a different sort of grave

 

Today’s sketch is from a photo remembering one of our last visits to The Antique Rose Emporium in Independence, TX. I’ve been thinking it’s time to go back there to get a vintage rose to plant by the barn — but Bill has surgery this week so it can wait (another surgery on his upper spine; the previous neurosurgeon only did 2 bulging disc repairs when he should have done 3 or 4 — that’s what’s been behind Bill’s continuous pain the past 6 1/2 years).

This funny cemetery plot on the garden grounds is where broken flower pots end up. The “headstone” shovel I drew reads “Rest in Pieces”. Others read “Cracked Up” and “Dead Broke”. One even has an old stone gargoyle for a headstone!

an odd daisy

While walking the garden paths at the Antique Rose Emporium on Friday, we came across this short daisy-like flower growing between the stones. Not sure what it’s name is, but it appears to have self-seeded throughout the garden, along with tons of colorful poppies.

cat on a fence post

On Friday, we planned to look at another country property with our daughter and son-in-law, this time in the country near Waller. Make that “forest” — very thickly wooded property!

Before heading that direction though, Bill and I picked up a few groceries at H.E.B. Being a Friday during Lent, they were cooking fish dinners; we bought one to share (generous portions!) and had a picnic at Firemen’s Park. Then we drove through Independence, stopping for a stroll through the gardens of The Antique Rose Emporium. Where I spied this metal cat sculpture on a fence post.

Then on to Waller — the property was a complete NO! The house was built in 2005 but never finished and unlivable, and the supposed “MIL” house was a 2-room shack with part of the roof starting to cave in. No, thank you!

Drawn with an Elegant Writer pen with a bit of watercolor.

(* MIL stands for mother-in-law cottage, something that’s very popular in this area.)

trimming roses

Yesterday was a busy day, catching up on house chores and laundry. I also finally got outside to trim our old-fashioned roses. When they never really go dormant in our climate, I’m never sure when is the best time to do so, but a few straggly branches were so tall the birds decided to perch on them like  they were trees! I love the rose hips on this one.

Our roses come from The Antique Rose Emporium in Independence, Texas. (link) They are old varieties propagated from clippings found thriving on abandoned farm steads — some may be well over 100 years old. Very hardy with very little intervention needed.

The torn paper taped on the upper corner are a couple of quotes I found years ago but never entered in a journal:

“It is surprising how much is to be learnt alone . . . There are different kinds of drawing, there is some that may be quite correct, but it isn’t beautiful, it wants the divine spark.” — Sir John Millais

“Plenty of people can draw, but you have observation.” — Sir John Millais, spoken to Beatrix Potter

early wild roses

I have been meaning to cut back our patio roses. Just waiting for a warmer day without so much wind . . . sort of like today! Except we are heading to Houston so the job is being put off yet again.

Some of the roses are ignoring me and deciding to throw out blooms anyway. This particular rose is an antique variety rescued from an abandoned farmstead where it was found to be thriving without human intervention. That’s what the Antique Rose Emporium where we buy roses specializes in.

The actual colors of these petals are yellow, peach, pink, and rose — hard colors to replicate using the muted earthy colors of this palette, but I’m trying to see if I can stick to the same palette through the whole journal.

Everything looked great as I added a bit of text and put my pen down . . . So how did I manage to smudge the ink yet again?

two wee gnomes

Last week I drew two green men who hang on an old live oak tree at the Antique Rose Emporium in Independence, TX. At the base of that same tree lives a village of wee gnomes; here are two of them tending their nasturtiums.

two green men

These two green men inhabit an ancient live oak tree in the garden of the Antique Rose Emporium in Independence, Texas. And as spell-check just reminded me, I mis-spelled it 'Independance' on the sketchbook page. Oh, well . . .

garden work

Weather has been gradually warmer and sunnier, though some nights are still a bit cold. But we went ahead and bought our replacement rose shrubs --- we can always throw protection over them if nights get down in the 30's. The roses from the nearby Antique Rose Emporium are always so healthy, many of them grown from roses found on abandoned farmsteads all over Texas, and many still retain the original scents. I hate the newer hybrids that have lost all scent.

I had one overgrown pot of aloe vera also. When we gently pulled the plant out of the container (after a couple of rounds of fire-ant killer as they had taken occupancy) there were enough starts to fill SIX pots, four of which were larger than the original!

The original aloe plant was grown from off the house plant our son-in-law Michael took to college with him in the 1990's. I kept it alive as a house plant but it never grew beyond 6 to 8" high with very thin blades. After moving to Texas, we left the pot outside in the sun (covering during cold snaps) . . . and two years later, it is thriving as a huge, healthy beast!

wee garden worker

The Antique Rose Emporium in Independence, Texas has the loveliest exhibition garden! This is just one of the "workers" busy at work. 

a stone dragon

This stone dragon (or is it a gargoyle?) lives under an ancient oak tree in the lovely gardens of the Antique Rose Emporium. I'm trying to get better at ink drawings --- I darkened the ball he is perched on too much, losing one of his toes in the process. But I think he will forgive me.

small tree identified

While taking a stroll through the Antique Rose Emporium's garden last week, we were able to identify 3 of the small trees in our new yard.

These colorful trees are 'Warren Red' Possum Haw, a tree growing to 20-25 feet, a deciduous version of holly. Song birds are supposed to love the berries.

When we arrived in January, they were fully leafed out in green; then the tips began to turn red and twiggy sprigs popped out. Now those sprigs have opened up into white flower bouquets. Sweet!

(The wee tree seen under the left branches is our baby fig tree.)