Ketchup

No, despite the title, this is not a posting about tomato based condiments. I meant the title as a catchy alternative to... catching up. Very funny, right? A busy time of year, hence my sloppy blogging habits.
I have been preoccupied with gardening and trying to balance the intense purchasing/planting/starting seeds. As I have previously reported, I initiated a couple of new beds (one for shrubs and one for asters) and also developed a fixation with different types and colors of lilacs. And to boot, I have rekindled a neglected interest in starting seeds of plants not readily available in nurseries (or way to expensive to buy the quantity I long for...)There's always something new in the horticultural world if you're a plant geek!
And studio time... I have two new major pieces going which I will post soon. One has a labor-intensive edge that I had to fabricate and took what seemed like forever but it looks great. The other piece is elaborate and simply requiring amazing amounts of sewing, through thick, shiny white vinyl. And in the midst of trying to get a grasp on studio time, I had to run into New Haven to pick up four pieces from a show that is closing. (I got a good mention in a newspaper review. Yay!)
And then, of course, there was Bob's birthday (which date he shares with the Buddha.) Bob made out like a bandit, getting all kinds of novel and nifty things including new striped shirts, a nesting set of French serving dishes and a smart phone. The phone is proving smarter than us, so it may take a while to unlock all of it's apps and marvels; that's where the plastic pretend phone pictured above comes in handy...

And then we have had to eat. Have you ever been blocked as to what to have for dinner? It's as if you've eaten everything at least five times and there's nothing left to try. And then the food that still exists untried is inedible because it contains hideous amounts of salt, high fructose corn syrup, GMO ingredients or is full of stuff that unpronounceable. (Never a good sign!) But leave it to Bob to explore the enlightened world of creative plate coverage. Just look at what could have been a banal beige meal! He rendered it lovely and delicious... fish sticks with onion rings and braised Brussel sprouts.
I am also on the verge on constructing that mosaic wall I've been threatening to build (I guess I am not the only one with a wall obsession). I think I have a sufficient quantity of busted and shattered dishes plates and platters to commence. I don't want to begin it and change my mind about decoration or pattern; it wouldn't be the easiest thing to amend! The wall will have to wait- much like the terrace project- until the frenzy of Spring has abated.

So I'm Nuts

I am providing another picture of the silvery-toned front border because I spent the last two days digging, dividing, moving and installing another border. See? I told you I was nuts! I guess I'm of the mind that you can't have too many gardens...

And I always wanted an aster border. I love asters: they've got to be one of my all time top ten flowers (The other big one on my list is Delphinium. Also tulips. And I do like lilacs! The list goes on.) Last fall, if anyone can remember that far back, in a saner, safer world before The Orange Menace ascended to the throne... oops! I thought I'd avoid politics but I guess that nigh -on impossible. Where was I... Ah yes. Last fall I conceived of the idea of a border devoted almost entirely to asters. I searched high and low and found a few nice selections but a few interesting varieties eluded me. It seems few garden centers offer a wide range of asters and there many to be had. I sense that by fall, many gardeners are on to Chrysanthemums and cabbages and don't think about planting asters. And I know by a couple that bought, they don't always enjoy living in perennial pots all summer. I got two Aster Novi-belgii "Marie Ballard" that looked so awful that the woman at the nursery sold me them for half price. But they came up brilliantly this spring! (As an aside, the nomenclature has chnaged. Confusingly, what had previously been called Aster Novi-angliae and Aster Novi-belgii are now known as Symphyotrichum Novi-angliae and Symphyotrichum Novi-belgii. The horticultural powers that be seem to get antsy and rename things every once in a while. Whatever!)

This spring I resorted to ordering "Bressingham White", "September Ruby" and "Crimson Brocade". The first two arrived looking just swell; they were so well packaged and nice strapping plants; hats off to that supplier. The "Crimson Brocade", reputedly the reddest of the fall blooming asters came looking awfully sad: bare root and wimpy. I sure hope they revive.

Anyway, I dug and ripped roots out and yanked Virginia Creeper vines and broke sod. We should have a pretty spectacular aster border this late summer/early fall. I crammed a mess of asters in there including "Harrington's Pink" (which I've had for ages),  Aromatic Aster "October Skies", Calico asters, Aster Laevis and a few asters that produced their own cross-breeds in our garden. 

But here's a nice tulip photo that Bob took to provide color as those asters aren't going to bloom until autumn. They're being protected  from Robin's marauding hooves by one of Bob's peony rings:

Shrub Border Part II

And to reinforce just how much work (and fun!) I experience when creating a new border, here's a partial pile of the rocks I unearthed! Single-handedly wrenched from this stony, unforgiving New England soil. (Stirring images of doughty pioneer women...And I did get just a touch of poison ivy.)

