Recipe: Bolognese Sauce

This hearty meat sauce is a recipe that started as a simple bolognese recipe with store bought marinara sauce then evolved from various sources. I learned the idea of adding chili flakes for a bit of heat from a dear…

Summer Rain Watercolor

Summer Rain Watercolor

I painted this scene the day after Nicholas, my cat of 17 years, passed away. I feel like it’s a fitting setting for the few overcast and occasionally drizzly days that came along with the event. Close-ups:

Bereavement & Optimism

In the last 38 hours my cat of 17 years passed away. Although his life was nearing closure, Nicholas was in excellent health and I had hoped for another year or two with him. I suspect he caught something after…

Late Summer Bouquet

I gathered up some late summer blooms for a bouquet, including panicle hydrangeas, butterfly bush, a climbing rose and some ornamental oregano.

Hydrangea Cuttings

In early May, I trimmed some of my oakleaf and bigleaf hydrangeas to shape them. I knew I’d be sacrificing blooms on the bigleaf hydrangeas, but I wanted them to fill out more and decided it was worth it. Then…

Recipe: Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff is a savory comfort food I recall from childhood. Traditionally a Russian dish, It’s a hardy meal that is particularly enjoyable on cool or rainy days when you want something to warm you up. I usually prepare it…

Summer Sun Watercolor

Summer sun watercolor

A summery mixed media piece with abundant plants and delicate blooms, surrounded by the heat and dynamic activity of July and August. Close-ups:

Garden Visitors

If you’ve followed my posts, you’ll know I see cotton tail bunnies in my garden. This year, I’ve seen adults come through here and there and a younger one showed up recently. They can be tricky to spot since they…

Hydrangea Bouquets

This is a special time of year when I gather hydrangea blooms and bring the garden indoors in big bouquets. As I add more hydrangea specimens to the garden and the plants mature, I get bigger yields every year. This…

Hydrangeas

My hydrangeas are coming into bloom, especially the mophead and oakleaf hydrangeas. Pannicle varieties and a couple later blooming mopheads are budding up and will bloom over the next week or two. I love having the variety of colors and…

Mid-summer Garden

The garden has developed over the past six years since I moved to this property. It’s immensely satisfying to see the small plants I started with mature and fill in the space, giving it dimension and life. I often look…