What's Growing Wednesday

What's growing outside Bliss Monkey Studio? Fancy pointy tulips.

I planted a bunch of bulbs last fall and it's so exciting to watch them come up. I can only 1/2 remember WHAT sort of bulbs I put in around the yard, and this is the first flowering.


Flowering kale. I love growing over wintering Kale. Yummy to eat through the cold months, then I pull it out when the aphids arrive. Rather than fight them for it, I've just taken to growing it seasonally.


The plum trees take turns blooming in early spring. All the bees gather for a humming session on warm days. Imagine the scent of all those blooms and the lovely sound of the buzzing?



I left a power cord out on the walk way and when I came home, it had made a friend. See what it is?

Gardening Tuesdays - Container gardens

I'm HOOKED on miniature gardens in containers! It's a brand new hobby. When we bought this house, three years ago, it had a very empty yard, so we started with the most important: the vegetable garden, then next year- flower gardens, then worked on the lawn, so this year, it's finishing the patio which leaves room for decorating in containers, and miniature gardens.

After a lovely Mother's day brunch, cooked by my family, I took my mom thrifting for fun containers to plant succulents in. I couldn't believe the abundance of FUN things we found. (I'm going to have to learn how to drill through ceramics if I keep this up). The little Dutch girl was built for plants. I added baby strawberry plants to her pockets and hat.


My new Bliss Monkey Studio mascot had a former life as a cookie jar (thrift store find). Break the lid on your fav tea pot or cookie jar? No worries, drill a hole or use lots of rocks at the bottom and don't over water, soil, succulents and wa-la, a happy garden for your sunny window, porch, or friend's house!

I am suddenly fascinated by succulents! After bringing these containers home, I had a look around, and realized I have quite a variety of neglected, overgrown succulents, aloe, and such around the yard and in the house. I took an afternoon to repot and distribute. Let's see if I can get more babies to grow, thus feeding my need to thrift up MORE containers and fill them with little, easy to care for, arrangements.

This one is already gifted. Easy to make: rocks in the bottom for good drainage, new potting soil, baby aloe and succulent plants, and several pretty rocks. Do not over-water. I'm going to have to learn to drill holes in the containers that lack.


For fans of Saffron: he's doing great. After a winter of three surgeries for his leg, and lots of reclusive mending time, he's back outside, playing with the other cats, built up muscle, and almost back to climbing. Yey, happy kitty! Age 3.

Garden Goodness

How does your garden grow? How about a view of the flower "room" of our garden, where we enjoy outdoor dinners..... the clematis trellis has encouraged abundant growth! This is a view from the side. It seems like hundreds of huge purple flowers! Love love love them this year.


The butterfly garden is getting larger and fuller now. I'm very proud of all the flowers that grew from seed that are now blooming. Mostly, I find it hard to grow flowers from seed. Many don't make it. I HAD planted alpine strawberries from seed all along the edge of this garden, as a ground cover, and not one grew into a plant.

Of course not all the plants/flowers here were grown from seed! Three curly willows and a butterfly bush were cuttings from my mom's garden, for example. Everything in this bed is aimed for attracting butterflies and honey bees.


The crazy tomato plant that's taller than me already! It's going to be a good year for tomatoes.


View from the back of the garden. The red thermal plastic allows water in, while keeping plants warmer: cantaloupe and peppers.


Toli and Saffron are keeping a close watch on the spiders of the garden.....


This Thai eggplant is sporting a cute hat!


Three foot tall bean vine with purple blossoms. Grow little bean plants, grow! The spring peas are almost done, we are ready for beans! Gardening is just damn exciting. One of the ways being a "grown up" is fun. The kids don't particularly like cooked veges, but love making up their own salad before dinner, with a wander through the garden. Part of their salad is always a fennel burrito (fennel wrapped in some greens). Whew that's a powerful flavor, but the kids love it so much, each has their OWN fennel plant each summer.

