Dragon Thursday

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Hello!

I am excited to share a new to me artist with you today.  Once again Pinterest was the catalyst.  I saw an adorable print on someones board and it led me to Sarah Clemens website,  http://www.clemensart.com

The print I found is titled Uncle Fang.

Uncle Fang by Sarah Clemens

Uncle Fang is under her fantasy art Gallery 1.  You can buy this print (and many others) here: http://www.clemensart.com/prints.htm 

She also has a wonderful art series called Magnus & Loki.  Magnus is a cat and Loki is his dragon friend.

They have their own website. http://www.clemensart.com/mlindex.htm

Their bio from their website:

Magnus the cat and
Loki the Norwegian Speartail Dragon were adopted at the same time from an animal shelter.

They developed an unanticipated mindlink and became inseperable.

Their enlightened owners let
them stay together and the results range from amusing to disastrous!

You can buy prints here: Open Edition Prints.  and also find greeting cards and other fun Magnus and Loki items on their Cafepress site.

I enjoyed several cups of coffee while looking through all of her wonderful art. There is so much to explore.   Grab a cup of your favorite brew and enjoy.  Dragons, Cats and so much more.

About Sarah Clemens (from her website)

Sarah Clemens graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a degree in fine arts and art history, and the conviction that she would always be an artist in one capacity or another. She has freelanced in logo design and bookcover illustration and photography, worked as the curator of exhibits at a science museum and for the last fifteen years been a medical illustrator.
But the need for self-expression is most important, and she began creating her own challenges, in the form of large oil paintings of friends and family members. Her realistic approach was second nature, after so many years of meticulous detailing in medical illustration. She has shown her work at galleries in Palm Beach, Florida and Boca Raton, Florida, Scottsdale Arizona and Beverly Hills, as well as exhibiting at the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach and the Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach and the Mesa Art Center in Mesa, Arizona. A recent move to the Southwest has been inspiring, and trips to the Grand Canyon for intensive photographic shoots are sure to show up in her paintings.

Melyna

Gardening – Spring 2017

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Late this winter I started seeds in the house.  I planted some of my favorite vegetables and flowers.  The seedlings were looking great, but as time passed, I realized that I had started them too early.  They did not get enough light and were just very unhappy plants. ( this photo is before their unhappy demise)

During this time we also decided to make a proper garden area.  This involved bringing in soil and installing fencing.  We are on limestone which made digging holes for the fence posts a challenge, but we persevered, and in a short while we had a garden site.  The soil is not perfect and we are adding organic matter to it as we go.  One area is doing great.  It was the old compost area and has our mystery squash growing in it.

I also decided to take a chance and get some plants in the ground early.  Historically, the last frost date is around March 20.  I planted the garden February 26, 2017.  It was a risky decision, but I was optimistic because we had a mild winter.  I also had very early spring fever and wanted to see growing things.

This is the first photo I took on February 26, 2017.  I planted seeds and plants.

This is a view from our porch.

We were lucky and there were no freezing temperatures for the remainder of the winter or early spring. The photo below is from April 09, 2017.

This is the garden layout. Click the image to enlarge the photo.  There are labels to indicate what the plants are.

We are already getting some vegetables.

Zucchini

 

Dragon Pepper – Cayenne

 

Bush beans

 

Sweet Million cherry tomatoes

Hopefully we continue to have good luck with this years garden.  Updates on the mystery squash next month.

🙂

 

Bat house or scenic outlook?

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We placed a bat house near our garden shed.  Unfortunately, the bats have never found it inviting.  The birds and squirrels love it though.

 

This young scrub jay enjoyed using the bat house last summer.

Click on the photo below and look for the small red arrow.  This is the bat house.

The mighty mystery plant, or the power of compost.

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Last year I started a compost pile in a re-purposed kennel that was given to us when we took in some chickens in need of a new home.  During the fall and winter we allowed our chickens to forage in the compost area.   They helped aerate and fertilize the compost, plus they enjoyed finding tasty treats of the insects and worms that also came to the compost.

This spring I noticed that we had some plants sprouting in the compost.  They looked so healthy and strong, I couldn’t bring myself to turn them back into the pile.  So I decided to let them grow.  I am fairly certain that they are some type of squash.  What kind  of squash is still a mystery.

The young mystery plant March 27, 2017

 

A very happy plant(s).  April 07, 2017

It has escaped the kennel and is climbing a tomato cage that is outside of the garden area.  The small plants at the bottom left of the kennel are bush beans.  They are benefiting from the compost too.

 

One of many small fruits on the vines

Click on any of the photos to enlarge.

Happy gardening,

Melyna