Angry Birds cake

I like cake, and I like art, and I like Angry Birds, and I like my friend's son Simon. So, how could I not share this photo of this great birthday cake made by my friend Helga?

New school greenhouse

The weekend before last, my family and I volunteered some labor at school helping put up the new greenhouse.  Thanks to a grant from State Farm and some generous donations from school families, the school got a nice greenhouse kit and was able to hire Daniel Skinner to design and build the greenhouse.

Much of my time was spent running a tiller, which I had never done before, plus shoveling and raking dirt.  I also worked with a few others to set up about half the support ribs, spread out the tremendous sheet of plastic and get it over the top, and do some anchoring.  It was a lot of dirty work over a hot weekend, but it was also sort of interesting, and the other people were great to work with (and very patient with me.)

I’m excited to see the finished project; I don’t know when the inside will be all put in, but it won’t be too long.  There has been work going on every day.  When completed, it will be state-of-the-art, with a water circulation system for heating and cooling, half-sunken rain barrels to double as classroom seats, a large fish tank, and both floor-level and raised beds and pots.

Hard at work in the morning

 My fearless wife high atop a ladder

The official ribbon cutting

Caperton Swamp

I had a few minutes to kill the other day waiting for the rest of my family, so I took a short walk on a trail at Caperton Swamp.  It's a pretty area, but I didn't get far into it.  Might make for a nice hike with the kids.

Watermelon carving

I did this as a centerpiece for a fruit table at an elementery school art show.

Black walnut ink house portrait

I finished this one a few nights ago. It is 11 x 15 inches.  Overall, I am satisfied with it, although frankly there are some elements of the house I'm not entirely happy with.  I'm happiest with the trees.  I enjoy working on trees and I'll try to do some more tree drawings soon.

Fat asparagus

This is a hefty vegetable. I chopped it down and dragged it into the house last night.