flowers — Page 216

A Treasure Trove: Mini Gifts and Peonies

June 1, 2016 at 9:12 am by Claudia

I’m about to launch into a little story about some gifts that arrived in my mailbox. But first, let’s just stop for a moment.

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Yes, it’s the first week of June and my peonies are ready to open. Like clockwork. This one will fully open later today.

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My favorite flower. You’ll get more photos this week, you can count on it.

My friend Susi lives in Amsterdam. She is the miniaturist who built the amazing record shop that deservedly won an award this year. I still go back and look at those photos; her work is simply extraordinary.

Building a record shop means stocking lots of records and Susi eventually wrote a tutorial about making mini albums. Fully prepared to tackle that task, I wrote to Susi to ask her about the kind of paper she used. She wrote back, giving me all the information I needed, but in addition, she offered to send me the leftover albums she didn’t use in her project. I offered to pay for them, but she would have none of it. I’ve not yet ‘met’ a miniaturist who isn’t generous, whether it is with information, advice, or minis.

They arrived in my post office box over the weekend. At the same time, my blogging friend Heidi sent me some album covers that she thought I might be able to use. (I love them, but they may be a bit too small for this project, so I’m keeping them for a future project, Heidi. Thank you!)

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Stacks of albums! Whoo hoo!

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Susi also sent some printables that I will be able to use in my projects. She uses a laser printer. Note to self: Your printer stinks, so maybe when you replace it, you should go with a laser printer.

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Also included were these two lovely gifts: a thimble with a cow on top and ‘wooden’ shoes in a beautiful delft pattern with a windmill in the center. I love them. Oh, Susi! Thank you so much! What a sweetheart you are!

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Look, it’s full!

I was so sick of pulling this shelf unit out from the wall only to have the records fall out the back, that I made a back out of mat board yesterday. Much better!

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The extras are over by the turntable.

I’m so excited! 23 days and counting until someone’s big birthday celebration.

Today would have been my parents’ 70th anniversary. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! I trust you’re uncorking the bubbly and celebrating your incredible love story. We miss you every day.

Happy Wednesday.

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Happy: I Love This Time of Year

May 31, 2016 at 10:09 am by Claudia

Slow start this morning! That may be due to a bout of lawn mowing during the most humid and hot part of the day yesterday. What were we thinking? I don’t think we knew it was that humid when we decided to mow. And by the time we realized it…it was too late. We were really tired at the end of the day.

I also made Don get the older air conditioner that we used to use in the office (formerly guest bedroom) out of the shed. That room was impossible to work in because of the incredibly hot temps we’ve been having. Sweating, just having finished mowing, we lugged it upstairs and put it in the window, all the while crossing our fingers that it would work.

It did, thank goodness! We didn’t want to buy yet another a/c unit.

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Wildflowers blooming right under the kitchen window.

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The clematis is blooming like crazy!

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Wild roses, which are blooming all over the property. They are so delicate and beautiful. The rest of the year I curse them, of course, as I get stuck by the thorns. But right now? I love them.

I am so happy when I can work in the gardens, mow the lawn, look at our beautiful property that we love so much. Yesterday, as I was mowing, I kept saying to Don, “Isn’t it beautiful?” I’m very grateful. Tired…but grateful.

At the end of the day, we had the most spectacular sunset that turned the whole sky orange and lasted for at least 30 minutes. It went on and on and it was glorious,

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You can see it reflected off our neighbor’s solar panels. Gorgeous.

The winner of a copy of June is Joan. Joan, I have sent you an email asking for your mailing address. Congratulations!

I’ve posted some more photos of Postmark Books on Just Let Me Finish This Page. Stop on by!

Happy Tuesday.

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Too Darn Hot

May 29, 2016 at 9:12 am by Claudia

Cripes. It’s been so hot here that we are under an air quality warning and have been for the past couple of days. It ‘felt’ – according the the weather report – close to 100 yesterday. Where the heck did Spring go? I’ve been staying in, just venturing out to keep water in the birdbath (they are drinking and bathing there almost constantly) and to water my seeds and potted plants.

All the rain that was predicted last week never materialized and we could really use some. I hope that tomorrow’s predicted rain comes. The birds, the animals, the plants, the grass – they all need a break.

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The catmint has really taken off – purple blooms everywhere.

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Yarrow that has self-seeded over by the Chicken Wire Fence Garden.

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Clematis twining and looping and blooming.

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Wind chimes moving gently in the breeze – when there is one.

I read a book in a day and a half. It’s titled Security and it’s by Gina Wohlsdorf. On my Kindle in eGalley form, it is un-putdownable. A high-tech thriller so well plotted and written that I was mesmerized. I’ll write a brief mini-review on Just Let Me Finish This Page today. It will be published on June 7th. Don was out doing a gig last night and there was nothing that interested me on television, so I just kept reading. And then I picked it up this morning and finished it. I love having a nice chunk of time in which to lost myself in a book. It’s the best.

Is anyone, other than Melanie, seeing ads that block the text or photos? I don’t mean the drop down ads that are sometimes above the first post. Those do open up and expand but are easily closed back up. I don’t seen anything on any of my browsers and I use Safari, Chrome and Firefox. I think it might be adware that’s on her browser, but I want to check with the rest of you.

Happy Sunday.

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A Treasure Trove: Mini Gifts and Peonies

Happy: I Love This Time of Year

Too Darn Hot

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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