Thursday, April 16, 2015

Flowers, a sweet ‘win’, another beaded shell

Good morning Folks ~ Hope you are all doing well. I am feeling better with each new day.

Monday afternoon I received a wonderful give-away win, that I had forgotten about.  Terry, who had the give-away, got sick and waited until she was well to work on my gift.  I ‘love’ it. It makes me feel happy. It suits me to a T. She did a lovely job. I don’t know much about needle felting, but have admired lovely creations by so many out on the web.  You can read Terry’s post about creating my piece, here. She did a wonderful job!  Butterflies, flowers and birds, bring JOY to my heart.

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Thank you Terry.

***

Next we have three glorious stems of the Dancing Lady orchids. I’ve been watching for a few weeks for these to open. This is at the back/east of caravan, between caravan and the ‘solar clothes dryer’, (clothesline).

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I just love the ‘cat whiskers’ blooms.  These do look like Miss T’s whiskers.

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This is ‘sweet almond’ and the scent is heavenly.

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Here are another couple of pics of the first beaded shell I did. More of the detail.

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Here is the second beaded shell.  I just love this design and it was relatively simple to do. Except that I bent my needle out of shape going through the somewhat hard backing to do this on, when getting started. Needle is very thin. The needle has a long eye which is great for threading. I did buy some of the .006 very fine beading thread and it works great.

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You can see how to do this here.

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I need to quit procrastinating and get some pieces listed in my little Etsy shop. Kathy B. gave me a huge plug in her comment, so I need to get busy.

***

Well, I guess that’s it from Plum Cottage.

( I need to do quite a bit of prep work, Sad smile before repainting the cottage plum, although, if I do it one section or two at a time, maybe it won’t be so bad. I had a ‘highly recommended’ painter out yesterday to get an estimate. He would charge me $60 an hour, he normally charges $75, said he’s fast. He understood if I wanted to do it myself ~ I told him I am on a limited budget ~ and gave me some pointers.  He also told me the paint brand I have picked out is a very good one. Behr Premium Plus Ultra. It has the primer and the paint all in one.  I had read about it online, decided it was what I wanted to use, and it was a joy to work with from the paint samples. Anyway, this is going to be an ongoing project, doing it when I can. He told me to not work in the sun, to take breaks and to drink lots of water. He sounded like my DH. (We were always conscious of these things, so as to not get dehydrated.) He/Jimmy the painter,  encouraged me and said he would walk me through the job and if I needed him for tips or any help to give him a call.  The encouragement alone was worth $60.)

Enjoy your days ~ FlowerLady

***

If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces,

never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.

Flavia Weedn, Flavia and the Dream Maker

19 comments:

Jane said...

The painter sounds like a nice man. Remember slow and steady wins the race. I love that cat's whiskers orchid. You have such different plants than we have here. Glad to read that you are getting better!

Hugs
Jane

Jean Campbell said...

Always love the Caravan. I think of it as the House of Memories. It was such a wonderful project.

What a nice man, to encourage your painting as do-it-yourself and to remind you to stay hydrated. You'll be keeping him in mind for later work as I do the fifty an hour lawn man.

Nancy J said...

We all need a man so like "Jimmy" and if it all gets too hard, maybe he could come for an hour to do the hardest parts, working together is lots easier, as we found with firewood and family assistance, well, they really did it all apart from Hugh working the log splitter handle. Those cats' whiskers, delightful.

crafty cat corner said...

I really like 'Miss T's Whiskers plant, so pretty and reminds me of Ruperts long whiskers.
Those shells are just so lovely and thank you for pointing me in the right direction to give this a go.
So pleased that you are beginning to feel better, hugs
Briony
x

sweetbay said...

The painter does sound like a nice man. Do take it slow, painting is hard work.

Your orchids are glorious!

Deb J. in Utah said...

I love the little "joy" pillow. What a great "prize." Your flowers are looking lovely as ever. Good luck with the painting project. We are usually do-it-yourself painters too. Hubby is painting the inside one room at a time, but we did pay someone to paint the outside because our home is two stories. Enjoy what's left of the week.

Darcie said...

I got to say the word on your pillow jumped out at me, 'joy'...the focus of my year, and what a beautiful giveaway you won!

I also am so impressed by the painter you found. What a great honest man to give you tips and help you along the best he could. "YAY" for honest, kind people. :-)

Ruth Hiebert said...

You are so creative.I like that. Love those Orchids as well.

gld said...

The orchid is a beauty.

What a find in that painter! I am a little shocked by his price and Jean's $50 an hour yard man. I hope they both do fantastic work rapidly.

I guess we are a little cheap here in the Ozarks.

I think if you just do one side at a time so the demarcation line won't be noticeable if you take your time to finish would be very doable for you. Good luck with the project.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

What a nice man that painter is. Glad he gave you some pointers... Hope you can do it yourself --although I know that that will be a big job.

Your beading is fantastic... SUCH details... Wow!

Love the orchids also... My orchid post will either be Monday or Thursday this next week...

What a nice gift for you from Terry.... Congrats... It's beautiful.

Hugs,
Betsy

Leslie Kimel said...

Such a nice post. Your Dancing Lady orchid is so pretty; it's so perfectly placed in front of the caravan. And I love your new beaded shell--just exquisite. Looking forward to the Etsy shop!

Julene said...

Beautiful orchid! That species is especially pretty due to its size and brightness! I'm glad you found a good painter that would help you. Keep on!!

One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

What a wonderful person
to help you.
They are few and far between.
God is Good...

Karen @ Beatrice Euphemie said...

What a sweet and happy cushion your friend has made - it looks very soft and cuddly! Your beaded shells are lovely and so unique. What a dear, sweet man to give you pointers on the painting without giving you the 'hard sell'. Your orchids are so amazing and your kitty looks very happy and content on her bed of pretty quilts. I hope your weekend has been nice. Hugs xo Karen

tina said...

Congrats on winning the felted pillow. WOW on the beaded shells! I've never seen those before. They are amazing and so beautiful. Love them! When you put them on Etsy please send me your link at ramseytina5@gmail.com.

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...

Your felted pillow is beautiful and so perfect for you! Lovely flower photos too! I am fascinated to see the progress on your beaded shell. Very pretty!

Sallysmom said...

I have cat's whiskers rooted to plant out. I have to water root it in the winter because it won't return on its on. I also have the sweet almond but I can't smell anything. But I never have been able to smell much of anything anyway. Hope the painting goes well for you.

Thistle Cove Farm said...

Jimmy sounds a dear and bless God for sending Jimmy your way. Yes, Behr is Wonderful paint and always a plus to have primer and paint in one. Less expensive as well. The work of your hands is beautiful, Rainey.

Kit said...

I love those shells! Who knew you could bead them. Good luck with your painting! Kit