Five Eggs, original painting on canvas, 12 x 12, Kit Miracle
If you happen to get to the post office or a farm supply store this time of year, you will hear the peeping sound of baby chicks. They are SO cute! And it takes all kinds of willpower to NOT buy a bunch of each.
There are many varieties, but I particularly like the speckled ones and the ones with feathered feet. They look so fancy. We’ve had many kinds over the years. I also loved the bantams, the females, not the males which tend to be aggressive for their size. One year, one of my favorite dun-colored females disappeared. I was certain that she was the victim of a raccoon or hawk. But after about three weeks, she reappeared with about eighteen little bantam peeps following her. They were so tiny and cute. I don’t know where she hid but apparently it was a good hiding place.
This antique sponge bowl holds five fresh brown eggs. Do they taste different? That’s hard to tell but they sure are deep yellow when cracked open. Probably from all the extras that the hens get in their diet than those that are confined to chicken factory farms.
We’ve also had blue and green eggs, too. It is rumored that they are lower in cholesterol but I don’t know if that is true. They’re just so beautiful to look at.
The sponge bowl, by the way, gets its name from the decoration. The glaze was applied with a sea sponge. I have only seen these in blue. These stoneware bowls are very heavy for their size. I bought this at auction many many years ago and still use it for fruit and whatnot.
Farmhouse in Spring. Acrylic, 12 x 16. Kit Miracle
Although spring officially began a little over a week ago, the season has been sneaking up on us for a while. The grass is greening with that lovely shade of spring green. The trees are sporting a haze of pinky-red buds or some with more greenish buds.
The daffodils and crocuses are out. The yard if full of spring beauties, a tiny white flower with a pink stripe. It looks like snow in some areas. And the forsythias in the yard and out by the road where I had my son transplant shoots over fifteen years ago. I think it adds a little colorful surprise for passersby.
I’ve been so busy with other activities but have been able to sneak out to catch a painting or two. These are some of my favorite recent ones. One depicts our house sitting on the little hill with the morning sunlight catching the fronts of the buildings. The middle building behind the big house is my studio.
The second larger painting is of our North field looking west. You can see the farm rows from last year’s crops. The white dogwood, some redbud, and the various spring colors on the big trees. Such a pretty time of year.
North Field in Spring. Acrylic on canvas 16 x 20. Kit Miracle
I was trying out some new pastels this week and decided to really juice up the color. A little fauvism. It was fun. Not my usual style but that’s OK, sometimes it’s nice to try a new style or color scheme.
The past two weeks have been filled with activities and I’ve been a little under the weather. Some bug that I probably caught from my husband. Feel great sometimes, then a few hours later, totally exhausted. So…I just take a nap. But that isn’t helping me make much headway for spring tasks.
A couple of weeks ago, temps were definitely chilly with snow and freezing rain. Then suddenly….the sun is out, so are the daffodils. My favorite thing to do every day is to take a walk and see what is new around the property. Buds swelling, new bulbs emerging, birds starting to stake out their spring homes.
I picked up my show from the Harrison County Arts in Corydon. A couple of commission pieces. And am working on some classes for spring break, AND…have company coming! Yay. But that means a little (a lot) of extra care for cleaning and tidying.
Oh, well, it will either get done or it won’t. But I fully intend to take time to enjoy the spring emergence.
I love this view of the ice-covered branches, sparkling in the sunlight.
Unless you’ve been living in a cave or on a remote island this week, you’ve heard about the huge snowstorm that swept the nation. News stories abounded, showing endless reels of people who were worse off than you. Ice, snow, trees crashing, roads impassable.
Well, this was our reality this week.
The ice was the first to arrive, coating this rhododendron right outside the window.
Fortunately we had plenty of warning as we watched the storm roll up from Texas through the Ohio River Valley. Watching hours of local weather predictors guess whether the front would stay upstate or come down our way. Where is the snow line? Who will see sleet and ice? It’s tiresome after awhile.
