Gifts from a friend...

Tammy, over at T's Daily Treasures,

sent me a package this week,

of very special gifts.

It was such a surprise,

but that is just like her,

always doing special little things for people.

You can visit her at her blog

http://tsdailytreasures.blogspot.com

The silk painting is from India, the handmade card is from Nepal and the crocheted items were done by Tammy herself.  I love them all.
Thanks so much Tammy!

Here is a close up of the painting.

It's so nice to meet wonderful people through blogging.

It's amazing how you get attached with this

special kind of friendship.

Wishing you all the best Tammy,

and thank you again.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne



Santos Cage Doll class

 The Santos Cage Dolls history

goes back to the 17th and 18th centuries.

You can learn how to make them,

just like I did,

by taking Jennifer Rizzo's online class

through Jennifer Oliver's ning site.

http://jeanneoliver.ning.com

She also offers many more classes,

of a wide variety,

and all are very affordable.

The doll class was only 19 dollars.

Some other classes are as little as ten dollars,

so go check them out.

Here are two of the Santos dolls I have made so far.

They stand about 21 inches tall.

close up #1

close up #2

 Try something new this summer!

It helps to...

Savor the Day!

Yvonne 

Lily's new beginning...

For the past few weeks I have been watching

 the amazing transformation of

a caterpillar to a butterfly.

(You can read more and see more photos in previous posts)

Most of us do these type things as a kid,

or for our own kids or grandkids,

but rarely do them

for ourselves when we get to a certain age

(I'm 60 yo).

So, I thought I would start doing more things like this

 to remind me

of that easily lost sense of wonder.

The kind of wonder that every child has.

The kind of wonder that keeps you young,

makes you have joy,

helps you to savor the day,

and awakens your soul.

The Story of Lily the Butterfly

Lily began her life in my garden

 as a tiny little yellow egg

laid gently on a passion vine tendril,

by a Gulf Fritillary Butterfly.

Later out popped a tiny caterpillar with legs.

She ate and ate in the sunshine,

kept growing and...

Then after while she formed this crysalis

and hung upside down for a couple of weeks.

Magic was happening inside that leaf like crysalis.

Then one morning,

when I opened the jar lid,

there she was.

This is what's left of the crysalis she emerged from.

Lily (new beginning)

was motionless and still wet with a life giving black liquid.

Her wings were not yet stretched out or separated.

She had touches of orange on her black and white delicate wings.

She stayed motionless for awhile,

giving herself time to dry out and

adjusting to her new life as a butterfly.

Then Lily stretched her wings and flew.

I have not been able to get a photo of her,

but I've seen her...

she is there...

 gracing my garden.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Garden enchantments or oddments???????

My 'pet' caterpillar

(soon to be Gulf Fritillary butterfly)

 is doing fine.

 Eating ferociously on the passion vine leaves.

I guess I should give him (or her) a name.

Any ideas????

------------------------------

Walking around my garden this morning

I was thinking

What can I do with this stump in my yard?

I actually have two stumps I could make projects out of.

They are home to little creatures,

and sometimes I see a little garter snake.

I think I will make planters out of the stumps.

I guess that's another project where I will need help from my DH.

He'll just get out his trusty chain saw and hollow out the middle,

enough to put soil in, and then I can plant

my 'hen and chicks',

and let them spill over the side.

Any other ideas?

Fairy house maybe?

----------------------------------

I don't know why,

but I am enchanted by little things like

tendrils.

Maybe it's because of it's spiral form.

I guess it doesn't take much to thrill me!!!!  LOL

------------------------

My Blue Bottle Tree

I love my blue bottle tree

my DH built for me awhile back.

I need to get busy acquiring more blue bottles

for another one!!!!!!

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Enchantments and oddments...

Saturday morning my DH made this table.

(enchantment)

The base is metal and was found in a dumpster,

by his father.

(oddment)

We bought an 18 in. wood round,

attached it after staining it.

 (enchantment)

The top sort of looks burnt.

(oddment)

But we like it

(enchantment)

-------------------------------------

My son came to visit,

(enchantment)

so he and his dad wanted to go fishing...

no boat, no wading,

just relaxing on the pier,

(enchantment)

on the Laguna Salada,

near our home.

It was very calm waters.

(oddment)

 

 This fish was a keeper,

but it ended up being

catch and release day,

Lucky little black drum.

(enchantment)

 ...watching, waiting...

(enchantment)

 ...twinkling stars on the water...

(enchantment)

 

...rust and barnacles...

(enchantment)

 

...wooden pier texture.

(enchantment)

This is one of the bait shops

that has been open since the 1940's.

(enchantment)

How it survived the many hurricanes,

I will never know.

(oddment)

I thought this photo may make a good painting.

Lots of character.

(enchantment)

_______________

Then at home we were entertained by the birds...

