Summer Solstice

Enjoy this longest day of the year and the first day of summer for all my Northern Hemisphere friends.

Ta Da - Look what I made!

I made new cushions for my old outdoor table and chairs with the help of my mother in law last weekend. I wanted to show you all because I'm pretty proud of them :)  We made a pattern out of newspaper by cutting up the original cushions. I have had this fabric for a couple years with this in mind, but kept putting it off. I'm so glad it's done now, it looks better than I imagined.

before - ick

After - Ooo la la

Thunder - the jungle cat

Lightning under glass

Have you made anything for your home lately? It's very satisfying :)

Say hello to my little friend

Here he is... an upside down praying mantis!

I woke up this morning and took Zoey out like normal but besides the breath taking humidity so early, I noticed lots of black and blue butterflies! So beautiful and magical in the morning light as the locusts sang their persistent calls. They must've had a hatching all at once or whatever it's called... but they were everywhere and a wonderful site to see. Those locusts are out with bells on and that always reminds me of Florida. Ahhh the sounds of summer.

So even though it was like 600 degrees outside and now the hottest part of the day I took my camera and waited for the foggy lens to clear up to take some mid summer pictures and try to get some pics of those beautiful winged creatures. To my surprise I finally got one and then another and I think I took about 200 pictures trying to get them with those gorgeous wings open and then oooo! across the porch I noticed one landing on my tiger lilies. I had to get the contrast of that orange flower and black with blue butterfly. As I got closer, surprise!! A little praying mantis shot out of nowhere and ran up the flower to see who this winged invader was. I'm not sure if I scared the butterfly off or the praying mantis did but as I tried to snap as many close up pictures that I could my battery went kaput. Wouldn't you know it. I think that praying mantis's are the neatest little creatures and can watch them for hours. Sometimes they hitch a ride in with my plants and end up in the greenhouse in the fall but I don't know where they end up cause I usually never see them again. I just read recently that praying mantis's are one of the top predators of hummingbirds. Who knew! But that is nature. But aren't the butterflies and all the little creatures just so magical? 

Here I'm chasing a butterfly, see it on the far left hand side about mid way down?

Ok, these petunia's don't have a butterfly on them right now, but they are my favorite color of petunias.

Here is the butterfly tantalizing me...

Success! It finally lets me touch it and hold it! It must like the way I taste because it lingered for many pictures.

Here is the praying mantis running up the flower to chase away the butterfly.

I want to thank my friend Sharon over at Plumrose Lane for an excellent tutorial of adding a signature to your posts on Blogger. Thanks, Sharon!! She is a wealth of info and has spectacular FREE designs for your blog. Sharon also has an Etsy shop, Mana Moon Studio's, that she is closing down and everything is 75% off! Go now! I just swooped up 3 beautiful pieces that I can't wait to get and show you all. 

So, how does my signature look? See ya soon!

Summer colds are the worst

Ugh... that's how I've felt the last few days. Our household has come down with a bug and we are all hacking, snotting, snoring, sluggish and miserable. Why do summer colds seem to last forever? I expect to get a cold in the winter, but I'm insulted to get sick in the beautiful summertime!

I have taken advantage of being inside and have created a few more things that I will hopefully have ready for my GeeJayCreations Etsy shop. Sales have been dreadful, but it's probably my fault at not keeping the shop fresh by adding new stuff all the time. Summer is for being outside, I say. Except when you're sick... ha ha. But today I got all doped up on cold meds that I had to sign my name for and got out there and watered and did a few things to cheer me up. My flowers are good at cheering me up. Tiny frogs jumping from their hiding places as I water and butterflies fluttering about. Hummingbirds dive bombing. Joy! If the snot wasn't flowing freely from my nose every time I bent down it would be a lot more enjoyable, but I'll take it. At least I'm not moping on the couch channel surfing. We were supposed to be enjoying a fun weekend with family in Chicago this weekend, but since we're all sick that's out. Hopefully another time.

Well, my movie is on Lifetime right now... hey at least I didn't mope on the couch all day! Besides, I need to catch up on Work of ARt, which I'm behind on. Have a fun weekend my friends!

Wild Child!

Asher has gotten a 4 wheeler a couple months ago and he took to it like a fish to water. He has to change the gears by bending down and pulling it up with his hand but that doesn't slow him down a bit. Oh Lord, help me!