Here's the pile of brambles I chopped, yanked, pulled and sawed down. I think I really needed to see my hard work documented...
And while I was busy hauling and planting and watering, all this other stuff was erupting:
                                                                            

Tulips! That transformed from yellow to orange and were simply super. (Sorry my picture placement is all wonky. As usual- because of that blasted Mercury retrograde or a virus, our computer is behaving oddly. Actually, I think it's still something to do with that upgrade to Windows 10...)

That's not the greatest picture but it looks really super in person... less empty space!  Robin is skulking away in the back ground; she probably stole something from me, like a perennial pot or a glove. Very sneaky! Tonight while I was planting the pansies a friend gave us (thank you Bob!), Robin stole my watering bottle, three (empty) annual packs and tried to wrestle the hose to the ground as if it were a giant Anaconda- she's very helpful!
Additionally, the sand cherry is blooming like never before and the Magnolia is still in bloom. It's really been a pretty spring. I am just beginning to feel a bit swamped (Jeremy Swamped that is) because I need to get started planting seeds and there are already weeds. No rest for the wicked!

Shrub Border!

I should have taken a picture of this before I cleaned it up! It was a tangled mess of small saplings, rose brambles, barberry and just a general thicket of invasives and undesirables. There is probably a handsome case of "contact dermatitis" awaiting me, as I'm sure some of the vines I ripped out are slowly awakening poison ivy! Oh well...
I've been planning on creating a new shrub area for some time. Bob and I have collected a number of lilac suckers from several friends and we (spontaneously) purchased a shrub or two thinking of the future. Bob also had a few small flowering trees from my sister Beatrice having enrolled him in the Arbor Day Foundation. Those were healed into the vegetable garden and have grown impressively, making for a harder transplantation than we originally anticipated. The crab apple especially seems to have liked where it was residing and put up a fight at being moved.

Doesn't look that big but it resisted being dug up! There were a couple of dogwoods, too. One I planted out near a variegated dogwood we purchased last year. The digging in that area was so hard and it got to be late in the afternoon, so I put the other dogwood in the new shrub border. Sometimes, the path of least resistance is awfully appealing!

So it make look just like my shadow on a spot of earth, but there's a hole there waiting for a new resident. I dug and ripped and raked and dug some more- I spent the entire day outside, installing this new section of the garden. It's going to be nice, once we get the fence moved and put a new gate up at the end of a sort of natural path that leads through this former wilderness. Hey: we have friends who are down sizing and getting all happy about not having lawns to mow or gardens to weed. I just keep developing new gardens...
But look what the competition is!

We made a trip to the New York Botanic Garden last week, to deliver Bob's metal work that they sell in the shop there. (One of the horticulturalists said to Bob, "You're famous! Everyone wants your metal work!" That was cool.) But wandering around their 250 acres of trees, shrubs, perennials, bulbs and millions of specimens makes me so envious. Look at those flowering cherries above! And literally a zillion daffodils! Yikes. It was awe inspiring, but I hate to think of how many gardeners they employ. Back here at home, we only have me and Bob and Robin.

Tax Time!

It's hard to believe that that's my studio table. I decided that if I did my taxes in my studio, it would be impossible to ignore the mess and avoid doing them. I am pretty adept at finding other things to do...
Like raking leaves or even hanging out the laundry- anything but having to do my taxes! So, yes, I spread out on my studio table, knowing that I'd get them done as I couldn't use my table and work on my most recent piece. I trick myself occasionally.
It worked: I'm all done. I must have set a new speed record for compiling, adding, computing, correcting, refiguring and copying my taxes. I was seriously annoyed that I had to run upstairs three times (!) to go on the IRS website and calculate various evil and arcane equations. Who thinks this stuff up? As I relentlessly intone every year, the government is especially crazy to trust people like me to do their taxes. On the best of days, I struggle to do things like percentages and on the worst of days, even simple subtraction is a real mind bender. (Please never ask to see my check book.) And the inclusion of Premium Earned Tax Credits to account for my ObamaCare is especially challenging as there are inexplicable sub-categories and side charts. There is even a paragraph that I swear the IRS is saying something to the tune of: "Trust us; just multiply this number (that makes no sense) by this other number (Don't ask us how we arrived at this number; just do it.)" So far, I have always received a refund so I must be doing things right, either that or the agents checking my form feel sorry for me.*
What was especially irksome today was that it had to have been the nicest day this year- an amazingly nice day! However, I am on a course of antibiotics and am supposed to stay out of the sun so I had to ignore the benevolent sun and greening grass. It did force me to stay on task.
Here's something I can attest to. The IRS knows how tough doing taxes can be. They kept suggesting we go drinking after filing:

See? "Search current forms and PUBS". They're apparently recommending bars and drinking establishments in your zip code. Although I'm not supposed to have alcohol while on this prescription; I guess I'll have to delay my celebration!
I debated not sending in my tax this year. If the current Unpresidented resident of the White House refuses to release his taxes, then I feel like I shouldn't have to submit my taxes. I am disheartened that they are using our money to do terrible things like bomb Syria. If they asked any one of us for recommendations, I am sure we could come up with better ways to spend a dollar. For many years now, I have advocated for a multiple choice section on the 1040 inquiring as to where you want your taxes to go. Then we'd see what's important!

