Ithaca Children’s Garden

On the recommendation of some friends, we decided to stay a few nights in Ithaca, NY on our way home from Boston last month. This town in the Finger Lakes area of NY state was like a little slice of heaven for us; we loved the rolling hills and beautiful vistas, the delicious food and craft beer, interesting little independent shops, friendly people and this wonderful permaculture children’s garden.
  
We took the boys to the garden on our first morning in Ithaca and had an amazing time enjoying the beautiful sunshine and exploring the area.  We are big fans of permaculture and our own garden is designed based on its principles, so it was wonderful to see a public space devoted to such a sustainable and beautiful way to grow food.

It’s a tasting garden, and our kids are well-acquainted with eating their way through our yard, so we enjoyed sampling what was ripe and ready. I so wish that we could have taken advantage of some of their children’s educational programs while we were there. It warms my heart to know that its so accessible for the youngest generation to learn about gardening, permaculture and why its so important to change our current practices in order to avoid complete environmental degradation.
 
We’ll definitely be back in Ithaca soon, hopefully next year, and I hope to spend some more time in this lovely garden. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area.

Society6

I’m so excited about some of the new items in my Society6 shop! Pillows, iphone cases, note cards, art prints. Check them out! Free shipping until Sunday!

I Can Pickle That

 

If you don’t watch Portlandia, you simply must start. This is one of my favourite sketches from the show and today, I’m pickling anything and everything, including green beans, turnips, jalapenos, pickles (duh) and lacto-fermented salsa. I’m trying not to salivate in anticipation of all the fermented goodness we’ll soon enjoy.

Treasury Features

I feel very fortunate to have had two Etsy Treasury features in one day!

Timea curated a lovely treasury of primary colors here, and PaperWhiskers curated this adorable collection of animal-themed items for a nursery!

Thank you both!

New in the Society6 Shop

 

Hello! Just wanted to let you know that pillows, iphone cases and skins, greeting cards and t-shirts are now available in my Society6 shop for select designs. New designs will be added soon

 

Also, free shipping is available on select items in my Society6 shop until September 22, so take advantage!

Robin On a Branch and a Butterfly Wing

Inspired by the birds we see at the feeder outside our kitchen window every morning. This little guy is up in the shop tonight. He’s a favourite of mine

The butterflies in our garden this summer inspired this gorgeous painting below. I love the multi-coloured wing and, although its hard to see in this picture, there's some sparkly gold ink on those wings as well. Its in the shop tonight too.

Did you know that Boston is awesome?

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I've always heard Boston is an amazing city to visit, but I was really blown away by the friendly people, the delicious seafood, canolis and beer, the markets, the history, the architecture, the green space - everything. We just got back last week from our family vacation to Boston and Ithaca (don't even get me started on how awesome Ithaca is) and we've been getting back in the groove all this week. I'm gearing up for a little guy's 4th birthday party we're hosting this weekend, so I haven't been able to paint as much as I'd like. I did drop off a few things at the printers today, so there should be some new prints in the shop soon.

For now, a few things to remember if you're ever in Boston.

Mike's Pastry for a canoli. Try the amaretto.  Try not to make dirty noises while eating it.

Union Oyster House. The oldest restaurant in the States and such delicious food.

Sam Adams Oktoberfest beer, if you're there in the fall. Also try some Dogfish Head.  Just drink all the beer. Trust me.

Parish Cafe. I had the lobster roll and yummmmmmmm.

Don't miss the New England Aquarium, the Freedom Trail, Boston Common (the kids loved the frog pond!), Back Bay and the USS Constitution.

All in all, it was a great trip. Boston is actually a very kid-friendly city and easy to get around, although next time I think I'd like to visit sans children. So as to facilitate more of that beer drinking.