Search This Blog

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Blue Macro Monday, November 25, 2013

Welcome to my Monday post, this week I am linking with-

Blue Monday hosted by Smiling Sally

Mandarin Orange Monday hosted by Lorik

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma Wiseman

I Heart Macro hosted by Laura

This is the last of my kitchen tile photos, we actually put the tiles over a cream formica counter and backsplash with metal edges, on the end having a slant we had to cover.  The counter has granite tiles, black with blue "butterfly wing" flakes in it.  The glass tiles, AO 'Blue Topaz', were thinner than the other tiles, so I came up with a fix, I put plastic weed whacker cord under them to bring them up level.

I basically started with the blue crazed tiles, Grazia Rixi craquelle finish- 'Reef', and finally found some more 5" tiles, an unusual size, to go with them- Florida "Tam", and I got mostly the Ivory tiles, then supplemented with 5 of each of the other colors, Opus Ivory with the small faux tiles, Forest, Desert, Copper, and one Ivory with a cutout and Metal Cherry Insert.   In this photo the work is in progress, still being grouted on the left.  I didn't like the brown grout with the blue tiles so tinted some white grout blue for that part of the tiles.   I used most of the odd darker colors of tile on the stove wall below the rectangle (actually not visible behind the stove), and also on the windowsill of the window over the kitchen sink.  As I said last week, the black rope tiles around the rectangle I bought as bisque and glazed.  The ivory rope tiles and narrow beige tiles are from Home Depot.  You can see a photo where the iridescent tiles are picked up by the light here, scroll down.

You can tell you are a gardening fanatic if your cabinet pulls look like something from the garden, I love these, they are easy to hang stuff on-

I tried a wonderful annual for the first time last year, Browallia americana.   It bloomed like crazy all summer and fall, so I saved one in a pot and brought it in to my aquaponics grow bed before frost, where it has been happy and blooming still, my camera likes to invent beautiful colors-




Here is my last remaining Shubunkin, Miss Furshness, with a mysterious little two-headed turtle shadow, after she is gone I am going to start using hydroponics fertilizer which will be more balanced in nutrients, fish wastes are low in phosphorus needed for fruiting-

Meanwhile, outside, the temps went below freezing for several days-



I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving, I have much to be grateful for to my Creator, who also likes to garden.

Hannah

I enjoy your visits and especially comments, and try to return visits, but if your comment section requires google + only or other restrictive set-up, I find I am unable to comment.  Consider an open comment section in addition.

46 comments:

  1. Dear Hannah,
    Thank you for your lovely comment! I don't know this beautiful little flower, but I like the colour very much.
    Have a wonderful week and a Happy Thanksgiving!!!
    Katrin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Katrin! Mistletoe is popular this time of year.

      Delete
  2. These photos are wonderful, I love!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Leovi! I always love your bright colors.

      Delete
  3. Beautiful offerings Hannah. Thanks for sharing the love up-close with I Heart Macro and for your Gratitude Quilt offering.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Laura, your leaves with the magnifying rain drops are fascinating. Thanks for hosting.

      Delete
  4. Hello Hannah,

    Have a good Blue Monday and stay warm!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Sally, the clouds have returned to insulate us so the temperatures are coming up. The poultry and cat will be grateful.

      Delete
  5. Replies
    1. Thanks Pleni, Those were just weeds but had a form conducive to good frost photos, I thought rather floral.

      Delete
  6. Lovely photograph and beautiful tiles in your kitchen ~ happy thanksgiving, carol, xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Carol, I enjoyed your beach photos and cute dog.

      Delete
  7. Looks like you' done some hard work on that kitchen backsplash, well done. I love your twig cabinet pulls. It's been quite finger-numbingly frosty here too, for several days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't date my kitchen project but it was actually in 2007. So I've been enjoying it for quite a while.;-) My husband doesn't like the pulls as much as I do, they can catch your clothing. But I so enjoy them. I hope you're getting warmer weather now too. Your frost photos are exquisite.

      Delete
  8. I love what you are doing in your remodeling. Especially, the color combinations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, La Voice. I love blue, I fell in love with the blue butterfly wing flakes in the marble when I was a child and the bank was made of that granite. They were like the tropical blue butterfly wing art hanging in my grandfather's house, in the form of a quaint house and moon made of the iridescent butterfly wings.

      Delete
  9. I love the frost on the plants. It's gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Gunilla. Your header sunset over the ocean of clouds has the most beautiful sunset color palette I've ever seen.

