magic all around
A day of settling in. Cloudy, but no rain. Yesterday, rain kept me inside most of the day except for a walk between showers. I revisited a lot of the works-in-progress I had going before mid-August. I am happily regaining some momentum, which continues today.
This triad of flowers in primary colors makes me so happy. Giant blue lobelia, echinacea, black-eyed susan.
Here’s the huge healthy zucchini (costata romanesca) trained on a pole. I need to tie up the top again. I’ve been pruning off the leaves lower down. I think it’s preventing the mildew that develops this time of year.
I walked inland today, no water views. But I always pause and gaze at this willow grove. I feel like it’s significant. Something should happen there or maybe did happen there. I’ve been rereading Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea books, which are inducing me to see wizardry around every corner. This grove reminds me of the “Immanent Grove.”
And last photo for today – my first sunflower pocket cloth. Done, more or less. I might add some thread beads. I chose a brilliant red-orange floss for the points. The color and shine really stand out. I only had a small quantity of this color, so I had to skimp a bit on the split back-stitching. This is a magic object.
so much here to comment on … our coneflowers faltered in the triple digit heat, so Don cut them back and they are now coming back quite nicely … meantime, he is using the seedheads in his painting as they leave lovely marks (until the seeds start to come loose)
I love seeing the zucchini trained on the pole (was having trouble visualizing it when you mentioned it in your last post) … I’m currently re-reading Braiding Sweetgrass and just finished the essay about the three sisters … which I just now searched out to see an image of what that kind of planting leads to
but last is best … I love how the center of your sunflower looks like the sky as it lightens under the arc of a rainbow … and red-orange was always one of my favorites in the Crayola crayon box
I tried the three sisters garden once. Problems – corn didn’t grow well, squash and beans grew too well. It was an unmanageable tangle. Maybe not suited to Maine, or maybe something was wrong. Anyway, I keep experimenting, may try it again. I don’t know if all zucchini vines like that, but this variety (ribbed, costata romanesco) sure does. Thanks for appreciating my sunflower! Although it’s my first try and pretty inexpert, I love it. Using coneflower heads in painting, how cool!