Rhinestone Armadillo

Chainsawing Day

What's wrong with this picture?

I think the problem is that my husband is so very far above the ground and holding a saw.

An oak tree over our carport has several dead branches that need to be trimmed.  If they fall, they could damage the carport.  Also, we walk near and under them to take out the recycling and park our cars.  The top of the tree is healthy, though, so we (Adam) only needed to trim the lower branches.

He tried with a hand-held extending saw, but the branches were just too thick.

I sat nervously on the porch.  I had out my cell phone (to call 911), my car keys (to rush him to the emergency room), my shoes on and Violet's shoes on (to not have to delay), and a plan to get his huge, unconscious body into my car.

I spent a lot of time yelling, "Be careful!  Be more careful!"

Violet and Mooskies weren't as concerned.  They happily napped on the glider.

At one point, he was 24 feet above the ground.  He chained himself to the tree using his weight belt.

He started the saw on the ground, climbed up, then pulled the running chain saw up by a rope.

Adam cut a careful wedge out of the limb, hoping it would not fall and smack him in the face or knock him off the ladder.

He quickly scurried down the ladder and got out of the way.

It was really windy, but it still took a few hours for the wind to help knock down the partially severed branches.

I found being a spectator pretty stressful.  I'm a big worrier.  These two don't worry very much.  Violet did get out her toy chainsaw later and pretend to saw a bunch of furniture up around the house. 

Look how gray Mooskies' muzzle and paws are getting.  My 'puppy' is getting old.

So....my husband is still in one piece.  It was a good day.

Sailor Scraps Dress and Lucky Finds

Oh, boy-the first roses are blooming!  We picked the biggest, deepest red one to put on our table while we eat.

 
I forget the exact variety, but it's a tea rose, and has that signature spicy scent.

Here's a recent thrift store find----a lined and embroidered Asian jacket for $2.00.

I had to fix one of the frog closures, but it took me less than 5 minutes.  I really like intricate embroidery like this, especially with metallic thread.

I have so much scrap fabric it's not even funny.  I decided to mix some scraps and old nautical scarves into a summery little sailing dress for Violet.

I'd started cutting this already before photographing it, but I've always like graphic scarves.  This one shows the Bodensee Lake area in Europe.

I cut a bunch of rectangles, then sewed them into 3 rows.  Each row had more squares than the previous one.

I took a tank top and cut it off just above waist height.  I chose a tank with adjustable straps so she could wear it a little longer as she got taller.  I added a few cherry red buttons and red and white striped trim to the bottom.

It's very 'swingy'.  I couldn't get a non-blurry swing picture, but you get the idea.  Little girls seem to like twirly dresses. 

Bird House Day

We have almost 40 bird houses, so we choose a day every winter to clean them out and do maintenance.

Violet helped this year by handing Daddy the nails.

Violet thinks it's extra fun because she gets to ride in the wagon on a bale of hay.

She even helped lift the new bird houses all by herself!

She 'fished' in the water barrels.  Texas Parks and Wildlife advises setting out containers for water collection, so we use halved barrel drums.

Remember the nasty bumblebees that moved in for a while this summer?


These guys.

We found bee bodies next to tiny eggs.  It almost looked like they hatched from them.

In some bird houses, we found these strange things.  Anybody have a clue what they are?  Adam thought they were egg shells.  I think they have more of a form, like wasps nests or something. Maybe even some sort of lichen or mushroom?

We haul out the new birdhouses and Adam digs holes with a posthole digger.  That thing is heavy--I can't even lift it.

It was a long day, but it's nice to get something like that out of the way once a year.  Violet sure had a good time.

SOA Project Completed

 
 OK---I did a 2-in-1 project: 

1.  Explore your hometown and uncover something new (from Carlin).  2.  Take a kitschy road trip (from Maria).  Sarah and Stacy joined me for breakfast, then a trip to thrift stores and Stromberg Statuary.

