Butterflies, Bees, And Beetles

My hollyhocks are finally blooming without being eaten by the creepy Japanese Beetles.  I think the Beetles have gone away for the summer--YEA!

I love to hang out my sheets--It gives such a pleasant smell to our bedroom.

The Japanese Beetles also ate my Dahlias before they all left, so now I have some pretty flowers blooming now.  My Crepe Myrtle looks better too.

This flower is a fancy-schmancy-bi color Dahlia.  I have lots of these bees around my flowers.  I bought this Dahlia as a tuber this spring.  It gets real tall.

This is one I started from seed.  I love the color.  There are lots of butterflies in my garden now.

This butterfly prefers my petunias.  Butterflies do have favorite plants.

We learned that at the butterfly exhibit at the park last year.  The greenhouse had lots of plants and butterflies, and someone was there telling all about butterflies.  You could see the chrysalis stage, and just about every stage.  To attract certain butterflies, you needed certain plants.  It was all very interesting.



Momma's Got A Brand New Bag

I made a new bag.  (Red is so hard to photograph.)  It will be for my makeup, but I need to get a smaller mirror to fit inside.

It's quilted and lined.

Here's the other side.

And, the side view.  I took a bag pattern and added a gusset so it would hold more.  The color is bright red, but the flash washes it out.

My sister and I finished up our Bible Study this week.  It was the Kay Arthur book on Living Like You Belong To God.  In September our class will start a seven week Kay Arthur Precept Bible Study on the book of  Leviticus.  I think there will be lots of homework with that one.  I do enjoy the homework.  We are suppose to do part of the homework every day, but I get started and can't stop.  I usually do it all in one or two days.  It normally takes three to five hours for a week's homework with each lesson.  We get together as a group once a week to talk about our studies, then watch a video lesson that goes with it.  We always have snacks between the talking, and the video.  I love this class, and the studies.

Memory Tags

I wanted to show you some of my  other memory tags--Here's one on humility.  I actually made three of these.  One for each, my hubby, youngest daughter, and myself.  We all three memorized these 40 verses.  One page each week---around six or seven verses each week.

I read this book and it inspired me to memorize some of the scriptures used in this book.

Here's a sampling.  Click on the picture to read them.

Another group of verses. 

As you can see, I embellished all of these a little more than yesterday's tags.

One on marriage verses.

And, lastly, one on verses about decision making.

Thyme And Memory

Here's twenty day's growth (from the next picture) of my thyme I started from seed in March.

It's grown like a weed.

Elephant ears too.

Teaching Vacation Bible School left me in a paper crafting mood.  I'm wanting to memorize Isaiah's fifty-third chapter.  It's only 12 verses--twelve long verses, and in the past I've memorized passages this way.   A little beauty in your memorizing makes it fun--easier to tote around, too.

A little printed paper, computer, printer, card stock, scissors, stamps, string, hole punch, photo stickers, and distressing ink is all it takes---and a little fun time. 

 Now, I need to clean up my mess.  My hubby says he likes cleaning up my messes, but I don't really believe him--He just likes a clean house--(I think he might be a little OCD, as my daughter used to say about her Jack Russell Terrier).

Still Alive

Just a quick tour around my garden to let you know I'm still alive, and very busy.

This is in the front yard.

Below is one of the few hollyhocks that the Japanese Beetles haven't eaten.  As you can see, they have been working on the leaves too.

Glads so far are safe.

Elephant Ears are huge.

One of the few Dahlias not eaten yet.  Japanese Beetles are consuming my flowers.

So far they don't like petunias.  This one self sewed in this pot.

As I said, I have been very busy---I'm teaching Vacation Bible School this week--fun, fun!



Apple Core Update

It's been very hot here over 100 degrees yesterday.  Terrible.  I have been working on my apple cores though.

Here's where I am now.  Six rows of eleven apple cores completed.  I'm not sure how many rows I will do to get it to the length I want to drape over each end of the table.  I'm guessing maybe 30, but we'll see.  Here is my inspiration.

Row number 7 in the works here.

 This is the ring pincushion I made for my applique pins that are nice and short.  They work great for this project.  It's made from a water bottle cap, and some elastic.  I wish I had used a little wider elastic so it didn't roll around as much though.  I bored two holes in the cap with a hot ice pick then threaded elastic through the two holes and tied a knot fitting it to my finger.  Then I glued a stuffed gathered circle of fabric to the inside of the cap, and glued on some ric-rac---pretty simple.

Very handy.
Check out the other quilters here.

Garden Tour

I took a stroll through my garden this morning with my camera.  The phlox is beautiful.

The potted flowers are lovely too.

The elephant ears are huge.  I have never seen such large leaves on these before.  I think they do better in the ground than in pots like I have had them the last few years.  Of course, miracle grow helps a lot too.  I was afraid they couldn't compete with the tree roots, but I water them daily, so they are doing fine--more than fine.

We really enjoy setting outside in the evenings when it cools off--listening to the birds before they go to bed, then listening to the bugs chirp and whine.

This morning I noticed a spider web over the small pond.  If you click on the picture you can see it better.

Have a nice day.



Fourth of July Bash

Hamburgers, baked beans, chips & guacamole, green beans, deviled eggs, veggie tray, cupcakes, cobbler, family, fireworks, our daughter's home--what more could you ask for.

It was a beautiful evening.

Lot's of noise, and spectacular sights.

There was one, however, that did not have a good time.  Mac, Erin's dog; he was terrified, and it was important that he set on your lap (the dog with the most amazing toenails).  At one point he crawled up inside the tire of a tire swing.  When Erin got home she had to pry him out of the car.  Fourth of July celebrations are not for dogs.