Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Jaxon amid the red hot pokers; Leona's heart

I'm really enjoying the flowers in our front yard this spring. These are called red hot pokers. They are originally a native of Africa, but they fit in so well here in the southwest USA. The plant looks a little like yucca, but is softer, and the flower spike is, as you can see, intensely colored, almost florescent orange and yellow. The first time I saw these in someone's yard, I thought, those are the tackiest artificial flowers! The color just didn't look real to me. The clump on the left was already here when we moved into this house, but I have transplanted some to the right, and they are actually thriving! Jaxon, our bulldog/springer spaniel mix (a bullspringer?) was kind enough to pose with them.


This is one of the hearts I'll be sending to Leona for the "sharing our hearts" swap for May. When I had pieced this and done the seam embroidery, I started looking for buttons or charms and found the lion head button. I just couldn't resist; Leona means "like a lion". The white stiped fabric is some that I hand dyed with my friend Lauri earlier this year. I was shooting for an antiqued look with this one; the second one will be cottons and more vibrant colors.
June will be "my" month for this heart swap, so I'll be getting 9 hearts from around the country and one from the Netherlands. Then December is my month again (that's why I send two hearts each month; I have two months), so I'll get 10 more then. Happy birthday to me in June, and Merry Christmas to me in December!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nice photo mom!Jaxon did great in this picture.