Brighten Up The Day/Evening with Plants & Fun Stuff

[Papageno]

Those look like Nasturtium plants.

They're very hearty growers and the flowers are used by chefs in salads. The flowers have a very spicy/peppery taste.

"They", whoever "they" are, say you can eat the leaves also, but I personally never have.
There seems to be some disagreement about whether or not they're really edible.

They might be TOXIC, so if in doubt, just don't.

Dandelion leaves are delicious, provided you actually cultivate them specifically for eating.

I would NOT pluck them out of the lawn that's full of TOXIC weed killers and fertilizers.

If you grow your own peas, the young tendrils are delicious.

I will post pictures of some of my plants again after they've had more time to recharge their chlorophyll on the window sill.
Overall they've made remarkable progress........most of them anyway.

[Joan Marie]

Had a visitor yesterday in my garden.

She came around later with one of her babies. I've seen her with four.

[Pen]

She's beautiful, and what a lovely photo!

[Pen]

Those look like Nasturtium plants.

They're very hearty growers and the flowers are used by chefs in salads. The flowers have a very spicy/peppery taste.

"They", whoever "they" are, say you can eat the leaves also, but I personally never have.
There seems to be some disagreement about whether or not they're really edible.

I've eaten the leaves many times - they're quite peppery too. Blackflies love them though, just keep fingers crossed that they don't find them or perhaps import some ladybirds to protect them.

[Joan Marie]

Another beautifully ageing clay pot.

I brought this up to my balcony today.

Someone gave me a gigantic Aloe Vera plant a couple of years ago. It was winter and I kept it inside but it was really big, like in circumference, it was close to needing its own room, so when the weather got nice I took it outside.

I put it in the full sun and it burned which I found really ironic since aloe vera gel is what you put on burns.

I had to do a bit of surgery to save it and after that I kept it in a shadier spot. In the process I "harvested" a good deal of fresh gel which I use in my homemade body butter (along with organic shea butter, cocoanut oil and almond oil). It survived.

Then in the fall it had a s**t-ton of babies and I became rather adept at separating them from the mother plant and replanting them. I'm thinking of opening a roadside stand selling aloe-vera puppies because I seem to be producing vast numbers of them. Next to tomatoes it may be the most success I've ever had with a plant. Although it is entirely unintended success. I was totally satisfied with just the one plant.

In the winter I put them all in the basement and mostly forgot about them but they survived somehow and now they are back outdoors ready to multiply like bunnies at an out-of-town bunny convention.

[Papageno]

I put it in the full sun and it burned which I found really ironic since aloe vera gel is what you put on burns.

I had to do a bit of surgery to save it and after that I kept it in a shadier spot. In the process I "harvested" a good deal of fresh gel which I use in my homemade body butter (along with organic shea butter, cocoanut oil and almond oil). It survived.

the plants burned in full sun? that's an interesting factoid. perhaps the plants simply need more water? I dunno.

But I do know they are the best for even the most severe burns, split a stalk and bandage/tape the gelatinous side of the stalk on top of the burn. Keep it that way for a few hours, change the bandage, using the other split stalk and you'll feel nothing and the resulting burn heals with phenomenal results. The burned skin doesn't blister.

That sounds like a wonderful body butter formula, maybe you should think about another cottage industry project JM.

[Joan Marie]

I recently became familiar with the work of Joe Pera.
A strange and wonderful human being.

He just released this video, It's called : Relaxing Old Footage with Joe Pera.





It's really nice. And funny in the very strange way he expresses his utterly unique sense of humour.



At the end of the video, this video came up:


https://youtu.be/XkfmrXLxaNk


It's 5 hours of beautiful footage of trees. It's astounding.
I wish I could just project it on the wall next to me and run it all day.

I hope you can enjoy some of this.

[Joan Marie]

One reason I enjoy working outdoors is the unexpected visitor...

[Pen]

A shield beetle

[Joan Marie]

🏵 I was on a walk with a friend today and we saw some wild poppies and she said, "I can make you a little princess." She took a poppy bud and carefully coaxed out the red "skirt" Then she pinched the little head out from inside the flower and placed it on the stem.