      Delete
  10. The frozen leaves are beautiful as a brooch!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Villrose, I like the tiny snowflakes caught in your frost photo.

      Delete
  11. Love a peek into your kitchen, lovely. Great photos. I love the blue flowers and the frost on the leaves are gorgeous shots.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hello Hannah, Your new kitchen tile is beautiful. A lot of work but worth the effort. The pulls are different and so creative. Love them.

    The frost on the leaves is a beautiful photo. Good job.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jeanne, I haven't seen much like them. Regular pulls are too boring for me. I like the enormous floral chandelier in your cruise photos.

      Delete
  13. Those frost photos are gorgeous...have a Happy Thanksgiving :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Scott! I loved your movie with music of your grass blowing in the wind.

      Delete
  14. Replies
    1. Thanks, Betty! I'm starting another Browallia, speciosa, which is supposed to have 2" flowers and be shorter, so I may like it even better, at least for outdoors. I'm loving B. americana in my aquaponics bed. It seems to want to bloom like crazy.

      Delete
  15. Hannah I love the mosaic of tiles and the twig pulls are fabulous....Happy Thanksgiving.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, I flipped out when I saw the twig pulls. But after I bought them they were discontinued, so getting enough was a problem. Your intense red lobelia flowers are so pretty.

      Delete
  16. Hi Hannah
    The Wanderer returns! Guess what? We've finally got some heat over here, so I'm loving your frosty shots, just what it's needed to cool me down.
    Thank you so much for trying to comment but for Google +, It appears I am at the point of no return once fully signed up for Google + there is no back button. I can turn Google + off but then all my comments are removed :(
    So I have added the e-mail me button as a way to contact me. But realise this is a bit of a pain...Am working on what else to do!
    Anyway in the meantime have a wonderful Thanksgiving and thank you so much for trying to reach me!
    Wren x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Wren, I did leave you an email. Perhaps there is a widget you could add to have another way to comment? There seems to be a lot of choice in widgets. Supposedly Google Friend connect is on the way out but I like it,:-(

      Delete
  17. Love your kitchen. The snow flakes look awesome.
    Thanks for dropping by, stay warm there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Lina, it's warming up. We usually have mild winters, as long as it keeps raining, though we have had lows of like 6*F.

      Delete
  18. What a great name for a fish..Miss Furshness:) I love fishponds...there is one that takes up a whole front garden not far from where I live - a little garden though:) I also like your kitchen...and the icy plants.Thanks for sharing Miss Furshness on Mandarin Orange Monday:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Lorik! I confess to making up strange names. I considered raising food fish but they mostly require added heat. I think Shubunkins, while able to live in fairly cold water, won't breed unless it is warmer. She is 12" long with her tail, so fairly big, and has nice orange spots, so she was my orange entry.

      Delete
  19. Pretty kitchen!
    Beautiful flowers!
    Happy Thanksgiving!
    Lea

    ReplyDelete
  20. Happy Thanksgiving! Is it today?
    In Brazil we don't have it ): It's a pitty.
    Nice post and beautiful pictures, I love flowers!

    Hugs

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Camila! Thanksgiving is the last Thursday in November. It is typically celebrated with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, baked yams (sweet potatoes) and pumpkin pie. It has its roots in the Jewish festival of Sukkot, or Tabernacles, when Israel stopped in the wilderness to celebrate their liberation from slavery in Egypt, and God presence with them (tabernacling with them).

      Delete
  21. Wow, you've been busy in your kitchen! How creative to use a mixture of tiles like that! Hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Peter! It took me a long time to pick out the tiles, but I really enjoy them. I'm having Thanksgiving dinner with 5 grandkids, so that will be grand!

      Delete
  22. Hannah, thanks for your comment on my blog! Glad you liked Holland. What can I say - I'm Dutch, so I'm prejudiced, lol. I love the shade of blue that these flowers have. In painting terms it's Ultramarine blue, and I even had what you call a Blue period in my paintings:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jeannette, I really like Browalla, and the color.

      Delete
  23. My mother is renovating our kitchen. It's all a mess here! I showed her the picture you posted of the tile and she thought it very beautiful :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Camila, are you doing counters and backsplashes? I really like the granite counter since I can put hot pots on it, but would pick a lighter color next time since the black shows dirt and looks dull when wiped down so I have to use the sealer/polish to make it shine. There was a greenish granite that had blue flakes in it as well.

      Delete