Thursday, August 16, 2012

Sharing a few things........


I looked out my kitchen window and saw a butterfly - sitting still. It has been a long time since I have found one that would be still long enough to get a picture. So, I grabbed my camera and headed outside.



He moved just as I got set to snap but didn't go far and I got a fairly good picture of this swallowtail. 




                                  He fluttered around and landed again on the bottlebrush tree.
                                                                          ~~~~~~~~~
"Beautiful and graceful, varied and enchanting, small but approachable, butterflies lead you to the sunny side of life"  I never get tired of seeing butterflies. Here, I mostly see this type of swallowtail and also the yellow and black one and monarchs. But, the monarchs are not as plentiful as they once were

I showed this when I first planted it up. It is doing very well. Several different succulents and a few other plants.


I just moved it into the screened porch where I will see it more.



I planted two pots of this coleus not long ago from cuttings from a friend. I just stick the unrooted cuttings in the soil and they don't even wilt down and start growing in no time! They bring a tad of color to the front up close to the house.


I was driving near my house and spotted a new store - Better Than New Pre-owned.  I saw it in time to swing in and check it out.  It is the kind of place that I will probably go in every once in awhile to see if they have added some new goodies. I got this little vase which had been marked down to half price.  It is from England - Winkle & company.


Today I was checking my bank account on line and noticed the sale which should have been just over $18. for this, and another item I selected, was debited for just under $70.  It didn't take me long to get on the phone to the store and get that corrected!  She had put the last four digits of my bank card as the total sale.  Boy, it does pay to check, doesn't it.


You noticed my jar of cupcake liners in the above picture and again this is something that I have shown before.  I was never quite happy with its look until recently when I found the two sizes of green papers. Adding them made all the difference to me - now it looks like it belongs in my kitchen.



A silly little thing here. It might be a little hard to know exactly what it is. You are seeing a spool of ribbon on a glass pedestal.  Last night I reorganized my ribbons which are kept in a big box.  They had gotten in a mess with colors mixed and some unwound and tangled.  A light went on in my head and I decided to put a rubber band around them to keep them from unwinding - works perfectly.  If you store a lot of ribbons you might want to try this.  I separate the colors and put them in large plastic bags before putting them in the box.  That sure helps to locate what I need much quicker.


Another even sillier thing. This cording was in the box of ribbons all unwound like this and tangled up with ribbon.  I didn't feel like staying up as late as it would have taken to get this rewound neatly, so left it on the loveseat where I was sitting.  Early this morning at the dawn of day and at first glance it looked like a bird had come and built a sloppy nest!  I liked the looks of it and almost left it there!  I know, very silly.



Now, this is what has pleased me most to get done this week.  I made this burlap wreath. It didn't look a bit good on my Burgundy/red door so I painted the door black.  Actually, I had planned to paint the door anyhow but getting the wreath made caused me to get busy and do it.



You can find the prepackaged burlap 5" ribbon (1 1/2 packages)  at Michaels and the red more narrow burlap ribbon at Joanns.  You need a 16" or 18" (mine is 18") wire wreath form.  I got some directions at topthistopthat.blogspot.com   You will need to find her March 17, 2012 post.


~~~~~

"Go on, hitch a ride on the back of a butterfly.  There's no better way to fly."
Let it take you to the sunnyside of life!

3 comments:

  1. I think that your cupcake paper holder is so pretty. What a neat idea.
    I love the fact that you painted the door after making the wreath. Sounds like something I would do. Have a nice weekend.
    Balisha

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  2. Betty, that is one gorgeous butterfly! How fortunate that you were able to get such a good picture of him. I love butterflies, don't you?

    xo
    Claudia

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  3. That butterfly is your angel saying hello! I love groupings of collections. We have a beautiful apothecary jar in our foyer that holds our collection of super bouncy balls. Very vibrant. Same effect as with your cupcake liners.

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