I'm In Love With The Sky Today

There is another sky by Emily Dickinson

There is another sky,
Ever serene and fair,
And there is another sunshine,
Though it be darkness there;
Never mind faded forests, Austin,
Never mind silent fields -
Here is a little forest,
Whose leaf is ever green;
Here is a brighter garden,
Where not a frost has been;
In its unfading flowers
I hear the bright bee hum:
Prithee, my brother,
Into my garden come!

Tomato Necklace

I am 100

Am I already one hundred?!! I just noticed. That I happened to write about slides and being playful at 99 was probably a good sign, huh?

100 posts and I still love you.

Wanna see some quilt art?


This is the "number" Hot Pink of the Bird on the Line series. I'm making art quilts and mounting them on wooden frames in two sizes. It gives a very satisfying and new sort of finished look. This one is for my dear friend Tonia's birthday. Happy Birthday to you, you excellent leo!

The moon is from a scrap of hand printed Tiwi (aboriginal australian tribe from the north) fabric depicting a spider's web. I adore hand printed fabrics.


Close up showing texture..... see the wee birdies?


Reverse side. I am getting the hang of how I want the backs to look and where I want to staple the fabric. It's like stretching a canvas only tiny. I adore putting something unexpected on the backsides of my quilts. I like surprises myself, so you can imagine I like to create surprises.


Clematis........ I'm new to clematis growing. We bought two different sorts then an ever-green. After planting them in a new flower bed, I learned that while they ARE a sun plant, they don't like their "feet" to get hot. I wonder if a covering of wood chips will keep them cool enough? They haven't grown much over this summer.

Planting bed.....
This is the view of a new shed area being prepared. We were going to build a shed, but in a yard where we want to maximize room for plants and garden and hens and add a mini orchard, we came up with a groovy alternative. We are using the North side of my studio as a shed. We pulled up all the grass and plant matter, put down that "no weed" screen, covered with chips for a nice floor, and we'll be adding a clear roof before fall. I'm wondering if I might like to add gutters to the roof and a collection barrel. This gives us a huge area to organize tools and store things, with lots of light, that's tucked out of view though close to the house. Downside is that it IS more exposed to spiders and such nesting, but they get into any shed or garage anyway. (No offense to spiders by the way.)

Wed Garden Tour

This must be my favorite color of rose! I'm not a big rose grower, but now that I own a house, I can choose to be. It's our second spring as homeowners and we feel more excited than overwhelmed this year. There was so much WORK to be done last year, but now we are able to add "nice" things, not just necessity and clean up stuff.

I went on a garden tour with my mother this week. Music in the Garden, actually, where you get to tour six different gardens, many of which include lovely live music, at your own pace, by following a map. We visited two gardens out of town, with some acreage, and four small, in-town yards. It amazed me what one can do with a little yard! I've enjoyed these garden tours in the past, but it's even more fun when you have your own house to collect ideas for. Although, for me, this tour was more conservative. I like the wild and wacky gardens best.

This is a miniature house put in one of the many garden rooms this property held. I had to bend down to peer in the window. They have a little sitting room in there, but it's used to house the garden furniture during the winter. Miniature mailbox, and watering can and flower beds out front. I really appreciate garden rooms and was surprised that even small yards can have garden rooms AND space for secret gardens, tucked in the corner.

I liked this rustic brickwork and dry "creek". We are thinking about putting in some brick or something for an extended patio (next year!).

Moss took over the bird bath!

Normally, I don't like anything near the "country" look. NOt into rusty things, but this caught my eye. Found it fun and charming, this little mobile garden with gnomes. Is it my fondness for gnomes, or that I have a rusty old wheelbarrow that needs a purpose? That it's a miniature garden? All three, really. Check out the close up below.

Garden Wednesday

Wednesdays is the regular spot for me to get to share some garden photos or a story. We put in a flower bed for sun loving flowers outside my studio, with Jasmin, Clematis, and other goodies. I HOPE we can keep the hens out!

