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Take Three Thursday: Butterflies and Blooms

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Sunday we spent a couple of hours at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. There are several things I will miss on the North Shore now that Sarah and Adam are moving to Wisconsin, and the Botanic Gardens are high on that list. We visited a special exhibit called “Butterflies and Blooms,” and I thought three of those photos would fit right in with Mary-Lou’s Take Three Thursday meme.

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This butterfly landed among many of the blooms.

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If you look closely, you’ll see two butterflies on this beautiful orange flower.

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This butterfly was almost transparent.

I have to admit the butterflies were easier to photograph than my grandchildren who weren’t much interested in having their photographs taken!

A Variation on Take Three Thursday

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I’ve gotten way behind in posting some of the cards I’ve made recently, so I thought I’d do a variation on Mary-Lou’s Take Three Thursday and share three thank you cards. All three cards feature florals and die cuts.

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Here I started with the beautiful Shape Shifters: Circle 1 die from Papertrey, using just two of the three pieces to use as a focal point for the leaves from Reverse Confetti’s Tall Blooms which I colored with Copic markers to match the Hawaiian Shores card base.

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The sentiment is from Papertrey’s Gathered Garden set. I tied the the three leafy sprigs together with a piece of my favorite white silk ribbon and added a few sequins.

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For this card I started by die cutting a piece of white card stock with the Stitched Rays die by Reverse Confetti. Then I die cut one of the Pierced Round Top dies (also Reverse Confetti) so the stitched rays radiated from the left-hand side.  A die cut vase from Papertrey’s Vogue Vases and more florals from Reverse Confetti’s Tall Blooms were added. All were adhered to a striped piece of paper from my stash of single papers and then to a Licorice card by Memory Box. 

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There wasn’t an easy way to add a stamped sentiment so I die cut one from the Swooshes set by Papertrey.

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For the final card, I scored an Amethyst Allure card at every 1/2 inch and added two die cuts by Papertrey Ink: “thank you”, and the February Corner Adorner stamp and die.

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I used some foam dots to the Corner Adorner to add a bit more dimension.

Today is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. Here’s hoping it’s a good one for you!

 

Take Three Thursday: The Lilac Festival

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I’m joining Mary-Lou this week for her meme, Take Three Thursday. This week I had several options, but decided to share three photos from the Lilac Festival. It’s in the middle of it’s 10 run, and we walked over last night to grab a bite to eat, and see the flowers. With the cold April, I wasn’t expecting to see one of the most beautiful displays of lilacs we’ve seen in many years, but there it was. In addition to lilacs, there are gorgeous magnolias (usually finished by now, but not this year,) and a lovely path through azaleas (and soon to open rhododendrons.) It was hard to decide which photograph of the lilacs to share. I have some beautiful close-ups, but this one gives you an idea of how lush the bushes are this year.

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We’re really enjoying almost perfect spring weather right now. Tuesday we had a day of much needed rain, but it’s been clear and sunny with that exception. I finally got our pots for the front yard and the patio planted this morning. We’ve already begun enjoying a cup of coffee or a glass of wine on the patio. That’s when I know winter is over!

 

 

Take Three Thursday: Helleborus

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It’s been a few weeks since I joined Mary-Lou in her Take Three Thursday meme. Although we’ve had warmer temperatures, and some sunny days, not much is blooming in our yard. The helleborus are an exception, but they are planted off our patio and it’s only been warm enough one day to sit out there. In addition, the blooms hang downward so it’s hard to see how lovely they are. Last year, Maggie posted a photo of some floating in a bowl, so thanks to her, we have some on our living room table which we’ve enjoyed all week. 

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It’s not often that I overbook myself, but today is one of those days. When I leave here for my discussion group at noon, I won’t return until after 9:00 this evening. It’s a gray, rainy day so I guess being cooped up inside at meetings and with tutoring isn’t interfering with any outdoor activities.

Take Three Thursday: WSH Heart

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I’m joining Mary-Lou for her Take Three Thursday meme with three choices for #23:  “A Heart,” all found on our trip to Morocco.

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Tracy spotted this one on a tomb in the Fes Mellah (Jewish Quarter). Notice the French rather than Arabic. The French held a protectorate in Morocco from 1912-1955. They are responsible for building much of the modern parts of the main cities in Morocco, and French is still spoken by many Moroccans. The French influence is still felt throughout the country. In addition to the public schools, there are both French and American schools. These are private and lessons are taught in French or English, respectively. The two official languages in Morocco are Arabic and Berber. The Berbers represent nearly a third of Moroccans, but their language did not become one of Morocco’s official languages until 2016.

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This was one of the walls in the restaurant in Fes where we stayed, and had one of the best meals on the tour—a sea bass tagine.

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I took several photos of these two storks in their nest, and truthfully, didn’t notice that their heads formed a heart until I uploaded the photo.