But we were a little nervous. Ice on trees, add some wind, pop, there goes your electric for a few days.
My husband gets in pioneer mode. Park the newer car in the garage. Park the other vehicles away from the trees. Make sure we have supplies in – milk, bread (I live with a guy who bakes), wine. Check the oil lamps, the kerosene heater, the electronics are charged up as is the backup. I spoke about this before in a previous blog. We have a gas (propane) stove and hot water so no problem. Can’t use the gas furnace or the wood furnace because there would be no electric to run the blowers. But we do keep the wood fired up low to keep the pipes from freezing.
We were lucky this time. First the ice, then some sleet, then some snow. No wind. No loss of power. Just enjoy the peace inside with some books and the TV.
View down the drive, with the late afternoon shadows. We didn’t really have any trouble getting out, especially after grading the driveway.
My husband and the neighbor got outside to grade the drive with their tractors. I took a few walks with the dog. The glittering ice on the trees was so beautiful, tinkling a bit with a little breeze. Kept the birdfeeder filled. We buy sunflower seeds in forty-pound bags. Now we’re listening to the giant thumps as the ice melts and slides off the roof. The grandkids are over, taking more cooking lessons and playing with the toys that they don’t see every day. Stomping and sliding outside with the dog.
I hope you were able to find some good in the storm, even if it was just a little peaceful time to count your blessings.
The birdfeed has been popular this week, normally with dozens of birds at a time. Cardinals, blue jays, woodpeckers, titmice, juncos, and more. We go through forty pounds of sunflower seeds pretty quickly.
Posted onJanuary 2, 2022|Comments Off on Hello 2022, good bye 2021. A year in review.
I don’t know about you but the past year has certainly been a roller coaster ride, one of ups and downs, good and bad. It seems as if we’re all in a bit of a daze and ready to say good riddance to 2021.
Way back in January, we were all just beginning to fall off the cliff into the realization of the seriousness of the pandemic. Confusion reigned. Many countries were still locked down or were thinking about it. We were getting tired of being confined homebodies. But hope reigned with the news that a vaccine was on the horizon. Some of us were scrambling to make sure we could sign up as soon as possible.
On top of this, the nation looked on with alarm at the mess in the capitol before the inauguration. Most of us had never lived through anything like this but there were some memories of the demonstrations back in the 60s and 70s. Life repeats itself.
The new Thyen Clark Cultural Center is completed. It opened in January and is always hosting some activity or function, from classes, to weddings, to Santa’s reindeer.
Many good things also happened this past year. For one thing, the new Thyen-Clark Cultural Center in Jasper opened. I had a small part in working on that project for ten years before I retired. Others picked up the ball and saw it to fruition. So proud of the town and citizens. What a showplace!
Bread and Miriam. My friend is delighted to display her new painting. We had such a fun morning visiting, talking about books and life.
Remember when people were stockpiling toilet paper and bread was hard to get? I reposted my Artesian Bread recipe. My friend Miriam said that making bread was the highlight of her spring. But I was also forced to buy 25 pounds of rye flour when I couldn’t find it in smaller packages. My husband is a great bread maker. Lucky me.
After months of playing hermit, my husband and I sneaked off for a quick trip to Florida. We rented a house so we were still hermits, just with better weather.
About 35 students attended my presentation. Great questions, too!
My big solo exhibit in May / June at the cultural center went off without a hitch. It was so satisfying to see two years’ of work on the new gallery walls. Loads of visitors, including friends from all over the state. Thank you!
Spring threw some surprises at us. We had some beautiful flowers but I held off planting. Good thing as we had a very late snow on May 10th! I covered up the things that I did plant and everything turned out well.
Slightly creepy feeling, this is what the cicadas look like when they first shed their brown shells. It will attach itself to something – twig, trees, side of house – while it pumps up it’s wings, then takes off to find a mate for a day. No mouths or stingers.
Then there was the cicada invasion. Thousands of the little bugs, all singing their mating calls at 90 decibels. Very annoying but it passed eventually. The birds and toads were really happy.
