I've Got a Luv-er-ly Bunch of Artichokes.

Aren't they beautiful? One of the best things about being a gardening junkie is that you get to eat the profits. You also get to hang out with those of a similar mind, and get to eat their profits too. These were planted at work by a colleague, from cuttings supplied by another work-mate. We have all been swapping recipes and living well on the fat of the land. And they were delicious!

 The small ones were pan fried in olive oil and garlic, served with lemon juice, (lemon from my sister's tree), cracked pepper and sea salt. 

The large ones were used in soup. Best soup ever!

From River Studios.

While you will find me in the garden, last week and the week before I was nowhere to be seen. That's because I was hiding in studio, indulging in one of my other loves, painting.
And what a lovely project it was. A nice man commissioned me to paint this portrait of his friend, who was giving him one of her horses (the one standing up). With a ten day deadline looming, it was a good excuse to totally throw myself into it.
Dressed in my finest rags, covered from head to toe in paint, I thought of nothing but the project at hand. Any attempts at conversation, by well meaning friends resulted in nothing but incoherent babble. Thanks for your patience guys.
The painting was based on a photo, supplied by the client. However, the swirling patterns of capeweed in the foreground was calling out for extra attention. There is nothing like the real thing.

There is nothing like painting from life.

Voila, the finished product! Now in the hands of its rightful owner.

Poppies are all a-bloom at my house.

Being of a slightly excessive nature, I can never seem to do things in small doses. From a few packets of seeds, bought enthusiastically last Autumn, grew a very high yield. "Just choose a few and throw the rest out", "be not a slave to your seedling trays" my work mates tried to tell me. Like I would ever do that..........

 So I worked for hours in the garden, lovingly planting hundreds of teeny, weeny seedlings.

But the rewards are starting to show. Every day I am greeted with more and more of these little beauties.

 Next to flower will be the foxgloves, growing quickly in this warm weather. There were also hollyhocks, but the snails seem to have eaten them all, only three have survived.
Winter vegies are almost at an end, so they're being pulled out to make room for a whole lot of beetroots, carrots, spring onions, leeks, radish, eggplant, tomatoes, corn....................   

Go Granny from the Curlypops Shop.

If you happened to be in the vicinity of the Western Suburbs of Melbourne yesterday, you may well have heard squeals of glee wafting in the air. That was probably me, jumping out of my skin with excitement, because my mail order had arrived.

The latest product, made here in Melbourne by one of our own fabulous designers, Camile Condon of Curlypops. It was also printed here in Melbourne  by an amazing new local company, Fankie and Swiss.

It just gets better and better. It is printed on 100% natural fibre, medium weight cotton-canvas, using water based, non-toxic, solvent free inks. And isn't it GORGEOUS!

Although I'm in the middle of an all consuming portrait commission, and my Spring vegie seedlings are screaming at me to get them out of their punnets and into the garden, I couldn't resist playing dress-ups with my already bulging fabric stash. Something this spesh can't be used all at once, I'm thinking feature panels for skirts, bags etc. Anyway, better get up to the studio and finish this painting.

Digging Diggers.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend at work showed me the Diggers Club seed catalogue.  (gasp) Be still my beating heart! He was going out to their nursery on the weekend. So of course I gave him a shopping list, which looked more like a ten page document.

It was like Christmas the following week, when the goodies arrived. Good old Loppie even brought in some spare stuff that he had at home.

So now its time to plant them...yay! I have to restrain myself from nicking out to the greenhouse seventeen times a day to check on their progress. Patience Leonie, patience!

Choir Performance - this Saturday, 3 Sept. the Substation.

Have you heard the Newport Community Choir perform? Have you been to the Substation Artist's Market? Well here's your chance to do both. This Saturday, 3 Sept, we will be performing at the Substation Art Market.

It is an amazing market, with everything being hand-made, and the makers all running the stalls. It also boasts fabulous food and entertainment. It is on the first Saturday of every month, running from 10am to 4pm. 1 Market St. Newport. Right next to Newport Railway Station.

And the choir sound pretty good too.

We will be on stage from 12.00 to 12.30. There will also be, as usual a wonderful mix of other musicians performing throughout the day. If you're in the area on Saturday, come on down and listen.