I still have six more prompts for the Winter Scavenger Hunt to share, and will be back with those in the next day or two.

 

Take Three Thursday: Storks

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We’re home. It was a fabulous trip, and it far exceeded our expectations. Morocco is a country of great contrasts in geography, and incredibly rich in history and culture. I’m just beginning to sort through the 1500 photos I took over two weeks time. Granted many are duplicates, and many are easily tossed, but it’s going to take awhile to pare them down to a reasonable number to keep and print. I aim for about 100-150, although I’ll keep more than that for memories sake.

I thought I might use Mary-Lou’s meme, Take Three Thursday, to share a few isolated photos over the next few weeks. When I was growing up, one of my favorite books was The Wheel on the School.  When I read that storks were frequently seen in Morocco, I was hoping to see one. It didn’t take long. Our very first day in Rabat we visited the Chellah Kasbah, and there they were. 

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It rained most of the day in Rabat, but it didn’t diminish our enjoyment. It made for pretty dull looking skies in the photos, however. 

Take Three Thursday: Sledding

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I’m joining in again with Mary-Lou’s Take Three Thursday meme:

In an effort to notice more of the ordinary in my life, I have decided to share what I have noticed this week in Take Three Thursday.   The idea is to take photos that are linked some how; by theme, by colour, by date, by moment,  by points of view. 

We had a couple beautiful sunny days over the weekend. It wasn’t warm enough for serious snow melt, but definitely warm enough for sledding. Colgate Divinity School sits atop a hill at the end of our street. It has the perfect hill for sledding, steep enough to get good speed, but a long flat yard at the bottom to avoid any disasters. Matt brought Skyar (6) and  Ella (3) up for an hour or two of sledding, and I walked down to join them. I didn’t have any intention of sledding myself, but they were having so much fun, I ended up going down with Skylar before I walked home. Sadly (or luckily), Matt didn’t manage to get a photo of the two of us going down the hill.

They brought three sleds–two plastic ones, and one large inflatable one. Here’s Skylar ready to take off down the hill.

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And much to our surprise, Ella wanted to go down on her own. She loved it!

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Somehow I never ended up with a photo of the two of them going down the hill on the big inflatable sled. Coming up the hill is the hardest part. Ella managed a couple of times with Skylar’s help, but finally needed Dad to help her out.

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Matt and Sarah spent time sliding down this hill when they were kids. It’s fun to watch the next generation enjoying it as well!

Take Three Thursday

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Unexpectedly, I’m joining in with Mary-Lou this week for her Take Three Thursdays. Here’s Mary-Lou’s explanation of her weekly meme:

In an effort to notice more of the ordinary in my life, I have decided to share what I have noticed this week in Take Three Thursday.   The idea is to take photos that are linked some how; by theme, by colour, by date, by moment,  by points of view. 

When I read Mary-Lou’s post this morning, I didn’t think I had any photos that fit the meme. But it is SO nice today (over 40° warmer than it’s been recently) that I decided to take a walk. I had to walk in the street most of the way because the sidewalks are still covered with icy patches, deep puddles, and some crusty snow. The first thing that caught my eye was the reflection in this puddle:

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And then these branches caught my eye:

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And finally another reflection:

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Sadly this warm weather is not supposed to last. Another storm and cold front is headed our way. I hope it’s not too bad because we have plans every night from today through Sunday.

Take Three Thursday: Christmas Decorations

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I’m joining in with Mary-Lou today with her Take Three Thursday meme at Patio Postcards. Every week I intend to join in, and so frequently it just doesn’t happen. If she continues it next year, I’m hoping to be more consistent. 

I LOVE Christmas and Christmas decorations. Like many folks, I’ve pared down the decorations over the last few years, but that hasn’t kept me from picking up a few new ones. This year I found a delightful tin house and church one day when I was “window shopping” with a friend; both are candle holders. Before I had time to decide where to put them, I found a tin lamp at Pottery Barn. It was on sale, and I had a coupon, so I got it for less than half price. I love the three of them together on the side table in the dining room.

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I’m not counting the next photo as one of the three, but wanted you to see the darling deer ornament I picked up at Crate and Barrel in October. He was the perfect finishing touch.

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Next up, an oldie but goodie. Ten or fifteen years ago, I picked up a centerpiece at Pottery Barn. We had it on the dining room table each year, and there was no need to splurge on fresh flowers for Christmas dinner. About three years ago it began to looked very “tired” and I took it to a local florist who transformed it. It’s now way more beautiful than the original. I took this photo one morning because I loved the light shining on it. 

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Lastly, a white poinsettia that sits on the end table in the living room. This, too, had beautiful light one sunny morning.