I'm so charmed!!!

[Papageno]

yes, the poppies are very charming, your friend is so clever, they look like small puppets or dolls.
I can easily imagine someone using tissue paper to recreate those for a table setting or a whimsical tchotchke to display on a mantle or cupboard.

They're an inspiration for a lovely watercolor painting.

BTW, the "deck of the week" announcements GIF with the blue butterfly is really endearing.

[Charlie Brown]

I thought this was fun.

[Papageno]

N.C. Wyeth, 1908

[Papageno]

although I must admit that I prefer grits, lotsa butter and salt.

Day-O, NYC back in the day, they had the best all you can breakfast, and the best grits.

[Charlie Brown]

As long as you understand that no self-respecting Southerner would use instant grits.

[Papageno]

As long as you understand that no self-respecting Southerner would use instant grits.

I don't think any self-respecting person, regardless of where they come from should cook with anything "instant".

Apologies to those who do eat Quaker's Instant Oatmeal and such, it just ain't "my thing".

With that being said, Day-O may have been in the heart of the NYC's West Village, but be assured they didn't use instant either.
It was the real deal.

My favorite brand for high quality whole grains is Bob's Red Mill, just don't follow their how-to-prepare directions,
their test kitchens need an overhaul. Fortunately I know how to cook.

[Charlie Brown]

It was a reference to the film My Cousin Vinny, one of the most amusing of all time. You failed the test.

[Papageno]

It was a reference to the film My Cousin Vinny, one of the most amusing of all time. You failed the test.

Never watched it.

Two New Yorkers accused of murder in rural Alabama.....

thanks but no thanks
me and "rural" don't get along, wherever "rural" may be.

tongue-in-cheek humor, OK.

Have you ever watched "Harold and Maude"? ......you probably have, I love it.

[Charlie Brown]

Yeah. I've seen H&M, for sure. No, dude, you've got to see MCV, especially if you can't stand the rural folk. It's Joe Pesci and Marissa Tomei as some of the New Yorkiest New Yorkers ever who get stuck in Alabama for a month. It's hilarious.

[Papageno]

Nobody needs a paid subscription to view this.
This is breathtaking and brilliant, both artistically and conceptionally:

https://www.npr.org/sections/picturesho ... c-embodied

[qndynes]

This thread is so lovely and uplifting I want to share plant photos as well!

[HRU's Muse]

Thought I would update with a picture of how my apple trees grown from seed this spring look now. This is only about half of them, in small pots now.

Plus a pic of part of my garden. Too big to show it all! It gets bigger every year and still I want to plant more things. It is that glorious time before weeds take over! Hoping that all the mulching slows the weeding down.

The garden is in the background. The pots in the foreground are mostly 5 gallon buckets I plant peppers and eggplants in.

[HRU's Muse]

A section of the garden with peas and cukes sharing a fence, spinach, lettuce, and fava beans.

A close up of the fava beans. I love their black and white flowers!

And an old soapstone sink with basil growing in it.

[Papageno]

This guy designs the most extraordinary Terrariums, Paludariums, Vivariums, Ripariums, enclosed Ecospheres, Ponds, and then some:

Here is a link to his video for constructing a Terrarium Computer Desk:

Serpa Designs Terrarium Computer Desk

[Papageno]

Mineral Pigments / Egg Tempera

The National Gallery, London

“David Peggie from the Scientific department discusses Giovanni Bellini's use of the pigment malachite, in his painting 'The Agony in the Garden’.

Mineral Pigments Renaissance Paintings

This is an interesting tutorial about the use of mineral pigments in an historical painting, “The Agony in the Garden” dating from approx. 1459 - 1465, by Bellini.

No doubt, the professional artists here will already be familiar with this topic, but for the rest of us, this video provides a fascinating glimpse into painting techniques of that period.

Here is an additional resource that professionals will no doubt already have knowledge of, and it does offer in-depth explanation and analysis of mineral vs. synthetic pigments.

Natural Pigments For Modern Painters

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The Agony in The Garden