Tuesday Evening...A Few More Pics

Hi, there!

 

A few more photos for you tonight...

 

Hope everyone's having a good evening ~ I know, Tuesday's almost over...

 

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I said I wouldn't post any more tuberose photos...



I fibbed.



(Last one ~ this year ~ I promise!)



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Remember my vintage chair (Great Aunt Anna's)



with the birdcage and ornaments at Christmas?



(Okay, it was after Christmas...)



I couldn't resist putting a big basket of petunias in it ~



These are Wave Petunias, but they look like the old-fashioned kind,



don't you think?



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My supper!



(It was delicious!)



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I will tell you a secret...

 

I can't make myself clean house unless I rearrange something...

 

If I have a new plant or flowers from the garden to add, all the better!

 

We were having company last week and I had to do something...

 

(In the photo above, I've repurposed a little vintage perfume bottle that

 

belonged to Mr. B's mom...)

 

I just don't want to do housework at all anymore.

 

At ALL...

 

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So, I found "inspiration" in blue and white transferware and Zinnias...



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Someone told me they thought Zinnias were such a happy flower,



and they really are!



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I played with putting vases under some of my cloches...



Full disclosure here; if you keep your AC as low (some say cold)




as I do, they WILL fog...I thought when the flowers acclimated to the inside



temperature, it would stop, but no.



I'll bet I wiped them inside a dozen times before our company got here...



even folded little squares of paper towels



 and put under the edges to get some air in there ~



they still fogged.



I always had that trouble with terrariums, too.



They looked good for a few minutes, though, if I do say so myself!



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Isn't this the sweetest little transferware tureen?



It's not a family piece; I got it on eBay quite a few years ago...



Still, I just love it ~



I like to think about the little girl who owned it originally,



maybe serving tea to her dolls...



Can you imagine having the whole set of dishes that went with it?



That would be fabulous..."Awesome Possum" as my girls say...;)



I'm happy with just this little tureen, though.



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And finally, a couple more Fairy Houses...

 

"Toad Hollow" has gone to live with my dear friend Elaine in New York.

 

 That's it for this evening...back to painting!



Love,

 

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Catching Up!

Hi, Everyone!

 

I have been a bad, bad blogger!

 

(Starting with forgetting the date of Vanessa's Mad Tea Party...)

 

This has just been a strange summer, so far...

 

No one will be in public school ~ in my house, anyway ~ this fall...

 

Grandson Nick will be in 9th grade, but aside from picking him up

 

in the afternoon, my son Mark will have to do all the school stuff...

 

I have been dealing with Sikeston Public Schools now for thirty-four years!

 

(And I am still getting the school-related automated phone calls ~

 

I'll have to call and remind them that they can now



 take my number out of the system...;)

 

Jonathan and his older brother Neil will both be in college

 

before the month is out...

 

And then....then...

 

I don't know what.

 

Visit Katie in Atlanta? Visit Mandy in St. Charles?

 

Twiddle my thumbs?

 

(Actually, I'm trying to make myself get into the habit of painting again.)

 

I digress, though...



I really don't know the reason for this melancholy strangeness...

 

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One thing I'm excited about ~



Probably overly-excited about, as I am at this time every summer...




Tuberoses.




I have a passion for tuberoses...my Grandma Launius had them in her garden.



Always.



I grow them every year in memory of her.



What makes them so special?



They are so fleeting...a week's bloom-time, maybe two at the most...



depending on the temperature...(high temps make them all open up faster).



To me, the fragrance is summer when I was little, spending the night



at my Grandparents' house...which was air-conditioned ~



ours (at the farm) wasn't.



Such a treat...and Grandma's living room was all tuberose-scented



COOLNESS....Heaven.

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A Cypress Vine has laced these two together...


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Okay, this is all of the tuberose photos, I promise!

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Towering sunflowers!



My garden has just grown (like Topsy)



this year.



On its own, pretty much.




It's not being pampered like last year.



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A Cherry-Lime Zinnia...

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"Lime Queen"

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The marigolds are enjoying this rainy day...

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Cypress Vines everywhere!

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They thrive on neglect, though...



Look at this one coming up between the pavers!

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How about a dash of cuteness?

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Older brother Neil has been doing farm work this summer,



and a couple of weeks ago he brought this little baby home in his lunch box...



(A dog had gotten into the nest and this little fellow was the only one saved...)



Isn't he adorable?



I didn't know what I was going to do with him...



After a little online research,  I found



Watkins Wildlife Rehab



in Sedgewickville, Missouri ~ about an hour from here.



Conveniently for me, though, a kind soul who works at a veterinary office



here in town lives close to the rehab/sanctuary, and she took him there for me.



Happy ending!



