Enchantment

It was a total surprise! The pink flowers were only the decoration on a sweet gift bag I received.

Look closer...there's a tea infuser with some VERY pretty beads attached!

It was made especially for me!! Why? My name was selected by  

Sheri at Prim Rose Hill.

The beads are exquisite and I am loving this pretty gift!! The lamp work bead has my very most favorite colors and the sparkle in the Swarovski crystals is brilliant. The pearls and spacers add to its beauty, too.

Thank you, thank you, Sheri!! I'm getting out my Darjeeling, the champagne of tea, and my favorite cup to enjoy some quiet time. Bliss...

♥♫

Roadside Emergency

Technically it wasn't a REAL emergency, but I did stop on the way home from church on Sunday to take a picture of this prairie flower.

I've been watching it bloom everyday on the way to and from school and wanted to stop, but not wanting to get sideswiped. Not much truck traffic on Sundays, so I pulled over.  It was in the bright noon time sun, so it looks washed out.

Beyond the fence post is the crunchy pasture that is so dry. I'll need to do some research on this plant. There's this large one and one other smaller one down the road. { update: I've been searching wildflower data bases and found what I think may be a match: Cleome serrulata.}They are not like the sand lilies that are everywhere earlier in the summer. It  must have a deep tap root to survive like my bush morning glory.

Fairy Lamps

A cooler day meant that I was happy to be outside playing. I put out some of my glass fairy 'art', AKA junque glass and glue! If you missed seeing them, look here.

After I pulled out the dying petunia plant, I dug a hole for the bottom of the piece, hoping that will help it to stay upright and unbroken with my unruly outside kitties. I also tried to anchor it with by sticking some bamboo skewers around the sides. Then I added one of my pink rocks from South Dakota (yep, even some of my rocks are pink!). Maybe still room for a pansy or two.

After a morning of 'inservice' in Fort Morgan, I stopped at the paint shop to get more primer and went around the corner to a small thrift shop. [I had to do something before noon so my morning would not be a total waste! That inservice was the worst I've ever been to in 39 years of education!] I found all these glass pieces for $2.68! As it must have been half off day as the smaller three were only 5 cents each. The bowl was only 75 cents. I like the goblets so may actually use them as intended instead of for my craft projects.  This was a small local shop---GW, SA or ARC do not have anything this cheap. They all seem to believe they are upscale shops these days even though things are donated.

Donna wanted to know what kind of glue I used and Deanna thought I might do one for inside the house. I bought several kinds of glue, all saying they worked on glass. The one I used this time was
Quick Grip, all-purpose permanent adhesive. I have no idea where I found it--Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, or JoAnn Fabrics would be my best guesses! When it's gone, I'll use the next one in my craft supplies. No loyalty to any brand, yet. As for a fairy tower in the house--not as long as I have Wally's cat. Yuna is a terror and would knock it over in one of her races around the house. She is not one of those fat, lazy inside cats!

♥♫

Volunteers

It seems Johnny One Note is here. Another pink flower. This one is a  volunteer. A soothing color that is softer than the original plant whose name I don't remember. It is not as memorable as David, my white phlox. The other volunteer is darker. Of the three pink plants I like this the most. It will be fun to see what happens next year as the volunteers are not exact copies of the mother plant.

 Do I grow anything else besides pink flowers?

Yes, I do.

But it's what is pretty right now.

So Darol, when you read this you are seeing ANOTHER pink one from my garden!!

♥♫

Fairy Towers

When my patience with painting was about gone, I stopped and played with some glue and glass.

I had been buying CHEAP glass things while thrifting and saving them to make "art" for my garden. I think I'll call these my fairy towers and hope we don't get any hail to break them.

♥♫

Lighter and Brighter

As I'm enjoying the painted cabinets I realized that I really did NOT like the backsplash. At all. Never have. But paying off doctor and hospital bills will leave one with NO $$$. So no chance of anything new.

But having a can of primer and some glossy enamel paint made me think I could transform that laminate into something I could tolerate until my ship comes in.

More light! Much brighter. I'm not a splish splashy dish washer so it should be just fine.  On the opposite wall from the window I coated the cabinets with a coat of shellac after reading that on a blogger's page that sells Annie Sloan paint. Wish I'd seen that before I started the whole process.  I'll see if that will keep the tannins in the wood from showing through the paint. The first coat of primer on them is drying and will do another before I paint. Now it doesn' t seem like I cook in a cave. Actually I don't cook much anymore, but I'll enjoy being in the kitchen much more!

♥♫

Pink Profusion

In the soft light at the end of the day I saw how perfect these pink petunias were looking.

This color is Apple Blossom, one of the varieties that the FFA students plant each spring for their green house.

But, as wonderful as these look, I have been pulling out others that have dried up and just died. I don't know if it's the heat cooking them to a crisp or what. I'll enjoy what looks good and throw the dead ones in the dumpster in case they have some sort of disease.

♥♫

Bush Morning Glory

Out in my crunchy brown pasture I have a summer UP. (Unidentified plant). It appeared several years ago and I mow around it each summer. Now I know it really isn't a weed and may try to gather some seeds!

This morning I found an old garden section from The Denver Post that had a piece about Colorado native landscape plants and there was a picture accompanying the article that helped me identify my plant. 

Bush Morning Glory

aka Man Root

Until I know what something is I don't touch it as I don't want to have any reaction to it, as in poison ivy. Here's a link with some interesting information: http://www.gpnc.org/bush.htm

Ipomoea leptophylla

One more week of summer break...it's not really a vacation as there is a lot of work to do around here. As in yard & garden, cleaning, and finishing the kitchen cabinets on the other wall.

♥♫