Tomatoes, tops. L-R bottom: Pink Brandywine, Red Beefsteak, San Marzano. Top: Celebrity, Better Boy, Park Whopper, Goliath, Roma.
Our garden produce was heavy and bug-free this year. We couldn’t even put up all that we grew and tried to give much of it away. All this despite the late planting, and planting fewer plants.
We were very grateful to be living in the country where we could get outside, go for a drive, eat lunch by the river.
I really love the variety of mini pumpkins and squashes.
September saw the requisite visit to the pumpkin farm. Paintings in three shows. And winding up for the holidays. Overall art sales tripled. Time to set bigger goals.
I hope that as you take time to look back over the past year, that you have some good memories, too. Let us all hope the coming year is much improved.
I have an exhibit coming up in January and was recently asked by the gallery director what the title of my exhibit will be. Duh? You would think that a person who has spent most of her life in the creative field would be more imaginative in this respect. Uh, my name? The types of paintings I’ll exhibit? I finally landed on the title: Introspection.
Alone. Intimate Spaces – Breaking Bread series. Acrylic on canvas. 30 x 24. Kit Miracle
Introspection seems to represent what we do at the end of the year and the beginning of the new year. How were things? What did we learn? What do we hope for the new year?
Let’s face it. It’s been a difficult year. Most of us did not expect to still be dealing with a world pandemic. Wild weather and climate change. Economic and world political disputes.
This led me to contemplate my Intimate Spaces: Breaking Bread series of paintings. I plan to include several of these pieces in the upcoming exhibit. Many of them represent the theme of being alone. Eating alone or limited to a close group of friends and family.
Sunday Dinner has taken a new meaning these days. A small family gathering at a restaurant.
Some people seem to have handled being alone better than others. For an artist, this is a normal state to reach down deep to access my thoughts and determine how best to express them. I enjoy the time with my thoughts and am not lonely, just alone.
Other creative people – dancers, musicians, those who work in large studio groups – thrive on the lively input of many minds. What looks to me like chaos is their life blood. With theaters shuttered and musical venues closed, I can only sympathize.
Dinner at Octave. One of our favorite restaurants. Very eclectic with all kinds of people.
For me, being alone whether spending time in the studio, reading, taking a walk in the woods, or even attending a movie or performance alone is an enjoyable experience. It doesn’t really matter who I’m with or how many people are around me.
But being lonely is no fun for anyone. And, yes, I’ve been there, too. This is a much more nobody likes me emotional state. You can be surrounded by people and yet still feel hollow and disconnected.
Alone II, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 30. I saw this old guy having breakfast at a fast food place. I don’t know if he was widowed or, perhaps, an old veteran.
This has been a difficult couple of years for everyone and the holiday season is an especially emotional time. Maybe you’ve been separated from your family and friends. You’ve been working from home and don’t have any work buddies to pal around with. Maybe you’ve moved and don’t have any friends in your new city. I’m not a psychologist but I do know that people are not going to knock on your door. As a friend told me a long time ago; there are always people like you (in the area); you just have to go out and find them.
Even if you live in as unpopulated an area as I do (and it would be difficult to find many counties in the Eastern part of the United States with a more sparse population than mine), there are still some people like you out there. Go to the library, join a club, start your own club. What special interests do you have? Hiking, biking, fishing, playing ball? Maybe you like to volunteer at the animal shelter or help others. Young people who are new to a city or area often reach out through online groups to plan activities.
Whoever you are out there, I hope that you can enjoy the holidays. That you’re not alone or lonely. Let us all hold higher aspirations for a new year.
We’ve had some pretty warm days this past week so I thought it would be a great opportunity to plant some seeds that I’ve collected this past autumn. I had the kids help me collect a five gallon bucket of black walnuts, and I harvested all my bee balm and redbud seeds.
