5/26/2010 - Rare Beauty

Ever since I was a kid I remember my grandmother telling me to watch out for ladyslippers when I was up in Maine.  These little plants were beautiful and NEVER to be picked by my little hands.  I don't know if it was true, but I basically had the understanding that picking them was illegal and if I so much as brushed one I might be carted off to jail by some omnipresent big brother entity whose sheer existance was to punish bad little flower picking girls. 

The ladyslipper shown here is a pink ladyslipper or cypripedium acaule according to Wikipedia, and is one of five rare species of orchids that grow in north america and other areas of the world. This pretty one is only one of a pair in my in-law's front yard that I have seen every year since Brian and I started dating.  Pretty neat huh?

5/24/2010 - I swear I was just born in the wrong century

You know.... I like spinning, knitting, crochet, cooking, growing herbs in a container garden and anything hand made.  Sometimes I feel a little out of place in the modern day with all my old world interests.... then I think about all the fun things I do with my blog, digital photography and social media.  So... maybe I do belong on the present day, I just have strong tendencies for doing things the old school way.  Oh, and this is a picture of a beautiful Ashford Traveller Spinning wheel.  Hopefully I will have a similar one of my own some day soon!

5/22/2010 - Is it getting cooler in here?

A very feisty sheep getting a haircut today at the Wooley Ways in Olden Days textile fair at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury.  This guy put up a bit f a fight and even managed the make the shearer cut himself!

5/20/2010 - Plying Insanity

The center pull ball of one of my hand spun singles wrapped around my wrist so I can pull from both ends and ply them together using the Andean plying technique on my drop spindle.  Very very cool and easy to do so long as you remember to not cut off the circulation to your hand, lol.

5/17/2010 - Bountiful Blooms

One of the pretty blooms on the bushes in front of our apartment building.  I keep on forgetting to check into what kind of a plant this is.  I think I knew at one point but the name has left my brain at the moment.

5/15/2010 - I might just be getting better at this...

This is the beginning of my second attempt at hand spinning my own yarn.  Thus far I am very happy and love the color, which is called Cactus Flower :-)  After spinning up all the roving, I plan to make a 2-ply yarn out of it, which I have never done before... so things could get interesting real quickly!

5/14/2010 - Fuzzy Grill Visitor

We found this guy sunning himself on the grill cover when I got home.  These guys actually skeeve me out a bit, plus they eat trees.  Bad caterpiller!  I blame you for the leaved of our jurassic sized hosta having holes in them.

5/13/2010 - Bleeding Hearts

I seriously need to get one of these plants someday.  They are so delicate and beautiful.  

This lovely specimen is my mom's.

5/11/2010 - Drip Drip

My lilies after the deluge on Saturday.  They seemed pretty happy if you ask me.

5/10/2010 - Fruitizer

The pineapple before I hacked it to bits to make roasted pineapple chunks wrapped in bacon.  Excellent recipe by the way.  We brought it to a friend's house as an appetizer.

5/9/2010 - Calm before the storm

Ah, there's my lovely new hanging pot filled with beautiful pink new guinea impatiens.  I just picked it up at Ferjulians the other day and for this year, I was planning on this one pot being the only annual I purchased.  Well, This morning we woke up and when B was running some trash out to the dumpster he noticed that in all that wind last night my poor impatiens had taken a spill and landed flower side down.  He picked them up they looked a little sad, but I think they'll bounce back.  They fell a good 6 feet, so if they survived that fall without complete destruction, I think they'll make it in the long run.  

5/8/2010 - Time's Patina

An old sundail in my parents' backyard.  I love the color is is slowly getting as it ages.

5/7/10 - Brave Birdee

Found this stalwart defender when I was at my folks house the other day.  Apparently this is one bird the cat has not chased off the property.

5/6/2010 - Ferns Rule!

Anytime a plant comes naturally in my two favorite colors, it is a-ok with me!

5/3/10 - Herbage

Our herbs waiting to be put in the ground.  I'm hoping I can keep them alive until Wednesday night when I finally will have a chance plant them all.

5/2/10 - Cedar - Haha just kidding, it's a birch!

Just one sample of the flora in our back patio area.  So, I'm a dope and this is actually a birch.  Brian called me on the cedar declaration the other day and when I thought about it some more today, I realized I was wrong about the whole cedar thing.