Sharing

NOT standing alone

The plains coreopsis in my wildflower bed has gotten a little out of hand this year, to say the least!

This is what happens when I don't get them thinned.

They're pretty, but they totally overwhelm the other flowers.

I like the "mutant" ones that do kinda stand alone amongst all the yellow:

And some have even managed to stand 'alone' alone.

Or amongst the coneflowers.....

(Click any photo to enlarge.)

.... which, interestingly, didn't have the yellow edges last year. Can flowers actually cross species like that? A botanist I am not.

Scrappy

Many years ago (40+?), I acquired this sewing basket. It served me for quite a few years, until it was no longer big enough for all my supplies, and I bought a new basket. Then when Jess was young, she "inherited" it and filled it with her own supplies. I think most of her supplies must have come from her Grandma G, because I don't recognize much of what's in it. Anyway, Courtney discovered it in the basement one day not long ago, and she found it to be a treasure trove of goodies! (Jess had not taken those goodies with her when she left the basket behind.)

There were ribbons and beads and yarn, for a start. After cutting some of the ribbon into smaller pieces and writing on them, she then proceeded to make a necklace and bracelet for herself (with a little help from me). These were all her own ideas.

What she didn't realize was that if you lift out the top, there's a whole bigger compartment underneath it. I didn't tell her about that until this past Tuesday. She was delighted! Oh, there were so many wonderful things in there... tons of scraps of fabric, a few bits of lace, and even a couple of old socks (socks, Jess???).

Right away Courtney knew what she wanted to make. She picked the "fabrics", told me how she wanted them to go, and I sewed them together for her. Can you tell what it is?

Here's another clue:

Okay, how 'bout now:

YES!! It's a bed... for her Hello Kitty that she happened to have along that day!

Perfect fit, huh?

Josie liked it, too. She seemed a bit too interested, to Courtney's dismay.

But it turns out all she wanted to do was snuggle Hello Kitty!

Oh, we do have fun on Grandma's Courtney days! And my little artist is turning out to also be a designer. I think she's following closely in Auntie Jess's footsteps!

This one stands alone

This is most of my moss rose bed. As Courtney was leaving yesterday, we noticed ONE little flower all by itself, blooming so proudly. I was going to take a picture of it right away, but promptly forgot. When I came out later, it was already closed for the day, but it still made for kinda cool photos.

See it?

Its life is over. So short... only one day. But as you can see there'll be many more, and soon the bed will be overflowing with many colors. I love 'em!

Photos of our day so far

It's been raining (lightly, thank goodness) non-stop since the wee hours of the morning. Since Courtney and I had to go out to feed the kitties after she got here, we decided to dig out my 40+ year old umbrella. Goes perfectly with her boots, doesn't it?

That umbrella is in great shape for its age! It probably hasn't been used for 30+ years, either. Like how many times does one use an umbrella on the farm? :)

BTW, have you ever tried walking under an umbrella with a 4-yr.-old holding it???

Here's most of the crew we fed this morning:

The count is down by 5 since Mama Kitty took off with her babies nearly a week ago. I'm guessing she's training them to hunt. She does it every year. I'm sure she'll be back.

Here are a couple of babies we've recently named. This is Rainbow:

And Marshmallow:

I don't think Marshmallow is very fond of having her(his?) picture taken.

She/he and Rainbow are still a bit wary of us, along with several others that avoided the photos.

Of course there had to be a little snuggling time, too. This one is Mittens, and he is obviously one of the tamed ones.

Courtney is trying sooooo hard to be good today so she can go to the circus tonight! So far she's been very successful. :)