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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Unidentified Flower in Las Vegas

Unidentified Flower in Las VegasMay 9, 2011
One thing we have not done in Las Vegas is wander through a nursery.  This beautiful flower that I think is a member of the orchid family was a common planting at several Las Vegas casinos.  It was quite pretty so next time we visit Las Vegas I am going to make a point to go through a couple of plant nurseries.  Surprisingly when trying to identify

Monday, May 30, 2011

Lilac Bouquet


XO

AN ARRIVAL

Look closely... Do you see it?

MOMMA HAS A BABY!


I'm so happy for her! She let me get really close to snap some pics. I have no idea when the baby hatched, I just happened to notice more than one shape in the nest today.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY EVERYONE!

LET'S ALL KEEP THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVE IN OUR MILITARY IN OUR HEARTS TODAY AND EVERY DAY. AND TO ALL WHO GAVE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE FOR OUR COUNTRY, GOD BLESS AND THANK YOU.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

A Yearning for Yarn...

Mmmmm....lovely new yarns from Knit Collage arrived at Halfpenny Home yesterday, we've been waiting a little while for these so the excitement meter hand hit maximum!
Rolling Stone is one of the yarn ranges that sit alongside the very much loved Gypsy Garden ones that we are such big fans of at HH HQ - it gets non-knitters knitting and even fellas find it hard to resist a bit of a knit...

Gorgeous!
We were both especially taken by the scrummy Pixie Dust yarns - we've not had these before and they are amazing! Lumpy, bumpy yarns with angelina fibre for some heavenly sparkle...

Look at how lovely and green the Emerald Rainforest is.....sigh! I'm so eager to get out a pair of needles and knit one of these up but can't decide which one....

After these lovely crocheted apple cosies appeared on the cover of Mollie Makes we've all been making them - they're addictive! It gives us a good excuse to get the hooks out, use up some of those odd bits of yarn and (of course) choose a very special button with which to embellish them with!

A great deal of debate over the practicality of such fruit jumpers raged during knitting on Wednesday and following a recent trip into Ipswich I can report that they do indeed help to prevent your breaktime apple from getting bumped and grazed whilst rolling around in your favourite wicker basket....
The trip to Ipswich was to pick up the fliers for our 'crafty afternoon' which is on Friday 3rd June at Ipswich Waterstones. We'll be there from Noon with some of the projects from A Green Guide to Country Crafts, come along and say hello, it would be lovely to see you!

Janine at Ipswich Waterstones is really lovely and particularly good at promoting and supporting local authors like us and Katie Ward, a fellow 'tweeter' whose first novel Girl Reading has just been published.

There we are! We are those 'crafty'people...

Look forward to seeing some friendly faces there and perhaps even meeting up with some blog-buddies?
Nic and Jacqui x

Friday, May 27, 2011

A Few Thoughts on the Weather

We left for our spring vacation on May 8 returning home late May 25.  Actually we made a pit stop at home for about 18 hours between flights.  I have pictures to share and got a lot of novel growing ideas during the trips so will share those as well but to start off I have a few thoughts on the weather.  It was a long, drawn-out winter with ample snow fall.  There wasn't a spell of bitter cold

Outdoor Lighting

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Hello!  Today, I want to show you my new outside lights!! 

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I am really excited about this!  I actually had these lights in my basement for a year or two but never have the time to install them.  (Actually, we still didn’t have the time,  my parents helped us!)

They were able to find these lights for about 50 cents each!  Can you believe that?  Yes, the are new!  It was a going out of business sale! WooHoo! :)

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Aren’t they pretty?

 

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They even added lights to shine the trees!  I love these! :)

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I think they came in a 5 pack and we used all of them.

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We also shined our Serviceberry!

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Now, the walkway will be lit at night!

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We even have them in the back yard and around the patio.  :)

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Here are some night shots! 

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love how it lights up the bay window.