*And I'd like to add that it helps when you fill out your return in at least three different colors of ink from at least four different pens. I am sure the attending IRS agent thinks I'm "unstable" to put it mildly. But one pen ran dry and every time I went upstairs, there was a different pen at the ready...

Garden Clean Up and Othe Innocuous Postings

Nice clean garden beds! The wonderful warm, sunny (maybe a little windy!) weather begged me to begin the vernal ritual of garden clean up. It is so good to see tiny nascent leaves exposed and
bits of green shoots and snouts poking up. I start to recall all my horticultural fiends...

(There's my helper Lil' Robin the Good, overseeing my efforts and making sure that I don't miss random sticks and leaves. Actually, she photobombed me- appeared out of left field!) It took three full days to chop everything down and rake it into sizeable piles. I confess I haven't picked up all the piles yet; tired of lugging tarps through the gate...
We still have one small ridge of snow in the shadiest section of the yard, but Robin and I ran through it a few hundred times and tried to scatter it so maybe by today it will be all gone. Who needs a reminder of winter?!?!?
Bob and I are finalizing our seed orders and are hopeful that we'll have a beautiful and productive season. We'd better as we committed to being on a garden tour- in the end of August, which means we have to make the garden look good for an extended period of time. And what's blooming in the end of August?!!?! And we're on the tour the same day as a man who is a Master Gardener and probably has a gardening staff (with names sown on the pockets of their uniform tee shirts, no less) and I'm certain the tour will be in for a huge comparison shock. But we do have exotic sculpture and many "Items of Interest" to view.

I splurged and bought two really nice urns to adorn the soon-to-be-constructed terrace area. Many of our old planters- mostly half rusted cooking pots and the like- were simply falling apart. Don't worry: we still have a good assortment of weird containers, but I liked the color and size of these. (And they were a hopelessly good buy!) I know poor Bob is very busy working and making metal work for heads of state and royalty, but I just can't wait to start pulling up decayed boards and ridding our world of the rotting "deck"; remember, there was good sized clusters of grass growing in it last year.
The back of the BauHaus Chicken Coop will look amazing once that's done...
(You will notice- and be thankful for, no doubt!- that there was not even one reference to The Orange Menace in this entire post! He and his evil henchmen are busy destroying the environment and signing executive orders to permit the dumping of toxins into our water and rolling back regulations to allow the use of hideous pesticides... we are happy to be growing many of our own vegetables!!)

A Very Busy Week!

Yes, that's me and my fellow women artists being interviewed on WPKN, a local very independent radio station. Thanks to Debbie Hesse for the invitation- and the photograph! We were all radio neophytes (and quite nervous initially!)but settled in and had a delightful hour long discussion of art, music, politics and Nasty Women in modern day America.
On my way to the radio station, I was enthralled, listening to public hearings into intelligence gathering and the evidence coming forth about Russian meddling in our recent election- shades of Watergate! Yes, I was one of those youngsters who couldn't get enough of Senator Sam and the rest of the subcommittee as delved into nefarious Nixon White House doings...
I had work to complete for my inclusion in the show "Mincing Words" curated by the artist (and organizer of wonderful shows) Martha Lewis. Hangers to be affixed, work to be delivered- the typical pre-game details. And this was at the same time as trying to get the car repaired, go to work, finish a collage for another fund raiser auction.
Not to mention Maggie still needs additional TLC because while her hoof is on the mend, she needs to regain the weight and strength she shed while hurting. Maggie actually broke into a trot and then a bit of a canter yesterday so I know she's improving. And of course, the extra attention that Maggie gets requires me to lavish more focus on Lil' Robin (who waxes jealous...). No wonder I run around like a nut before leaving for work.

(Another shot, taken by the station manager, Steve Constanza).
Bob and I were jubilant and celebrated the rethuglican defeat of their non-replacement of ObamaCare. Hooray! You can't take away benefits and give a tax break to the wealthy and expect to pass a cruel and unusual law (that the Unpresident doesn't seem to have read...) Can we nowpush on to Single Payer Universal Coverage, please? Instead of pandering to the Tea Party turned "Freedom Caucus" who didn't think the absurdity proffered went far enough... yeesh!
And then the truck screwed up as we dropped the car off for brake repairs, essentially leaving us transportationless. Thank goodness for our good friend Joe who ferried us to my opening in New Haven yesterday afternoon! I was able to drop off my work for the auction and then we were all free to enjoy a crowded and boisterous opening and dine on Japanese food afterwards. A good night!
But I experienced a funny moment when I went into my studio the other day and my walls were entirely bare. It was shocking! I guess it's good to have a bunch of your work out in the world and empty space to fill up with new art.