And just around the corner, we added the Buddha Garden - just as I pictured it in my mind! I've always wanted some bamboo. We've been cutting down junk trees in the yard, and I needed something to replace the ash shading that studio window. It took awhile to find some bamboo petite enough. We'll be adding some other planters and collecting some grasses and such.

In the little guy's flower garden. See the shade loving flowers begin to sprout.


Ready for an urban chicken update?
Here are Star and Lacey, just out of their chicken run. They race to the salad bar, which is clover, and gobble a bunch down, before a good dirt bath in the gravel pile, and flipping leaves for bugs. I love the quality of light in this photo. It's been so overcast in Oregon this week, you wouldn't believe this is mid afternoon. The glowing green reminds me of hiking in Ireland.

Lacey is still broody, not laying us eggs and neglecting her friendship with Star. We all sigh....



Here's a funny sight! The brown egg is a regular "large" brown egg from the store. The middle egg is Star's regular egg, and in my hand is a SUPER EGG of Stars!!! Ouch? I haven't cracked it yet. We are taking bets if it's a two yolker or not.

I actually did NO sewing today! I went on an all day bike trip with my older son's class. The weather was cool and dry. We had a lovely day exploring nature, the wetlands, and crusing the bike path.

Moomin Gardening

Yesterday, our package from Finnland arrived at the door! (I did a fabric and Moomintroll goods trade with a friend). We love the Finn Family Moomintroll book series, and were more than thrilled to receive some little moomintroll figures to go in the Moomin garden we have out front. I've been plotting for a YEAR how to make figures for the garden, and it turns out you can just buy them! The kids were so excited.

The Moomintrolls live in a big blue circular house in the story, and I'll have to figure out how to make that. Perhaps cast in cement! For now, the teapot represents their house.

You can just see MamaMoomin in her striped apron, and the Hemulin who is face down in his dress, doing a nematode study for one of his collections....

Holding the little blue Moomintroll carefully, Mudslide creates a walking trail, and stream represented by stones.


Moomintroll gardening .......


A sneek peek at my new applique bags. They are fully lined with fun fabrics, interior pockets, and a zipper closure. I must find a way to photograph them nicely so I can post them in my Etsy shop.

April showers bring May flowers, but what about March??

The sun shone for a week here in Western Oregon, and we all got out our gardening tools, took stock of our seeds ......and I got a set of new raised garden beds (!!!).... followed by a week of LOW temperatures and rain rain rain. It's not the Oregon winters that are hard, it's the endless Spring showers! We get restless, but we can't complain, not really. We live in a gorgeous emerald valley, an hour from the sea, surrounded by hiking trails and fresh lakes.

What's in a name? Coffee Cozy philosophy...

This is my latest coffee cozy design.......It's named "Soul Garden". If your soul was a garden, what would it look like? What's growing there? Do you have a secret garden? Or is it light and open? Do you have an exotic set of flowering vegetables, heirloom melons, or is it all sunflowers? Is it a community garden, or a quiet set of raised beds in a sunny spot?

You can ponder your own soul garden while you drink your next cup of coffee. Better yet, you can draw a map of your soul garden including the childhood part of the garden, the pathways leading to the current garden, any side winding paths and sections, and future plans. Totally coffee house art therapy. I'm ready to set up shop!


Kinda philosophical for a coffee cuff, but that's what came up while I was sewing this. What's in a name? How does what we name our products, and the story behind them influence buyers? Some artists don't like to name their works. They want the person who gives the work a home to put their own spin, interpretation and ideas on it. Lots of people have great stories behind their plush toys, artworks, and goods. I don't plan it out in a calculated way. As I'm sewing, names and stories and puns (sorry about that) often come up. My cuffs and quilts and monsters just talk to me! I can't help it if I tried.

What do you think?