Three containers to plant. The blue bucket holds redbud seedpods, the coffee can holds bee balm seed heads, and the large white bucket is filled with black walnuts which are already losing their husks. I recommend wearing disposable gloves when handling them.
I took a walk up to the big woods to sow some redbud a couple of weeks ago. This is a beautiful understory tree with pinkish-purple flowers in the spring and heart-shaped leaves the rest of the year. You barely even notice the tree when it is not in bloom. It seems to grow well wherever dogwood will grow. We have lots of dogwood but no redbud except in the yard. I collected all the seed pods that I could (a two gallon bucket) and sowed half of them up in the big woods.
The beautiful redbud is an understory tree, totally hidden most of the year but adding a brilliant touch to the woods in the spring.
This week I sowed the remainder in the second-growth timber on the west side of the property. I crushed the pods by hand and just scattered them as I walked through the trees. I’m sure some will take eventually.
Also, this past fall, I collected all the bee balm seed heads that I could find. I got a coffee can full. I had noticed earlier this summer that the bee balm that I scattered along the road frontage few years ago had made a nice stand of flowers. Our pollinators always need some more help so I thought this would be a good thing. These seeds I scattered in the west second growth timber, along the lane and more road frontage. We’ll see.
Bee balm is in the mint family and is a favorite of pollinators. Easy to grow.
The walnuts are a different matter. These are black walnuts and, as I reported earlier this fall, they can make quite a mess in the yard. Highly desired by cooks and very expensive to buy in the store, the trees can be very prolific as they were this year. We had walnuts everywhere. The trees also emit a chemical called juglone which is often poisonous to other plants nearby. Not counting the mess. I thought if I could get some to grow elsewhere on the property, then we might remove the trees close to the house. In past years, local youth groups would come and pick up the nuts and take them to the mill for money. We were happy; it helped them and they helped us.
The large nuts are covered in a heavy protective husk. The husk comes off eventually, revealing the nut. These nuts are particularly staining to anything they come into contact with – hands, clothing, sidewalks, etc. Ink was once derived from this nut.The squirrels love the black walnuts but they create quite a mess in the yard.
So earlier this week I took a walk carting a heavy bucket of black walnuts and a shovel. I planted some and others I just tossed out. The squirrels do a great job of planting the nuts. An arborist friend said they do just as well to be scattered as actually planted.
So later this week, I took the remainder of the big bucket of nuts and scattered them in the woods to the north of our house. We have some oak growing there but plenty of room for more trees. We’ll see.
Looks like some cold weather moving in again so I won’t be planting any more bulbs or nuts or seeds this fall. I would be happy if even ten percent of what I sowed this fall comes up. That will make a difference. And help in my fight against the invaders of honeysuckle, multi-flora roses, Russian olives and privet.
It was nice to see that the Virginia pine trees that we planted over thirty years ago are now tall trees. But most of the white pine were eaten by the deer. Well, somebody benefits in the long run.
If you’d like to learn more about planting trees, I highly recommend the book The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohleben. I asked my local library to order this book last year. They were a bit skeptical and thought it would have limited interest. However, I was recently told that the book has been off the shelf ever since they got it in. Now it is in audio format, too.
It is not unusual here in the Midwest to see farmers harvesting late into the night during the season. Last year our renter harvested past one in the morning. Only fatigue drives them inside.
Night Reaper. Acrylic on canvas board, 11 x 14. Kit Miracle
Earlier this week, the farmer was rushing to get the corn in before the rain predicted the following day. The giant combine looks like some eerie monster gobbling up the stalks, spitting the debris out the back. The grain trucks meet the combine in the field to be filled and cart away the gold.
I have always been fascinated by night activities such as these and I sneaked out to take a bunch of reference photos. I don’t know why I have to sneak on my own property but I felt compelled to do so, hiding in the shadows and behind the trees. With the low light conditions and the movement of the equipment, most of the photos were blurred but I managed to get some good shots, too. I was just using my phone camera, not my good camera.
