Country Living includes Animals as seen in this Folk Art Painting

This is a new color palette that I am working with instead of the darker earth colors, mustards and dark green and dark blue. It has a "fresh air" feel to it which I like. It's like everything is rosie here in the country, which it is. Two little westies don't want to be carried...no...they want to run ahead and feel the ground under their paws.

These Birds Are Going Green and Recycling

I marveled that these two mother birds to be gathered up all of the debris on the parking lot and bound it into their nests. They really know how to recycle. The manager of the Athens Restaurant was at his car retrieving some things when he saw me stop and get out for a picture. "Are you taking a picture of that?" he asked wearily. "Do you know the shopping center maintenance people just came 2 days ago and took them down and now they have built two new ones already." The birds must be accountants as a few receipts are woven in.

Speaking of birds...Sir Salty and I gather chicken eggs and recycle them(!) First we make cupcakes with the egg yolks and egg whites and save the cracked shells. One recent cupcake is below and more are to come since school has officially started. More on that subject in another post. We take the shells and plant them with tomatoes or roses for calcium. They can be planted with perennials or put into a compost pile.

Miss Rabbit is made of fondant and is serving tea to her garden plants. All edible art cupcake. Yummy.

Folk Art Portraits are Just Plain Fun To Paint

This is a folk portrait I did not too long ago. I put in a few things they love including each other. It makes me want to do one with all of our farm friends in it. It would definitely be a little crowded in the painting! And it would have a dazzling white spot for our westie, Sir Salty.

New plants in the Garden - Can They Set Seeds?

Don't these look like confections? I love the extra pink in the center instead of the brown-orange of the usual coneflowers. They are called, " Pink Double Delight". These are in our garden and I am anxiously awaiting for them to set seed..hmm. Now I have the notion they might not. I will have to give them an extra shovel full of compost so that I can divide them maybe next spring...for more? These are pricey for perennials.

I never really considered myself a bicolored flower fan. That changed this year, too. Here is the plant that changed that. It's a Violet Sensation penstemon. These are tall and healthy and yes, starting to set seeds. The seeds are so small...like gold dust. It is a miracle these little specks have life in them and can grow to look like this! (With a little help.)

It's challenging gathering your own seeds and scattering them directly in the garden. I compare it to handwriting a invitation to a friend to come and visit. You send it off and wait, twist your hands, and hope. Then one day they are there...in your garden and looking quite pleased too, to be there!

Westies on Magazines Covers Sell Faster

Isn't this a beautiful photograph on this design magazine? A westie charges less to model than human models, of course. In fact, they do it for free and for the love of people. Just hugs and kisses will suffice. This magazine showcases Maryland and Virginia areas. Note that westies are for every home, here and abroad.

Hip Polka Dots Farm Style...by Candylei

Well, when folks get tired of milking cows on the farm there are still many other fun things to do. Here they painted polka dots on the pink silo and brought in antiques and set up shop in the barn. It's an eye catcher on the road. People just have to stop.

Here is the house not too far from the barn, but right on the road and it is painted with polka dot shutters. Everyone has to stop to see what this little beekeepers cottage shop sells just because it is so cute! Great marketing and fun antiquing. This is along a back road to the airport for those of us who don't want to sit in traffic on the freeways and would rather look at fields of horses. The name of the town is Lucketts, Virginia. All they need is a little nursery in the backyard and I would stop every time I passed by. On the weekends this little corner is abuzz with shoppers.

Brilliant Colors of Summer: Tomatoes, Glads and Westie

This is the bouquet in our dining room. These glads are so velvety and the colors are gloriously rich without calories! They shout out summer is here. Their other wonderful value is their long bloom time. Orange and cranberry red. Wow! I realized they were the same exact colors as the tomatoes I was cutting from our garden. We love the different colors of tomatoes especially when you want to use them as garnish or in salsas. These are so sweet just like they should be.

Sir Salty had a red hat on while he was napping next to the table. Round 'em up cowboy!

This westie is amazing. My son plays with him continually and I am amazed at how patient he is with him. Sir Salty loves all the attention and is happy to please. When they get outside they both run, run, run.

Paintings of our White Fluffy Westie in the Garden

Here is the Grand Champion. An original oil painting I listed on ebay today. How I love these westie dogs. And painting is a joy, too. I am also listing some of my seeds as well. It's great to be able to trade seeds on ebay. I always want a "bunch" of perennials, but the cost prohibits me from buying a bunch. Seeds are the patient plantswoman way of gardening. Recently I have bought plants that are blooming and setting seeds. I hope to share them with some of you. We could do a seed swap.

Plant combinations for your Garden

Red, burgundy and orange-peach with a little white sparkle in a windowbox.

Tropicals mixed with the easiest plants to grow...ornamental potato vines. Both the burgundy and the lime green are mixed in here.

I love the new plants available to us this year... The coneflowers in the Big Sky group. This one is Sunrise and it opens a darker yellow, but lightens to a pale yellow flower. Pale yellow flowers mix with about any plants. They also go well with burgandy foliage. I put it next to the cape fuschias which are not winter hardy here, but I will take cuttings in the fall to keep over the winter.

