Dragon's Orchid Garden

hand painted t-shirts

2012-02-09T19:58:00.000-05:00

Thanks to R.Balliot for the phrase, "there's a book for that". I painted two more shirts recently. I make them for friends. They're not for sale. I painted the first one for me over a year ago. I wear it occasionally on casual Fridays. It never fails to get comments from library patrons.

I use Neopaque acrylic paint by Jacquard and a stiff synthetic bristle brush. Masking tape helps me to keep the lines straight. After painting, the fabric air dries for a day. Ironing for 30 seconds front and back sets the paint. I've washed mine dozens of times and the paint is still fine.

name the bookmark

2012-01-31T22:24:00.001-05:00

What the hell happened to the month of January? I blink and it's gone.

I've been busy knitting, drawing, writing with an actual pen on paper...more about the pen and the paper later. I did make a new bookmark, but haven't graphed the pattern, yet.

This is a picture of the 2 test knits for said bookmark. The third and the one I like best is blocking. I need to name it. I'm open to suggestions.

happy chocolaty new year

2011-12-31T19:21:00.002-05:00

Hershey's Special Dark makes a superior s'more. The new fire pit works great. We spent hours last night talking, imbibing and making s'mores with our neighbors, Rick & Melinda. In case you've never made s'mores, roast a couple of marshmallows to your preferred level of doneness. We used some bamboo sticks cut to a point and soaked in water so they wouldn't catch on fire easily. Take two halves of graham crackers and place a generous piece of dark chocolate on one. For a special treat, use peanut butter to glue the chocolate onto the graham. Smash the roasted marshmallow on top with the other graham cracker. Enjoy.

We're going to do it all over again tonight. The weather is calm and warm. Happy New Year to you and yours.

fire good.

xmas tree parts make it sizzle.

fire in the garden

2011-12-29T21:50:00.002-05:00

Shopping list:
marshmallows (chocolate ones, too)
hershey bars
graham crackers

There's nothing like a toasty fire on a cold Florida New Year's Eve. Thanks, Dave and Kim, for the fire pit. Purchased at Home Depot, this fire pit comes with a pivoting ceramic grill (not pictured). We'll post pictures of the first good blaze.

Tibetan singing bowl o'nuts

2011-12-18T19:07:00.000-05:00

From Blogger Pictures

Things have been a bit hectic of late, what with baking and knitting and putting up the holiday bling. I haven't had time to check in here. I will have a new bookmark design up after the holiday. In the meantime, here are pictures of what we've been doing around the homestead.

From Blogger Pictures

I found these beautiful little boxes at Pier1. They're a perfect size for a gently rolled up bookmark.

From knitting

This fun dish or wash cloth is from KrisKnits.

From knitting

I baked six loaves of Zucchini Bread and six loaves of Cranberry Orange Nut Bread as well as dozens of Pistachio Pecan Cookies this weekend. The breads are from Beard On Bread by James Beard. They are delicious and make the house smell fantastic.

holiday knitting delay

2011-11-30T22:01:00.000-05:00

Cats and yarn. I usually knit at my kitchen table. My cats (we have 4), mostly do not bother me when I'm knitting. Sasha, the youngest at five, has decided that evenings are best spent in my lap. This never happens if I'm reading the paper. Or if I'm eating dinner, or if I'm painting at that table. It only happens if I have needles and yarn in my hands. She then feels compelled to gradually get as close as she can. She may try to go for the yarn, but mostly just wants to stop me from knitting. Or so it seems.

murmuration

2011-11-13T19:28:00.001-05:00

What a delightful word for a fantastic avian display.

It's alive!

2011-11-11T22:17:00.000-05:00

Unseasonably cool weather has orchids popping in our back yard. This cattleya hasn't had a bloom since we bought it at an orchid show 5 or 6 years ago. What did we do right this year?

From orchids

We're still learning. Maybe it's the weather. All of our orchids live outside. We live in central Florida. It's a good place to grow orchids. Lc. Evirett Dirkson is the name of this purple beauty and its scent is as beautiful as it's appearance. We may have been a bit more steady with the fertilizer this year. I try to remember the 'weakly/weekly' rule. That means to dilute your orchid fertilizer by 1/4th and water once a week with it.

Orchids can be found on every continent on Earth with the exception of Antarctica. There is at least one that will thrive where you live. Contact a local nursery/florist and ask for native orchids. You just have to try not to kill it :-) Generally, no direct sunlight, and don't overwater! Overwatering kills most gift orchid plants.

From orchids

This is our ever-blooming valentine orchid. I gave it to Wayne on 2/14/2011. It looks like it will still be in bloom through Thanksgiving!

Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder

2011-11-03T22:25:00.000-04:00

Where the hell did the last month go? I've been busy knitting 'stealth projects', as Wendy says on her blog. I recently purchased Wendy Knits Lace and discovered that I don't yet have enough needles. I have several sets of interchangeable circular needles, addi clicks and knitpicks options as well as dpns and straights. I look to the interchangeables to do most everything, but there is a reason they are not normally used for small things like hats and cowls. I think that needs a remedy. The needles on interchangeable sets are longish to account for the joining hardware for the cables. When a 16 inch circular needle is called for, that includes the length of the needles, not just the cable. I've got to purchase a 16 inch circular in every freaking size now, because I have Wendy's book. And I want to knit everything in it, especially Elizabeth's Cowl.

Hey, KnitPicks, why don't you come up with a small interchangeable set?

In the meantime, I want to share my son David's new hobby. He's been making pens with his lathe. Most of these pictured are made from the little blocks of wood used as spacers in cigar boxes. They have wonderful weight and balance. I really like writing with them.

From Blogger Pictures

The Amazon Lily that my friend Tom gave me is blooming for the first time.

From Blogger Pictures

The bulbophyllum Marv Reagan is going nuts with blooms.

From Blogger Pictures

And...the Valentine's Day Phalaenopsis (Chlan Xen Lady) is still blooming with no sign of letting up.

From Blogger Pictures

That's an orchid that has been blooming now for almost 9 months. I'm thinking of contacting Guinness. I could us a case of stout.

autumnal knitting

2011-10-07T21:22:00.001-04:00

This time of year, I miss New England. Though the weather has just turned to a slightly cooler shade of summer in central Florida, it's still subtropical. There are no changing colors and falling leaves. That happens here in the spring when the live oaks drop massive amounts of old brown leaves and bushels of acorns.

Since we don't have the brightly colored maple, birch and elm leaves I grew up with, I knitted some leaves.

From knitting

These can be used as dish or wash cloths, trivets, doilies, potholders, bookmarks, legal tender or replacement leaves for a bare-ass tree. I found two different pattern sets on Ravelry. I'm disappointed that I didn't find a great (free) pattern for a maple leaf, so I'll just have to make my own. These patterns are great for beginning knitters.

The first leaves I knit were from a two pattern set by Tricksyknitter.

From knitting

I then found the Leaf Cloth Trio by Theresa Jones.

From knitting

These are made from Lion Cotton and Peaches and Creme yarns. Small projects like these are perfect for someone with KADD (knitting attention deficit disorder). Leslie Stanfield's book, 75 Birds, Butterflies & little beasts to knit and crochet contains many more wonderful tiny patterns taken from nature.

Plato the Play-Doh Dragon

2011-09-09T21:54:00.002-04:00

Once upon a time, on a balmy Florida Christmas evening, after all of the guests had gone home except for my brother Paul and Patty, I got out the Play-Doh. We turned into children, molding the colorful modeling clay. A tiny dragon was born. Plato is one inch tall. She's about 15 human years old, which is 150 in Play-Doh Dragon years.

Dragon's Orchid Garden

hand painted t-shirts

name the bookmark

happy chocolaty new year

fire in the garden

Tibetan singing bowl o'nuts

holiday knitting delay

murmuration

It's alive!

Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder

autumnal knitting

Plato the Play-Doh Dragon

knit a dragon

twilight garden part one

plain vanilla

laidback knitting

never ending phaleonopsis bloom

build a dining room in the garden

gardening down under

so long, Orenji, and thanks for all the fish

a gardening knitter's tribute to independence day

sorry about the bloglect. here are some flowers.

ahhh....the odor of summer

recycled garden - trenta cup o'daisies

micro orchids!

wine time

hummingbirds and orchids

underwater simian ghost photograph

orchid surprise

cotton washcloth with kittehs and hearts

a lovely day for knitting

be careful what you wish for

garden zen

Kayla and Chris

big beautiful moon

calm post

sunlight through orchids

knitting balls

kumara diamonds for kayla finished and lessons learned

kumara diamonds for kayla

knit up a roadkill 'possum for a furry friend

Moonflower lace bookmark errata

moonflower lace bookmark

january is blooming

2010 sparkle = 2011 clutter

wavy rib scarf finished

lunar eclipse

xmas spirit courtesy of robert earl keen

landscape bundling

drive-by shooting

patty-cake cats

Leigh's Turkey Pot Pie

Trois Fleurs Lace Bookmark

trading wheels

happy halloween

vegetable canvas

halloween orchids

Pinwheels Lace Bookmark

thursday blooms

the recycled garden - stop! yard sale!

my spouse is my swift

sunday blooms

the recycled garden - have a seat

leaf me alone, i'm reading

diamonds r 4 ever bookmark

summer enough

trellis lace bookmark

i tink, therefore i am

batwing lace bookmark

watchers

mark my words

tgif blooms

pretty dead things

bizarre plants - aristolochia

tuesday blooms

Happy Birthday, Carolyn!

water world

the recycled garden - plant a toilet

wednesday blooms

furlough friday