♥



Here are a few of the ACEOs I've finished in the past few days...



(ACEOs are fun little baseball-card-sized artworks, 2 1/2" x 3 1/2")



I'm listing them on eBay;



If you'd like to take a look, I'd be honored ~



My eBay ID is october*moon...



or, you can click "Fiddlin' Under the Harvest Moon"



in the right sidebar, and go directly there.



I promise I won't spam you (much ~ ;),



but putting them here on the blog keeps me inspired!



I've had fun with them, anyway...



"Tallulah at the Mad Hatter's Tea"



(See my gold polka-dotted teapot?)

Tallulah's fantasy of having tea with the Hatter himself!

Watercolor and Colored Pencil

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"Ladies of the Club I"

Tallulah and her little Mousie friend in their feathery chapeaus...

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"Ladies of the Club II"

Tallulah and two of her little Mousie friends

in their fancy hats and red pocketbooks!

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"Tallulah's Halloween Party"

Tallulah (and helper) stir up a Halloween brew...

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"Conjuring Up a Rainbow"

Tallulah and friends have donned their wizard-garb

and are conjuring up a rainbow...

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"Fiddlin' Under the Harvest Moon"

Tallulah and friend, fiddlin'

in the moonlight...

look at those eyes peering out from under the leaves!

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New post soon...I have lots of catching up to do!



Love,

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The Mad Tea Party? It was SATURDAY? ~ Really??...Oops...

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Oh, no!

I had it in my head that Vanessa's (A Fanciful Twist's) Mad Tea Party 

was happening tomorrow...

And I have the little banner ~ with the date ~ here on my blog and everything...

I'm sorry, Vanessa!

Anywho, it's today; oh, WAIT ~ I am even later than I thought...it was SATURDAY!!



Good grief.



Anyway, here is my little contribution...

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"Oops" is right!

I had big plans, but life got in the way a little this year...

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I may have not had all the delectable sweets,

but maybe that worked out okay;

I'm on a diet...

So far, so good ~ :)

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Heirloom cups and a whimsical gold-polka-dotted Johnson Brothers teapot...

Cobalt vases and bright zinnias...

Pretty festive, if I do say so myself!

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I was going to pick a big vase of day lilies...

But they were just as pretty left in the garden...



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The pretty tablecloth is one of Golders Dewitt's lovely fabric designs...



(Check out her current ones at Spoonflower!)

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Isn't this teapot sweet?

The gold is so delicate...someone must have taken very good care of it...

I'd been waiting a year to use it at the Tea Party!

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And, last but not least, Cyrus ~ as the Hatter himself.



Happy Tea Partying, everyone!



If you have a chance to stop by again in the next few days, I will be



posting some more Alice-inspired goodies!



Love,

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The Bridges of Madison County...

Good Morning, Everyone!

 

(At least, it's morning for me!)

 

I'm off to Atlanta to visit Katie in a little while...

 

Son Jonathan has made me "Traveling Music" CDs...

 

He told me I have very diverse taste in music! ;^)

 

I do.

 

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I wanted to leave you with the covered bridges of Madison County, Iowa, photos...

 

Visiting them inspired me to re-read the book, by Robert James Waller,

 

and I've just started (taking it with me) A Thousand Country Roads,

 

the sequel. Now I want to see the movie again...

 

I know. Trite, maybe. A "chick flick".

 

I loved it, anyway.

 

My "Classic Movie" Katie had never heard of it (she was pretty young when it came out)...



Mandy said that she just hadn't cared to see it ~

 

:^(

 

Here are the bridges, though ~ thank you, Katie ~

 

I wouldn't have insisted we see them all (there are six now ~ nineteen at one time),

 

 but I'm glad we did.

 

♥

 

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The Cutler-Donohoe Bridge has been mover to Winterset City Park.



This was also the setting for Francesca and Robert's picnic in the movie...



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I don't know what this pretty purple wildflower is, but it was growing everywhere!



It's not Sweet William, but it looks a little like it...



Anyone?



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Cedar Bridge...



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Hogback Bridge...



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Holliwell Bridge...



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Imes Bridge...




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And finally, Roseman Bridge, the one Robert Kincaid, a photographer for



National Geographic, was looking for when he stopped to ask



Francesca Johnson for directions...(in the book).



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 You can read more about the history of the bridges here...



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Also, here's something new I've been working on...



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I'm incorporating my little Fairy House designs (complete with pinecone roofs)



into other painted projects...



What do you think about this little organizer? ~ "Fairy Lane" ~



More to come, possibly, for my Etsy shop...:^)



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I'm off!



Everyone have a safe and happy July 4th celebration!



Love,

 

 

Also, a very happy birthday to my dear friend Elaine! ~ ♥

 

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