Yes, I’m still here

 

One of my followers, Rebecca, asked if I was still here, after that last post of hot, muggy temps. I am, and it is still hot and muggy. Just walking outside the sweat starts to bead up, it is awful! Yesterday morning I mowed, still need to weed whack, but that’s for another day.  I just can’t handle anymore than three hours outside in the mornings during the summer. Then I come in and veg the rest of the day in the a.c.

I visited PicMonkey yesterday and made a collage of the hibiscus, Hugs-n-kisses.  It shows all the wonderful colors and variations.  I just LOVE these flowers. Click on photo for a closer/larger view. These blooms are all from one bush.

While I was in here sitting at my computer yesterday afternoon I heard a thud.  I thought to myself, what is that? A car door? I checked out the window, no one was in the driveway. I took my camera outside a few minutes later because I wanted to get a photo of the carved wooden arms of an old Italian chandelier that was broken. Well, when I went outside I saw what I had heard. One palm frond was in my Queen Crepe, which I had to lift then pull out.  The fall broke a center limb of the QC, but that’s a small thing in the overall scheme of life. New growth will happen. I then looked in the driveway and there was another frond.  I’ve never had two down at once and they look they had been torn from the trunk, they didn’t just come off naturally.  I got the tree saw and cut these into thirds and took them out front to be picked up by the brush people on Friday.

 I had a wonderful surprise visit Monday afternoon from my sister Cheri and brother-in-law Vaughn. They live in the northwestern part of our state. We’ve not seen each other in about 18 years. It was a short visit but a happy one. It was also very emotional which left me drained afterwards and I felt sad yesterday too.  But, today I am feeling more like my old self again.  When Cheri and I hugged I just sagged into her comforting and loving embrace. I am so thankful for the visit we had, it was a real blessing.  Cheri walked around mentioning things she had seen on my blog, which was really neat. Of course, she saw all the nitty-gritty, not just the select views like I show in my blog.

Here are the pieces from the chandelier. I will pull out the light wires later. The arms had an iron rod inserted for the wiring and that rod was then welded to the chandelier framework in the center. I told them what I was thinking of doing but that I couldn’t cut them off. I had tried with a hacksaw, but that didn’t work. Vaughn suggested a saws-all and I told him I have saws-alls but was/am afraid of power tools. He asked if I had one with a metal blade and I said I didn’t know, so we went inside the workshop to look and there was one, and he proceeded to cut the arms off. Thank you Vaughn.  That is a blessing to me and a project to cross off my list of projects to be done.

The chandelier has been sitting on the outdoor workbench since I brought it home. It was broken, in two sections, and my boss threw it out. Well, you know me, I was ‘trained’ by a curbside shopper and after years of finding goodies, I could NOT let this go to the landfill to be buried. The two sections have just been sitting there as an ‘eye sore’. This whole area outside the workshop is a work in progress of cleaning up.

The arms are 9 inches at the widest part for the small, 8 inches high, and three inches deep at the cup looking part at the top. The larger one is 12 inches wide by about 8 1/2 inches high, cup is the same size as smaller one.

They have a red bole with silver leaf on parts as you can see. I’m thinking of selling these in my Etsy shop in pairs.

 

Here is my finished needlework piece, ‘Trust in the Lord’.

Overall size is roughly 9” wide x 8” high and a couple of inches thick.

I crocheted the flower and the butterfly. Used some old lace and trims, seed beads and fresh water pearls, and did some silk ribbon embroidery too.

I made it into a little pillow, lightly stuffed with poly-fill and backed with felt.

Now here come some sunrise pictures from the other day.

‘Red sky at night

sailors delight,

red sky in the morning

sailors take warning.’

We did have thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Seeing the moon from the bedroom window is what made me go out with the camera to get pictures below.

These are looking west.

These are looking east.

Sorry for the power lines, but it is what it is.

Today is a new day and I am going to be pampered this afternoon, treated to a shampoo and cut for my work with the FNF blog. My hair is long and I want to keep it that way, I’m just going to get it trimmed and tapered up the sides. The stylist has long hair herself and several customers with long hair, so I feel rather safe in her hands.  My dear husband used to trim my hair, but alas. I am looking forward to having this done.  I think having my hair washed by someone else will be very soothing. The last time anyone did that for me was my husband after we had been in a car wreck. We took a shower together and he stood behind me to wash my hair, which had some blood in it from my scalp being cut by my hair beret when slammed against the seat by the airbag.  It was a very tender moment, one I’ve never forgotten. I miss tender times, but have lots of memories of old ones.

Wherever you are whatever you are doing, create and cherish tender moments. Thank the God of all creation for your many blessings. Ask Him for strength whenever you need it. If we believe in Him, He has promised to never leave or forsake us.

 The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms…Deu 33:27 

Happy Summer ~ FlowerLady