Ronna Does Dishes, Again

Summer is a very inspiring time, here at "Ronna Does Dishes." Flowers are popping up everywhere. Here's an 8" bowl perfect for a serving of cereal or soup...or as a small side dish at dinner.

Very sweet flower-covered cow creamers ready for your next tea party.

A ruffled plate with multi-coloured coneflowers would be nice for serving little cookies or sweet treats.

These large (11") flower encircled bowls with polka dot sides, would be perfect for a big salad or pasta.

My favourite piece of all...my calico plate. But really, it's a portrait of my cat Nutmeg. Not sure I can ever part with this one...

Scenes from a Wet Book Sale

The Glengarry Pioneer Museum's annual book sale over the weekend is nearly over. Just the final putting away of packed boxes this a.m. is left to be done. Saturday was sunny and busy with tons of people (we estimated 500+). Sunday, unfortunately, was a rainy, yucky day. Our hay wagons full of books, had to be covered with big sheets of plastic and only the brave book buyers came out with umbrellas, and peeked under the plastic for bargains. But by 3 p.m., it stopped raining and we had about 50 folks poking around and by 4 p.m., when we started to pack up, buyers were grabbing books before we could put them away.

I took this photo at a quiet time during the sale when Murphy, the museum cat was doing his volunteer shift making sure no mice chewed on any books.

Marshmallow Farm

Just down the road from me, it looks as though they're farming massive marshmallows. In reality, it's bales of hay wrapped in plastic to keep the moisture out.
Too bad. I was looking for the next farm to be farming giant Hershey bars and the one beside that to be harvesting massive Graham wafers. S'mores anyone?

Scenes from the Country

No wonder everyone loves summer. Everything just looks so good. Can't help itself, I guess. My lily garden is in full force. The pink tiger lily finally bloomed this year next to the yellow one. (Last year it didn't bloom at all.) Both very pretty.

Raspberry season is in full force. My little patch gives me about 15 ripe berries everyday. Perfect for my breakfast cereal...if only I wouldn't eat them as I pick 'em.

Book Sale

Our local museum, the Glengarry Pioneer Museum, just down the road a piece, holds it's annual book sale this weekend. Every day this week a different part of the sale has been set up: Tuesday night we brought tables and boxes to the indoor locations; Wednesday we set the books on the tables; Thursday the hay wagons arrive; and Friday the titles that are destined for outdoor locations are set up with plastic put on them for over night. Now all we need is fine weather Saturday and Sunday. It's always a fun weekend with great bargains on tons of books. If you're in the area, plan to drop by!

This Week's Goodies

I had a lot of fun this week doing really varied stuff: A daisy-themed bathroom set...

A cat bowl with little orange fishies stamped on the outside (can be used for either humans or cats!)

A big, 13" round platter decorated with a variety of wild mushrooms encircling it.

A large lobster platter, measuring 16" x 12" that is also pretty deep and can hold lots of lobster stew or whatever you want to put in it.

Biffy Book

I did the illustrations for a funny little book called "To The Biffy," an amusing tale of a fellow's relationship with the toilet! This week it was published and looks terrific. Some of my favourite drawings include...

As a baby, Don hated the taste of cod liver oil, administered by his parents to keep everything on the move...




At the age of 9, the author swallowed a ball bearing, which hasn't been located to this day.




One of the various bears I sketched to go with the section of the book where Don discusses the perils of going to the biffy in the woods.

Horse & Buggy Parade

Yesterday, Richard and I went to the Horse and Buggy Parade in Vankleek Hill, Ontario.

The horses came in all shapes and sizes. From big ones...

...to the teeny ones. It was a fun day.

Barney Update

Remember Barney, the barn cat that showed up last November?

He's now the brother of Richard's 10-year-old tabby Medea...

...and he couldn't be happier!

Odds 'n' Ends

A few things I've painted but neglected to post. Among them, a cherry jam pot with matching spoon.

A variety of blueberry and strawberry ramekins and little serving dish.

Multi-coloured ladybug mugs.

What I call my "Lazy Daisy Breakfast Set" painted on vintage dinerware.

A large, lupin serving platter, measuring 12" square.

Experimenting with Colour

I've been painting almost exclusively on white china so decided it was time to try painting on a coloured background. What fun! I can finally paint a decent lily-of-the valley or daisy.

I think this summer garden teaset came out particularly well. Would be perfect for tea in the garden, eh?

Canada Day Redux

Since I missed all our local Canada Day parades yesterday, I went back to my files and found a few fun snaps from parades a few years ago.

These were shot in the tiny town of St. Eugene, Ontario where their annual Canada Day parade includes fire trucks, a float with dancers that is sponsored by the local tavern and locals dressed up as maple leaves.

Happy Canada Day!

I just love the Lachute Flea Market, held every Tuesday in Lachute, Quebec. I was lucky enough that this year it fell on Canada Day so Richard had the day off. We headed out at 7:30 a.m. and were there by 8:00!

There are rows and rows of tables of antiques and junk. Further along there are tables of new stuff: ugly caps, leather belts, underwear, mixed in with used VHS tapes and DVDs, dishes, and anything else you could ever imagine (even several kitchen sinks)! And the whole front section is fruits and veggies, meat and baked goods.

We stuck with the local stuff although it's still early in the season for that. But we found beets, onions and local strawberries. Yum!

Diana Beresford-Kroeger

The first time I ever saw a perennial foxglove was in the garden of Diana Beresford-Kroeger in Merrickville, Ontario, not far from where I live. Irish-born, Diana is a botanist, medical and agricultural researcher, lecturer and self defined "renegade scientist." Her books "A Garden for Life" and "Arboretum America: A Philosophy of the Forest" are inspirations.
Each year, when my foxglove blooms, I pull one of Diana's books off the shelf and read a bit more of it, inspiring me to connect with the earth. Time spent in her garden (or with one of her books) is truly an inspiration. To read more, click here.