Nuccio's Jewel camellia

These lovely blooms fell to the ground yesterday and I just couldn't let them go unnoticed.  They are a beautiful double camellia which makes them challenging to sketch but lovely to look at

Iceland poppy

Iceland poppy, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

The delicate petals of the poppy just wait for a gentle breeze to scatter them to the earth. It's going to rain any minute so I had to capture this before its wholeness was broken

Strawberries in March

Strawberries in March, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

I got these lovely strawberries Sunday at the Farmers' Market. They are grown locally in Irvine and are so sweet. I can't wait until next Sunday

Red Baron peach tree

peach tree, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

This tree is in full bloom outside my bedroom window. It is a fabulous hot pink color. It will now take until late July to turn to fruit and ripen. This is in my orchard section of my garden. I have a tiny yard (about 8 ft by 40 ft) on the side of my house and a front porch that occasionally invades the "community space" but I have 6 fruit producing trees. The peach tree gives me about 200 pounds each summer. It is the pink blossoms this time of year that are breathtaking.

A hot March day

Today was a perfect day to work in the garden but by midday it was time for a little refreshment:  Ginger lemonaid.  I started with a recipe for lemon sorbet.  First I used a simple syrup (1/2 cup water, 1 cup sugar brought to a boil with the zest of 2 Meyer lemons.  Then I squeezed the juice of 3 lemons and 1 lime and added about 1 inch of fresh ginger, grated with a rasp and then combined everything.  In this glass filled with ice I added 1/4 cup of the mixture and the filled the glass with water.  Fresh from the Farmers' Market the strawberry topped it off.  It helped give me enough energy to finish the weeding and the pruning in my Japanese garden

Raggy rose quilt

rose quilt, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

This was a fun quilt to make. I found the pattern in a magazine honoring breast cancer patients. The entire issue was themed around PINK. This was my take on the raggy pink rose. The background of the blocks is machine pieced. Each block flower is raw edge machine appliqued. What makes this quilt one of my favorites is the fabrics. I used all scrap fabric. There is at least one piece of cotton chenille in each rose. Did you know that chenille is French for caterpillar? We will be seeing a lot of those this month as spring is upon us in California

raggy rose quilt detail

raggy rose quilt detail, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Block detail of the raggy rose quilt