it feels like I never get anything done

quiet. oilbar on (recycled) canvas. 12X15 (ish). 2008.

which, I suppose, is why it's so important to post here - I probably need the record/proof more than any of you care to see what I've been up to. As I type, my sunburnt back is nestled against a large pile of clean laundry that needs folding. The kitchen and bath have NOT been cleaned today (there's still time! there's still time!) and clutter is everywhere (we seriously need to find that entryway table, stat).

So I finished the canvas above and got started on the next, which is a landscape. I also got to a really important home task:

Now, that probably doesn't look like much. But trust me when I say it's about 5' deep. I spent Sunday moving the herbs that had been in the flower bed, then cutting into the turf and deepening the bed (hello, backbreaking labor - and sunburn). Monday I sifted out and removed any remaining plant matter, then worked 6 cubic feet of compost into the bed (hello compound sunburn - my lower back has one of those nasty red "smiles"). It had pretty good soil in most of it, so I figure this should be fine for this season; I'll mulch in late fall and turn and probably mulch again before I lay in another crop in spring.

Today I planted: laid in golden sage (far edges) and silver posy thyme (adjacent), the parsleys (center) and then, from the left edge of the bed just to the parsleys, I put in chard and beets. Tomorrow, I'm going to put radishes behind the parsley (and they should come up just in time to put in one quick fall pea crop) and do carrots, spinach, and kale on the right-hand side. It's rather late in the year to be starting, even for fall harvests, so this is a bit of an experiment and we'll just have to see what comes up.

just for kicks, here's the entrance to my studio. I paint with the french doors open in the afternoons - but not today. My back's too sore, my hand aching from blisters that were bleeding before I noticed them yesterday. It's a bit of a mess out there (my homebase for these gardening projects), but you might be able to make out the light-green leaves on the rose plants - one on either side of the building. They're called "blaze of glory," supposedly a pretty searing orange. The next step will be to put a trellis just over the doors and start training these fellas up and over. I really hope it works - can you even imagine how lovely that would be? To paint with the french doors open and the scent of roses wafting in in the afternoon? I really hope I manage....I've never grown roses before.

and finally, my other fun bit of ... well, fun (for today). My shoes came! I got these with graduation clothes-shopping-spree funds (ah, my parents are lovely people who encourage me to actually enjoy such vices). These shoes (by Remix, no less) were on a neat sale, knocked down to $95 or $99 or somesuch from over $200. I was worried they'd be too wide - and they are a little wide, at the heels (odd), but I'll deal with it. They're darling and I really need more colour on my feet! If you like them, there are only two sizes left: 9 and 10, so hurry along!

truly, are they not fab?