Carrots

We have enjoyed very warm and windy weather in central Oklahoma this week. Although we had a short freeze last week, now it is over 80 F° again. The freeze damaged my balcony plants quite a bit but they didn’t die completely. The marigolds are blooming more now than they did earlier this year. The zinnias and basil survived but had some damaged leaves. I cut back the scarlet runner bean to remove the dead parts. The nicotiana has one flower left. I saw my favorite squirrel every day this week. I saw the stink bug still hanging out on my balcony this week. The mice are still hanging out in our apartment, too. We bought a bunch of traps and put them around the apartment two nights ago. So far, we haven’t caught any of the mice. I bought some bulbs to plant the next time I go out to the farm. I have been waiting for Walmart to put them on clearance after the freeze and they finally did. I got four packs of bulbs for $1.50 each. I got purple alliums, tulips, daffodils, and irises. It was a busy week at work and I didn’t visit the farm this week. One of the companies I work for is celebrating their 25th anniversary this week. Since the company has the word carrot in the name, there was a competition for employees to submit their carrot themed photos and videos. I had bought some carrots for dinner and so my boyfriend and I did a few carrot photos. I put two marigolds in my hair and it was pretty fun. Later, I made roasted root vegetables with carrots, turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, beets, and fresh rosemary from our farm garden. I have also been drawing a few vegetables and fruits this week. I drew a pear, some green onions, and of course, one of the carrots. I got some new library books this week and have started to read them. I am now reading another DK book, The Artist’s Manual. I am enjoying it so far. Seeing the materials in the book makes me consider how expensive art can be. So many interesting materials to try, if you can afford to. However, beautiful work is often done with poor materials. I do know people who consider art a luxury because of the sacrifice it requires. Not only do artists need to pay for materials but they also sacrifice their productive time. And time is of course more valuable than money since you can get more money but you can’t get more time.