Of Bookish Nooks and Pumpkin Lands

Warmest greetings from the book and painting nook at the country house.

Sometimes you have to escape the studio and just have a cozy place to hide in.

So many wonderful things have been going on and I have been wildly busy.

In my neck of the woods late September turns into another spring and autumn weather does not really fully set in (where leaves change and such) until late November or early December.

It’s an exciting time when nights get cooler, but days are warm and rains pour in with the last of monsoon season.

I have been feverishly updating my online shop and restocking fall favorites.

I’ll spare you the details of printing nightmares and stock getting lost in limbo on its way to me.

The good news is that slowly, it is all taking shape, and there are fresh goodies in the shop.

I am updating shop listings with better photos and even adding videos one at a time.

This has taken many days/weeks, and have much more to go.

I am soooo enjoying putting together autumnal orders for folks.

Packing spell labels and magical cards utterly delights me.

In my free time, I am reading and splashing in rain puddles.

Although, I am mostly very very busy in the garden right now.

The garden tending is at an all-time high because things are growing so much with the cooler weather and the pumpkin patch needs us more as it quadruples in size.

Guiding vines and helping to make sure babies are pollinated.

But when I come in, I love to paint, draw and read when I have time.

Hiding away with lovely things to read is such a guilty pleasure.

Although I don’t feel guilty at all because reading is so good for the brain.

I got this old bookcase a while back and decided not to touch the varnish.

It’s totally homemade and I wanted to just enjoy someone’s grandfather’s handy work.

I think creating a little reading nook or cozy creative space is so good for the heart.

Makes you just happy to have your own sort of little book nook, hidden away in the privacy of your own home.

The rose painting signed Sade (Sadie) was painted by Mister Lovee’s grandmother.

I have cherished it for many many years.

I made all those little glitter stars this summer in front of the a/c on a very hot day.

Kitty and her Feline Valentine were painted by me last year, or the year before, I can’t recall.

Just a little collection of things that make me happy.

A little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Dug into a John Derian book (chopped it all up really) to add some pizazz to the back/inside of the bookcase.

One of my little pumpkins insisted on living here.

I usually don’t keep clay sculptures that I make, but this one refused to journey abroad.

So, he’s with me.

Ozzy the pumpkin.

Of course, everyone needs a couple of owls, wouldn’t you say?

And a resident fortune teller for good measure.

Yes, yes indeed.

As I read my favorite books the rain came down in sheets.

Crazy lightning striking nearby trees and all manner of thunder.

The best part is running outside after the rain to smell the damp earth and see how happy all the growing things are.

Pumpkin vines climbing up the garden entrance rose arbor in our front yard…

And very busy bees covered in pollen.

Lavender zinnias do delight.

As bees do their job to help the pumpkin babies.

But how are you supposed to fly when you are absolutely covered in pollen?

We live in a pumpkin patch sea.

And we love every minute of it.

Miles in the pumpkin patch.

His grave is under a pumpkin wonderland.

Diamond water drops are a treasure to behold.

As the garden turns into a lake that quickly gets sucked down by the summer earth.

I can’t imagine how overjoyed the ground is.

What a great monsoon summer we have had.

We needed it so much.

Then, completely unexpectedly I might add, I came upon the most wondrous delight.

A towering cactus covered in blossoms the size of my head.

But where did these blooms come from?

Oh me, oh my!

So uniquely magical in every way.

I have never seen them this huge nor open in the day.

The cloudy rain skies must have tricked them, and what a show to behold.

To give you an idea, the blooms were about the size of a Dinnerplate Dahlia.

Once the rain subsides, of course, everyone wants so go outside and play.

Miss Poppy loves to sit and observe.

Even if you take her for a walk, she wants to stop and look around.

She will not budge until she is good and ready.

The Queenie pumpkin gets bigger every single day.

As pumpkin friends turn up very quickly now.

As I shared before, I was about 1.5 months behind in planting this year, but it was too hot to set much fruit this summer anyways. So it’s okay that the patch got very strong and waited to make pumpkins.

I also normally like to plant in April, but it was chillier this year, so I waited.

And now the patch is very very busy.

Teddy likes to inspect every nook and cranny.

I love the hopefulness of a garden.

Running outside every morning to see what is going on.

Wondering what new and wonderful things are transpiring.

Pumpkin babies, spiders on zinnias.

Wild Morning Glory.

Funny enough, squash blossoms and morning glories all close the minute they are hit with the warm sun.

So, you have to get up early to tend and you are rewarded with all the sights and sounds of early morning.

Bees buzzing wildly.

They practically holler at you to get out of their way because they are so busy.

I like to share similar views of the garden in posts, so you can see how it changes.

It’s a wonderful time in the garden.

We had some lovely visitors who enjoyed it immensely as well.

We went on a little excursion to bring some garden art back to the country and made new friends.

It was a very serendipitous week with so many lovely happenings.

After the rain, golden hour was a dream.

It doesn’t hurt to have guests marveling at all your hard work.

One gal said, it’s like a wonderland, it’s so magical.

You work so hard that sometimes you forget how amazing all the growing things are, until other people enter through the garden arbor and you see it through their eyes.

It’s like, oh yeah, I live in a giant pumpkin patch.

They can hardly believe the leaves and the pumpkins and such.

The summer has been so hot this year, I feel like I have always been hot and a wee bit miserable from said heat.

Which of ocurse, the beauty of the garden makes it all worth it.

But when the weather begins to shift as it is now, then you can stand back and really enjoy it all.

How did it all happen, some leaves the size of wheelbarrows.

I’m so grateful to the core for the way we get a whole other growing season in autumn in our hight desert.

It gives you the opportunity to appreciate the bounty.

It’s the true gift if you managed to stick through it all I suppose.

Daily super early mornings, no sleeping in and 3+ hours of tending.

Hot late afternoons of tending again.

To me every bit of it is worth it.

I would not have it any other way.

The wasp stings and mosquito bites and sun burns and hurting feet and all the rest.

Now the magic really begins, as we make our way into a new season.

Just a few more days of summer until it is officially autumn.

And a sort of fall-spring to us.

The roses are returning and the marigolds are about to bloom.

I hope you are doing very well.

I am so happy to have been able to carve out some time to write to you and share some photos today.

It’s taken me all Sunday but at 10:23 p.m. I am finally able to hit post and share with you.

I hope to see you again very soon.

All my best.

Love, Vanessa