Mosaic Stepping Stone

I never had a finished picture of my mosaic stepping stone from an earlier post.  Here it is, nestled in a patch of creeping charly in my garden.

 

Here is the work in progress. 

 

I used vitreous glass tiles on plain cement block you can get from any home improvement store. 

 

 

Chicken Update

Rowdy and Nosey-- Bantam Rhode Island Reds

They are wondering why I'm poking a camera through their ramp door.

 

The Chickens got their fancy new coop and we are working on their fancy new pen.  Yes Folks, these birds are livin' better than we are.  More to come later on that one!

 

Mr. Pecks crowing for Sparrow.

 

 

The new additions are 4 molting bantam sebright hens

 

 

The new girls roost each night with the Rhode Island Reds.

The new girls are very shy and timid.  The Americaunas let the pecking order be known.  The Rhode Island Reds are happy there are some new ladies and have welcomed them.  I love these little Seabrights.  They squeak, they are shy, and they stick togeather.  They are sweet little things.

 

The Americaunas are snooty and roost togeather each night on the attic ladder.

A long break from blogging...

It's been over eight months since my last post. I did not "drop" my blog. I had to set everything down in my life for a while. I've had to cocoon myself and take care of my family and now, very different life. My eldest daughter was suddenly hospitalized for 5 months with a severe case of encephalitus.

My daughter is still recovering and has a long path to complete recovery. I believe during struggles you keep standing up and brushing yourself off. I believe you keep going. My daughter is an inspiration to me. She has been knocked down so hard....she keeps going. My family has been knocked down too...they keep going.

I enjoy my blog. I like to share the good in my life.  It's especially important to me now.  Creative expression pulls me through tough times.  Creative expression is pulling my daughter through tough times. She's beading, coloring, painting...whatever she can do.  It's therapeutic to her.  Art and creativity are getting her better.

I'm doing whatever I can, whenever I can.  I enjoy every minute of art or gardening time I can get.

I have a lot of crochet projects finished. I will be sharing those with you. (crochet is about the only craft I could focus on while staying  in the hospital with my daughter)

Spring is a time of rebirth. It is my favorite time of year. I'll share some of my garden photos and I'll be posting my latest and greatest creative endeavors soon.  I'm excited to start enjoying one of my fun hobbies again...blogging!


      My Very Crooked Apple Tree Is Flooded with
                         Beautiful Blossoms


 

 

Ornamental Cherry Tree is Fun to Climb

 

The little magnolia tree was a Mother's day gift a couple of years ago.  I love it!

                                                  

             Nectarine Blossoms

 

 

 

Even more...Works In Progress

I am working on more crochet projects. I started a new project (yes, yes, I know I have too many going right now).  Sometimes that is the way I need to do things.

I've been wanting to make my middle daughter a poncho for quite some time.  I owe her a new one.  She has outgrown the last one I made her.  This spring she wore the poncho my eldest daughter had outgrown.  It is hard to keep up with these growing girls.

Registering the kids for school and a couple of days that were not roasting  in the 90 to 100 degree range got me thinking of fall.  My mind drifted back to the poncho I've been wanting to make her.  I started it. I'm determined to get it completed in time for the fall season.  Do you think I'll get it done?

 I know I havn't produced many finished projects on my blog lately.  I promise, they'll be coming.  I have a ton of stuff 90% done.  And, I'll admit, I've got some big projects that HAVE to get finished before winter.  I'm excited to share them.

It's hard because I've been working my butt off on alot of stuff that just isn't really blogable.  Killing poison ivy?  Getting weeds out of overgrown areas?  You all know how it goes.  I'm doing alot of unglamourous stuff these days.  A few crocheted motif's are all I have for you now.  Give me a pass Ok?

A Happy Wedding Gift

My cousin was married this summer.  It was a small, casual wedding.  She didn't have a shower.  I decided in addition to the typical cash gift, I'd give her something she could use for her home.

This is what me and my ladies came up with:

I'll just start off by saying, I don't have any work-in-progress photos.  Why?  Because in true Bambi fashion, I was buying the supplies the day before the wedding and putting this togeather at 10 pm.  We needed to leave at 9 am the next day to make the 4 1/2 hour drive to the wedding.  So yeah, nothing like last minute!

Generates Cute Whether the Wind Blows or Not....

Last year, I wanted to get the little ladies one of those mini farm windmills that stands about 6-8 feet tall. I thought it would be cute to put it next to the kids' playhouse.
Luckily, I mentioned this in front of my dad. He said he had one put away in the garage and he'd dig it out for us. As you'll see, it is in decent shape.

This project was one of those quick, get your art on, projects.

 
  I only painted the top of the windmill.  The rest will have to wait for another year.  I'm happy with the quick spruce up.  I smile every time I see the cheery turquoise, red and lavender color scheme.  I smile even bigger because it looks so darned cute in our yard.

I painted "The Chicken Sisters" on the tail of the windmill.  The Chicken Sisters is one of the ladies favorite books (and one of mine too).  It is a cute little quirky kid's story.  I recommend it as a great read to everyone.

I painted the windmill earlier in the summer.  My youngest planted flowers under it.  She planted some annuals she had picked out with some catmint.

As you can see, my daughter is a better gardener than me!  Look at how great her plants are looking!

Here is the windmill with their little playhouse.  My dad built them the playhouse a few years back.  They've spent many afternoons having fun in their little hide away. I'd like to do a mini-cottage garden around their playhouse.  I'll add it to that list...that long, long list.

As I always say...I've got the rest of my life!

Backyard Chickens or Royalty?

I don't know what to say about these little birds.  We are all just crazy in love with them.  However, things may be going a little too far around here.

