Painting Rocks for Crafts Shows

Hi Everyone, As you have heard, there is a Tropical Storm off the coast of Florida right now and is slowly moving North East and developing into Hurricane Sandy. Hopefully it will weaken and not cause anything bad. We had lots of rain and some gusts of wind, but it finally has finished here and is really nice today with cooler temps and some nice dryer air coming in. During the worst of it, I painted a bunch of rocks for the upcoming arts/crafts shows.

You may ask where I find so many rocks. Well, certainly not in my yard, as there are no rocks here in South Florida, except at the garden shops where I have to buy them. Part of the fun is going through a big pile of rocks and finding the right shapes for various animals.

There are squirrels in the yard, though, loving all the tiny acorns on the huge live oak trees, so I just had to paint a squirrel!

Rocks lend themselves to every possible animal from leopards to doggies. 

I love the little guy on the left.

This little girl is all dressed up for a Pooch Party!

Sad, but true, I must get back to painting canvases instead of rocks. Click on any of these for a closer view.

Have a great weekend!

A Fall Garden Walk

Hi everyone, 

Are you enjoying Fall in the area where you live? Here in Florida, it is still warm (in the low 80's) during the day and nice and cool (60-70) at night. Today is a bit cloudy and we have some pretty nice breezes! I thought I would show you how my little garden is growing. It is between the driveway and the guest cottage front yard. As you can see I use marigolds and zinnias around the cabbage and broccoli to deter insects. It always seems to work well and I get nice broccoli and cabbage with no worms eating them! The mulch helps, too.

Well. I just noticed that this photo is sideways and it is supposed to be up and down! Just lean you head over a bit. That's it....don't strain your neck now...o.k. I think you can see an egg plant and some basil mixed in among the flowers and there stands my old plow, which has needed repair and painting for quite some time now!  (it is on my list....that awful to do list!)

Tomato plant, looking good. It even has a bloom or two already!

On each side of the steps, I've placed a pot of mums. Love this photo shot, looking through the Pygmy palms.

Not much in the line of Autumn colors here, though. The grass is still really green and things are blooming .

Too much water has turned the leaves on this Desert Rose, which is in a pot by the garage door. It is really in full bloom now, though, and gives a happy splash of color by the door.

Happy Autumn!

"BUTTERFLY THURSDAY'

Hi Everyone, It's a Butterfly Thursday here at Ten Gables!!!Is there anything prettier than a big Monarch butterfly (well, I THINK it's a Monarch). It was fascinating to watch this big thing gracefully flitting from one blossom to another, it's wings batting slowly without a care in the world, completely ignoring the person (me) with the camera! 

So Mesmerizing that I could have watched for hours, but, finally she flew away to greener pastures or different flowers!

Check out the beautiful Fall blue sky and the Bougainvillea  blooms. Have a great day!

The Pumpkin Patch, the Pumpkin Patch...

Hello everyone,

O.k, on the count of three, lets all sing together...."The Pumpkin Patch, the Pumpkin Patch, 

Lets all go to the Pumpkin Patch"...... Yes, that is what I did this morning! It was a lovely day, with not a cloud in sight this morning (I see some now), so I grabbed my camera and went to The Pumpkin Patch. Every year, the Methodist Church down town has a big pumpkin display and sale fund raiser. People bring their little children for photos and of course, to pick out their perfect pumpkin!

I usually buy one just because I can't resist a beautiful, colorful pumpkin on my porch or to use as part of my Autumn decor. Usually a raccoon tries to eat it, but I have learned that if I pour ammonia on the pumpkin, it discourages the raccoon.

I assume these pumpkins were grown in Florida, not too far away from where we live. They looked freshly picked and I love the boxes under them that help keep them off the ground, as it gets damp, and this helps prevent rotting from the bottom.

Some are smooth textured and others have pumpkin warts. I really sort of like the warty ones. You can see a couple in this photo.

Decisions, decisions!

O.K, there it is sitting alone on the right...the one with the big "handle". I always want a woody handle on mine...just gives it more character.  Heave Ho, now to get it in the car!! Hope you enjoyed the Pumpkin Patch as much as I did!

Fall Garden in Florida

Hi everyone and welcome to Ten Gables,

We are having less humid weather, but still in the 80's. My cabbage is growing as you can see, but looks a little wilted today as the sun is very hot. This is one of the few days we haven't had a good storm. Maybe yet..........

My pepper plant has a little pepper already growing! I am excited and hope it will keep having blooms and grow larger. I see a little zinnia seedling coming up in the corner of this photo....see it? I had lots of zinnia's this summer and as they went to seed, I  scattered the seed all over on top of the ground on the mulch and they, being very hardy, are coming up everywhere! I don't mind. If one pops up somewhere I don't like, I'll just pull it up.

In front of the house is a small yellow  tree called Cassia. It blooms in Fall and Spring but much better here in Fall. It needs pruning soon, maybe after it quits blooming, if it doesn't turn cold. Do you think it ever turns cold here? Well, yes, I have seen hard freezes in December, January and February. However, we never have but a few days of cold weather and then it is back to warm again! Maybe a week of really cold out of the year. Winters are grand here in Florida!

I planted some Cosmos in the Spring and they reseeded themselves for Fall. They look pretty behind my veggies.

Here is a Tropical plant that has some pretty reds for Fall. It is a Dracena or Ti Plant. Leaves are up to 2 feet long and is a pretty specimen plant. The leaves are beautiful in simple floral arrangements. Hope you have enjoyed my garden walk today!

Pumpkins, Banners and Sunflowers....

Hello Everybody, It is a raining evening in South Florida and I am hoping it will cool off a bit! Yesterday the heat index was 100 degrees! Where is Fall now? not here, I am afraid. But I have tried my best to get into the Autumn spirit by making some crafts for the upcoming Holiday Arts and Crafts Shows! Above are some of the cloth pumpkins I have made.

A new craft I am adding to my line of items is BANNERS! Above is a pendant banner of Fall fabric with little acorns hanging off the points. I accidentally deleted the view of the whole banner, but you can get some idea of how cute it looks.

This summer when we visited England and Northern Ireland, I saw so many pendant banners, many with the Union Jack flag, others of different fabrics and colors. They looked so festive, so I came back with the idea to make lots of cute banners to sell at the crafts fairs. The Give Thanks one above is paper and I actually bought it to use in my Thanksgiving decor, but the others here I have made.

Here is a Christmas one with some cute Christmas fabric and little bells sewn on the points. I think it would be really pretty across a mantel or even on porch railings. 

Close up of the Christmas one. Click on any picture for an even closer view.

This may be my favorite, so far. I decorated the  pendants with yo-yos and buttons.

How cute is that! 

More pumpkins! I love this fabric, which is flannel.

And last, here is my latest painting of sunflowers. Go to http://egrettawells.blogspot.com/ to see more paintings

Fall Fun!

Hi Everybody and welcome to Ten Gables,

I found these adorable pumpkins at a quaint little shop and they needed some embellishments, so I added some ribbon and a sunflower. They are cute on the back porch in an old shabby chic chair!

One of my favorite things is granite ware.

I've had this little granite ware candle holder for a few years. It came from Hallmark, so it isn't old, but it is granite ware, nevertheless, and so full of personality!

I did a little baking today, making Spice cupcakes for my quilt group at church tomorrow. I frosted them with cream cheese frosting and added some candy corn. Now how cute are they?  They are delicious, too, as I had one with tea this afternoon.

Are you in the Fall mode, like I am?