MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Journal -Falls Lake Durham N C - Lin Frye

Journal...View from our RV site on Falls Lake Durham NC....26F

Journal - Holly - Lin Frye, NC

Journal - The holly berries around our area have turned bright red -- perfect for the season - Splash and Splatter

DRAWING MY PINE TREE

I'm continuing the study of my garden trees with the pine tree, planted only 15 years ago but already looking old and gnarled. This drawing from last year was done in black ink in my nature sketchbook.

The drawing is a perfect subject for handstitching in black thread on white organdie.

SILVER BIRCH BARK

My silver birches have beautiful bark and looking carefully I can see quite a few different colours, sketched here in Derwent drawing pencils and graphitint on crumpled watercolour paper.

My next step is to interpret the drawing in textile,  here using silk and organza appliqueed onto a cotton background and hand embroidered with yarns and threads.

Journal - Persimmons - Splash and Splatter - Lin Frye, NC

Journal - Splash and Splatter - Inspired by the season's persimmons.

Christmas Rose or Poinsettia

Perhaps you share the same poinsettia experience as me? You buy this lovely plant weeks before Christmas as an eye-catching floral display. You like their fragility and you love their thin lush leaves. Come Christmas and these delightful poinsettias start to die on you. Perhaps you wish, like me, to keep your poinsettia alive for longer?

Every year I find myself in doubt whether I should buy poinsettias. It is actually madness to buy a species in the Netherlands that is indigenous to Mexico. Having said that, I also buy cacti and they aren't native to the Netherlands either, but because they are real die-hards, they do well. However, buying plants that start to dwindle within weeks goes against all my environmental low-carbon-footprint principles. It also conflicts with my idea that I should only buy plants that will flourish in my home or garden. In other words, should I stop buying them? Perhaps, yes. But should I succumb to their attraction, I have found a website that gives advice on how to keep this plant healthy and even flourishing the next Christmas. Perhaps this advice (click here) is helpful for you too.

Paula Kuitenbrouwer

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