Even though I had much angst about it, I had a very nice birthday yesterday. Weird that I should be bothered by turning 43, but not 40. This happened when I turned 28 also, but I didn't mind 30. Strange. I just wanted to show you one lovely gift that I received...a whole fairy world! I just love them!
I've been working on this 'baby'. She is obviously not finished. The poor thing needs a face among other things.
And I'm working on her little basinette, which of course needs a pillow and blankie too.
What will this piece of stitching be?
I won't tell yet and it looks nothing of the finished product. This thing has me grumbling entirely through my own fault. You might see a couple black smudges on the cloth if you look closely. It is due to my own lack of focus and turning the piece the wrong direction TWICE; hence stitching in the wrong spot. Did I say TWICE? So, I'm mad at it(misplaced aggression, I know). And now I'm off to view the DVD instructions for my new Photoshop Elements program that I am SO thrilled with! I have no idea what you can do with it, but I do know that many people just love it! Have a fun-filled day!
The humble fountain is babbling happily. 
I just love this ornamental tree. No idea what variety, but it reminds me of little clusters of purple grapes hanging on vines.
How are the herbs? The little Thai ornamental peppers are just darling. The sprinkler head is only about 3/4 in. in diameter, so you can see how tiny the peppers are. 
The dill has gone to flower, I should have trimmed that back sooner. Oh wellllllllll! 
My mint have overcome the cilantro. It's dead. Bummer, dude. I never use the mint and always use cilantro. Ah, the irony! 
Thyme looks lovely. Yummy with chicken and lemon. We can never have enough thyme, or is that TIME?
Curly parsley and chives. Lovely in deviled eggs.
Flat leaf parsley and flowers...this variety tastes so much better. It goes in everything. 
Oregano is thriving. Mmm...just a little in my chili. I wanted to show you the not air balloons in the background. Alas, they are too far away and the atmosphere is hazy. One of these days! 
My favorite. Not 1, not 2, but 3 kinds of Basil! I love, love, love, love, (did I say love?), Pesto! Incidentally, that is my son's name...pronounced Bazzil, in the British form. 
Yikes, the feeder! This is a failed venture. I wanted to draw the hummingbirds in and try to get the elusive photo of them. However, the ants(don't think you can see in the photo) have completely taken over so this will have to come down. Where are my gloves? 
Let's wander out front. D is so proud of owning this palm tree as he is a Chicago boy. He has finally 'arrived' in Cali. now! 
The mums are SO happy and cheerful. They've gone completely mad this past week. They're having a party in the flower bed!
I'm admiring my car's shiny 'shoes'. I washed and waxed the car yesterday and of course, you just have to shine the wheels or it's like putting on dirty old yard shoes with a lovely new sun dress! 
Back to the back yard. Xena is waiting, IMPLORING me to return!
Let's go in and check on the sour dough starter. This is the 5th day of fermenting and it is appropriately smelly and bubbly! I've never made it before, but I am very excited to be able to make a loaf tomorrow! 
And here's my latest stitching piece that is likely going to be neglected today. When I'm finished with my elusive and frustrating job hunt this morning, I think I will work on my blue collage. 
Well, I'm off to post on my 36 Parks and a Puppy blog. Have a happy day!
Also, I filled in the July scrapbook page with family photos of our recent visit. These photos aren't very good; the point was to include each person on the layout. However, I do have some other very nice ones that I'll scrap later. Everyone liked the beach best as they don't have one in Chicago! I overlooked photos of myself. I ended up with none!I always have to let the photos gel in my mind for a while till I settle on a few themes for pages. Then I pretty much have the whole thing laid out before I even start. I used to be that way with college papers. Pretty much leaving it till the last couple days till due; but in reality having 'written' the entire thing in my mind already.
I'm feeling quite pleased(perhaps prematurely!) with myself for figuring out how to link to previous posts.(Not sure if it worked yet, we'll see!) Today, I'm on a mission to figure out how to freeze dry my fresh herbs. Also, find a diagram of single crochet---yep, forgot how and I want to make my little brown and pink purse. And...begin putting together a journal cover for my new journal that includes another 'girlie' cross stitch; which is complete. Ok, ok, I might(really need to and trying to ignore it and my nagging conscience!) clean my kitchen floor:::grumble::: Alright, time to go peruse your blogs and do my daily jigsaw.
"Please take this ridiculous bow out of my hair!"
This is a new 'girlie' I am working on. She'll probably be turned into a little portfolio to hold some of my doodling pens.
Ok, this is part of the 'Parisian' set. The head, legs and gloved hands will become a sort of collage/scrapbook display. And, this is where the stamped Aida comes in, see the cover of the pattern. Me, I always learn by copying an idea and then it's added to my mental repetoire of nifty techniques to personalize my own projects.
Here we have some clothing that I am working on. The blue/green is for a skirt and the variegated pink is for a holiday dress. Note the newspaper pattern for the sleeve. It was sleeveless and I thought it needed sleeves to look right on me.
The last here are two altered books that I am working on. They are my first attempt and basically turned into a 'test' area for ideas and techniques. I got a little bored with it, so I'm not sure when I'll finish that! So that is some of my projects! Now I am off to see what you might be up to!
Black makes colors really pop, there's no doubt about it. It's why we go to the classic 'little black dress' for spec...