These horses love plants, too, and are very curious what is going on over on this side of the fence. They are more interested in carrots and apples than flowers.

Rays of Light and Sunshine

Our clouds have been so light and fluffy and not the usual Maryland clouds. Thunderstorms have taken away the haze and humidity and we feel like we are in California or Oregon or Montana. Big feather cloud boats, float across the sky and the sun rays bounce off and through them. Reality will hit again soon as it's early August and the warmest, humid days will come and stay for weeks.

Everyone likes light here on the farm. Sir Salty always looks for a window inside that has sunrays beaming in before he tries to catch it by lying on them.

Our hens should be laying eggs in the hen house, but it is so much more fun for them to run up in the hayloft and sit amongst the sunbeams. Every day is an Easter egg hunt here. Free range hens are the ones who eat the problem insects. They also eat grass which makes their eggs a richer yellow.

The Peace Rose for Mom

Yesterday evening my mother-in-law passed away peacefully surrounded by family and friends. This Peace Rose is for her. The second picture was of our evening sky on the hilltop.

Westie Dog Goes Uptown With New Look

We came down the lane, after Sir Salty's professional grooming at the vet's office, and the Siamese kitties run up to greet the new celebrity! I was the paparazzi clicking away. This kitty is amused that Puppy is on a leash since he is never on one. Kitty is also rolling around saying, "Aren't we beautiful?"... and Puppy is trying not to act interested. We always knew he was beautiful and a "model" for my paintings but today he could contend with the "super models." Sir Salty is loving all of the admiration he is getting from us.







He is so beautiful... and he is also wanting a treat. Look at his ears they are trimmed perfect.

Mixing Rich Colors in the Garden with Westie

I honestly don't even know the true depth or meaning of color theory. What I know I have learned from carrying plants around nurseries comparing harmonies and contrasts. I know what looks smashing together and what hurts the eyes from trial and error.

Some of my first experiences working with color, and also values, was looking at antique Amish quilts and then making a few miniature old-Amish-style quilts . The makers of these quilts were true artists. They knew what looked delicious by laying the colors next to each other. They often had just one or two colors, but different shades of it, set against a dark or black background. The dark background gives depth.

One of my favorite "rich" color combinations is red and orange. Then add in burgandy and wow, it's a knock out.




I started my very first garden bed with annuals. Then I moved to perennials and sniffed at annuals feeling I had, well sort of, graduated to the next level. I still had yet alot to learn about gardening. It is the art of mixing the perennials with annuals and shrubbery, not just colors, that makes you a master.


If you stay right with the colors that rub shoulders on the color wheel and then make them smokey, you can't go wrong. True bright colors tend to clash and hurt the eyes. Smokey colors are restful. For every rule of thumb there is an exception it seems. Other restful colors are soft yellow, hazy purple blue and gray. Think foxgloves, perennial geraniums and artemsia. Blue is not next to yellow, but yellow is in the making of the color blue. So, it's going to look good.


White is always a color in the garden where the eye can relax. Mrs. Hobhouse put it in her red garden. Unless it is a running through the flowers white westie. Sir Salty thinks that he is the dustmop and must touch all plants while going over and going under them. Then he goes from white to gray...which is restful... (if you are a plant color)...but not when you are a white westie dog. Then you must get right in the bath again.


My doggy boy loves toys and often picks one up and carries it to where he lies down and takes a quick nap. Sometimes he puts his head directly on it --so no one can take it away-- other times he puts it right next (and I mean right up against his eye) to go to sleep. Maybe I need to buy him shades? And his own carry along brush?




If you have a great picture of your own plant combinations I'd love to see it. There seems to be no end to mixing up something wonderful.

Green Garden, Green Westie, Green Horses

Gardens look so restful and serene; don't they? None of the labor that goes into them comes to mind when you enter these rooms. It's just "Ahhhh. I love this." Meanwhile the hose is unwound and rewound each day and weeds are pulled....new additions planted. (Failures moved to new beds.) A labor of love. Another pedestal in the back takes your eye upward...it adds interest.

Below is my green-gardening-westie-doggy boy. He is so full of mirth! He jumps on the bed and turns on his back and laughs at us. He thinks this is what we look like when we are asleep. What is he thinking?

A note here about green lawns. I've noticed men think lawns are a serious business and less likely to want perennial, shrub or vegetable gardens. It's the man versus man to see who has the best lawn. Competition. The lawn is their "baby." And that's not just in the urban areas and suburbs it is in the rural country areas, too. One neighbor has beat the urge to toil over his lawn and has horses on his hillside. (They do have a small patch of mown lawn around their home.) It is beautiful because it is clean green and organic grass. No chemicals here. A wonderful backdrop for all of their beautiful horses.

I think everyone benefits from a greener lifestyle. Everyone loves this green planet we call home. Now I'm going to go out barefoot and feel that cool grass under my toes just like Sir Salty, our westie, does.

Enter the World of Gardening

"Enter the world of Gardening and you'll never want to find your way out of it," Candylei.

Urns give height to a garden especially when placed on pedestals right up close for your eyes and nose to admire.