Jazz Came To America In Chains

Love-In-A-Mist - Nigella damascena

Please CLICK ON THE IMAGE to see the lovely details of this Love-In-A-Mist seed pod that I photographed and altered in Photoshop CS4.

I had no idea the spiky blue clouds of Love-in-a-Mist” were in the buttercup family. I’m pretty partial to most members of Ranunculaceae. There are native buttercups that bloom in early spring, in nearby Mid-Peninsula Open Space lands in the Santa Cruz mountains. But they look like you expect a buttercup to look – round shell-like petals, low-growing and bright yellow.

These are from a seed packet I scattered several years back along my driveway. They flourish in our hard adobe soil and re-seed themselves generously. These particular specimens have spread themselves into my neighbor’s front yard.

God midsommer!

Nigella damascena

Summer: Blackberry Dreams

Please CLICK ON MY CREATION ABOVE to see all the glorious detail.

Ima’s Easy Buttermilk Biscuits

These are very good split, with some fresh, sugared blackberries and whipped cream.

Bake 400 degrees Bake 10 -12 minutes till tops brown (fork test inside to make sure they're totally baked)

In a bowl Mix the dry stuff: 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda,1/8 cup sugar, some cinnamon (½ teaspoon?)

Make a little well in the dry stuff pour in ¼ cup corn oil and 1 cup buttermilk (if using regular milk*, use 1 tablespoon baking powder and no baking soda). Do not beat, just mix softly until combined.

Pam spray/oil muffin pan/ cookie sheet/pan

Additions: Raisins or a few blackberries or blueberries (mix these w/ dry stuff) or A spot of berry jam in the top of each muffin (jammy muffins). You need to bake them a little longer if you do this. Just watch 'em and fork test.

*or make buttermilk substitute: A tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice plus enough milk to make a cup, let stand 5 minutes

I created this collage using Photoshop CS4 and some more of my own blackberry photos I took in the park. I used a filters and the stamp tool generously. I extracted color from the photos for backgrounds and for tinting.

Once I Lived in Open Spaces

Please CLICK ON THIS PICTURE to see the beautiful details.

When I was ten years old, my family moved to a very suburban part of Southern California. Before that we lived in a very rural part of Arizona.

On a recent trip to Flagstaff I pulled the car over to capture this image that reminded me so strongly of the view across the road, when we waited for the school bus each morning.

I've never been back to where I used to live, because I've heard it's been built up. In my mind's eye, it's always like this.

I altered and partially recolored this photograph, using Photoshop CS4.

The Doormouse, inspired by Alice

Please CLICK ON MY CREATION to see all the lovely detail.

I was thinking about Alice in Wonderland when I drew this - though I haven't seen the new movie. We do have lots of blackberries nearby but doormice? No, I think they are just European.

Why are doormice so much more attractive than rats? We HAVE rats. Right now we have a tribe of them living off of the compost bins. My husband braves them when he takes the bowl out. I just drop the scraps into the bin for 'landscaping only' debris. A carrot top is landscaping, after all. I'm not silly enough to put a chicken bone in with vegetable bits. I'm pretty sure that's why they mark them like that.

I'm ok with mice, but the local rats have a way of looking at me and then going on about their business that makes me zip back up my garden path. Squirrels too are so much more appealing than rats, and they aren't scared of me. Pet rats - ok. Wild rats - no.

I created this image in Photoshop CS4. I drew the friendly little doormouse, her branch and berries,with the pencil tool. I created the background from several layers of blackberry photos I took in the park near my house. I altered the photographed blackberries through masking, selecting and the application of several filters. Then I texturized the result to give the image more of a vintage look.

Nasturia-damus: Prophet of the Angiosperms

Please CLICK ON THIS IMAGE to see the lovely detail.

Inspired by the research studies, involving this all-knowing flower, of my facebook friend, Judy Gosnell.

The writings of the mystic Nostradamus have traveled down through the centuries. Yet, how many have heard of the ancient prophecies of the great Nasturia-damus, prophet-queen of the Angiosperms?

Uncovered only recently by a trowel-wielding self-taught historian in a garden bed near you, these fragments of ancient wisdom speak to the ages.

Compare for yourself, only a few of the AMAZING SIMILARITIES between the quatrains of the prophets Nostradamus and Nasturia-damus.

(Nostradamus) Sitting alone at night in secret study; 
it is placed on the brass tripod. 
A slight flame comes out of the void, and 
makes true that which should not be believed in vain.

(Nasturia-damus) Sitting alone at night, beneath the bedroom window; they are planted in the great, sacred urn. A green shoot springs forth from the void, and makes true the belief in the cycle of life.

(Nostradamus) The wand in the hand is placed in the middle of the tripod’s legs. 
With water he sprinkles both the hem of his garment and his foot. 
A voice, fear: he trembles in his robes. 
Divine splendor; the God sits near.

(Nasturia-damus) The hose in the hand is placed in the middle of the urn. With water, she sprinkles both the base of the planter and her feet. A voice, fear: she trembles at the mud about her feet. Divine irritation: how will she get her shoes dry in time for the party?

(Nostradamus) When the litters are overturned by the whirlwind 
and faces are covered by cloaks, 
the new republic will be troubled by its people. 
At this time the reds and the whites will rule wrongly.

(Nasturia-damus) When the compost is overturned, into the middle of the newly seeded garden bed, and seeds are covered by clods, new plants will germinate. At this time the oranges and the greens will rule wisely and well.

(Nostradamus) At night they will think they have seen the sun, when they see the half pig man: Noise, screams, battles seen fought in the skies. The brute beasts will be heard to speak.

(Nasturia-damus) The brute beasts, that sleep beneath the peach and orange blossoms, shall cavort and call beneath the bedroom window of the house of the king and queen pig, in the hour of dawn, until the snoring boars are awakened and forced, bleary eyed, into the kitchen to find a can opener and can of cat food.