Neat Creation

I have discovered a new site to edit and add special effects to my photographs. It is very easy to use and uploads photos from photobucket or Flickr. The site is free but does have a Premium feature stream which costs $24.95 per year. I'm talking about Picnik; truly a fun site.


This is the original picture which was edited. By the way the plant in the picture is one of the varieties of Sedum which is doing quite well in a pot on our patio. Looks very nice in the fall.

Beautiful but Dry Fall Day

I sure do hope it rains soon. It's getting hard to keep the garden looking good with the lack of rain. Plants can survive when they are being watered but they do so much better with rain. It's the first time since we have lived in Charlotte (1981) that the city of Charlotte has imposed mandatory water restrictions. We are not on city water but I've heard from people say that wells can also run dry. I have to keep an eye on Cliff who waters to keep plants and grass green.


Cliff pulled the Black Eye Susans and lined the flower bed with brick pavers. It looks good. Took some pictures this afternoon in the garden. We have one of those spiders that weaves and this afternoon I came home from work to find an anole lizard caught in her web. Not sure if the spider could eat it. A section of the lizard's tale was already shriveled. I set him free, of course. I tried to take a picture of the spider but she got nervous with my presence and kept moving/bouncing on her web.

Bumble bee on Sedum.
The Hibiscus don't seem to mind the drought.
Roses.

Meez - Aura

This was part of a Learning 2.1 exercise. I created this avatar and tried to make it look somewhat like me. I really don't have blue eyes so I goofed. Will have to go back and edit. It was fun choosing the clothes and accessories. You can create your own "Meez".

Summer of 2007

This picture was taken in early August. Notice how well established the Black Eye Susans look. The yellow finches love the seeds. They work so hard extracting them.

The Cockscomb have done quite well. They were started from seed. Their vivid color has been a great addition. I will have to remember to collect seeds. This plant is very drought tolerant.

My Anniversary -- 27 Wonderful Years

27 Wonderful years

The picture you are seeing was taken actually more than 27 years ago. Our wedding took place on September 13, 1980 in Panama City, Republic of Panama. This really was our Engagement Picture. Back then I was 24 years old and Cliff was 27. We sure have changed physically, who doesn't? I am blessed to be able to celebrate this special date next to my wonderful, caring, loving and gentle husband. Not a day goes by that he doesn't show me how special I am to him.

I'm looking forward to celebrating many more years next to my sweet wonderful husband, my soulmate.

Matthews Alive Festival

This past Saturday my orginal plan was to visit Renfrow Hardware Store in Matthews to pick seeds to plant this fall. I knew that Matthews Alive was going on but did not think that the hardware store would be closed. Well it was. The Farmer Market was not going on, either...So I decided to browse and visit the craft vendors.
There was at least 5 booths selling hand made bags. Picked up two cute bags which regularly sold for $25.00 at $6.00 each. This company has an online store at: Simply Notes and Totes



A couple of weeks ago I picked up this other bag from from Adrianne who sells her bags at the Mint Hill Farmer Market. Her bags are just beautiful. She told me she had no idea how she could set up an online store. She reads your blog Andrea and is amazed at all the things you do. I did tell her about Etsy and she said she'd look into it.

Take a peek at Adrianne's beautiful bag. The handles are really black not blue as the pictures shows.