Dear Someone,

...and by someone I mean Misty. Since you may be the only person who reads this blog, how are you? I hope you are having a super wonderful great and fantastic day. I hope to see you soon. Love, Gil

I May Be a Star Wars Nerd

This made me crack up. Who would your family be?

I guess I would have to be Padme, which is awesome! Found here via poppytalk

Legos Are Not Just For Play!

found this via designboom, I wonder if we will get one?

Moments of Beauty

I don't know if you know the story of our butterfly bush. Liz gave it to me a number of years ago after having popped it out of the ground with her big metal pole. She said it would be fine even though it consisted of two scrawny sticks with one big scraggly root. My dad helped me plant it on a hilly bank next to the house, even though he was pretty doubtful that it would ever amount to anything. 

I guess the first year not much happened, but by the second year it grew to a few feet tall. We started to get honeybees and butterflies now and then.

During the past few years it has gotten huge, growing in an arc of branches over a span of about six feet towards the house, and in hundreds of other crazy directions. It's about nine feet tall now and fifteen feet across, all from that spindly little stalk. 

Last year the butterflies were aplenty, and we even got the gift of two hummingbirds. We felt super special about that. I have tried hanging out under it but it's not that fun and kind of poky. 

 This year, I have seen more of the blue butterflies in the area than I have the monarchs, which I have seen few of so far. I get lost in their wings. I can't think of how I could possible come up with anything more beautiful in my mind, and am glad I don't have to. I just get to have this gift. 

We Took A Trip To the Beach

...well, at least it's our local "beach"... 

where there is no surf but the water is still freezing. we looked closely and found a heart!

the water lilies were in bloom. there were lots of tiny fish making these mating circles in the water, at least that's what we think. we tried not to disturb them. 

 little gal was blissed out when she found a flower that someone had plucked already, just sitting on the rope that reigns in the swimmers. we came home sleepy and warm, happy with this day.

Weekend Post

Some pictures from the weekend... 

fun with smoke bombs!

things get mysterious, wooo

and yellow, 

and orange

strange

L. is going in

the morning times 

deciding to have a yard sale to make money to buy a new doll, and standing on one foot apparently helps  with the decision-making process

cowgirl 

lovely morning in the sun

p considers the barn

through the looking glass...really, taken through the bathroom window, not bad eh?

summer's on for sure!

amazing hibiscus! 

Happy Weekend!

I decided today that it's not always about Friday. While the day holds the promise of the great span of the weekend to come, it's easy to blast through to get to the really fun parts. This spring I have been making an effort to get more out of my days, or my evenings at least, so that I don't feel like I am putting all my energy into work alone. Some weeks I have been better at it than others, but that's ok. What if all the parts could be the really fun parts?

Weekend planning is a prime time to apply the Deathbed Priority Test:

On your deathbed, will you wish you would have spent more prime weekend hours shopping

or walking in the woods with your kids? 

                                                      - Louise Lague

Happy Friday Flowers!

It's Friday, so time to find some virtual flowers! I just did a quick search for paper flowers and was of course amazed...

Some made by hand or maybe more commercially, but wow!

I give this bouquet to you as a gesture of goodwill, and Friday!

A great weekend awaits! 

wreath found here, poppies here, these other flowers here, and bouquet here.

Happy Friday!

I do have some hoarding tendencies, which is why the internet is just perfect. 

I can shop for whatever I want

and buy it in my mind

which is wonderful! I really save a lot on shipping

and make fewer piles, which really deserves a blog post all its own

moments of beauty

mine, all mine!

site found via np who made baby g's curtains with this

What's for Dinner?

guess fish and poultry aren't considered "meat"?

funny how things change so little, or do they just come back around?

I started out looking for old Smokey the Bear posters and wandered my way here, 

love the silly pun, of course!