The End: Alphabet Soup

The end of yet another odyssey with Alphabe-Thursday has been reached!  What a challenge it had been at times to come up with a creative post for the current letter of the alphabet!    I've enjoyed this journey with you, my readers and fellow Alphabe-Thursdayers, sharing our posts and lives.   Thanks, Jenny!
(You can click on any of the following links to go to that post.)

A  Apple Chips -delicious and easy to make!






 
B  3 Boys and a Girl -Tigra and Bunkie came to play with Oliver and Earnest 

C  Chamois, tie dye style -I've been dyeing chamois (soft absorbant towels used by swimmers and divers) for Kast-A-Way Swimwear for many years

 

 
 D  Snowman Decorations -I love snowmen!



 

E  Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Chips (Eat) 



 

F  a few fun Fs 

G  Green: Close Up -Kootenay National Park, British Columbia, Canada




 
H   Desert Haiku  -Salt River Canyon, Arizona




 
I  island sunset St. Maarten, NA 




 



J  jagged -jagged photos taken in the Superstition Mountains and at the Aviation Museum near Phoenix, Arizona

K  Sun Puddle Delight -Oliver enjoying sunny days!




 

L  serenity -Lake Agnes, Banff, Alberta, Canada

M  Mansion -a few vignettes from Winter Wine Weekend 2013..



 

N  narrow -views of a hike along Kanarra Creek which runs through a beautiful canyon west of the northern part of Zion National Park

O  outlines -a series of photos


  

P  Purple -photos of objects in varying tones of purple 

Q  Quiddity of St. Lucia 



 


R  round -a funny pizza truck in St. Lucia

S  sea -3 photos of Mandele Point, St. Lucia and a haiku


 


  T  Textures


 


 U  under


 

V  Vacation Vignettes
 

W  Radium Woodcarver 





 
 X  inside xanthic flowers 

Y  yard -a few Spring photos from around my yard   

  


 

Z  Zion -a few random photos

THE END

LINKS:
POST   Alphabet Soup I
POST   Alphabet Soup  II
POST   Alphabet Soup  III

Dear Ms.Jenny, 
I LOVE Alphabe-Thursday!  Thank you so much for hostessing this awesome meme AND visiting EVERY single post!


It is often challenging to come up with a post for each letter as well as committing to posting for every letter.  But it is so much FUN!

So begins Round 7 in which we start with the Letter "A."    Come visit others' submissions HERE and join in the fun!  (You do not have to post for every letter.)

photos by me © 2009 - 2013

eat

some of the edibles growing in my garden or in pots on my deck...

Meyer lemon

There are several lemons on this plant!  They are about the size of a couple cherry tomatoes put together.  Here's a photo of the lemon in my hand. ↓  See the beautiful sweet-scented lemon blossom in an earlier POST.

hot peppers

I've brought this plant inside for 2 Winters now.  During that time, it lives in my basement and is very neglected and is watered very little.  It revives when brought outside and exposed to sun and watering.

baby mixed lettuces

Growing lettuce, Asian greens, Swiss chard, and spinach in pots is so easy!  I simply pick the outer leaves and the plants keep on growing.

yellow cherry tomatoes

My FIRST ripe tomato!  I'm so excited!  and it's not even July yet!  Yes, yes, I do know it's small...but it's ripe...and it's my first!

stevia

I have 2 kinds of stevia growing in pots on my deck.  The leaves are a natural sweetener.  The tags says "300 times sweeter than sugar without the calories."  I had a plant in the past which I over-wintered in my basement.  I suppose it was too neglected because it didn't make it.  Stevia is hardy in zones 8-10.  

thyme, rosemary, and a couple basil leaves visible in the back

I love basil!  I grow several varieties, which I start from seed, in pots on my deck.  Both basil and rosemary smell so heavenly!  I bought these 3 plants and put them together in one pot.  Only the thyme is a perennial in my zone, so I'll plant that in the garden in the Fall.

thyme in the garden

Thyme is in the mint family and spreads by runners underground and by seeds.  I think it is a pretty and low growing addition to the garden.  The lavender flowers attract bees.

parsley flower and leaves

The parsley is going to seed.  That's great because fresh, new plants will soon be coming up.  (This parsley is growing in the pot in which the Carolina wrens made a nest.  See that post HERE.)