 
Eight years ago when we were moving here, Adam and I drove our vehicles filled with our pets and everything we owned past this gigantic seahorse.  We were pulling trailers behind our trucks and, even though we own cell phones, communicating by walkie talkie.  (Don't ask.....Adam's idea.)  He was driving in front, and when he wanted to say hello, he'd stick his arm out the window and wave at me.  We'd chatter on that staticky walkie talkie, and notice things as we made the pilgrimage to our new home and new life.  Like, "Oh, wow!  Did you see that gigantic sea horse?"  And Adam would say, "No.  Where?"  Like you could miss that thing. He didn't notice it for years.  I know because I'd occasionally ask him if he's seen the gigantic seahorse or swordfish yet.  Good grief---they're kind of hard to miss.

 
Anyhoo---every time I tried to visit the statue place, it was locked.  We finally found it open on our mini-road trip/town tour.  This little guy squirts water out his trunk.

 
giant acorns

Laura, Elvis, & Sarah

Stacy, Elvis, Laura---get a load of that 'faux forest' wallpaper.

That's a lot of deer, and that's no bull!  Ha ha!  I make joke.  

I think it would be fun to fill your yard with a whole set of 'reindeer' around Christmas.

 
 horses in fountain

 
squirrels and mushroom birdbath 
 
  
See the wasp nest in the hippo's maw?  He squirts water, too.

 
This head is much taller than me.  I think it would be funny to have this poking up out of a swimming pool at the deep end---sort of a benevolent sea monster.

 
This was my favorite sculpture.  Isn't this a beautiful mermaid? The details are very realistic.  There are little shells and crabs running around the base.  I'd like to plunk it here in our swamp.

Maybe something more mid-swim, though.

 
(image from Dreamstime.com)

This would be neat, just breaking the surface.  Not very appropriate in our swamp, though.  Maybe she could be pulled along by a team of beavers.  With water moccasins in her hair. Or chasing her.  That would be realistic.
 
Wouldn't a cluster of these dryads in bronze be nice hovering on the edge of the swamp?  We really do have those water lilies, so they could be surrounded by them.  I'd like one or two nymphs with just their eyes out of the water, with their hair spread out all around them.

 
 These are such intricate scales.  The patina is lovely with the pattern, too.

 This was a really fun morning.  Thanks for sharing the day with me, Stacy and Sarah.  I've been so lonely at times since moving here.  I'm so glad I met both of you.  It can be really hard to find people you 'click' with.

I think it's harder in some ways to make friends after you have children.  Your 'original friends' may not have children.  Try as you may to spend time with them, let's be honest---it's not very fun to go out to lunch with a crying baby or a super active toddler.  In fact, it's just not possible some times. You may have to leave to breastfeed.  Or, you often spend the majority of your friend time making sure your child is behaving in a public place.  It's not good or bad, it's just part of being a parent. And, just because a person has kids that play with your kids, it doesn't necessarily mean you have much of anything else in common.

Not all of us have nannies.  And, even if I could afford one, I wouldn't have one.  I want to be home with Violet right now.  I'm glad I have that choice.  However, it can make you feel pretty isolated to stay home all day with small children.  (Especially living in the boonies.) I desperately need 'grown up' time now more than ever.  It really makes me appreciate this time with friends who like me  just because I'm me, not out of convenience or similar play-date aged children.

SOA Guest Blogger - Charlotte Smothers

Hi there!  Let me introduce Charlotte and her blog, Seahorse Ranch Life.  She is a fellow Cancerian.  We seem to be collecting several of those around here!  She lives in the chilly northwest and hasn't really been able to experience much summer this year.  Truth be told, I'm a tad jealous.  She's also one of Violet's fairy godmothers.  She has a sharp sense of humor, open arms to everything in the animal kingdom, is oh-so-stylish, and has a warm and witty attitude.

On to her post!    -Laura

SUMMER OF AWESOMENESS

 While unemployment, the housing market, Congress, the economy and most of the US melts down, here in the Pacific Northwest we are sprouting mushrooms.

Truly, this is a fresh crop, in JULY, of delightful little fungi. So, what are you gonna do? Bemoan the absence of summer here, or get dressed and go to town?

