Turtle Topiary

I saw this cutie on pinterest and pinned it, along with about a zillion other people.    I truly love turtles and tortoises and thought it would look cute in the garden. 
When I went to purchase one, I found them too pricey for me. I also have a craft gene that screams  "I CAN DO THAT!"  (even if I can't....)  
Anyway, they start at 60 bucks and shipping was about 20 bucks....sorry, I am not paying 80 bucks for some plants and a frame in the shape of a turtle.

The kids named him Yertle but Yertle is a gopher turtle I brought home that still lives in my dad's yard, along with 4 others.
So, here is Yertle 2.... "King of the Herb Garden" in all his glory....

He is freshly made, still wet and a little drippy.  It will be fun to see how his little shell grows over the course of the summer.

and here is the top view (per Dean, he said I wasn't showing off his "shell" properly!)  
In this photo you can see a couple of leaves that I placed randomly.    He isn't nearly as ornate as the original but I'm okay with that.

So, the proof is in the pricing, right?  Well, I found the frame online and bought the rest locally.  I spent a total of 29.00, including tax.  I used the leftover plants and moss in this pretty shell planter my mom gave me a few years ago.

Update: I added one more set of plants for 4 bucks.....totally worth it

 next post is the tutorial so stay tuned.....

lazy day

We've had some beautiful weather around here and Leo has taken to hanging out with Bun-bun in the garden....

and stalking around the flowers looking for lizards and such.....

but when he has had enough, he always come back in....

just in time to disrupt Suki's sunbath!

"If there is one spot of sun spilling onto the floor, a cat will find it and soak it up."- Joan Asper McIntosh

Wishing you all a wonderful day!

Stash busting...

I worked on busting my stash again this month....and managed to do a pretty good job.

I made 3 cellphone cozies.   The owl fits a phone I ended up giving my daughter the other day.  I made 2 of the toadstool cozy.  1 for me and one for a friend's daughter.

I made 6 scarves this month.  The pink one is reserved for the Pink Scarf Project I am a part of but the other 5 are Christmas presents.

.....all those ruffles make me smile!

Bird watching

When I was younger, I used to wonder why magazines only showed old folks bird watching.
Now I know.

Birds are hard to watch.  They fly in, eat, bathe, poop....then fly off.  Quick as a wink.

The only people who have time sit and WAIT with binoculars in hand are retirees.
Retirees tend to be older.
I'm not saying youngish folks can't do it.   But I can't seem to work it in.
Between family, work, errands, chores... and the rest of daily life, I don't get to bird watch as much as I'd like.

And when the rare occasion happens that I do have time, life undoubtedly interrupts.

But sometimes, I get the rare treat to watch the birds.   I only get a few glimpses but it is enough to tide me over until the next time.

A couple years ago we had 3 broods of hummingbirds.  There were 12 individuals...that I know of...and they stayed until November, the longest any of them have stayed since.

One day I was reading on the front porch because a storm front was blowing through.  There was little rain, just a really nice summer breeze.  All of them came to feed before the storm.  They were all OVER the feeders, squabbling over the 3 in the front yard.  
They didn't care that I was on the porch, but every now and then, they would fly up to me and squeak.  I'm sure they didn't like me there but I stayed still and enjoyed about 2 hours of their antics.  They didn't move off until the rain started really coming down.

Last year, we had the brood of blue jays I posted about.  I got to watch them a few minutes twice daily....such fun to see them.  I love to watch the interaction between the adults andthe juveniles.

Then on Friday, I was lucky to see a pair of cardinals come into the back yard.    The female took a couple of minutes to bathe.  It was so much fun to watch her.  When she was done, she hopped up to the fence and shook the water off and fluffed her feathers before flying off.

The male was in my wildflower garden, snacking on the seeds I planted.   I always overseed because I don't have the heart to shoo them away.    He finished snacking, then hopped up to inspect the nesting materials I have in the tree.    (btw, someone has been doing some serious harvesting of those materials, the dog hair is pretty much gone and the lint has been yanked almost free.)

He had just hopped close enough to grab some when a squirrel came up and scared him off.   Of course, the squirrels need nesting materials too so I guess they have been harvesting from the same source.

In all, I spent about 15 minutes watching the 2 birds but it was just enough to tide me over until next time.

Goodbyes....

Dean's grandmother passed away last Friday.  He was called at work but made the drive in time to be able to say goodbye.
Her family was there and they were all able to tell her they loved her.

Lou lou was 92 and lived life to the fullest.   She was much loved and will be missed.

Lou lou's favorite bible verse:

steadily stash busting....

My stash busting has been moving along nicely.

I am currently working on some ruffle scarves.....I had 6 skeins of yarn and only have 2  left to make.

I have a black and gold one

A multi-hued blue one

A  multi hued red one....

A blue, tan and beige one...

Once these are all made, they can be ready to put away for Christmas presents!