Of August and its Giant Leaves…

Wondrous rain hosts parties in the garden.

Pumpkin vines having tea with morning glory vines.

Green in every shade and texture.

Studio makings happening, whilst rain droplets fall on skylight.

Flowers flowers, everywhere.

This is always, and forever, August.

Days of rain and cooler nights, growing in the garden begins again.

As the massive heat stalls things a little.

But some reprieve from the heat brings everyone to life again.

Flower bouquets in every corner.

Making me so very happy.

I break from sketching ballerinas and put on a giant hat.

On my way to pick the never-ending strawberries of summer.

I meet my sister for brunch on the back patio.

She embroiders.

I look at magazine pages.

We laugh and talk.

Me with my antics, my sister with her gasping reactions to them.

She brings Mexican pastry, pan dulce.

We look at purple, blue and fuchsia morning glories everywhere.

Growing wild and mad.

They seem to have gotten in every nook and cranny this year.

Even taking over parts of the front flower garden.

Up trees and arbors.

Winding up zinnias and marigolds.

Until you can hardly even see them.

Pumpkin vines explode as leaves get astoundingly large.

I stare at them in disbelief.

(I don’t even fertilize my garden, just plunk seeds in the ground, so nature gets all the credit)

As my little brownie does too.

My chocolate caramel brownie.

I love when my sister also calls him Brownie.

Vanessa, look at what your Brownie is doing.

Who doesn’t love a brownie I ask?

What is everyone looking at?

Giant leaves.

I wonder what they are saying?

Something I can not hear perhaps?

Measuring in inches.

Watching babies everywhere.

Even though a couple babies were pollinated and started to plump up, the vines let them go.

Nature is curious like that.

For no apparent reason, the pumpkin babies just died.

When they seemingly were doing so well.

But then the next week, a few more babies are pollinated and they make it.

Growing bigger everyday.

The mysteries of nature and life, as I see played out in my garden all the time.

The rain turns the mountains blue.

And you can sort of see the forest trees, from down here in the desert.

We have two kinds of prickly pear cactus in our garden.

The ones that have purple fruit, that I make prickly pear lemonade with.

Then there are these that have coral fruit, below.

Some of these prickly pear cactus in my garden are over 1 story tall.

All the birds and countless insects love these coral fruits.

I see shadows around me and look up, only to see all manner of huge flying creature.

For weeks little yellow butterflies, lots of them, have danced around.

Fluttering faster than fast.

Love them so.

And finally, the dinner-plate dahlias are taller than me and flowering.

It seems the garden has gone giant for August.

As it always does.

Yet, never ceases to amaze.

This nature things always takes my breath away.

 

The garden is a great place to go.

Stretch out from being hunkered down painting or drawing.

Claying or jewelry making.

All my projects are finally coming to final stages.

Hoooray!

I have been working so diligently on so many things.

Sometimes until way past midnight.

Hope to wrap things up soon.

 

And you?

What on earth have you been up to?

 

 

 

 

 ps:  Have you seen the movie Tim’s Vermeer?

I saw it a few weeks ago and enjoyed it, very interesting indeed.