Garden Journal

Every year I record my gardening adventures in a journal.  I have used many different types of journals over the years.  This year I made a stack of journals to use,

 each one serving a specific purpose.  

A calendar, several art journals, a gratitude journal, the yellow flowered journal below will be my Garden Journal for this season.

Bright and cheery colored papers were chosen to reflect a garden, flower, and herb theme.

Click here to see more of the PEACOCK Journal.

Extra pieces of papers can be added for making notes or plans.

Several little pockets glued in can hold seed packets or other miscellaneous items.

I added this little "notebook" by stapling along one edge, attaching it onto a page. I used about 10 sheets of lined paper, and punched holes and threaded cotton thread through the holes,  The little flowers are actually buttons.

View an additional journal here:

2015 GARDEN JOURNAL

Spring is Here!

a photo of geraniums and tomatoes growing by the garden shed in 2015

Spring is in the air! The past couple of days it has been raining instead of snowing.  The big 5 foot high snow piles in the driveway have melted away, creating a small lake in the front yard.  

The kale, chard, onions and garlic are growing happily in the greenhouse.

It won't be long before the rhubarb will be cut and made into delicious crisps,

pies, and my favorite rhubarb compote.

CLICK HERE FOR MY FAVORITE RECIPES

Soon I will be munching on one of my favorite garden snacks,

RADISH PODS.

Hopefully this year I can eat a few strawberries before the deer or racoons get them all.

The annual bunching onions and chives are up in the outside gardens.  

Yes, spring is HERE!

Time to gas up the tiller and get to work.

What are you planting in your garden this year?

Delicious Savory Crepes

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fresh chives from the garden

 are added to this easy crepe batter.

2 eggs, beaten

2 tbs. melted butter

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk

1 cup flour

whisk until smooth

add chopped chives 

2-3 tbs. grated Parmesan cheese 

let rest for 30 minutes before cooking.

Pour 1/4 cup of batter on griddle.

 lift pan and swirl the batter into a circle.

Makes 8 crepes.

\

Cook on an oiled, well seasoned, cast iron griddle until golden brown on both sides.

I filled the crepes with fresh spinach from the greenhouse, shredded smoked salmon, sauteed mushrooms, toasted slivered almonds, and dressed with Greek dressing.

Add scrambled eggs for a hearty breakfast.

DELICIOUS!

It's Never To Late

"IT IS NEVER TO LATE TO BE WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN' .....george eliot

I always wanted to be an artist.  I spent hours and hours as a kid drawing and sketching.  I attended a small rural high school, but it did not offer any any art classes. I tried going to college, but the confinement of indoors and being told what to read and conforming to the opinions of professors just wasn't for me. 

Busy raising a beautiful family, working the soil on my organic vegetable farm, milking 20 goats by hand twice a day, has taken up most of my time, but with the last of the kids off to college, I have picked up my art again.  I am struggling, but I have decided it is like anything else, the more you practice, practice, practice, practice, the better you get.

This past winter I watched birds in my yard eating the seeds from the many flower heads I left uncut for them.  I tried to sketch the ever present sparrows, but my efforts weren't very good. 

 I made a goal.

  I would make 10 drawings or paintings of a sparrow and hopefully

 by the tenth one I will have made some progress.

Sketch number one.  AUGGGHHHHH!

Well, it can only get better from here!

Sketch number 3 & 4

hopefully I have made a little progress

I am finding this difficult! 

 Why do I have an easier time painting or sketching people?

Number 5. 

 This is totally wrong.  It looks more like a hawk, or a duck, than a sparrow.  

I told my husband of my goal to paint 10 paintings of sparrows,

 hoping as each painting is completed, it will help me capture them in a more realistic way.

I should just give up, but I made a goal and I am going to persevere!

This is number seven.  Well, I think  I am finally making a little progress.

One day a flock of 20 robins spent the day in the yard.  I grabbed my acrylics (I have never painted with acrylics before, I just recently purchased a beginners set with a 40% off coupon) and tried to capture them fluttering around in the snow.  I have spring fever so I painted the background green.

Not great, but I can see I am making a little progress painting birds.

                         When my husband came home I showed him this painting and he said,

"I can tell exactly what that is............. it's a SPARROW!"

"GOOD GRIEF!"

Well, back to the drawing board

I will need another 20, or 50, or 100 drawings to get it right.

If at first you don't succeed,

try, try, again, and again, and again..................

and again.

I will keep trying.