Wherrrrrrrre's Michael?

We have sort of a daily game around this time of year. In the spring, the turtles get bored being stuck in their tanks and want to get out and walk around and do something. Spring is here, and dang it all, a turtle's got a lot of things to do. But I can't let them outdoors yet because it's still too cold. So in the meantime, they make a lot of racket until I let them out of their tanks and let them stroll around the basement...and climb on things... and knock things over... and move things around. All of those things add up to a lot of fun for a turtle. Not for me, but the infrequent sounds of hearing things getting moved or knocked over are much preferable to hearing their little feet grind against the sides of their tanks for as long as it takes to get my attention. Errrgh. I just hate that sound. So out of the tanks they get to go.

When it's time to put them back in after a couple hours of doing their turtle thing in the basement, it's always interesting to see where they end up. It's usually never the same place. And sometimes they can get kind of creative such as this unique little spot that was found yesterday. Here is where I found Michael. Under a big piece of wood, on top of a planting tray, inside a wire planting basket. That's three prepositions used to describe just one place!

It's quiet down there right now and since I like quiet (in the basement, at least), I'll let Michael Ray and Cathy Jean stay put in their new hiding places until bedtime. No telling where I'll find them but Cathy Jean has been pretty consistent. She positions herself at the basement door hoping that it will open. Turtles know all about doors and the concept of hinges and that if they push long enough on one side, the door might open for them. Cathy Jean doesn't know it but that door will probably not open for a couple more weeks (it's still cold out there!) and since there is no chance of ever changing a turtle's mind about things, I'll just let her keep doing what she's doing. She's determined, she's hopeful, she's both. That kind of thing you don't mess with.

The tough guys...

Well, of course there are these guys...who are now taking over the landscape. Laughing about it too while they're doing it I think.

And the Japanese kerria. I can't imagine a tougher plant than this. It is situated between the deck and the fence in a four foot wide area I have never, ever watered. It gets sun in the morning but after that... nothing. But the reason this plant is so darn tough is because it survives turtle traffic all day long. 

The area between the kerria and the fence is the absolute best spot for a turtle to spend his or her day. I'm thinking it's because whoever gets that spot makes the other turtle so jealous that he or she has to try and claim that square foot spot for themselves, doesn't matter if it takes a day or week or the entire summer. If I see two turtles near that one foot square area, one is always smug because he/she has claimed the sweet spot, the other one is always scowling while she/he is climbing all over the other hoping that he/she will leave that prime area.

When Lucy turtle was alive he made the rules of what turtle could do what, when they could do it and where they could go. Lucy could have a temper and sometimes he just did not want Michael Ray in his line of sight so Michael would be chased to the kerria area. That 12 inch wide spot between the kerria and the fence was his one allowed safety zone. If Michael decided to leave the area several hours later and Lucy's temper hadn't cooled, there were days when I would find Michael Ray turned upside down and vertical against the fence. Even though Lucy has been gone for years, the twins still remember that 12 inch square as their refuge from Lucy. And somehow the kerria survives all of this because the soil in that area is extremely compacted.

The shrub looks pretty now but in a week or two it will be gloriously yellow, even more so than what I caught here. When I planted the kerria years ago I thought it would not get over 4 feet tall but it did. A lot. It's quite an exuberant shrub to be in so confined an area but like I said, the turtles and it have something going on which makes them both happy.

And speaking of tough, you can't get more tough than this. Those little crabapple buds look like little fists. If they could talk, I think they'd let out a good mumble like Edward G. Robinson. No hard freeze is going to stop them from blooming. Because they're tough, seeeee, really tough.

There's probably a reason those pastel flowers haven't bloomed yet. Too delicate for the tough times in the garden at this time of year. Even so, I'm looking forward to seeing the soft pinks in the garden in the next couple weeks. I like the tough girls but I like the dainty ones too. I even like dandelions....for a day. And since spring and easter are seasons of hope, maybe I'll witness a peony in flower this year. I forget what season doubt is...

Violet in the garden

Not so much this one...

But the wild violets that bloom in my backyard around this time of year...

And their very unwild relatives, the pansies...

These girls are still sitting in their six-packs waiting to get planted this weekend. They look like little ballerinas waiting for their cue before getting on stage. 

And then there is "Freckles," a cultivated violet I grew from seed years ago. For a while there, this violet was taking over the yard but this year, this is the only one I could find in bloom. I'm wondering what on earth happened to cause this particular violet to get so much dirt on its face.

I suspect some interaction with another Violet.

Just add one little letter to a violet's name and that violet will become violent.

Stamens Stamens Stamens

When I was photographing flowers up close and personal over the weekend, I was pretty intrigued with the flower stamens...especially the ones on the Japanese kerria. 

I had never noticed just how cute, crazy and wiggly they were.

And I had completely forgotten until then that I had a collection of artificial stamens in the house...two drawers of them!

About ten years ago I took a decorative ribbon class with Candace Kling in San Francisco (she also teaches a class on how to make flowers out of ribbon). After the class, I bought a lot of these stamens and then went to Lacis and bought even more. I had every intention of covering just about everything with ribbon flowers because "more is more, less is a bore" you know. 

Candace is an extraordinary artist. Her flowers and ribbon sculptures are exquisite. I consider myself a perfectionist but she's a perfectionist operating at a completely different strata. I remember saying something about aiming for 100% so that I could be satisfied with reaching 80%. She looked at me kind of funny with that one because when she aims for 100%, she gets 100%. 

When I got back to Kansas City, I never got around to making the ribbon flowers because sadly, aiming for 100% was only getting me to 50%, if that. I am not a good ribbon flower maker....and so when I wanted to duplicate what was so inspiring in her class, I ended up using artificial silk flowers instead. Ha ha ha.

This is a lampshade I made that is covered with three different colors of dupioni silk. Around the bottom edge is a ring of artificial flowers that are sewn directly to the shade. 

The shade was turning into such a garish girly thing, I decided to hang "garters" at the bottom. And would I possibly be putting my newly acquired ribbon folding skills in action? No...I wasn't too good at that either and ended up cutting the dupioni in strips with my pinking shears and then machine basting down the centers to gather them. At the ends I bent some wire and added beads.

Over the top garish, no stamens, no ribbons, no out of the ordinary sewing skills, but I still am rather proud of the thing. 

Meanwhile, I've newly discovered those drawers of paper stamens and gorgeous ribbons in my house. I've got to think of something interesting to do with them.... :-)