Saffrons sprouting again
Well it's been the better part of a year since I last posted. The garden continues growing despite an earlier small plague of grasshoppers that stripped back my persimmon's foliage and severely munched my fig tree. The fig's recovered well, the persimmon is leafless and wintering so I suppose I will have to wait and see if it survives.
[garden photo up tomorrow when there's light to take it]
At the moment sweetpea, snowpea and daikon hold majority over the gardens. I've bearded iris planted (some amazing ones bought at a market) and (the prompt for posting here) this morning whilst transplanting some pennyroyal: I was delighted to find that my saffron crocuses survived despite me giving up on them (again)! Some have split and moreover I narrowly missed putting a brick garden border over them whilst they were dormant. It's interesting that this time last year they had flowered and gone. We've had such a strange summer this year.
When they finish growing for this year I'm going to have them up, establish their bed properly and then leave them to it. It appears they are happy enough where they are. I might even invest in some more from Diggers and so get a densely established bed (not that I use saffron for much and the amount I would want for dyeing fabric would be silly).
At the very end of last year's Sweet pea season I found these unusual varigated looking flowers at the bottom of the garden. I'm very hopeful that they self seeded and I'll see some more of them. If I do I'm going to get seed from them - I meant to with the previous plants but time escaped me (or I accidentally mixed it in with the rest of my seeds.
My pink spotted orchid is also considering flowering again. The flower buds are still fairly small but the plant has grown at least a quarter again as many stems from the base since it's last flowering period. I'm thinking I might split it at the end of the growing season. The phlaenopsis is looking small and sulky. It probably wants feeding. My few orchids seem to survive on guess work primarily.
The mural is finally finished at the John Hunter Hospital:
I need to get better photographs of the wall. The picture was taken prior to the attachment of the twenty white birds. These are elevated from the wall surface and cast shadows that shift as the sun moves overhead. The birds are laser-cut perspex with simple details etched in and gold paint rubbed into the surface texture that catches the light and glitters.
If you happen to be visiting the hospital - the mural can be found along the corridor left from the entrance at Emergency, just after the cafe.
It feels a bit like sitting in a forest with Augustus Klimpt.
Very autumnal
I've have about seven meters of amaranth patterned brocade in a deep russet orange. It's been sitting in a pile waiting for me to settle on a design for the last four or so years.
I've swung back and forth from Landsnecht to French, Italian and Venetian trying to find the design I have so far in the back of my head I can't see it clearly- something with slashes in the sleeves but not too puffy or ornate. I'm pretty sure the thing I saw once upon a time was an invention from a fairy tale illustration and having spent an evening looking at the variations in Cranach's depictions of this dress finally settled on this design.
<---
My plan is to use a deep blue suede-like fabric to replace the green velvet if I can't find a suitable green. I intend to do the hat and undercap as well. One of the reasons I like this one so much over the other versions of the dress is the high collar - so many medieval dressed leave the name of the neck exposed and I find this cold.
I don't know whether to start a separate blog (and so waste more time on yet another something that I will rarely update) or post my in progress works here and tag them as 'costumes' or 'broidery'. Dilemma dilemma. At least I've finally made a decision on the fabric.
[garden photo up tomorrow when there's light to take it]
At the moment sweetpea, snowpea and daikon hold majority over the gardens. I've bearded iris planted (some amazing ones bought at a market) and (the prompt for posting here) this morning whilst transplanting some pennyroyal: I was delighted to find that my saffron crocuses survived despite me giving up on them (again)! Some have split and moreover I narrowly missed putting a brick garden border over them whilst they were dormant. It's interesting that this time last year they had flowered and gone. We've had such a strange summer this year.
When they finish growing for this year I'm going to have them up, establish their bed properly and then leave them to it. It appears they are happy enough where they are. I might even invest in some more from Diggers and so get a densely established bed (not that I use saffron for much and the amount I would want for dyeing fabric would be silly).
At the very end of last year's Sweet pea season I found these unusual varigated looking flowers at the bottom of the garden. I'm very hopeful that they self seeded and I'll see some more of them. If I do I'm going to get seed from them - I meant to with the previous plants but time escaped me (or I accidentally mixed it in with the rest of my seeds.
My pink spotted orchid is also considering flowering again. The flower buds are still fairly small but the plant has grown at least a quarter again as many stems from the base since it's last flowering period. I'm thinking I might split it at the end of the growing season. The phlaenopsis is looking small and sulky. It probably wants feeding. My few orchids seem to survive on guess work primarily.
The mural is finally finished at the John Hunter Hospital:
I need to get better photographs of the wall. The picture was taken prior to the attachment of the twenty white birds. These are elevated from the wall surface and cast shadows that shift as the sun moves overhead. The birds are laser-cut perspex with simple details etched in and gold paint rubbed into the surface texture that catches the light and glitters.
If you happen to be visiting the hospital - the mural can be found along the corridor left from the entrance at Emergency, just after the cafe.
It feels a bit like sitting in a forest with Augustus Klimpt.
Very autumnal
I've have about seven meters of amaranth patterned brocade in a deep russet orange. It's been sitting in a pile waiting for me to settle on a design for the last four or so years.
I've swung back and forth from Landsnecht to French, Italian and Venetian trying to find the design I have so far in the back of my head I can't see it clearly- something with slashes in the sleeves but not too puffy or ornate. I'm pretty sure the thing I saw once upon a time was an invention from a fairy tale illustration and having spent an evening looking at the variations in Cranach's depictions of this dress finally settled on this design.
<---
My plan is to use a deep blue suede-like fabric to replace the green velvet if I can't find a suitable green. I intend to do the hat and undercap as well. One of the reasons I like this one so much over the other versions of the dress is the high collar - so many medieval dressed leave the name of the neck exposed and I find this cold.
I don't know whether to start a separate blog (and so waste more time on yet another something that I will rarely update) or post my in progress works here and tag them as 'costumes' or 'broidery'. Dilemma dilemma. At least I've finally made a decision on the fabric.