Our Flag

I was watching the flag from the dining room, whip mightily, back and forth in the wind. The grand snap it made amongst the busy noises of the world.

I watched for a short while, how the wind carried it, how it rolled and moved, sometimes, so slow, at brief moments, a dead stop.....

and then, as in its perfect timing, as if only a short rest, it carries on, waving powerfully, deliberate and strong....

amongst a gorgeous blue sky, under an old oak tree, it waves so very, very free.

How I love our flag

and the America it stands for!

Orders Up!

When my boys are invited to a birthday party, especially for a girl, surely a store bought gift would NEVER do! Although I must say, it would be easier to go that route. But Cecily is special and was in dire need of a "waitress" dress up ensemble! It took forever to pick out a fabric, too many to choose from, not florals, no "lady" looking fabric, nothing "babyish" would do for a seven year old, and there it was..... the perfect combination of retro and polka dot fabrics. So amongst other goodies in the bag was the envy of all.... a custom waitress set complete with handy apron, boasting vintage ric rac and button detail, reversible head band/neck scarf, polka dot pen and a handful of "ticket books".

Now, she's ready to take those orders!!

Not so itsy bitsy spider!

I thought I would begin my first blog with something pretty from the garden. Technically, I should be sewing and sharing my most latest creation, however, temporary illness has made me quite useless in this department lately. So, off I go to the garden I go to see something pretty, to check on my busy bees that simply adore and suck the life out of my lavender, and to get an update on the vegetable situation. Then, I saw it, from a glance I thought is was a "bright caterpillar" as it was similar in color to the looming bumble bees but ever so much larger, thicker, and obvious.

Holy Arachnids Batman, it was a spider!! The biggest spider I had ever seen in the "wild" you know? Not within the confines of glass, locked down, and away from any menacing distance to my flesh.

I tried to get closer but found the buzzing bees were too busy to move out of my way and so I started taking pictures at a safe distance. It was enormous and surely going to be quite the center of attention when the kids see it. It has trapped one of my little honey bees though and wrapped it up tight. As I was trying to get better angles, the bees were getting irritated with me blocking light and starting buzzing and moving around incessantly. Unfortunately, another got caught in her web:

I thought, how can I free it without getting stung?? And as I pushed a stalk of lavender away, she felt the tug, turned around and headed for her new prey. At this point I figured, let nature take it's course, I didn't know much of what kind of spider it was and didn't want to take any chances. But my keen little honey bee, freed itself and flew away! Hurray!

So here's my garden spider, a female, and awesome to watch.

I found out she is harmless to humans, but not so much to my little bees.

Next time, I should think my post will be creative and pertinent to what I do. Thanks for listening to my little garden adventure!