i can't believe how fast the time has flown by over the past couple of weeks. aaron was on school holidays for the easter break so we finally decided to do some major gardening in the front garden bed. i dug out four vines that some crazy landscaper planted when the house was first built three years ago. ground cover would have been understandable but vines in a garden bed with no fence/trellis support??!! they were rampant and were strangling every other plant in the bed.....so out they came. on top of that, the landscapers had also planted two large plants that prefer shady conditions, NOT the sunny position they were planted in. these poor plants permanently looked like they were dying due to all the sun damage.....so out they came too. we replaced all the plants that we removed with plants more suited to the garden and conditions and i'm so much happier with the end result. it was well worth the following three days of severe back pain and body aches.
today, i attempted to do a graphite and charcoal sketch of Charles Ingalls, one of the main characters in the TV series, Little House on the Prairie, which i bought on DVD recently. do you remember it? we have been watching the episodes during our lunch-times and occasionally in the evening. i used to love watching this series on TV way back when i was a teenager. i cry in just about every episode as it can get quite emotional with its life lessons, caring and compassion. sometimes, i wish we could go back to the horse and buggy days as life seemed so much more simple back then....sigh.....
graphite & charcoal in A5 sketchbook
click on image to enlarge
i have also been working on my Pay It Forward gifts but i can't post pics of them just yet. i missed participating in the photo challenge last week and i'm late for this week's challenge but i hope to have that up over the next couple of days. stay tuned.....
~ love, light and peace ~
I'm glad that you chose Michael Landon for your sketch...it is such his chacater...Charles Inglls. I love to watch Little House on the Prairie, even now...and I to seemed to cry at each episode..so touching. You garden sounds wonderful...hope to see pics of it in bloom...have a wonderful day..Shelly
ReplyDeleteSo loved this program, My sister and I had long plated hair like the sisters, we use to play Little House on the Prairie role play games.
ReplyDeleteLovely to read your post and your sketch looks so much like him!
:D Hugs!
Julie
Must be the week for gardening, I've been doing ours this week. Had to do it in little bursts to prevent the backache getting out of control
ReplyDeleteOur yard is much the same way. Things planted in the wrong spots and not the right kind of plant for the area but most of the ones we have in our yard have been here for 20+ years!
ReplyDeleteI used to watch Little House all the time, too. I love the way they portray family life back then. Much simpler and the people are more connected to one another. Love your drawing of Charles!
I loved that show! One of the best things about it for me was that there were problems dealt with in a positive way. People with flaws that you learned to live with in that small town. Evil was often surmounted and suppressed by community--a group of people together can do so much! Some people thought it was "sappy"--I loved it, so I must love sappy--hehe! Why do people thing emotional, positive stuff is sappy? Or is it the happy endings and surmounting obstacles? Whatever. Great show.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you really got a lot of work done! The plants that surround you will be happier. too. ;) I hope you have recovered.
Serena, I *loved* this series, too, as a girl. My sister and I got so good at recognizing the opening credits that we amazed my parents one night by reciting all the actors' names verbatim, before they appeared on the screen. :)
ReplyDeleteDid you ever read the series of books the t.v. show was based on? They were the first set of books I was given as a child, and I devoured them, although it took until I was *much* older for me to realize what genuine hardship this pioneer family endured for the sake of the father's dreams of a new and better life.
I love how you've captured the gleam in Michael Landon's eye. And I'm so happy for you about getting the garden settled. It is such a pain to watch plants languish in conditions that do not suit them, and I'm sure it was satisfying to envision that bed when all the work pays off. :)
Wow that is a wonderful sketch. Yep I remember that series I used to love it.
ReplyDeleteWow what some people do when they call themselves landscapers...what a bank breaking job..Loved Little House...I read a blog written by one of his descendants..Laura Ingalls Gunn..decoretoadore.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteSerena, great sketch of Michael Landon. I never got into this series but you are right the lessons are timeless and worth remembering :D
ReplyDeleteSerena, great sketch of Michael Landon. I never got into this series but you are right the lessons are timeless and worth remembering :D
ReplyDeleteHi Serena,
ReplyDeleteOK, where are the before and after photo's of your garden? I'd love to see what you've done.
Oh yeah, My Mum and four sisters use to sit and watch Little House on the Prairie together.
Great sketch of Michael Landon.
Your sketches are getting better by the day!
Hugs,
Anna
Hi Serena
ReplyDeleteI'm another one who loved "Little House on the Prairie". My Dad used to say the show reminded him of when he was growing up. BTW great sketch.
I used to love this show when I was a little girl! That portrait is amazing, I love those journal entries your drawings, and paintings seem to jump right off the page!
ReplyDeleteHoly Moly!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat an excellent sketch!!
We are Little House fans over here too. My daughter has up to season 6 on dvd.
We love it.
Yay for you getting into gardening!! Woo-hoo.....spring is here!
Wonderful sketch of Charles Ingalls. I too loved the show and cried a lot. Merlin Olsen the actor who played Father Murphy recently died. He was such a gentle character too. Such fond memories.
ReplyDeleteI used to love that show too!
ReplyDeleteI love this sketch, Serena! It's so good it looks like a photo.
ReplyDeleteHere yiu are getting your garden ready for fall and winter and here I'm getting my plants and rock garden ready for summer.
Glad to see another sketch by you and read and catch up on the landscaping you have been doing!
ReplyDeleteMichael Landon was so awesome! We just loved him growing up watching that show, and as Little Joe on Bonanza! Your sketch is remarkably just like him...wow!!!
ReplyDeleteI know you were happy to get that gardening taken care of. Things like that just irritate me to death till I get them fixed!!!