Muffler Man with Dog

This muffler man with his dog at the Meineke on Eastern Ave. is one of my favorite things to see in our neighborhood.

Our Christmas Tree

Silver, with lights included, our little tree sparkles and shines. Adorned with action figures, glass birds, homemade ornaments from friends and family, and other fun decorations, I wish it could stay up all year!

Series and Editions

I've been working hard on a new series of lunch sacks for Squidfire's 2008 Winter Art Mart (Sunday, December 7th, 12-6:30PM
Lyric Opera House – 110 West Mount Royal Avenue – Baltimore, MD 21201) where I will have a table. Also, I've been having fun printing two color lino-cut Christmas cards (two editions so far).

#11 through #15

#6 through #10

HO, HO, HO (as in scale)!

I've been working on a small edition of 15 Christmas ornaments with painted scenery in watercolor, HO scale people and deer, faux bois in birch and walnut oil cloth on the outside of Eli's cat food tins, pipe cleaners in garish colors and glitter glue. Here are the first five ornaments (taking me back to Christmas parties in the suburbs, hanging out under Mr. Hank's magic train garden table at Gretchen's house).

Trees and a New Garden

The trees are so pretty today against the gray sky. The weather has been warm, so I made another little garden (around our birdbath with rocks from my parent's yard). I plan to plant some wildflower seeds in the spring and who knows what else.

Four Green Cups

Daffodil Bulbs

I dug up a cluster of daffodil bulbs in my backyard last weekend and there were more than I thought there would be. They've probably been separating and spreading for at least 50 years. My mom and I planted about 25 at her house yesterday. I still have about 75 or so to plant in my yard. They look like little squids and we had fun planting them.

October starts tomorrow.

October starts tomorrow and my garden is in complete autumn disorder. In a few weeks, it will be time to collect seeds and tear it down. I still haven't picked my pumpkin, as I was hoping it might get a little bigger. Only the color changes, not the size.










The morning glories were blooming like crazy this morning (they must have really loved all the rain this past weekend).


























The trees were full of hundreds of black birds and this little guy was the only one down on the grass (though many more joined him after I went back inside).

Pumpkin Report.

The pumpkin continues to hold on, almost at the top of the fence! Grow pumpkin, grow!

4 O'Clocks Revisited and a Pumpkin on the Fence

Here are some nighttime photos of my garden. The four o'clocks have really grown and this crazy pumpkin is at the top of the fence!

Pittsburgh, PA

Jason and I took a trip to Pittsburgh, PA this weekend. We stopped at Falling Water on the way, saw a bird eating a telephone book at the National Aviary, rode the Duquesne Incline, and took photos from the Mt. Washington neighborhood. We also visited the Andy Warhol Museum (where they were celebrating Andy's birthday, so admission was only 80 cents and they had cupcakes!) and the Mattress Factory (robots!).

New Stenciled Sketchbooks

I've started stenciling designs on sketchbooks this past week. Houses in the suburbs, houseplants, and stylized trees are the main themes.

Sunflowers and a Mystery Flower

The sunflowers bloomed yesterday and this blue flower is a mystery. I think it is an herb???

Cellar Door

Our cellar door was growing moss and disintegrating, so I bought some new wood and replaced it last week with Jason's help. Here are the before and after photos.

Four O'Clocks

One of my students gave me a Four O'Clock plant at the end of this school year. It has been an interesting addition to the garden. Four O'Clocks bloom from four o'clock in the afternoon until four o'clock in the morning (so they are very exciting like morning glories!). In this photo they are closed (even though it is cloudy today).

Bamboo Green

I painted the bathroom a high gloss light green a few weeks ago and added some new shelves. It feels so much larger without the busy, busy wallpaper!

The Patio

Mexican roses are so fun and they are doing quite well on our back patio.

Summer

I expanded my garden this summer. I'm growing zucchini, pumpkins, cucumbers, watermelons, cherry tomatoes, green peppers, mint, marigolds, sunflowers, rosemary, shasta daisies, morning glories, and 4 o'clocks (my new favorite-stay tuned for a photo). If you look towards the bottom in the center of the 3rd photo, you can see the tiny watermelon growing (thanks to Uncle George for suggesting watermelons and pumpkins!).

Spring!