Glitter Kings and Straw Flowers

Top 'O the mornin' to ya!
I see I've had a bushel of visitors - well over 600. Lightens my heart, it does!
Hope y'all have been well since last we visited.

It has been a busy lil' time in my tiny corner of the world.
The weather has been odd so far this year. Like it has in so many other places. I wonder how much longer we (humans) can screw things up before Mother (Nature) steps in and puts a stop to it. That time is coming...and you know how Mother gets when things aren't right. I think it's time we all step back and acknowledge that we are what's causing the problems.
Ok, no soap boxes today...Just something to think about while we continue on our journey.

Speaking of journeys...in no particular order...

On the 10th, we celebrated my grand daughter's 5th birthday. She had a Michael Jackson themed party. Lots of fun and LOTS OF GLITTER! My wife made some amazing gifts for the adults to take home. They were made from tuna cans, cloths pins, baby food jars, markers and of course, glitter. We did cupcakes instead of a cake. I made some and my daughter made some. There were balloons and ribbons and about 20 people. At least ten of whom were under the age of 9. It was a really nice party. Everyone, kids and adults, were in a good mood. My wife made MJ gloves for the kids to were. Latex gloves with GLITTER - in case you missed it, there was glitter from hell to breakfast. This was supposed to be an outside party but of course it rained. So I had kids and adults, flinging glitter everywhere. There was glitter on the back porch. There was glitter on the front porch, down the stairs and into the driveway. My house sparkled. It was like being in a bad version of 'Twilight'. HA! We played (the kids) pin the glove on MJ. And limbo. And....
All in all it was a pretty good day!

Shaylor in her MJ outfit...

the start of the glitter invasion (look by her feet)

blowing out candles - she was embarrassed because

everyone was singing 'happy birthday' to her

blowing out her second set of candles

my daughter made red cupcakes. i made

the white ones and my daughter decorated

both sets

The straw bale garden is doing great. It's been a month this weekend that they were planted. Lots of green everywhere. I think I am going to have to cut some of the surrounding trees back a little. They are blocking the sun from the back part of the bales. The beans seem to really like the bales. They have really taken off. The Butcher corn and the pumpkins are doing very well. The smaller bale with the tomatoes doesn't seem to be as forth coming. They are doing well, they're just not at the same level as the others. I think that may have to do with the amount of sun that the trees are blocking. 

The flower circle is doing really well. Things have started coming up and it is beginning to fill in. I've gotten some fairly large growth at the back of the ring. I believe these are my sunflowers coming up. There are many other plants (and weeds) popping up all around the ring as well. 

My fruit trees seem to like their place on the slope of my front yard. It will be nice to be able to go and grab some fresh fruit when they get that far. 

I finally got my bulbs in the ground. They have been added to the rose area. I have added various Caladiums and some lilies. I noticed some growth a couple days ago. I can't wait to see them. 

as of this morning

(l) broom corn, sunflowers, butcher corn

(r) various beans, butcher corn and PUMPKINS!

small bale

tomatoes, eggplant, black bell peppers, dragon cayenne,

watermelon and various greens

flower circle

filling out but still looking a little ruff

you can see the big plants right behind the bird bath

they are about thigh high at the moment

one of my roses

you can see it in the photo above

right in the middle

these are the newest addition

I have a visitor to my flower circle as well as my straw bales. The little bugger has been digging holes in both. I came home to find him sitting in my flower circle. He didn't move, even when I was less than 3 feet from him. I have seen him several times since then. All through out my yard. My neighbor told me that she has seen him out by the bales on several occasions. I will have to look at putting up some kind of fence so that he doesn't eat my pumpkins. 

my lil' hole digging culprit

I have actually managed to get some work done on "the Forrest King". He is coming along nicely. I have given him a tail and have created, cut and sewn his hair. I hope to have him completed soon. He is the second in the Forrest line. I did five pulls from Forrest's mold. One of which is a test piece for paint. So there will only be 4 of them. The remaining two have the bodies made but the hair that I want is proving much harder to get than anticipated. Anyway, I am concentrating on King right now. 

tail pinned in place

the tape and paper pattern for the hair

his curly white hair

working on a crown

leaning towards something organic

Well, I do believe that is all for this post. I am off to do the fun things of the day...laundry, bathing the dogs and various other fun filled chores.

I hope your upcoming week is filled with family, friends and all the joy you can stand!

Until next time...

