Kaymusings

Scott Dow carves animals from big chunks of tree trunks.

Scott Dow, who carves animals from hefty chunks of tree trunks, displayed his art on Memorial Day at Miracle Mountain Ranch.  These carvings fascinated me.  Scott uses a chain saw to carve out an animal, and then uses a torch to singe the wood, which gives it a tan or brown color.  I especially like the howling wolf.  My son was drawn to the little fox.  I say “little” but it was just little in comparison to the wolf.  I’m sure I couldn’t have lifted that fox.  Scott said that the fact that his carvings are so heavy enables an owner to use them as lawn ornaments without too much concern that they will be stolen.

Later, I saw Scott working at carving a bear out of a huge tree trunk.  He had sculpted a miniature bear to use as a model and kept referring to it as he worked his art.  Scott told me that he is a graduate of the art program at Edinboro University.  I really like his work.

Dark blue Iris with white accent.

This photo is another of my pictures taken in the Erie Cemetery at the end of May.  I have a good many blue Iris plants of my own but mine are a much lighter blue with accents of a more purple blue hue. They are very pretty but all of my Iris are the same color.  I talked to two of my friends about making a trade of some my blue Iris for some of their yellow ones, but the trade never went through.

This dark blue Iris really caught my eye.  The color is really rich.  I appreciate its beauty.

This picture was taken in Erie Cemetery in late May.  The robin was keeping an eye on me but she wasn’t very afraid of me.  I like how she’s walking in the strip of sunshine with the darker shadows just behind her and on her back.  There were quite a few robins in the cemetery that day.  There are a lot of trees, bushes and shrubs in this cemetery and it is an inviting place for the robins.  Robins in the cemetery lend an aspect of life to the somber quietness of the grave sites.

This mural is painted on the wall of our hospital cafeteria.  I had the pleasure of watching the artist doing some of the painting.  I really like the mural but I think it’s more special to me because I was able to watch the artist at work.  I’ve never done a mural.  I think with some instruction and help in getting it started, I should be able to a mural.  It might not be as nice as this one, but I think I could improve with practice.

Some time after the mural was finished the awning was put over the painting.  That really makes it neat.

Our Garden of Life crew goes to the cafeteria each Monday after we work in the garden.  We sit and talk while we sip coffee or lemonade.  I always spend a little time admiring the mural.

Today we went to the cemetery to check on the petunia we planted on Saturday.  You can’t see it here in the shadows but the petunia was doing okay.  The blooms from the rhododendron are spent now and dropped petals all over the ground.  It made me think of a carpet, a lovely, petal-bloom carpet.  It will be gone soon.

This is a sad place, but there is a kind of beauty here.  It’s beauty in unexpected places.  The rose-petal carpet is gone now, but it will be back next spring.

Now it’s the petunia and geraniums turn to blossom and grow.  We’ll go back often, to water and fertilize.

Before we left today, I deadheaded some geraniums and watered some plants that were in need of it.  It was too hard to walk past potted plants which needed a drink desperately and not fill their need.  It kept us a little longer, but it was satisfying to slake the thirst of the pretty little dahlias that were so dry.

Next time, I plan to take clippers to make deadheading a lot easier.