A Sunday in July

Our eternally rainy spring and early summer has finally given way to some sunny, warm weather. This shot down the front pathway--once dotted with puff balls of allium has now given way to thick stands of purple coneflower. I have a gazillion coneflower in my gardens as they self-seed incredibly readily and have now started to control the population by scattern Preen granules. I could cut them down before they go to seed, but the birds really seem to feed on the seed heads so I like to leave them up a while.

Ashley spends her time by the pool "fishing" for bugs, leaves and anything else floating by. She stands on the first one or two steps and darts around at the slightest ripple.

Posted a few new goodies in my etsy shop this morning. I was finally productive over the weekend. I've been feeling a bit stalled and maybe now the spell has been broken.

Summer Fun

This past weekend I brough the camera out to the front yard to capture the kids on the swing--amazing fun.
Our property only has one tree of substantial size as it used to be cleared farmland. We had the tree doctors out several years ago to trim what needed trimming and they added metal braces for extra support to some of the larger branches. My hubby climbed out on a high limb and added this simple tree swing and it is loads of fun for swinging.


Effortlessly flying through the air--just be careful and hold on...


I've spent the last couple of weeks in a metalwork class at the high school and learned a lot. I hope one day (maybe next year) after I've had lots of practice, to incorporate bezel setting and soldering into my work. Here is my first, quite imperfect creation:
And added to the shop this week:



Signing off!