EAT:  to consume or ingest food to provide for nutritional or medicinal needs, especially for energy and growth.  All heterotrophs* must eat in order to survive.

We all know what eating is, but the question that remains is what exactly is food?  According to Michale Pollan, humans ingest much edible food-like substances.  One of his food rules is "Don't eat anything incapable of rotting.”  (In Defense of Food:An Eater's Manifesto)

In thinking of food, we do need to consider how it was raised.  Our health is at stake.  I won't go into any depth here.  
I will share this list that I recently came across.  It is published by the nonprofit EWG--Environmental Working Group, whose mission "is to use the power of public information to protect public health and the environment."  The list is a Shopper's Guide to Pesticide in Produce.  The link is in the list below.  I will share with you here the 3 worst produce items:  apples, celery, and sweet bell peppers.  The website itself is interesting to peruse. 

*heterotrophs--organisms that need carbon but cannot fix it themselves.

LINKS:

115 Michael Pollan quotes

Fresh, the movie, BLOG 

EWG Shopper's Guide to Pesticide in Produce  

I'm linking up with my favorite teacher, Ms Jenny Matlock, as we work our way through the alphabet.  Please do go visit the other students, for you never know what gems you may find--humor, poignancy, information, visions of far away places, stuff you've never even dreamed of!  Check it out HERE.  You may even wish to join in yourself!

photos by me © 2012    all rights reserved

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

food 

guide:  Swiss chard (leaves in back.  These come with white, red, and yellow stems.), eggplant (creamy, yellow rimmed veggie in the middle), 3 beets (on either side of the eggplant), radish (on left), 2 carrots (on right).  The colors and patterns are so beautiful!

purple 

detail of Indigo Angel by Janice Campion

On Sunday, I attended the reception of Chrysalis, a life retrospective of fiber artist Janice Campion's work.  The show was held at Grailville, a retreat and education center, with a Fall Harvest Supper following.  Most of the food was grown at Grailville and it was delicious!

in disguise 

This landscape is disguised by water from the carwash rivuleting over the windshield.

shapes 

detail of The Guardian by Janice Campion  

The full quilt follows.  Janice hand dyes, batiks, and paints much of her fabric.  Most quilting is done by hand.  Some decorative sewing is done on machine.  When seen in person and up close, the detail of her work is truly stunning.

The Guardian by Janice Campion, 1993

"The challenge of my work is to combine both decorative and figurative elements."  This work was inspired by Gustav Klimt, and was part of an international show in Paris inspired by the works of Klimt.

(cotton, applique, reverse applique,  hand and machine pieced, hand and machine quilted, textile pigments, hand embroidered)

photographer's choice 

 detail from the hem of a doll's dress by Janice Campion

This dress is made entirely of woven strips of fabric about a quarter inch wide.  Each strip has stitched details along its entire length.

I had to show you the entire doll even though this is a bad photo.  I wish I had taken more photos of the details.

Janice's quilts have been in Juried and Invitational Shows throughout the United States and in Europe. They have appeared in Quilt magazines, on the PBS show, Sew Creative, HGTV's The Carol Duvall Show, and on the cover of a textbook.

LINK:
Grailville  --a center for retreats, spirituality, women's empowerment, the environment, the arts, and good old peace and quiet.

I'm having so much fun participating in this challenging, inspiring, and fun meme.  Come on over to  Scavenger Hunt Sunday on Ashley Sisk's blog and see some wonderful, creative entries.  Link up, too!

photos by me © 2011

artwork © Janice Campion