Me, I'm getting dressed in my finest summer wear, Gig Harbor style. Raincoat? Check. Warm layers? Check. Thermos of Starbucks espresso? Check. Off to town because it's SUMMER and that means The Circus is coming!

The Circus, full of mystical delights for young and old alike. The daring flying ballerina transports me to the high wires. Is it too late to learn to soar under the Big Top?

Perhaps I would be better suited to the Master of Ceremonies, as directing the action has always appealed to me. As I sit in my front row seat I shall imagine myself as the ring master.

Ah, yes, The Circus. Peanuts, anyone? Popcorn? Cotton Candy? ps This production is part of Laura's Rhinestone Armadillo Summer of Awesomeness series.

Not to Bee

Well, our bee problem is solved.  The 'expert' says they are bumblebees.  They are typically ground-dwelling, so the nest in the bird house was unusual.  We're in the middle of a terrible drought, so he thought they might have relocated to try to find water.  That birdhouse is pretty close to a pond.

 
 He agreed that they are very aggressive.  He said that bumblebees don't lose their stingers when they attack, and are capable of stinging multiple times.  That would explain why no one had any stingers even though they everyone had many stings.

 
 Fortunately, the bees decided to move along of their own accord.  I went out to check on them one day, and they were gone.  Vanished!  Maybe aliens took them.  Either way---no more bees.

SOA Guest Blogger Stacy Ross

Welcome to Stacy Ross from Play Pretties.  Stacy makes me LAUGH! She has one of those homes that is so full of neat stuff I have a hard time not opening drawers and bathroom cabinets.   Also, anyone who photographs dead bugs in vignettes has my friendship vote for life.

Now on to her guest blog post.......

SUMMER OF AWESOMENESS!!!!!!!

I'm so excited!

It's finally my week to be the one and only guest blogger for my sweet and special friend, Laura, from Rhinestone Armadillo.

So here goes...

Hello All!!!!!

It's the SOA. You know what that means. Yes! Sit down and watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding for the 52nd time and finish up that laundry! Woooo Hoooo!!!

*crickets chirping*

Okay! Plan B.

~~Plant new things~~

My new obsession? Succulents. Succulents, also known as fat plants, are water-retaining plants adapted to blah blah blah... All I know is that even I can't kill them. Give them the right amount of light, water every couple of days and taa daa.

They are the craziest little beings and some of their names are even better.
Fairy Washboard, Hens and Chicks, String of Pearls and Living Rocks...just to name a few.

I know it's like 142 degrees outside but hop to it.

Grab and BIG bottle of water and go outside.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding will always be there.

At the very least, on Saturday morning, go sit on the porch and watch the guys mow your yard.

Or maybe that's just me.

Sorry.

I had to stick this picture in.

I took it during one of my Not So Summer's of Awesomeness when I was completely bored. Yes. I resorted to playing with dead bugs.

It was a cry for help.

Africanized honey bees, a.k.a. Killer Bees

 
Between these being quite prolific and always available on the ground (this one was smushed by the car in front of me on our county road).....
 

....and my hammock breaking the moment I got comfy and dumping me roughly on my tailbone on the ground.....

 
...and every guest to our house to this weekend (and my poor sweet husband) getting swarmed and stung by a hive of killer bees...

...it has been kind of a startling and painful few days.

Our biggest worry is this new hive of bees that has moved into one of our bird houses.  I took all these photos by driving up to the bees in my truck with the windows up and using a telephoto lens through the glass.

 
Adam and I noticed that a bee hive might be taking over a bird house about a week ago.  I went back out with my camera twice to try to photograph them, but they weren't there any more. I guess they came back, though. When Adam and some guests were shooting out in the meadow (Not at the bees- we're bee friendly.  We realize they are an invaluable part of the ecosystem and would never want to run them off.) this weekend, the noise and proximity to the hive must have disturbed the bees.  They attacked and everyone got stung.  They were quite aggressive and followed people quite a long ways from the hive. 
 
