Cucamelons

 Cucamelons grown from seed. Easy to grow perennial vine fruit and rewarding. They taste like cucumbers with a hint of sourness/lime flavour.  They are also known as mouse melons, Mexican sour gherkin,  Mexican miniature watermelon, Mexican sour cucumber and Pepquinos.  The scientific name is Melothria Scabra.

I will probably make a curry pickle with mine.

I have just reverted to legacy interface to write this blog post.  I am finding it increasingly difficult to get along with the new interface and do not find it user friendly at all!  With so many changes/variables in my life just the small matter of not being able to post like I used to is really getting me down.

Even after reverting to 'old blogger' I can't get photos or text to behave itself with photos jumping all over the page or disappearing.  This post will have to stay as three photos with a bunch of text below.  If I fiddle about with it any more I will probably lose what I have! 

Lammas Lughnasagh Wheel of the Year

Happy Lammas!  So the wheel of the year turns.  Today the Goddess of the Wheel of the Year calendar tells me:

Feel Me now as bountiful Mother.

I am fertility and creativity.

I am the abundance of the harvest.

I am the abundance of life.

I create and nurture all being.

My golden cloak is the ripening grain.

Pause a moment whenever you eat.

Feel My presence

I am your

nurturing Mother.

Tiny Watercolour paintings

 I am struggling to complete eight 'Crystal Healer 'paintings by the end of the month.  I'm just not 'feeling it' at the moment.  To add to my procrastination I decided to paint two tiny flower girls. 

 I enjoy painting small especially when I hear voices telling me to go larger - paint bigger.  No person actually telling me what to do but the little self sabotaging voice that most of us hear from time to time.

I added some sparkle with gelly roll pens just because I could!

Tired

 I am not feeling industrious like the bee today.

I feel much more like this sleeping cherub.  Wake me up when it's all over.

Aquamarine

Another crystal healer painting.  The throat is said to be the main chakra for the aquamarine stone.  Aquamarine is expressive, cleansing and companionable.  It is blue, blue/green.  It is part of the Beryl family of gemstones.

She was very calming to paint.

I'm on track for completing 8 paintings by the end of the month as long as I stay focused.  I am sorry if I haven't been commenting on blogs as much as usual.  I am finding it hard to read blogs where there is a lot of information to absorb.  It is difficult for me to concentrate. 

I know these paintings aren't everyone's cup of tea but I enjoy doing them.  After this set of crystal healer paintings I will move on and pick another theme.  I may stick to this style of painting or try something else!

Citrine

Citrine is one of my Crystal Healers set of paintings.  Citrine is comforting, uplifting and happy! 

I had set myself a goal of painting 8 Crystal healers by the end of July using gouache paint.  I painted three: rose quartz twice, and then amethyst and then I decided enough was enough!  I hated painting with gouache!

Yesterday I went back to my watercolour paints and I am so glad I did.  I was miserable painting with gouache and with smooth hot press paper and multi-media paper.  The painting above is done on paper almost older than me!  It is vintage watercolour paper made in Somerset, England in the 1960's.  It was a pleasure to work with and I still have many more sheets to use.

My next character will be Aquamarine......................unless I change my mind!

Garden Early July 2020

 There is good and bad things happening in the garden.  Let's focus on the good.

 The sunflowers are bursting open!

 The seeds will be a welcome feast for the birds come the autumn.

 They look interesting at every stage of their development.

 The night scented stocks fill the evening air with delicate fragrance.

I expect many people have lawns like this right now.  It is a shame to cut the grass when so much of it is full of food for the bees and other insects.  Some days this clover is smothered with all different types of bee.

My beautiful Desdemona rose is coming to and end for now.  Hopefully she will produce more buds.  Her fragrance has been intoxicating.  The most recent addition to my garden.  I hope she will be with me for many years.