Art I'm Looking At: Found Art

Another example of found art. I loved this old boat in an antique store (in Graton, CA), upended, with its dangling rope.

Plants I'm growing: First Blooms--Aloe Nobilis

First 2009 blooms on Aloe nobilis today.

Tidbits: Love My New MacBook

Enough said. I love my new MacBook. It makes me entirely mobile. I can work and play on the road, and it looks stylish, too.

Places I'm Visiting: Cecilia Christensen Weaving Studio

Today I visited the home and weaving studio of Cecilia Christensen, an artist working in Sebastopol. She demonstrated brocading techniques and showed her collection of South American brocaded clothing, mostly from Guatemala. Very interesting work. Her pieces are more canvases than textiles. She weaves stories into her creations. Call it narrative weaving. Her work is reminiscent of Chagall in its use of storytelling in a bounded plane. She also has a thing for chickens.

Places I'm Visiting: Bodega Head

Drove up to Bodega Head yesterday to see if the yellow bush lupines were in bloom. They were. Hundreds of them. The wind was so strong, their honeyed fragrance was impossible to detect without getting close. The wind was so strong, it was hard to stand in some places. Down below the bluffs, Western grebes, brandts, and common terns on the water.  

Plants I'm growing: First Blooms--Clary Sage, "Queen Nefertiti," and Aloe Buhrii

First blooms today on the clary sage (Salvia sclarea) under the pear tree and on the big Aloe buhrii under the kitchen window. Delighted to see this Aloe bloom for the first time, although given its proximity to so many other yellow flowers at this time of year, I wish it had been red or orange. Still, very pretty. Clearly the plant is happy. 

Also blooming today is the Rhododendron "Queen Nefertiti" by the fountain.

Miscellaneous: Frog on Lettuce Leaf

Found this fellow in the vegetable garden this morning. I feel a haiku coming on....

I know nothing about frogs, but, judging from photos on the Internet, this is the Pacific Tree Frog (Hyla regilla). They are abundant in our garden, coming out usually in the evening, after it cools. They are extremely vocal at some times of the year--much louder than you'd expect from their size. This guy would fit nicely on a quarter.