(enchantment)

Cooling off on a warm day...

(enchantment)

Just one hummingbird?

(oddment)

...he thought he would have the feeders to himself,

(enchantment)

...then the other birds (orioles, about a dozen) showed up.

(oddment)

Cute little bird, waiting his turn at the feeders.

(enchantment)

He hung like this for the longest...

(oddment)

So fun to watch so many.

(enchantment)

Hope your day is filled with

enchantments and oddments.

It makes for an interesting day.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Bed, beauty, and a new bird sighting...

We finally got our new winged bed stained and finished.

We built it a few weeks back,

but we got sidetracked for a time.
Now it is done!  Yay!

We used a dark walnut stain,

then put 3 coats of poly on it.

I love it!

  _______________

I've also been busy making more soap.

This time I added lavender and vanilla for scent.

Then I also added some French green clay,

which is very good for your skin.

It is supposed to remove toxins,

so that is a good thing.
Now it has to cure for a few weeks.
It is making the house smell wonderful!

_____________________

 This spring we have a new little visitor...

an Indigo Bunting.

This is about the best photo I could get.

We were sitting in our yard swing,

and all of a sudden we saw this flash of blue,

which is unusual here.

 This was my first sighting of

 an indigo bunting here in south Texas,

at least when it is in the blue breeding stage.

The little bunting is about 5 inches long.

It was such a nice surprise.

I love surprises!

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Old book page wall art

I've seen old book page wreaths in stores,

and I love them.

I already had an old book

and was using the pages

 to create mixed media art.

I used the rest of it to make this

flower/wreath below.

I just used what I had...

a piece of foamcore board,

an old book, and

a pinecone for the center.

I just tore the pages from the book,

rolled them into cones,

and hot glued them onto different sized circles

that I drew on the foamcore.

I used at least a hundred cones for this one.

Then I hot glued the pinecone in the center.

Doesn't take long really,

once you get used to making the cones.

Also be sure you have a good hot glue gun.

Mine quit working in the middle of this project

and I had to manually push the glue through the gun.

This project can be done many different ways,

and I'm sure there are plenty of how-to's

to be found.

Try making one yourself,

and let me know how it turns out!

Savor the day!

Yvonne

Do Birds have Christmas?

If you follow my blog,

you know I love the birds.

Here in south Texas we have over 350

species and many of those visit my yard

year round, including green jays, chickadees,

cardinals, titmouse, doves, owls, kiskadees,

orioles, robins and many many more.

We live close enough to the bay that we see

many water birds like herons etc. too.

I feel very blessed.

I hope you enjoy

my bird photos from this morning and also

 the following poem by Mike Zerr called.....

Do Birds have Christmas?

(colorful green jays at my feeder)

On a chilly Christmas morn, as I looked out the window

at a crystal coat of frost on the Mulberry tree,

I saw a sudden movement, like a darting shadow

that quickly transformed, into a happy Chickadee.

A thought crossed my mind, as I watched this little friend.

Could I learn the truth, from a fine-feathered brother?

If the Chickadee could talk, my ear he would bend.

Do you birds have Christmas, or is this day just another?

I watched, and listened, for action and sound.

Suddenly, a Brown Creeper, diving with speed

halted its plunge, a foot from the ground,

to peck at some old suet covered with seed.

More tiny friends appeared, to my delight.

The tree filled with blacks, reds and yellows

as Goldfinch and Cardinals arrived in a flight.

Do birds have Christmas? Tell me, little fellows.

Some Juncos flew in, these darts of slate.

They were hopping and jumping like children at recess,

feeding on seeds with the ground as their plate.

Do they know of Christmas? I can only guess.

I pushed close to the window with my forehead,

as nuthatches and woodpeckers joined in the throng.

All colors of feathers, white, black, yellow and red.

Each different, but the same, all getting along.

I sneaked open the window, and heard them all sing,

At last to my mind came all the right words.

It was as clear as their chorus, a choir on the wing.

Birds don’t have Christmas, Christmas has birds!

----Mike Zerr

(looking for fallen seeds)

(big eyed titmouse)

(a nice pair on my fence)

Hope you

savor the day,

and have many Christmas birds in YOUR yard.

Yvonne



I leave you with sunflowers...

I'm taking a blogging break for awhile.

Time for some R&R.

I will hopefully return

rested and refreshed

and full of ideas.

(red sunflowers from my backyard)

Growing these red and not yellow sunflowers
remind me that...

You don't always have to be like everyone else.

Being different is beautiful.

Until I return

I leave you with this quote

by Helen Keller....

"Keep your face to the sunshine,

and you can not see the shadows.

It's what sunflowers do."

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Windowsill Pears

PEARS...

They are known as

the 'gift of the Gods'

 'Pears and Lace'

or

'Windowsill Pears'...

which do you like best?

