Marsbarn Designs...

More art of the moment

Sweetheart G had been doing more art of the moment.
I love the balance of symmetry and asymmetry in
this composition.  

I'm not sure if this arrangement is supposed to be a fairy offering, or if it just a design.

You can see the faded remains of the previous piece of
installation art being used to mark the upper and lower
boundaries.

weathered wood and marigolds

This photo makes me happy.
This is from a project Little e and Sweetheart G
concocted during the birthday weekend. 

I just love those dirty, pollen covered fingers.
They remind me that she isn't big, and she isn't little anymore.

The girls busied themselves for hours collecting the heads from dandelions. There were yellow smudges on hands and faces.

They lined up the blossoms in between the boards on the picnic table.

The effect reminded me of marigold garlands at an Indian wedding. 

Such a lovely project.

Gardening, or learning to love the survivors

You know those plants that you try to grow, but they just get eaten by your garden? You faithfully plant them again and again, and they vanish into the ether like.. well... ether.

 

You become so frustrated/reconciled by the injustice that you begin to embrace the "wild flowers" in your yard.  Dandelions are a lovely yellow, dontcha know... and they are edible... and.. and.. they don't die. (Unfortunately.)

But then, when you've finally let go and moved on.. look what your daughter finds..

 

A single, perfect fritillaria. 
The lone survivor of the dozens I've planted over the past decade.
Isn't she cool?

the return of a friend, and the project that's been simmering in the background

It is that time again,  the wintersweet is in bloom.

 

I wish you all could smell it.  

I've been working on Little e's class auction quilt, and should have some photos to share soon.  It is going to be wild!  We have a black, starstruck unicorn and a zebra with a plaid head, as well as a spotted tiger.  I've almost gotten to that point where all of the pieces are assembled, and I discover what the puzzle will look like when it's all put together. 

Big E: Have You Ever Been Stung By the Skeleton of a Dead Bee

With H away, while Little E was sick in bed. and before I had to pick up Sweetheart G from school, I  put my hands in the earth, tilled the soil, and weeded the yard. With knees on the grass and hands clearing an edge, I felt a prick to my palm. Pulling my hand from the ground, I found I had been stung by the exoskeleton of a bee. As fragile as a dry leaf, the insect's remains still managed to strike out one last time and found me. Once the stinger was removed, I presented the corpse to a delighted Little E.

  

a foreign perspective

Ahhhhhhhhhh.....

Sometimes, you just have to get out and take a break

and see what there is to be seen.

My mom and I ventured out the Japanese Gardens. 

The gardens have been hosting a cross cultural display 

of textiles to honor Portland's sister city Sapporo, Japan. 

They have juxtaposed the textiles of Northwestern Native Americans and the Ainu, an indigenous people of Japan.  

 

The Ainu robes were wonderful! 

The shapes and techniques were totally unique.

I love the curves and beauty of the appliques on this robe.

It was such a unique display!

 

And of course we had to stroll through the gardens.

The iris are just coming into bloom.

 

And the angst of the last couple of days just flowed away.....

Big E: I am the Mulch Man!

After a week of wild weeding,
routing root of blackberry,
grass, dandelion, and morning glory,
I capped my work with eight bags of bark dust.
Koo-koo-katcoo!

 

As to those pesky cutworms, they die well
when you squeeze their bellies.
Their heads pop off and line of liquid
shoots out in a stream.

Big E: The Return of H.

Today is h's last day in Paris.

She return's tomorrow.

The blog soon will be back to normal.

Friday, a mother at school asked

if I was ready for h to return.

I said, "No. I wish she could spend another week.

This is a once in a lifetime experience. I would not take that away from her."

The mother looked at me strangely and walked away.

Of course, I miss her, and I could not care for the children

without the help of Auntie O, but I want a woman

who has her own adventures and is not shackled to me.

Yes, I killed the cut worm and dozens of his brethern.

Big E, the Bane of Blackberries

Woe are the blackberries.

There presence has diminished. 

The strongest canes have been cut down. 

The oldest root clusters have been razed.

The runners have been ruined.

The glory is to the gardener.

English Ivy weep.

Dandelions, you are doomed.

See the yard debris bins

and know your fate.

Big E in the Garden of Benign Neglect.

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

family and friends,

while my dear wife is away,

I have decided to commander her blog.

Yep.

I am bad man.

I need reminders and a good wife

to keep me on track.

Case #1

H's garden here at the Marsbarn

has been affectionately dubbed,

"The Garden of Benign Neglect."

Our effort in the yard is sporadic

and occassional, but with good intentions.

Long ago, before children, pregnancies,

abdominal surgeries and gun shot wounds,

H planned out a peaceful retreat in the yard.

Without care, the weeds of the city encroach.

The Marsbarn is over a hundred years old.

Blackberries and English Ivy, 

morning glories and hemlock,

night shade and strangle weed,

lay siege to our yard.

On days like yesterday,

days that are warm with a cool wind,

I attack the yard.

In series of border skirmishes,

I fight back the black berries,

trim back branches foot by foot,

and then remove the roots.

Dandelions die.

Innocent plants are collateral damage.

Grubs and slugs are captured

and cast in the the yard debris can.

The berserker fury of my heritage

subsided to my hunger.

 I stepped into the yard at eleven.

It was now two.

Oops. 

Time to pick up Little E 

and Sweetheart G from school.