Be Good, Be Safe, Be Happy!

TTFN

p.s. ~ Only 165 days til Halloween! OMG, so many things to do!!  :)

Retiring Fruit Trees on Fire

Good morning All!
I hope that the you have been well since we last talked.
It's been busy, busy here...

A couple weeks ago I started preparing the 'strawbale garden' I will be using this summer. It consists of straw bales arranged in a square and a two that are arranged in a rectangle. The bales form the outside and the center has dirt. I have been adding fertilizer to the straw to help break it down and provide the nutrients for the plants that it will contain. So far, so good! I noticed yesterday that I am beginning to see sprouts from the straw. That's a good sign and means that it is ready to be planted. YAY! I will be doing the planting today.

location, location, location

set up and filled with dirt and compost....

finished bales...a layer of dirt and compost was

spread over the top and then covered with straw to

maintain the moisture

Things are starting to warm up here in Georgia. Have a feeling that it may be a hot Atlanta summer this year. Temps are expected to be in the 80's today. It was 82 yesterday while I was working in the yard (another story altogether). Last week it was in the low to mid 70's. Very nice weather. Lots of kids out playing. Kennedy made a trip to the park in her complex. She was having a blast on the slide.

lots of smiles...

"do it again"

Sally and I went to the 'Festival on Ponce' last weekend and had a really good time. It was the beginning of the Art Festival season. They had a lot of artist on hand. A lot of jewelry. There were a few artist that caught my eye. And one that I actually purchased a piece from. Her name is Laurie Anne Smith Sikorowski. I so wanted to take the original home, but it didn't happen. The original is approximately 4x4 feet. I purchased a print of the original, it is 18x24 including the mat. I really like this piece. It was one of those that just screamed my name when I walked by. This is the first piece I have purchased at an Are Fest in many, many years. There was another artist that I really like, Sergey Cherep. Very bright colors.

horrible picture, i know...

the new artwork by Laurie Anne

Last week at work was interesting. We had a lightening strike that fried the motor in the main paint line. The line stopped but the ovens were still on. They set the strip on fire. A nice, fairly large fire. We had to evacuate the building and the fire department showed up....about 12 trucks, hazardous material vehicle and others. It was quite the sight. They put the fire out without totally destroying the place. The amount of vehicles that responded was really surreal. But, no one got hurt and the place didn't go BOOM! Which is always a good thing.  :)

 

firetrucks, firetrucks....

and more firetrucks

Also last week was my boss' last day. Joe retired and is moving on to run his business in south Georgia. I've worked with Joe for 12 years. Doesn't seem possible that it's been that long. My new boss, Chris, and I took Joe out for lunch the previous week. And this past week we went to lunch with the CFO. Had a wonderful time at both lunches. I hope that everything goes well for Joe (and Michael) in the next chapter of his life. Gonna miss you Joseph! And I made a cake for his 'see ya later' party at work. It was a lemon cake with a raspberry center and lemon frosting. It was yummy and everyone seemed to like it. :)

Joseph and me...

Michael and me

Yesterday we had a new stove delivered. Last week our stove of 13 years decided it was done. No warning what so ever....just done. I'm sure at one point or another I have mentioned how much I dislike electric stoves, so we now have a new gas stove with a large center burner. It even has a griddle! YAY! We also had the dishwasher replaced. It died years ago, but since it was just me and Sally we never got around to replacing it. Can't wait to use the new stove. Just in time for a big Easter ham!  

oohhhhh...pretty

griddle accessory!

Spent the day working in the yard on Saturday. My daughter came over to help with the yard work. We got 3 fruit trees (apple, plum and pear) planted in the front (near the flower circle). We also planted 3 new rose bushes in the 'rose garden'. And Jenifer did a wonderful job of cleaning out the weeds and old mulch around my red twigs at the stairs. And I managed to get the grass cut too! It was a very productive day! Can't wait for the fruit trees to....bear fruit! LOL

fruit trees...plum, pear and apple

Jenifer hard at work on the red twigs

red twigs cleared out and freshly mulched

and in the midst of all the planting, we

realized we were being watched by 

momma bird :)

There are no new artwork postings this time - last weekend we had heavy rains and my studio flooded. I am still trying to get everything back to normal. I hope to have some postings next time of the many projects that are currently underway. 

I think that is all for this time around.

Until next time....

Be Good, Be Safe, Be Happy!!

TTFN