However bee-friendly we might be, Africanized Honey Bees, or Killer Bees, are not so welcome here.  They have spread quickly northward from Mexico over the last 20 or so years, and can be extremely dangerous. I read that they're basically a regular honey bee, but the Africanized type pose a greater danger because they are much more aggressive, have more 'guard bees' than an average hive, and will follow you a much greater distance away from the hive.  People are in the most danger when attacked by large numbers of them.

They are responsible for several animal and livestock deaths, and even a few human deaths per year. 

I don't know if ours are killer bees or not.  I sent some of these photos to our county extension office.  They said they're definitely bees and gave me the number of their beekeeper.  Maybe they can relocate them on our property, but these are pretty close to our home.

We'll see what he has to say! 

 
Bzzzzz.

 
They're really cute, actually. (Except for that whole 'killer' thing.) Adam described them looking like they were wearing tiny yellow fur vests.

 
Do you think I took enough photos?  Do you?  Really?

They look like little soldiers or something.

 
This one looks mad.

   
They are such efficient little creatures.

 
 They're velvety, aren't they?

Happy birthday, my love!

Adam's birthday party was yesterday, but his actual birthday is today.  Everyone seemed to have a great time and Adam was happy, so yay!  I have to say, though--I breathe a sigh of relief when huge events are over.  I'm a fairly solitary person, so big to-dos wear me out. They're fun to have every now and then, though.  I always feel like I haven't gotten to visit with anyone enough.  When there are tons of people around, you only get to say a quick 'hello' to everyone.

It was so busy at the party that I didn't get to take many photos.  Do you ever forget to photograph your events?  Or just not want to mess with it?

  
Adam made 130 pounds of barbecue, tons of homebrew beer, cider, and rootbeer, and lots of other yuminess.  I helped with the sides and desserts, but Adam did almost all of the food himself.  I helped as much as I could, but it's hard to do lots of party set-up and take care of Violet at the same time.  Anyway-Adam did almost everything and the clean-up himself.  I'm impressed, honey!
It was quite an active party.  We had clay pigeon shooting, go cart rides, darts, an arm wrestling table, a kiddie pool and bounce house, walks in the woods, a rowboat for guests to use at the pond, and croquet.  Violet didn't want to get out of the pool.  I decided to get her out when her lips starting looking a little blue. 

The day before the party, Adam rescued a tiny baby bunny from our very sharp cat.  Yikes!  He let Violet pet it before he put it back outside in a safe place.   

 

Isn't it adorable?

Happy birthday, my sweet husband!  You're the most interesting and wonderful man I've ever met.  I'm so glad you're mine---mwah!

Garden things

 Look at these teeny tiny praying mantis babies!  There are dozens on my morning glory vines.  They're only about 5/8" long.

 
Remember all my junky old garden pots?  I finally finished cleaning, painting, and planting them.

 
I used Rustoleum's outdoor plastic paint for several pots.  I'm pretty happy with the results.  It bonds chemically with the plastic, instead of just coating it.

I painted several large black pots red, then put wire tomato cages in the soil.  I thought that would give my morning glories a nice structure to climb.  For other pots, I just cleaned them really well and gave them a quick coat of black.  That made them look fresher and more uniform.

 
The big clay drums on the bottom were bright aqua, so I painted them red, too.  I also painted the outside of the dog's porch water bowl.  Red is such a cheerful color to me. It reminds me of picnics and cherries and fire trucks.

 
I asked Adam to make me some little side tables to put on either side of the glider.  He whipped them up out of scrap wood and I painted them red.
 
 
I planted 98% of things in the garden from seed.  They're taking quite a while to grow, unfortunately.  I planted them mid-March.  I mixed our soil with potting soil, but I think it might still have too much clay in it.
 
My planter is leaning.  Adam is going to weld it back to uprighteousness for me.  Thanks, honey!  It sure comes in handy to have a husband who welds.  And can do just about anything else, too.

 
We have a flagstone patio area that I use for herbs.  I look forward to the first big batch of basil....I usually make pesto.

 
Our hay guy came out this week to cut and bale our hay.  I was a little disappointed that he whisked it away immediately.  I really like looking at the happy hay bales for a week or two.  Maybe he'll leave them longer next time.  Maybe he had some hungry cows.