What I Learned Whilst Reclining in My Yard, Today . . .

I've learned some things this evening, while relaxing in the front yard. Like . . . at any given moment, there are one, two, or three dragonflies, red ones, big red ones, in the airspace over our little piece of Earth . . . all flying the same direction {except for one little guy whom I surmise must have forgotten something and had to fly back to get it}. . .otherwise they are all flying toward the river . . . so we know where they're probably going, but where are they coming from? Did they fly the other direction this morning, and now are returning home for the evening?

And there are lots of tiny little birds in our neighborhood. {I know, that's redundant, but they are tinier than little and bigger than tiny.}

Then there are the hummingbirds. They like to perch at the tippest toppest perch they can find. In this case, our neighbor's giant redwood trees. Little man syndrome, I guess.

Another thing about hummingbirds, when they fly directly away from you, and the only backdrop is beautiful, clear, light blue sky, they look like X-wing fighters. And they kind of sound a little like 'em, too.

And the birds . . . when they fly by some of them flap several times, and then fold their wings and glide, while others, leave them extended to coast. Like this; flutter, flutter, flutter, fold and glide, flutter, flutter, flutter, fold and glide. . . I suppose that isn't Earth shattering news to anyone, but from underneath and according to their yellow tummies, I thought they were all goldfinches, but apparently they weren't the same at all.

. . . And, I think I need to spend more time outside. The birds were singing while I spread my blanket on the side of the yard where the bird feeder hangs, maybe they were scolding {I did notice that it was empty, so I filled it}, and moved my little nest to the other side where the pickup in the driveway obstructs the birds' view of a person in their yard. After I moved, though, the singing stopped altogether. Maybe they were scolding . . . At any rate, I wish they were more accustomed to me, so I could stay . . . and hear their lovely little songs.

Do You Know What Day It Is?

It's Give-away Day! Drumroll, please! . . . . . . . . . . . . the winner is . . . . . . . .

Melinda @ Baker Family! Yay! Hooray! Celebrate! The pearl necklace is on it's way! {after I string it tonight. grin}

Treasure Necklace

Here it is! It's the wonderful necklace that I finally produced after my class with Robin Dudley-Howes at Gilding the Lily in Fullerton.

The script underneath the butterfly is copied from one of Grandma Seastrand's postcards. I was the recipient of her very own collection {from her childhood, circa 1900-1910}. {And, I would never deface one of them! I promise! I only photocopy them!}

. . .as is the postmark under this butterfly {from one of her postcards}. Robin supplied each of us with a few scraps of paper from which to choose the words to narrate our projects. I liked 'bide' for the butterfly. As it turned out, I seem to have used several butterfly images, and pardon me if I go and get all ethereal on you, but really, just imagine the butterfly as it bides it's time in the chrysallis, just imagine . . .
{It looks like maybe I was feeling a little bit ethereal that day, and maybe today, too.}

This wonderful little bottle {about 1 1/2"tall} is filled with German glass glitter and a pearl. The bottle's own serendipitous words read, "classic elegance". Don't you just love the word "Serendipity"?


. . . also a vintage image, this grand beauty. The charms are an assortment of nifty little finds like a sparkly green stone that I wore on my charm bracelet when I was a little girl. {I remember when Mom bought it in a jewelry store on Guam.} There are bits of old broken jewelry that I have been holding on to, and an old button cut from deer antler that all the guys at the antique fair thought was likely American Indian. It is lovely {If I do say so myself!} and I love it!

Vintage Bird Collage Exchange

This project was such a blast! The theme for the swap at The Vintage Dragonfly Studio was, Vintage Bird. The size of the collage itself is 5"x 5". I haven't received the one that is being shipped to me, yet. But this one is my submission.

The glass window panes are a whopping 2 1/2 inches square.

The edge is a page from an ancient German language book. I did not deface the book! Honest! Someone just happened to give me the page, at a class. Isn't the font lovely?



A pearl rests in the gold wire and antique print nest. The little silhouette is cut from the same text. It's positively ancient and very brittle. That's a vintage locket displaying a bit of quail egg set on green velvet.

Les Memoires d'un Oiseau ~ loosely translated, The Bird's Memories

100th Post Giveaway!

Did you see it? Just like that, my 100th post came and went. That's it below. The Wedding. You have three days to leave a comment in order to enter the drawing for a pearl necklace, and on the third day, I'll draw a name. Good luck!

The Wedding!

Mr. and Mrs.

So . . . one day, your son is minding his studies, doing a "Semester Abroad" at Oxford. You notice that the middle of the night Skype calls are fewer and farther between, then the email frequency is similarly diminished.

hmmmmm . . . you think.

He mentions that, "There is a girl. . ."

hmmmmm . . .you think.

Then, when you do hear from him, he begins peppering his sentences with "Amy and I".

hmmmmm . . . you think.

He sends pictures home, "Amy and I at C.S. Lewis' house" "Amy and I at Stonehenge" "Amy and I at the Eagle and Child", "Amy and I frolicking in the snow", and so forth.

hmmmmm . . .you think.

This is going somewhere, you think.

You're very right.

It was a sweet country wedding. Yellow daisies, eyelet, gingham and Mason jars..

The flower cart was also the candy buffet. You can't see the shelf in this photo where Mason Jars held all manner of old fashioned confections. The vintage style candies were a pretty wonderful treat!












The stained glass window was originally built for Elizabeth and Justin's wedding, five years ago. They were married in the same garden. What wonderful memories we have there!
When Elizabeth was first looking it over, she looked at the brick wall, with that lovely window opening, and mused that she wished there were a stained glass window in it so it felt more like a church. I hadn't done much stained glass in . . . a number of years, a great number of years, and I liked the idea. I really, really liked it! . . . so there you go! That is the way the stained glass window happened.

This lovely lady is my Granndmother, and the Groom's Great Grandmother. When I say," my Grandma says . . ." she is the one that I am quoting. This is Grandma Cassie Lillian. The precious new baby is named for her.

Isn't it a wonderful life?