The clouds were scudding across the night sky, alternating blotting out the nearly full moon and then darkening everything. The lights on the equipment were dazzling. The dust kicked up by the harvest hung in the air like smoke, sometimes caught in the blue light of the moon.
I find night subjects to be interesting and compelling in a totally different way than daytime subjects. I’ve sketched leaning up against buildings in Times Square and have painted the buildings of the city seen at night. Watching diners through the window of a restaurant can be fascinating.
What is going on in your neighborhood in the dark that is worth capturing in art?
The pumpkins on the porch are still making a nice display. They’ll end up as food for the chickens next month.
October has been so busy here on the homeplace. The temperature was in the 80s at the beginning of the month. Now it has dropped to 50s in the day with dips to the 30s at night. Might have had a light frost (which I didn’t actually see) but will definitely have one later this week.
The garden has been picked clean. All of the last peppers, beans, and tomatoes have been gathered. It’s been mowed, tilled, and a winter wheat cover crop has been planted. This will get tilled under in the spring and helps provide needed body to the soil. The flower pots are being emptied and cleaned out. The spiders have been chased from their homes on the porch and all the summer shoes, boots and gardening tools have been rounded up and put away.
Persimmons. The animals love these fruits but I don’t particularly care for them. They’re a bit tart until after the first frost. Persimmon pulp is used in many recipes for cakes, muffins and puddings. Walnuts. Walnuts. Walnuts. All the trees are bearing heavy crops this year.
We’ve had a bumper crop all summer with the fruit trees being loaded so much we couldn’t pick them all. This trend is continuing into the autumn with an abundance of walnuts and persimmons. You really don’t want to stand under a walnut tree on a windy day. It sounds like gunfire. I’ve picked a bucket of redbud seedpods and have scattered them in the woods. They’re an understory tree so wherever the dogwoods grow, they’ll do fine, too. And I picked another container of beebalm seed heads. I’ll scatter those along the drive and edges of the fields. There is a nice stand of this plant where I sowed the seeds a couple of years ago.
Lilacs blooming in October. Yes, here is proof.
With the warmer weather, some of the plants and bushes have been a bit mixed up. I noticed that one of my lilacs was blooming. That was a nice surprise in…er…October. And the forsythia always seems to get a second autumn bloom.
Doing a little plein air painting up in the woods. The fall colors are just approaching peak.
Fall break meant the grandkids got to come out and spend some country time. A walk in the woods is always fun. We never see any wildlife (due to the dog running ahead) but we spotted a great variety of mushrooms and other fungi. I took the granddaughter to see an especially lovely exhibit of paintings by Louisville artist Joyce Garner.
Visiting the Joyce Garner exhibit at the Thyen-Clark cultural center.
And I was particularly busy doing arty things. Driving one way to drop off paintings for a show, and the other way to pick up some work. Often in the same day! Recorded books make the time go by quicker.
And finally, went to my class reunion. Who are all these old people?! It had been postponed from last year due to COVID, but it was nice to reconnect with some old friends. It’s a lot of hard work so kudos to the committee who tirelessly kept prodding everyone to sign up, and actually show up. Another long drive accompanied by recorded books. And some beautiful fall scenery.
On this last day of October, celebrate a little. Go out and beat the drums and howl at the moon. Or maybe snitch a piece or two of candy from any little people who may live with you. Or buy an extra bag for yourself. Happy Halloween!
Posted onAugust 22, 2021|Comments Off on Tomatoes! Tomatoes! Tomatoes!
It’s that time of year in the garden. I have been picking tomatoes by the five-gallon bucket load. The freezer is full and we have just about run out of room.
These are the Celebrities. Very prolific. The cages keep the fruit off the ground and much cleaner.
We have been growing tomatoes for decades. We try different varieties. Some years we like this one, another year we might like another one. This year I decided to make a semi-scientific analysis of the different varieties that we usually gravitate to.