We had a pretty intense heat wave here for several days.  Our 4th of July was very quiet.  We had a water balloon fight, cooked out and went to see the city fireworks display.  It was too hot for much else.  The poor chickies were not

happy with the heat either.

.  The chickies derserved a little treat.    I think  watermelon may be the new favorite.

The kids were lounging on the lawn chairs.  The chickens were sitting next to them just as relaxed as could be.  They really seemed to enjoy having the watermelon held for them as they pecked away.  The chickens are sure to end up as spoiled as everything else around here.  I am sure of that!

I was gigglin' when this was taking place.  I'm still gigglin' as I look through the photos.  These chickens really are acting like royalty here!  Closest in the photo is Big Buck.  He was the biggest, strongest bird in the beginning.

In the background is Sparrow. 

This is Mr. Pecks.  He is the new leading man.  After feathers flying and lots of stomping and squawking, we beleive Big Buck has been dethroned as the man in charge.  Mr. Pecks strutted around all puffed up and proud. He has come a long way from near death and eyedroppers of Gatorade.  He is the main man.

Crochet update....Works In Progress and Out of Progress

I've been jumping around with a few crochet projects.  Like everything, there are some successes and some failures.  On this post I am sharing both.  The above pic is a success.  This will eventually be a living room pillow cover.  This project is making me crazy giddy.  I need to toss around how I'll finish it.  Should I do a totally different color scheme for the back?  Should I just stitch this to a fabric pillow cover?  Anyway, the above photo  is a good project.


I'd like to say otherwise, this one will only go this far.  It is not bad.  It is not good.   I really can't waste precious craft time on things like this.  I'm scrapping it as a loss.  I didn't use a pattern and it just was a bit distorted in shape.  The color play didn't turn out the way I wanted either.

This one will dissappear to a plastic tote in the attic.

Lovin' this one...

This one is going to be a success.  It will also be a pillow for my couch.  I had a feeling about this one.  I worked on this during the drive to North Carolina.  I've gotten much further than this.  It was originally going to be the back of the first pillow.  It is too pretty to be the back of a pillow.  I'm figuring it out as well.  .

Inspiration...found some for my garden in North Carolina!

I've been at a gardening stalemate this year. I was a little frustrated about it. The stress and workload from moving has taken some sparkle from my creativity. I was putting off alot of my garden ideas until "after vacation". That part wasn't a cop out. I couldn't move around a bunch of plants and trees and not be able to maintain them for a week. However, I have to admit, the passion about doing these projects was minimal. My overall direction and goals of my yard and gardens has also been a bit frustrating. Getting away from it all for a few days sure did help.

This coneflower pic was taken by one of my girl's in a garden outside the petting zoo of Biltmore Estate.

Our family trip was to North Carolina (I've never been there) and to Gatlinburg, TN.  We only spent 2 days and one night in North Carolina.  I could have stayed there the entire trip.

We had about a 1/2 day to spend at Biltmore Estate.   We toured the mansion which took most of our time.  It was neat but I would have plowed through quicker if I had realized there were so many neat gardens and such.  You will notice there are not many pics of the big Biltmore Mansion.  I was inspired by all of the landscaping on the surrounding grounds.

I was super inspired by this wonderful pergola by the wine tasting area.  And yeah, I tasted some wines.  Didn't buy any though...I did buy a yummy spicing mix for ciders and wines.  Hot spiced apple cider for the fall!

All of the following shots are of a garden just outside  the petting zoo area.  I fell in love with this garden.  This is my style!

How nice to have beautiful mountains as a backdrop for your perrenials!

Rasperry bushes all nice and orderly!

Grapes and espalier pear trees were in nice well-groomed rows like this.

I love these black eyed susans (I think thats what they are).  They are much different than the variety that naturalizes easily here in Indiana.  I put this picture for scale of size.  I LOVE these. 

Here is another shot of the black eyed susans.

The bamboo teepee is going to be for climbing beans.  I liked this idea too.

Do you think the owners of the Biltmore Estate are rolling over in their graves?  I got more excited about this garden area than the big mansion! 

There was so much we didn't get to see here.  I didn't get to see the formal gardens.  There was beautiful landscaping throughout the grounds.  We battled rain and a shortage of time.  I guess I'll have to go back :-).

Ok, here is the token mansion shot...enjoy!

30 Minute ViNTaGe Revamp

Here is the Scoop.  Money's tight all around.  I have been in a bit of a fashion funk.  I really have no reason to dress up...ever.  Most days I'm working in the yard with sweat shorts and a tank top.  If I leave the house, I'll wear jean shorts and a nicer tank top.  Boring!

I felt I needed a little spruce up to fit my lifestyle.  I gave myself a little 30 minute fashion makeover.

I bought this cute little house dress off of Ebay.  I love vintage house dresses.  This one is in great shape and is handmade.  It just needed a little work to make it look lovely. 

I shortened the dress a few inches.   I folded the fabric and pressed the new hem as I went along.  I didn't even use pins.   Once it was pressed, I machine sewed in place.  Super quick...the entire process was less than 30 minutes.  That includes cleanup!

I put on a fun summer hat and some of my pretty cuff bracelets and I'm good to go!

(PS For those of you following my shed remodel, you are getting a peek at my color scheme.  Done soon...I Promise!)

 The top bracelet it one I made.  The bottom bracelet is antique American Indian Pawn from around the 1940's I think.

  I'm soooo retro and funky for my trip to the K mart! :-)

Sometimes its the simple things that make me happy!

I hope my little dress makeover inspires you to take a few minutes out of your day for a project that makes you feel good.