Waterfall monster

I'm finally done with my picture! It was such an old sketch - feels good to tie up some loose ends and see an idea through to completion. I tried to keep the shapes quite simple, with some hand drawn elements so it doesn't look too clinical/clean. I most liked making the expressions on the local flora :D Yay for environmentally minded monsters!

Illustration Friday : Crooked

I'm still on my ink blob phase inspired by Gabrielle Rose (draw, Gabby, draw! and Gabcollab) - she made a video on how to make paint blobs! Urh, disarmingly simple, but I've always been afraid to put so much water on my paper so this gave me the courage to try something new!
Anyways, I wished my bonsai had its own little caretaker...

So much for Spring/Sping time...

Urh, yes, recall how I was tooting on about the warmer weather a few days ago...Well, nature has since dealt us a harsh blow! The drama! The tragedy! First it rained... (and I thought, ok, it's making it gloomy and cold, but the plants will enjoy this!) Then it hailed! Massive giant hail balls that I thought might break a window! And of course this happened in the wee hours of the morning so I was in dream land and couldn't save my poor plants...Oh dear...

Sping time!

I finally cleaned up my balcony this past weekend! There is now space to walk! I also planted some carrots, radishes (a recent discovery and now firm favourite), lettuce and bright orange poppies. I find it very convenient to have vegetables growing so near at hand, and have greatly enjoyed my parsely and basil already established on the balcony. I've had varying success planting vegetables, but hopefully the warmer weather will help.

If you have a bit of a green thumb (or a wanna be green thumb like me), you'll enjoy this.

Butternut adventure!

First time planting butternut, the ones that survived some random person stepping on them (for days! Every damn day one seedling would get squashed, still don't know who it was...)and a tree felling began to bear fruit :D

Harvest time! Most I gave away...

Until only 2 was left...

To make soup!

Hmmm...soup....

It was mixed veg soup - and the reason why its that colour was because of the purple carrots I put in it....its delicious though (even though its a poo colour)

Little signs for my plant babies

I'm so happy my herb garden is sprouting! And I think this is a innovative use (if I do say so myself) for plastic trays/containers! Ha! I feel like a smarty crafty bum!

Evening time...

Our forlorn mielie forest...all eaten away by our booming rat population (probably thanks to us)

Doesn't this look like a cool children's book wolf?

Bonsai

Alex and I went to the Safari garden centre this past weekend, it is a gigantic rain forest plant paradise! Complete with a parrot ^_^ I got really excited and started doing my skipping thing! Wee they have a wonderful bonsai section. Some on the trees there were as old as me...and look at how insane those root structures are! I especially liked the forest one, it was like a miniature glade (3rd pic). With the bonsai craze every flippin' supermarket has little trees in pots, it irritates me because after reading up on bonsai, I've seen many that have been badly cut, like their whole trunk lobbed off just so they appear small, and the scar covered up with foliage-bad bad bonsai -ing!)

And lookit! I got to pick my very own bonsai to take home! Alex bought one for me as an extended birthday present (my birthday was in April). AAAAAAAH I am so happy! I will take awesome care if it. It is a Natal wild fig (yay for indigenous plants!), which the internet tells me makes a great beginner's bonsai and is very hardy. You and I little friend, we'll spend many long years together ^_^

Spring/Summer is here!

Where I stay has a garden that by some miraculous chance escaped habitation by a large dog and also receives the attentions of a wonderful old lady.

The plant hoarding begins!

I painted a terracotta pot for my friend (and roomie!Yay!) 's birthday present - the orchid is also part of the present (double the prettiness). I really enjoyed doing some painting crafty thing for a change:) n the best thing is now I also get to enjoy it in the lounge- mwhahaha!

Tortoise garden

I'm obessed with plant hoarding...

Flora owls

Awesome headgear :)