Kohlrabi

The other day George asked if I wanted to taste the kohlrabi we got from our farm share.  Of course, my first answer was "no" and I would have continued going on about my business... but I turned around and saw him holding the most incredibly fantastic object.  This purple beauty had quite a rotund, purple body with bizarre thin arms that reached upwards creating a "cage" of sorts and ending in leafy greens.  I was so struck by it that we immediately took it outside and photographed it against the fence.  And by a stroke of luck the light at that moment was magical and streamed over the fence to illuminate this mythical vegetable.

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”― W.B. Yeats

Withrow High School Sketch

Last Friday Christina and I sketched Withrow High School.  When I first moved to Cincinnati I couldn't believe the architecture of the high schools.  They look like college campuses!  I have always wanted to sketch this one particularly because of the awesome bridge. 

As we were sketching a man walked up who worked in the alumni office.  He offered to give us a tour and we took him up on it after we were done.  He took us into the fantastic auditorium which had been refurbished.  You can see Christina's photo of it here.  He also took us into the old library which had incredibly tall ceilings and ornate plasterwork.  There were also lots of other people's sketches of the building and it was fun to see all the different styles.  You can see Christina's sketch here.

"Observation is at its core an expression of love..."  -Takashi Hiraide

Industrial Fan Planter

Two weekends ago I went to the Springfield Antique Extravaganza and could not resist buying this industrial fan cover that had been turned into a planter.  I love the idea of a really wide, flat planter.  I was going to wait to take a photo of it in a couple weeks after the plants had grown in more but we had a slight setback.  The day after I hung the planter I watered it really well with the hose and then went to the front yard to water.  When I returned to the backyard, there was my planter on the ground with all the plants spilled around it.  Apparently the hook we used was not strong enough and had given way.  But after a trip to the hardware store we are back in business, although a bit stunted. 

Buy planter or make your own with the face of an old fan and chains.

Buy coco liner from a roll and cut a circle that fits the face of the fan.

Fill lined planter with dirt.

Plant flowers being mindful of where the chains will pull up.

Hang with VERY strong chain!

Sometimes projects like these take a little work but I can't tell you how much I love seeing the planter every time I pull in the driveway.  There is something so enchanting about the way it "floats" and turns with the breeze.  Hopefully soon we will have big, healthy flowers and potato vines hanging over the edge (and no more mishaps!)

It is now the end of July and I wanted to post an updated photo of the planter which has grown like crazy! I think the potato vine was quite happy living there.