I worked on this painting in class today.

I've been working on putting light into my paintings.

Also at first I had the pears all wrong,

then with guidance from my instructor,

I removed most of the color,

and began again on the pears.

I think they look good enough to eat now.

"There are only ten minutes

 in the life of a pear

 when it is perfect to eat."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Savor the day...

and savor a pear now and then...

Yvonne

Easiest Sourdough Bread Recipe EVER!

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread,

 places to play in and pray in,

where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."

---John Muir

If you have a sourdough starter,

then here is an easy bread recipe for you.

This sourdough bread recipe is the easiest ever

because.....

you make it in your bread machine.

Easy...peasy!!!!

I found it at http://allrecipes.com/

My starter is going great!

Find out how I made it here...

http://inkspillersattic.blogspot.com/2012/05/crust-of-breadsourdough-starter.html#links

I used my starter in this recipe

making the results tangy, soft, and delicious.

This is a white bread,

using basic ingredients.

Basic Sourdough Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup sourdough starter

1/3 cup water

3 cups all purpose flour

1 Tablespoon white sugar

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons yeast

Directions:

Allow starter to come to room temperature. 

 Place all ingredients in the bread machine.

Select Basic cycle, and medium crust setting. 

Start.

It's still hot, and boy is it good! :)

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Oddments from the sea

Last week my friend Karen and I

had a 'beach' day.

The weather was gorgeous,

not too hot.

Still wore lots of sunscreen though.

I love walking along the beach,

talking, looking for treasures.

There was lots of fresh sargassum on the beach.

It brings in lots of treasures,

little crabs etc.

It's very interesting about sargassum...

and you can read more about the

Sargassum Summer here....

http://www.brosnancenter.com/sargassum-summer.html

I found these....

Barnacles (don't know what kind),
 a shell, and a sea coconut.

The sea coconut is like a sea bean

but the bean is flat, unlike the sea coconut

which is round like a ball.

Now speaking of coconuts...

I actually found a real one...and it was whole.

I loved watching the little designs that the water made

as it went back out to sea.

Here's my friend Karen

savoring the day with me

 watching the water

and carrying her little bucket of treasures.

Drift wood is a real treasure...

This piece ended up in my garden beds.

After our treasure hunt, we read our books,

talked some more, had our little picnic,

fed the seagulls, took in all the beach sounds and sights,

and more.

On the way home we stopped in a shell shop

on Padre Island.

Get out in nature,

go to the beach...

wherever you go...

enjoy the little things and

make it a good way to...

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Another watercolor study

I once saw a painting like this...

and so I tried to remember just what it looked like,

so I could do a watercolor study of it.

I'm not sure if the original was done in watercolor,

it may have been done in oils or pastels.

But anyway... here is my watercolor study.

I try to paint every day,

from my own photos,

from original drawings I create,

from You Tube watercolor how to videos,

watercolor instruction books,

and whatever way I can practice and learn.

Studies of  other artists work

teach me a lot.

The Masters works

have many lessons in them.

Sometimes I just look at them closely,

to see just what they did.

So, how do you practice?

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Value Study

For Paint Party Friday

I am submitting this

value study.

 My instructor called it a

 whimsical type portrait.

One of these days I will learn to do

real portraits.

Learning where to put the darks,

and the lights...and

to give contour to the scarf etc.

Then for the background

I just added lots of color,

watched as the paper buckled up

(that's what cheap paper does btw)

 laid it flat and let it dry.

Doing this created lots of blooms,

but I like the texture of it.

I've learned that blooms are okay in watercolor.

It's not such a taboo thing anymore.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Around My Garden

Man is the only critter

who feels the need to label things

 as flowers or weeds.

~Author Unknown

You have seen my moon gate, my medicine wheel garden

with the Peace Pole, the oobos garden and more.

If not, then go to labels in my sidebar

to find those posts.

These you may not have seen.

So I hope you enjoy your visit.

St Francis behind my lantana in bloom.

New fence in back.

Container plants beside the potting shed.

I use lots of found items for containers.

We even use cut log pieces to outline beds

and sometimes I will throw one in the bed

to be a home for little critters.

We have turtles, frogs etc.

that love it.

Foxtail fern and artemesia are some of my favorite plants.

Bird feeder made from old dishes.

The green jays and cardinals love this one.

This is Pete. 

 He resides in the whimsical side of my garden. 

He sits on a fishing pier post in front of the old 'john' boat.

Yes, old boat...(see below)

now it's filled with Purple Heart.

Geodes, rocks and old bricks outline flower beds.

I use whatever I have on hand.

This is our wind direction hummingbird

Medicine wheel garden behind it,

with peace pole in center.

 See the old tree stump behind the hummingbird?

It is home to our little garden snake.

I see him now and then.

I know he is good for our garden.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne