Studiology

Published!

After a few years of magazine submissions I can say that I have finally been published. Better yet, in a Somerset magazine called "Stamper's Sampler". Available at your local book store and Michaels. Never in a million years would I have thought that a stamper's magazine would be my source of publication, but the pieces are designed with stamps, primarily those from Michelle Ward and Green Pepper Press. The magazine spread shows my Christmas cards, made with fabric, stamped, embossed and finished with French knots or cording. I named it "A Turquoise Christmas" and they were kind enough to keep my name, although the names of individual cards are all by Somerset.

The layout was designed by the magazine and it looks fabulous! 

The timing was also great because I am about to travel on an excellent adventure to Virginia Beach and the Art and Soul Retreat. A solid week of mixed media art instruction by the very best in the field. I anticipate meeting people I have heard and read about for years. And to top it all off, a concert by Amos Lee, the soulful musician that I adore. 

I'm as happy as my granddaughter chasing bubbles. Life is good!

P.S. my handsewn cards are available at Art A La Carte, in Occoquan, Virginia.

 

 

Time to Divide Peonies

The gardener is very busy this time of year, opportunities to enhance the garden abound. Many perennials can be divided, for some it's the only time of year to divide, especially so with herbaceous peonies. Before you cut back the foliage, think about lifting your clumps and dividing them into more plants. This is especially important if you've noticed a reduction in flowers in spring.

I lift the entire clump, clean up the roots and look for eyes or growing tips. You can cut the foliage or leave a little to make it easier to hold onto the roots. With a little stick or poker, clean the dirt off and look for places you can divide the root so that each piece has 3 or so eyes. With peonies, the small feeder roots don't arrive till early winter, so you will find your tuber-like roots perfect for lifting and cleaning, the only time of year you can do this without damaging them. When planting the roots, it's critical that the eyes sit high, no more than an inch or so underground. If planted too deep, the sunlight won't reach the eyes and flowers are not initiated. As you will often find, roots have grown deep and  you have fewer flowers.

 

I plant the new divisions 3 feet apart and amend the soil with organic matter. Account for the mulch with your depth, the growing tips can be at soil level, it's always better to err on the high side than too deep. Another thought is to tie a tag on the roots with the variety name. I prefer flagging tape for this, but anything that will last, like cut-up pieces of plastic containers attached with a wire. Use a pencil or sharpie, or both, to write the name. 

Sometimes you want to cut your peonies in spring but hate to hurt the floral show. A few planted in a sunny bed, away from the garden, can provide cutting flowers without the guilt. Just a thought.

 

He's Back

Frankenstein is in a relationship, or so it might say on Facebook. After many modifications, she's finally here, the Bride of Frankenstein. Crazy hair, Angelina Jolie lips and bandaged arms, it's what you expect from a modified Pez dispenser turned monster bride (with working parts). Will there be nuptials, a small service?

Available at Art A La Carte in Occoquan, Virginia. 

Keets

The business of hatching birds from an incubator is full of angst. Even when you know how to time all of the variables, water in , humidity up, remove the egg turner, etc... things can turn out bad. This, our 3rd time at incubating guinea eggs was almost 50% successful. Twenty-four eggs, nine healthy youngsters or keets on day 4. This clutch of eggs was from our oldest female, the one we call 'the old lady' at 6 years of age. I'm not sure it can turn out better. But when you're running out of guineas, down to 8 with 6 males, it's time to try the incubator. In their game of survival, more is better because they surround the enemy (mostly fox) and basically yell in a high pitched chant.

 This hatching started on September 9th and then stopped with only 4 hatched that day. Three days later, the rest have slowly arrived, more exhausted as each day passed. The last one, after day 3, died. You shouldn't help them, or so it says on the internet and so we learn. So sad to know that they're stuck in a shell. These are the weakest.

The alternative was to let the old lady sit on the nest for 28 days. The likelihood of her dying is very high, she doesn't eat as she sits, and we have yet to see one female survive to the end, something gets them in the night and eats the eggs.  So we took the eggs which usually involves a lot of hissing and pecking but this time she left the nest, just for a moment. You would have to understand the dynamics of the tribe to know that it was probably not her idea to sit on the nest, but she was the chosen one, the doomed one. It's a communal thing, a shared nest with all females laying and then one picked to do the deed. Kind of like the beta female gets the short straw. They know it's not a good thing. Of course I felt bad for her when we took the eggs, I mean what's she gonna say?! She has others to answer to. The funny thing, she sat on the nest, even though it was empty, I'm sure to concoct a story, an explanation. I wasn't home when she explained the situation to the 6 mean roosters but I do know that she is back in good graces, although I think it took a few days. As a side note, the other female is on a nest with 12 eggs in our vegetable garden and we've decided to leave it. 

Of the last eggs there was one more that made it out this morning, day 4. We'll see.

Joseph Rocks

There is no doubt in my mind that if the great plant explorer Joseph Rock was alive today he would be best known through his many social media connections. Even as a world traveler in the beginning of the 20th century, he was fond of having his picture taken, often with a large format camera with glass negatives. 

In the course of his life time he botanized in Hawaii and much of Central Asia. Self taught, Rock collected and recorded new plants and identified animal and bird species while he worked for the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. He wrote ten articles for the National Geographic, almost all of them about his difficult expeditions to western China. His last expedition was for Charles S. Sargent (of the Sargent's crabapple) while he was employed by the Arnold Arboretum. There you can find a database of his photographs, as well as those of other plant explorers. 

To look at his many black and white photographs, one can tell that he was curious about the people and dress. Numerous photographs show Rock himself in local garb, once again posing for the camera.

He traveled with a full set of silverware and an Abercrombie and Fitch canvas bathtub. I can only imagine that he may have been a challenging man to work for but despite his eccentricity, he was successful in his many expeditions.

Naturally there are many photographs of plants, everything from rhododendrons to large conifers but then you run across this photograph of prayer flags made of sheep bones.

Or just a few guys posing before they go about their day.

So often the posing was done beside a large tree so the viewer could understand scale, Joseph Rock made sure you saw everything, as well as himself in his standard pose.

So you understand what I mean about social media. His Facebook page would have 2 million fans (of course I would be one) and most of his photographs would be selfies. Instagram, twitter, oh yeah. His Pinterest boards would be "Images of Tibet", "Maps of China", and "Plants I Have Discovered". For his blog we would see and read about the beautiful mountains of Western China as well as the colorful wardrobes of the Tibetan people. In his honor I put together a little blog header page.

Just imagine!