First of all, I don’t start any plants from seed anymore. Been there, done that. I can usually find a good variety in the local stores and garden centers. Also, we don’t use any sprays and rarely fertilizer (none this year.) But I do rotate the crops in the garden so the same thing is not planted in the same place each year.
This is my schematic for the tomato part of the garden.
This year I planted fifteen tomato plants (not counting the five that I planted in the spring garden). I have planted as many as sixty-four plants in the past but that is ridiculous. The varieties that I planted this year are: Goliath, San Marzano, Roma, Better Boy, Pink Brandywine, Red Beefsteak, and Park Whopper. Not counting the cherry tomatoes (Sweet 100 and Yellow Pear). I did all the planting on May 15th because we had a very late freeze and SNOW earlier. We had plenty of rain earlier but not too much since mid July. Sometimes we’ll water, especially if the plants are little but usually not. I planted the seedlings very far apart, about five feet, so they had plenty of room and we could get down the rows with the tiller. We also put them up in cages with stakes and ties.
I have lost track of how many tomatoes that I’ve picked but in just one day last week, I picked three five-gallon buckets and gave one away. I have to pick about every three or four days. Our freezer is full.
Tomatoes, tops. L-R bottom: Pink Brandywine, Red Beefsteak, San Marzano. Top: Celebrity, Better Boy, Park Whopper, Goliath, Roma.Tomato samples, bottoms. L-R bottom: Pink Brandywine, Red Beefsteak, San Marzano. Top: Celebrity, Better Boy, Park Whoppers, Goliath, Romas.
So let’s go down the list.
Goliath. These came on early but petered out later.
San Marzano. Smaller than Romas, often hollow. Not very juicy.
Romas were better and larger than the San Marzanos. However, some were subject to blossom end rot. See the black arrow. Even though they look beautiful from the outside. Very prolific.
Goliath. We’ve liked this tomato in the past and it started off well but slowed down. I paid a lot for just one plant so will probably not plant it again next year.
San Marzano. This is supposedly the king of Italian tomatoes. VERY prolific. I can pull the tomatoes off the vine in handfuls, like grapes. But they seem a little dry and have quite a bit of white/green core which is not tasty.
Roma. We’ve grown these before but they really produced this year. Much larger than the San Marzanos which was a surprise. Very meaty but sometimes a little black inside which is probably blossom end rot from uneven watering.
Better Boy, meaty but not very large.
Pink Brandywine. These were the winners in our opinion. VERY large, very meaty and really tasty. One slice is enough for a whole sandwich.
Red Beefsteak. Tasty but we didn’t like cutting out all the white parts which are bitter.
Better Boy. Good but nothing to write home about. Will probably pass next year.
Pink Brandywine. These were a real surprise. The tomatoes are huge, at least six or even seven inches across. A beautiful pink color and low acid. Really tasty and very meaty. One slice is enough for a sandwich.
Red Beefsteak. Very meaty but knobby. Difficult to use for a slicing tomato but pretty good for canning. However, not worth the trouble even though they are so large and produce well.
Celebrity. Very meaty, larger and very prolific.
Park Whopper. Not terribly meaty and way too many seeds.
Celebrity. We’ve grown these before but for not for the past few years. VERY good producers. The tomatoes just keep coming. Great for putting up or eating just plain.
Park Whopper. We were told by a friend that this is his favorite tomato so we thought we’d give it a try. Very consistent shape, good taste, but not very large. And they’re petering out, even in mid-August.
The final verdict? We’ll definitely plant the Pink Brandywines, Romas and Celebrities next year. But….depends upon what other options catch my attention.
Meanwhile, back to the salt mines…er ummm….the garden. And don’t talk to me about beans and corn. Ha!
I'm a professional artist, retired director of a performing arts center, bona fide book addict, and enjoy the quiet life...most of the time. I'd love to hear from you or get your ideas for future posts. Come back soon!
I'm a professional artist, retired director of a performing arts center, bona fide book addict, and enjoy the quiet life...most of the time. I'd love to hear from you or get your ideas for future posts. Come back soon!
my90acres 