Okay. The time for frolicking is over, Claudia. Your friends have departed. Back to work.

You know what’s pathetic? After the four of us spent our first day together on Wednesday, I couldn’t get to sleep. I was just like a kid that has been overstimulated. That gives you an idea of how exciting my life is on a daily basis. Two friends come to visit and I get overexcited.

Yikes.

Have you noticed that my Etsy widget isn’t up? Meredith and I are taking a break for the summer. There’s not much happening at the moment and we figure the break will give us some time to make new inventory. And rest our aching wrists and hands. And in my case, feet. But that’s from too much mowing with not enough arch support. I have to do something about that, pronto.

By the way, I took the above photo at our local nursery with my iPhone. This gorgeous butterfly was hovering over a hanging plant and I had to get a picture. What a beauty! And do you see the way it’s framed? I noticed that PicMonkey has a new frame available and I had some fun with it. It’s called Craft Scissors. There are a lot of different options. Here’s one:

That’s our shed, framed with one of the Craft Scissors options. The window boxes are planted with impatiens and vinca. The climbing plant is a Climbing Hydrangea. I’ve had it in that bed for over 4 years – maybe five – and while it grows like the dickens, it has never bloomed. I read somewhere that it takes 3 or 4 years to bloom, but I suspect it simply doesn’t get enough sun. I added some baby hostas this year in the bed on the right. Clearly, the shed needs a new paint job, but it’s not on my priority list.  I sort of like the weathered look.

Every year some of that vinca that’s growing in the window box on the left gets so long that it seeds itself in the ground.

This year it bloomed. Thank you vinca! This photo has been given another Craft Scissors frame.

And this yarrow that has started to self-seed all over the property (this one is between the big planting bed and the funky patio) is framed in another Craft Scissors cutie-pie frame.

Go check it out. PicMonkey is adding new options fairly frequently.

We’ve had some beautiful weather the past 3 days and it looks as if (crossing fingers) it’s not going to rain for several days. I know many of you would give anything for some rain and I wish I could send some your way. Nonetheless, we’ve had quite a bit of it lately and a wee break is welcome.

By the way, next week Don and I are going to see my former student and good friend Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory) perform on Broadway in Harvey. Jim and I have been chatting back and forth via email and I can’t wait to see him again. I have an enormous soft spot for Jim. Okay, I’ll be honest: I adore him. It should be fun!