1-5. Japanese Festival at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. 6. Seasonal ‘Count Orlok’ pumpkin beer at Urban Chestnut on the way home. 7&8. Making some pages with vintage National Geographic images and some ‘moons’ I have been experimenting with. I try and mess about with some form of art every day, keeps me on an even keel!Do you have something you have to do on a regular basis or you miss it? Happy Monday x
It has been a week of humidity (no surprise there!), early morning dog walks, drawing and Pokemon catching with ‘Pokemon Go’. Is there anyone not playing this app!? Wherever we go there are kids pointing their phones at random points and swiftly heading off to the next ‘catch’. I snapped some pics to share my week with you. What have you been up to? 1. On Monday I went with my husband to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. It was a lovely cool morning and the gardens are in bloom in every direction. These lily pads are amazing and the reflection of the cherubs in the water made the photo. 2. My most favorite part of the gardens are the lotus flowers in the Japanese Garden and they were in bloom so I was a happy snappy chappy! I love these flowers so much, they influenced my whole week! I drew them, painted them and used the colour palette in my art journal. 3. This wet pebble path was strewn with bright leaves. 4. Every time I …
1.We spotted this guy as we walked to school through the woods. I love the pattern on his shell. 2.More gelli plate goodness using grasses from my back garden. I printed on regular paper, old book pages and deli paper. 3&4. I went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens with some friends and we managed to catch the beauty before a massive storm marched through. 5. This weekend my youngest and I went for a paddle in the creek. The water was very shallow so we managed to get further than we usually walk. We found some old shards of pots and a fossil or two. 6. We now have a 15 year old and I made some cupcakes with orange butter cream. 7. And I made some confetti cookies using a wonderful recipe from Smitten Kitchen. It was super easy and they look and taste fabulous! Perfect for a teen birthday. I had a good week and I hope you did too. I am still processing the Blog Conference I attended over the weekend …
Fog. Run. Breathe. Key. Shoe. Four. Miles. Strong. Balance. Stretch. Smoothie. Banana. Strawberries. Frozen. Coffee. Frothy. Chat. Phone. Jewelry. Questions. Ideas. Opportunities. Thoughts. Walk. Friends. Missouri. Botanical. Gardens. Sunshine. Blue. Skies. Sunscreen. Forgot. Shoulders. Free. Proof. Irises. Colours. Delicate. Peonies. Petals. Pinks. Beautiful. Japanese. Gardens. Koi. Kids. Compliment. Hair. Thanks! Photos. Lots. Focus. Light. Bright. Grasses. Sheep. Concrete. Lunch. Decisions. Bakery. Patisserie. Olio. Old. Gas. Station. Trout. Burned. Bread. Deliberate. Fancy. Storm. Rain. Hail? No. Wind. Warnings. Puddles. Running. Home. School. Clay. Done. Pleased. Beads. Fired. Glaze. Success. Wearing. Kneading. Dough. Pizza. Sticky. Smooth. Art. Show. Tonight. Proud. Mum. Sleep.
It has been a week of weather and appointments. The kids were off on Monday for President’s Day, then one had a sick day on Tuesday. I had an ultrasound appointment on Wednesday which is always nerve wracking, but it went fine and all clear. Then on Thursday the youngest had his yearly check up at the pediatricians. Phew! By Friday we were happy to have the school field trip to the Missouri Botanical Gardens to look forward to. It was a glorious day, warm and sunny and the gardens were a-buzz with staff working on the flower beds and general maintenance. Of course the outdoor plants are not blooming yet, but we had the privilege of seeing the orchid show which was stunning. After that, we had a tour with a lovely guide around the indoor climatron. The kids were great and we had a super time! The weekend was a boiler (for February) as temperatures leapt up to 78 degrees. T shirts were out! Photos – 1. I worked on my art journal …
1. We went to the zoo this week and had a chat with the stingrays. 2. And we chatted to the seals. My two are almost too old for the zoo, but we passed a lovely couple of hours visiting some animals and snacking on over priced candy floss! 3. This weekend in humidity which resembled the rainforest, we went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. These mosaic plants really fascinated me, so beautiful on the water, they look like they were swimming without moving. It was a happy accident that the reflection of the sun popped into the shot. 4. I missed the flowers of the Sacred Lotus, but the leaves are so amazing and the pods from the flowers are beautiful too. 5. Talking of missing things, I was sad that the Chihuly glass had gone from the white arches at the gardens the past couple of times I have visited. Now they are back! Hurrah! I must have photos of these beauties in all seasons as I never fail to …
1. We had a 14th birthday this week, yikes a proper teenager in the house now! I made a Strawberry Shortcake Ice cream cake for the occasion. 2. Some of my lavender is catching up with some growing, but this end of the lavender bed is doing so well, I can’t wait to harvest some this year for lavender bags. 3. We went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens this weekend and saw some more lanterns, I love these dandelion clocks (I am not sure that is what they are supposed to be, but that is what they look like to me!). They were super sparkly in the sunshine. 4. While at the gardens we went to visit the koi carp in the Japanese garden where you can buy 25 cents worth of food to throw in. Some of them are giants and look at those mouths all ready for food! I am joining with Meet Me at Mikes for this week’s One+Four=Life post, pop over there to see more snapshots of weeks around the world.
For this week’s four photos, it was a hard choice and it made a nice change to have choice! Don’t you find that a week will pass and you have taken hardly any photos, yet another week, you have been a clicking demon and have no end of snaps to choose from! I have had a week of field trips, on Tuesday I went to southern Illinois to Waterloo and my friend’s new shop Philomela and Ruth. On Wednesday I went out with some friends to the Missouri Botanical Gardens and saw the blooming irises which were all amazing. They were also setting up the Lantern Festival ready for the event to start at the end of May. I think the lantern display is as impressive during the day as it would be all lit up at night. So much work goes into it all, we will be visiting again once all the lanterns are up and running later this month. Photos – 1. Wall art at ‘Philomena and Ruth’. 2. One of a gaggle …
1. It has been a freezing cold week. All furry scarves are being deployed! 2. I drew my first postcard this week and mailed it off to the UK. 3. Our vintage globe. 4. Resting toy soldiers. 5. Detail from a building in the Japanese Garden, part of the Missouri Botanical Gardens. It was freezing! 6. One of the sheep (Moutons sculpture) at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. 7. Canada Geese take a break on the lake at the Gardens. 8. Waterfalls seem more dramatic when it is super chilly out! 9. Cactus close up in the greenhouse. 10. Ices Plain and Fancy where they make ice cream with liquid nitrogen as you order. So cool (ha, see what I did there!). I had the coffee soft serve and it was fab. A few more photos this week, some taken with my Canon Rebel and some on my iPhone 6. The sun is out today which is a wonderful thing although it is still below freezing. I am going to plant some chili pepper seeds to …
I picked up the photos today which I took on my ‘Diana F’ camera in December at the Missouri Botanical Gardens last year. I was pretty happy with them, nice big square prints and even the ones I messed about with multiple exposures turned out. Yay! I enjoyed revisiting the feeling of taking in a film and collecting the photos not knowing exactly what they will look like. Just like the old days of taking pictures and not seeing them until a few days or weeks later. Can’t wait to take more! If you have a Six Word Saturday, share in the comments or put it on a photo in Instagram and hashtag #sixwordsaturday. Happy Weekend!
Clare Davis Etheridge 