Our yard is like a jungle, full of tall grass and half-wild fruit trees – shelter and food source for birds, squirrels, hedgehogs and other creatures. And of course, predators are lurking in the bushes.
I tried growing zinnias for the first time this year. Their blooms are multicoloured and nice looking, although not as big as I expected.
Some of them were overblown, and/or struck by some diseases (mites and may be powdery mildew). I cut the affected blooms – and then I thought they looked beautiful in their own way.
The sight reminded me of the Rolling Stones song, Dead Flowers.
Fortunately, many flowers are still alive and blooming, like the yellow hibiscus (another jungle touch).
When I was in Thailand 11 years ago, I was amazed when I saw my dream flower – hibiscus, growing and blooming abundantly by the side of the road, like any common bush.
There were many beautiful tropical plants on the island where I stayed for a while (Koh Mak), like this unknown (to me) tree with big yellow blooms – many of them were fallen off like a soft carpet underneath.
Our dear friend (and partner in colour) Nacho is turning 70 – really a big deal! So we made him his dream present – we remodelled his favourite old work chair in the most colourful way.
First we measured it, Nick removed the armrests and outlined the patterns for the covers. Then I cut the details – from some vintage embroidered wall hangings for the front (I found them in local classifieds websites) and old jeans for the side panels. There are two removable slip-covers for the seat and the back, fastened with ties below. (Each of the covers resembles a rectangular bag, with a curvy profile which follows the shape of the chair.) Then Nick upholstered the armrests and re-attached them to the chair.
May be these embroidered fabrics are not the most durable material (although we made a similar makeover for the sofa in our studio three years ago, and it is still doing quite well). But we just could not resist using them because of all the bright colours.
Nacho was delighted when he got his present, and being a photographer – of course he had to make a studio selfie right away!
And another selfie – the beautiful Plamena with her Squirrel’s Love Beads necklace. It really complements her fiery red hair!