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     I just love them! :)

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WOW!  That made a huge difference! :)  We have them on a timer so we don’t have to worry about turning them on or off.

Do you outdoor lighting? 

How do you like them?

Have a great day!

Bonnie

changing brands

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Babies First Lilacs





'...and these are lilacs.'

There is nothing more wonderful than Spring's first lilacs
Except maybe sharing them with the babies for the first time.

'Aren't they pretty...'

I'VE GOT THE BLUES...AND PURPLES...

The garden is struggling a bit these days as we can't buy a drop of rain here in Florida. Color is not abundant except here in my collection of old buckets and other containers scattered about the back patio.


These blue salvias remind me so much of lavender, which does not do well in our normally wet climate.

They start out with buds that are white...


And then, they explode into these gorgeous blue blossoms. I've been experimenting with soft focus, hope you appreciate the effect...


Scaveola in two shades of purple make a pretty showing in my old triple sink.



Purple cat's whiskers in an old cast iron kettle frame the garden cottage in the background.


Oh and an update on mother dove. Still on the nest. Things are looking good.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

How to Organize Crafts

Welcome to my series called, “Organize Your Life”!  This is the 13th week!  Are you feeling organized yet?  I know I am! :)  I love having a weekly challenge to keep my going!!

 

Organize your LIFE

HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR CRAFTS

 

 

how to organize your crafts

Hello everyone!  We just finished organizing our papers and now we are moving on to the fun part, organizing our THINGS!!!  Oh, yes!  We all have way too many things, don’t we?  Well, let’s go through them, sort, toss, donate and organize them!  Woo Hoo, how does that sound?  I am excited too!  I could always use a little motivation to simplify!

This week, we are organizing our CRAFTS!!!  Some of you only have a little and for others, craft supplies might be taking over!  I think our collection keeps growing, ha!  As the kids get older,  they like to try new things out which I love!  I just need a place to keep it all!

I actually posted this last year but I have to be honest, it still looks the same except I added a little to the bottom cabinet.  I also replaced a couple of things that we used up.  I keep everything in labeled, clear bins.  Everything has a spot, so basically, THERE IS NO ROOM FOR SHOVING!  I have caught my husband standing there trying to find a place to shove something and he can’t.  He spent more time trying to squeeze crafts in the wrong place rather than just reading the label and putting it away, lol!

 

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After, I fit everything in how I wanted to, I made labels for each bin.  I used address labels and love how it turned out!

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I love that the kids can see through the bins!

Now everything has a spot and I can just take out one bin at a time.

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I even saved a spot for easy access to some books, coloring books and color wonder/explosion books.

 

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This is the lower cabinet.  On the top shelf, I have a bin for each child with their own school/activity books.  They love having their own bin.  At the beginning of the day, I just have to bring out 2 bins and the  kids always know where keep their stuff.

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I also keep extra supplies in here.

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Construction paper and scrapbooking supplies are also kept in here.

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Here is how it turned out!  I am so happy!!!!

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My house did get messy while we were trying to get organized, lol!  But the kids loved helping me!

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Challenges For This Week!

Gather Supplies.  Do you have crafting supplies all around the house?  If so, go around and collect everything.

Sort/Toss.  Check all your supplies and toss all the bad/old supplies.  (ex: old paint, dull scissors,)

Categorize. Sort supplies by category.  (ex: stamping, painting, stickers)

Get Containers.  Decide what you are going to store everything in.  You can use bins, baskets, etc.  Don’t forget to label them! :)

Storage Space.  Find a place to keep your containers.  I use a kitchen cabinet but you can use a closet, under the bed, a craft station, etc.

 

For some of you, this will be an easy challenge, and for others, it will he difficult… but NEEDED!

Please follow the steps above and have fun with it!

How do you organize your crafts?

Where do you keep them?

What do you keep them in?

Please feel free to link up any organizing post here and to help spread the word, can you please add my button to your blog?  Thanks so much! :)

 

Organize your life

Have a great day!

Bonnie

 

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