Escaped

Well hello my blogging beauties. How are all of you this fine evening? I have escaped the clutches of the slave driver, Duke to bring you flowers.

I know what you're thinking. You are wondering why I am here instead of hard at work on my projects. Well, because I wanted to bring you flowers. You deserve them don't you know.

What's that you say? You think I'm slacking and making excuses?  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

Duke already told you that I had set some smaller goals for myself. I gave myself assignments for each day and once I finish them I give myself some blogging time. If I'm posting and visiting that means I've been working diligently and completed my assignment for the day. If there is no post for the day then you'll know I've been goofing off.
Enjoy the flowers.

Playing with fill flash

I did a little experimenting with the fill flash on my camera. With the exception of a very slight adjustment to the lighting these are straight off of the camera.

On another note, I want to say that the suggestions I got in yesterdays post are fabulous. I'm having a really hard time deciding. I may have to put it up to a vote here and let you decide.

Grocery shopping

What do you buy when you go to the grocery store? We went last Saturday and Wade bought burger, steaks, chops and chicken.
I had something else in mind.
Now I didn't intend to buy anything but when we got there they had all their plants reduced. I've been looking for a lilac bush so I asked the girl that was working outside if they had any. It was my lucky day, they did. Even better, they had two different kinds.  I opted for this one. Nice size and only $19.99

Happy as a clam I headed into the store to find Wade. He didn't stick around and wait for me, all he could think about was "shopping, get in get what you want and get out". He is so NOT a shopper.
As I was saying I headed into the store but just before I reached the door I spotted this.

Don't you just love the colors? Want to see the whole thing? Well of course you do. Here it is

The best part about this whole shopping trip was that when I went to the register my $19.99 lilac bush rang up as $14.99. Yeah me!!!

All good things come to an end

Sunday evenings are always a bit sad. The weekend is over and it's back to work tomorrow. Why is it that those two days just seem to fly by?
My weekend isn't the only thing that didn't last long enough though
On June 4th I noticed that the peonies had bloomed, Not only are they beautiful but their scent is heavenly.

We had a pretty bad rain storm last week and by June 10th this is what my poor peonies looked like

So long my beauties. I'll see you again next year.

After the mushrooms

When you make a dinner that requires a can of mushrooms and you purchase canned ones rather than fresh, what do you do with the can?
Well this is what I did with it.
First I covered it with some scrapbook paper then glued on some images of old seed catalog covers that I got from The Smithsonian Institution Libraries.  I brushed on some mod podge, used a little stain to make it look old and then sprayed it with some clear acrylic sealer. I even let it dry in between each step.

This looked like it needed a flower growing in it but not having a green thumb I knew I wouldn't keep anything alive for very long. Fake works better for me. If you are going to have fake flowers you may as well have fake dirt too. I cut a circle from cardboard to fit just inside the can and covered it with my fake dirt.

 Can you guess what my fake dirt is? Instead of dumping out the coffee grounds after I made my coffee, I dried them out and then mixed them with glue. I spread that on the cardboard circle and let it dry. Wallah! Fake dirt. Yeah I know I missed a few spots but this was pretty much an experiment to see if it would work any way.
Now all I need is a flower growing in my mushroom can. Another jumbo quilled flower with a cute little flower button glued to the center.

I may not have a green thumb but I think this would qualify as a green craft project.

The Brenda Photo Challenge (5-21) May Flowers

It's said that April showers bring May flowers. However, it seems to me, this year the showers of April have only led to more of the same for May. Or could it be that the dreary and rainy days just last too long for my liking?
Either way it's time for the Brenda Photo Challenge again and the theme is May Flowers so the camera was hung around my neck and I went in search of some blooms.
Amongst the multitude of weeds in my flower bed I found these little beauties.

Turning around I was drenched by the splash of color from the tree in my next door neighbors yard.

Last but not least, why did the photographer cross the road?
To take a picture of the tulips in another neighbors front yard.

Look, pink tulips. You won't see any of those in my yard. My efforts to honor the request of a neighbor down the street were mowed down. He swore when we planted them last fall that he wouldn't run them over with the mower. I should have known better.