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Take Three Thursday: Outdoor Christmas Decorations

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Despite many good intentions, I have not gotten a blog post up in nearly a week. I thought a good way to get “back into the game,” would be to join Mary-Lou at Patio Postcards for her Take Three Thursday meme. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I did a lot of inside decorating. It’s not done because we’ve had serious issues with the lights on our Christmas tree. After many hours and multiple phone calls, Tracy has finally given up trying to fix the ones we have and is now trying to replace the strings that blink incessantly off and on with lights the same size with the same quality of light. Not an easy task. I’m hoping it will all get resolved before Monday when one of my book groups meets here. 

We stayed away from the stores and the malls on Black Friday, but did venture out to the Garden Factory for poinsettias, a cyclamen, and an outdoor arrangement for the front garden bed.

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We had hoped to find an evergreen ball to hang on the wrought-iron hook, but they didn’t have anything of interest. The next day, however, when I pulled into the Wegman’s parking lot to buy groceries, I found just what we wanted. One of the things we love about this is that it is clearly visible to us from the kitchen table.

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The last decoration near the front door is a beautiful new McKenzie-Child wreath. It’s original price was way over our budget, but I picked this up at the warehouse sale for a tiny fraction of the original cost. What I like most about it is that it is clearly visible from the street. Our previous wreath was a simple grapevine wreath with red berries which you really couldn’t appreciate unless you came to the front door.

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It’s quite a bit more ornate than my usual style, but I’m really glad I purchased it. My Christmas cards are nearly finished, and hopefully Tracy will have the envelopes ready for mailing by early next week. This weekend I have several Christmas crafting projects I want to get started as well as starting to wrap gifts for the grandchildren. 

Take Three Thursday: Three Views

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I’m joining in with Mary-Lou at Patio Postcards for Take Three Thursday. I have three different shots of the same subject from our trip to the Chicago Botanic Garden. I loved the beautiful red vines twisted around the stone railing.

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So I’d be curious to know which one you prefer.

Three on Thursday: A Walk in the Park

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I’m joining in with Mary-Lou for her Three on Thursday where she’s making an effort to notice some of the more ordinary aspects of life. I took a walk in one of the smaller parks in our community earlier this week. I was looking for photos for an online class, some of which you’ll see when I post about the class. In addition, I took a few photos I liked that don’t work for the class at all, so thought I would share three of them today.

It was good I went a bit earlier in the week. It has already started to rain, the wind is blowing, and by morning we’re told to expect some snow, and to break the long-time record for coldest temperature for the date. Yikes! I’m not ready for this.

These photos, however, show a much more tranquil picture of the environment.

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What fascinated me about this photo were the shadows cast in the water by the plants.

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Take Three Thursday

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I’m joining in with Mary-Lou at Patio Postcards for Take Three Thursday. The three photos were all taken today, which started very early. A friend and I spent the night at her family’s cottage on Owasco Lake. Our alarms went off at 4:45 and we arrived at the famed McKenzie Child Barn Sale at 6:00. There was already a long line, but it actually moved along pretty quickly, and we were admitted to the sale around 7:15. It was a beautiful morning, and McKenzie Child is located in a lovely spot with gorgeous landscaping. 

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This is just a fraction of the line, and when we left the sale around 9:15, the line had only grown longer. To get a birds-eye view, you can see a video shot by a television station in Syracuse right here. (Let me add, that if you watch the video, not everyone at the sale had a list of over 100 items to buy, nor were we all buying items for over $100.) Everything, however, is 50% off, and I did add some bowls and vases to my Courtly Check collection, as well as picking up some gifts. 

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The ladies ahead of us in line clearly expected to do some serious shopping. The sale is incredibly well-organized. All these paper bags were handed out by staff as we waited in line. When you leave, there is a line of staff there to help you carry your purchases to your car. (We, however, did not need assistance.)

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They also come along with this cute frame, and offer to take your photo. Couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a souvenir of my first McKenzie Child Barn sale.

 

Take Three Thursday: Lioness on the Bus

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I’m joining in with Mary Lou at Patio Postcards, posting three “photos that are linked somehow: by theme, by color, by date, by moment, or by points of view.” We spent yesterday at the Seneca Park Zoo. The photos I’m posting today aren’t the best I took by any means, but they are probably the most interesting. We were quite surprised to see an old bus sitting in the lion’s enclosure, and even more surprised to see a lioness laying on the hood.

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And then we were even more surprised to discover we could enter the bus and take a look at the lioness from the inside the bus.

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The last two weeks have been filled with wonderful family time. Sarah, Adam, Caleb and Hannah will be heading back to Chicago tomorrow, and I will really miss them. But we have just one week before we’ll be leaving on a combined trip to a family wedding in Vermont followed by a long weekend with Matt, Betsy, and the girls on Nantucket. I have to admit, it’s pretty awesome to have so much family time in just a month and a half!