4.25.10 Poppies Everywhere!

I can see this garden from the laundry room which makes wash day a treat. The Poppies match our RED washer and dryer. The Bluebonnets in the foreground are getting a little past their prime. We are leaving them for now, letting them go to seed so we will have a crop again next year. In the far left are Pink Primroses, some of Jack’s favorites. Oops, our hummingbirds have been busy, I need to fill the feeder.

Our Red Corn Poppies are in FULL BLOOM. Yippee! Last fall Jack surprised me by sowing the raised bed on the left behind the arbor with poppy seed. As the seedlings grew we had to thin them so we planted the extra poppies all around the yard. We are now reaping the reward of our hard work. Thought you would enjoy seeing the results. Daylilies will replace the poppies in the foreground bed behind the pot. By the way, the arbor is a 20 foot length of bull pen fencing we anchored with four steel posts. Peggy Martin Climbing roses are planted at the base on each side. The plan is for this to one day be completely covered in Pink.

To see any of these images larger just click on the picture. Enjoy and Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

4.16.10 I Love Springtime in Texas

We think this yucca is so cool, looks like Arizona but is only about 20 miles from our home.

There are lots of White Prickly Poppies in our area, but we discovered this pocket of Rose Prickly Poppies nestled among the fields of white. Were we ever surprised as we’d never seen them before!

More Indian Paintbrush and Bluebonnets. What an exciting combination God provides us.

And last, but not least some Indian Blanket Flowers from our own garden. Just had to share more of our spring with you. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

Website: http://www.senkarik.com  Email: senkarik@senkarik.com

4.15.10 We’re Packin’

We are ready to begin packing these two wet paintings. We purchase 3/4″ thick insulation board at Home Depot. The brand shown on the left is good because it doesn’t shed the little white pieces like white styrofoam insulation board does. They can be disastrous if they drop on to the surface of a wet painting.

I cut the insulation board into 8″ strips and start building walls around one of the paintings, taping the corners to the cardboard the artwork is attached to.

The wall is completely built around the first painting, notice how the corners are taped. The insulation board gives a rigid sidewall that will hold the wet paintings apart but is still very light. Since FedEx charges by weight this is extremely  important.

Now we carefully place the second painting on the top of the “Box”.

All is taped and the unit with the paintings is ready to insert into the shipping box. The outer box we are using is 9 1/2″ wide. That is why I cut the sidewalls 8″. If it had been thinner I would have cut the pieces for the sidewalls accordingly. The minimum distance between the wet paintings should be no less than 2″.

On the right we are sliding the paintings into the shipping box. All we have to do now is tape the box shut, put on the shipping label and set it outside to wait for our FedEx driver to pickup. I made tabs with tape on the top of the unit with the two paintings so the client can easily pull them out of the shipping box. All they will have to do is cut the tape at the corners where the cardboard is attached to the pink sidewalls and carefully lift the wet paintings out. Jack’s method is pretty nifty, don’t you think? Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

Website: http://www.senkarik.com Email: senkarik@senkarik.com

4.5.10 You asked for More!

OK! OK! Back by popular demand are some more wildflower pictures. I can’t believe how incredible our spring is this year. We’ve been getting out to enjoy the beauty every chance we get, you never know when we will have another spring like this. Remember, you can click on any of the images to see an enlargement.

Even this No Trespassing sign is a pretty picture. We followed the rule, never stepping on their property but that didn’t prevent us from taking photos of the gorgeous wildflowers over the fence. Thanks for visiting, tomorrow I’ll be back in the studio. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

Website: http://www.senkarik.com  Email: senkarik@senkarik.com