag out my tripod, so I'll hand-hold for shots way more often than I should.  That's a lot of blurry, messed-up shots.  Good thing film isn't involved anymore, or I would be wasting A LOT of film!  One of the first lessons I learned with this new lens is that hand-holding just will not work.  Get out the dang tripod as soon as you get out the lens, Lois!

More Doodle-igraphy

I have these cool watercolor pencils that I bought this past winter...

...and a watercolor pan set that I have no idea when I bought it or how many hundreds of years I have had it. 

I have fun playing with them occasionally.  But like many of the art/craft supplies I have bought over the years, I don't have a real talent or knowledge of how to use them.  They're just toys for me.  

This week, I was playing around, making some more doodle-igraphy.  This time, I tried making a playful version of Times New Roman font on the back of an envelope.  It came out kinda cool and was fun to do.  This was my first attempt, so please ignore the goof I made on the sarif of the R.

Then I got to thinking, what if I doodled it on watercolor paper, using a Sharpie to outline the letters and watercolors to fill the letters and wash the background?

And, violà!

I'm pretty pleased with it.  It is so playful and fun.

I have an idea to take this method a step further to make a gift.  I can't guarantee it will ever materialize, but if it does, you can bet I'll be bragging about it here.
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And now, for a Wren Report!

I don't think we have seen the wrens under the gazebo since January, but I know they're nesting nearby.  They are so vocal, it is hard to miss them.  I figured we wouldn't see them again under the gazebo until after nesting season was over.

Last night, when I was out with the dogs for their final potty break of the evening, I noticed one of the wrens in a teacup.  It was cool last night—about 60° Fahrenheit—and he (or she) was snuggled in pretty tight and his (her) feathers were fluffed up.

This morning, when the dogs were out for the first potty break of the day (5:20 am), the wren was still there.  The rest of the birds in the neighborhood were already up and chirping their heads off, but our wren was still fast asleep.  Five minutes later, he (she) was gone.

Flowers for the House

I picked these peonies and lupines for the house two days ago.  I wish I had taken a photo then, as they were tighter and more gorgeous then.  They smell heavenly!