Not so good though if you don't like your greens - this is just today's pick! You'd think I was feeding a tribe rather than just the two of us wouldn't you?
Of course we have food of other hues too! Looks like ratatouille is destined for the menu as soon as the aubergines cooperate.
Last year we really enjoyed the tomatillos so he who gardens has grown them again. They may look like Christmas decorations but they taste wonderful with chilli and coriander in a salsa.
You may have spotted (behind the pots of tomatillos) the less than lovely tunnels we grow all our vegetables under. The lace-like cabbage above shows why they are necessary. It's one thing attracting masses of beautiful butterflies to the garden but not so great when their caterpillars munch their way through your veg! This victim of the munchers was a spare left out in a pot. Looks like the bait worked!
I am doing some work as well as living off the land! Thr3fold have had a bit of a sabbatical of late but we have an exhibition on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia next spring so I've started work in my sketchbook. The title of the exhibition is Unfinished Business. It refers to the work we produced for the five thr3fold journals we wrote where all of us loved the pieces we did but sometimes felt we didn't always have time to do as much as we'd have liked on a particular theme. This will be our opportunity to revisit favourite inspirations to make new work. I'm starting by drawing treasured objects I've collected over the years.
My collection of old medicine bottles and inkwells have very little monetary value but I love them. I've found them at antique auctions, flea markets or, believe it or not, dug them up in the garden. When our house was built in the early 1700's there weren't such things as refuse collections and much of the rubbish was simply buried. We regularly unearth all kinds of broken china and now and again we find perfectly intact bottles too. We even discovered a silver thimble one time - now that was a real treasure! There it is in the photo below sitting next to a lovely mustard spoon and a fragment of blue and white china.
The thimble was full of earth and covered in verdigris but it cleaned up a treat. What made me quite emotional was the hole in the side showing how well used it had been! Both the favourite objects and the printer's tray they sit in will provide inspiration for a quilt or two. I'll keep you posted with my progress.
Thanks for dropping by - talk again soon - Linda
Oh I am envious! My tomatoes are all still green and my tomatilloes are well, a bit non-existant! The plants are very healthy - but no fruits! :(
ReplyDeleteLinda, have you ever tried making zucchini bread? it's a great way to use up extra zucchini..
ReplyDeleteJanet in Tennessee
Hello Linda. I have a very similar thimble given to me by an elderly friend who knew there was no one in her family who would like her thimbles! I have used it and it too has the odd hole showing it was well used.
ReplyDeleteBountiful harvest, both in the edible and un-edible department. I have my Great Grandmother's thimble. She wore a hole in it from use and now I have added another. It is amazing how frequently the needle eye can find that hole and wake me up with a prick. I also know how the thimble was lost. I lost mine for a while. I was sewing under the pergola and didn't realize it was missing. Then the cat decided it was a toy, etc. It was found during the spring clean up. I broke down in tears of relief. I am so looking forward to watching the progression of your treasure box inspired quilts. I love my copies of Thr3fold and they are referenced frequently. Have a wonderful weekend doing whatever makes your heart sing.
ReplyDeleteI can see that munched cabbage as a printed fabric... Yet another use for the 'decoy'!
ReplyDeleteAnd as for your up-coming 3-Fold exhibit...I hope you will publicize location and dates early enough...it's closer to me than the UK but would still need some planning to get there!