August 2, 2020...The Mystic Lilies are in bloom

On July 29, I looked out the dining room window and saw five Mystic Lily stalks.  Later, when I went outside I found more.

I call them Mystic Lilies because that is what Tom's dad called them.  He gave me a dozen bulbs shortly after we moved in this house over fifty years ago.  The bulbs multiplied, I gave some to friends and still they multiplied.  Just the kind of flower I like.  Plant them and they will take care of themselves.

On July 31, the first blooms appeared.

They grow tall, taller than the birdbath.

Just this year I learned their Latin name, Lycoris squamigera.  They are in the amaryllis family.

In the spring, the leaves come up, straplike leaves, densely packed, and over a foot high.  They die back and completely disappear.  But spirit-like, the flowers rise in late July or early August.

There are a lot of common names for them, Resurrection Lilies, Surprise Lilies, Naked Ladies.  Take your pick.  I will always call them Mystic Lilies.

Weed Pots, a Polymer Clay Project, Inspired by Alice Stroppel's Weed Pots, Adapted by Lilian Nichols

Butterfly Man

I posted this creation on Facebook.  Some of the readers wanted to know how I made it so I directed them to this blog.  As I planned this blog I realized I have learned a lot about polymer clay since I started taking classes from Lilian Nichols.  

I am doing this as a step by step. If you are interested in polymer clay there are many posts on the Internet from accomplished polymer clay artists. There are also many how-to books.  As with any craft or art, there is much to be learned in a class from a teacher in your area.

Here are the creations of the other group members.

Karen's and Lilian's pots

DeeDee's and Linda's pots

Barbara  did something entirely different with her pot.

Alice Stroppel used small glass bottles as the base form.  Lilian Nichols discovered that the empty amber medicine containers us old folks have can be used also.  The amber containers must be covered with clay before baking.  If the containers are put in the oven uncovered they will lose their shape.  They can't take the heat.

Throw away the lid. This is a small short container.

Use three quarters of a block of Premo polymer clay.  All brands are not created equal. Premo is easy for beginners to work with..

Roll the clay until it conditioned and thin enough to pass through the pasta maker at a thick setting.

Cut the clay to size and fit around the container.  Smooth the point at which the edges join with your fingers.

Fold a a length of clay to cover the threaded section of the container, the part where the lid was screwed on.

Fit to container.  

Work the clay collar into the rest of the clay covering.

Cut a circle to cover the bottom.

Attach bottom. The two gadgets at lower left can be used to release bubbles of air that may be trapped under the clay.  Both were made by members of our class.  Blend the clay with your fingers until the covering is smooth.  This step becomes easier as you become more proficient working with the clay.

Finished except for the fun part.

Finishing is easiest if you have been working with polymer clay for a while.  You will have an accumulation of left over canes from other projects.  (canes are described in some of my other blog posts and on the Internet and in polymer clay how-to books.)

I made the nose from a cone of the same clay I used to cover the container.

Bake at 275 degrees for 30 minutes.

I'm planning to use this covered container to make a companion for Butterfly Man. I will post her when I have finished her.

More From Nellie and George's Backyard...July 11, 2018

George and Nellie change their garden from year to year as they come up with new ideas.  Their garden is mostly a shady one. Much of the area is low so water stands in it after rains or snow melts.  They have dug shallow drainage paths for the water to follow and created interesting garden features in the process.

In the last blog about their garden,  I showed you the bridge Twilly Troll lives under.

Here is a new paver path they put in earlier this year.  In the upper part of the photo you can see their kitchen window.  This path is midway down their garden which is about two hundred feet long.

Nellie told me the names of some of her many lilies.  This one is called Priscilla's Rainbow.

Creature of the Night is this lily's name.  Nellie and George think it must have been named by someone thinking of the song, "The Music of the Night" from The Phantom of the Opera.

Nellie found this lily's name on a list of lilies she and George have bought from Blanchard's in Applecreek, Ohio.  It is called Lady Stephanie.

I didn't ask Nellie the names of the three different lilies in the photos below.  I sent her copies of the photos so perhaps she will identify them for me the next time she sends me a letter.

Nellie and George's garden also has wild flowers for the bees and butterflies. If  you look closely, you will see a honeybee gathering the nectar on this milkweed.

Earlier this year Nellie snapped this photo of a red-shouldered hawk perched on a tree in the backyard.  I suppose it was stopping by on its trip back north.

Nellie and George found this fawn  half hidden in the grasses and trees toward the back of their garden one morning  It was gone the next day so its mother must have returned to it sometime late in the day or evening.

"Lose yourself in Nature and find Peace."

George and Nellie's Garden... July 11,2018

Tom drove us to Northeastern Ohio to visit my sister and her husband, her daughter, and to visit the Cleveland Art Museum.  After stopping at our niece's embroidery shop and having a good time visiting as we ate lunch with her, we headed toward George and Nellie's.  

We always take time to look at their beautiful flower garden before going out to eat with them.

At the entrance to her garden, my sister  had a new sign.  She said, "We'll see the troll somewhere as we go walking".

She asked me to take a photo of the verbena near the sign.  Some flowers are so tiny it is hard to see the details.  My Olympus Tough (TG-850)  has a Macro option so I was able to get a good closeup.  Interesting to me that the manufacturer used a flower to mark the setting.

She has a wide variety of flowers in her backyard which is one big flower garden.
The flowers that predominate are the lilies and the hostas. Most of the backyard is shady, an ideal place for the hostas.  The lilies glow in areas that get some sun.

There are a variety of borders.  In the first photo, you can see a brick border.  In the second is a stone border.  Nellie and George decide on the look they want and then do whatever they must do to achieve it.

She has  miniature hostas, too.  The gnome gives you an idea of their size.

Hosta blooms.

There are a variety of inhabitants in her garden, too.

Fairies...

Angels...

A colony of gnomes...

Small animals and birds and butterflies...

Buddhas and wind chimes...

Peace...

Shortly after I took this photo I found Twilly Troll.

This is the bridge he lives under.  Remember that sign at the entrance to the garden?

Bees,Flowers and Falls...February 20, 2018

The falls were not as full of rushing water as I expected.  However, today, two days later, I expect that there is more water tumbling over them.  We have had two days of rain.

The first flowers in our immediate neighborhood are those in the yard across the street from us...Winter Aconite. 

The bees were busy.  Nothing like that first nectar of the season.If you look closely, you can see pollen baskets on their legs being filled also.

In the same bed are the first crocuses.

And nearby, daffodils' blossoms are swelling.