It's a coconut world, and a new wreath for Christmas!

I was out driving and touring the island of Palm Beach, where all the rich and famous live, and upon driving back to the mainland, I discovered this row of 8 palm trees filled with coconuts!  They looked so pretty all in a row like this!  I had to pull over and get a picture!

And a few close-ups!

All I can think of now is a Pina Colada!!!  hehehe.

Here is an old wreath I've had, made beautiful once again!  Created for Christmas, to hang on outside of daughters new art studio!  The room that is destined to become my husbands office when he retires, temporarily became daughters art studio until then. She has only a couple of electives left to take for her AA degree! Smart girl got all the hard, mandatory classes out of the way first!  She has the biggest interest in art as her degree, but she loves designing houses! Sounds like an architect to me!!! We shall see.

Sorry it turned out to be such a small image.  The lighting wasn't the greatest either.  The basic wreath I had made years ago by wrapping an artificial vine of white flowers around a grapevine wreath.  I've probably had it 20 years.  I have loved it so much, as it was sweet and simple.  I stuck in pink Christmas piks, and attached pink butterfly clip-ons.  Wrapped some gold ribbon all around, and voila!  A lovely PINK decoration for my sweet daughter!  

HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON EVERYONE!

Julie

Discoveries, gardening, flower drying, and embroidery!

I was walking around the neighborhood tonight I found this amazing vine growing on my cousins fence. You get the idea of the size of these "fruits" hanging on the chain link.  They are so pretty!

They open up when ripe and these beautiful red beans are inside! Just gorgeous!!!!!

I have no idea what it is. Any ideas??

Look at these sprays of a Bougainville down the street from me! The white to light pink coloration is spectacular!

And the last thing I wanted to show you is my first set of 2 dried Mum flowers that I kept in my mini flower press for three weeks.

I peeled the blotting paper off and a few of the delicate petals fell off. I will Mod Podge them to some handmade paper to send out my next handwritten letter.

My gardening 5 year old granddaughter picked so many flowers to dry on our walk tonight, that I had to use the blotting paper and stick them all into the middle pages of a big thick book! I have some small weed flowers to put into my small press. It will be fun to see them all in 3 weeks!!!!!

And a few pics from the tire garden!

And the little coaster I made with embroidery on felt, then attached to cork underneath. I have the matching cup cozy to finish. This was a gift from my son and his wife. It's so cute!

So these are some things I've been doing, and I hope to show you my butternut squash crop that I started from seeds, from a squash we ate from the grocery store!  This was fun! It has been raining, today and then it got dark before I could take a photo of the seedlings!!!

See you again soon!

Xoxo-Julie

Loss of a dear blogging friend.

For many of your cactus and succulent enthusiasts, you are familiar with the blog ,http://waterwhendry.blogspot.com, written by Aiyana.  Unfortunately we just heard of her passing in September due to complications from surgery.  She had just moved from her large, beloved home due to health issues, and now this.  She answered everyone's questions and has a blog that is so knowledgeable. She sent me a card one time with her fav cactus bloom on it, we exchanged ATC cards, and once she just mailed me a pack of Mary Englebreit stationery and stickers cause she just thought I would like them!  I think of her so often over time. She was a bright, shiny spot in my life.

Her sister, at http://pudgeduck.blogspot.com, posted about this.  If any of you talked to or followed Aiyana's blog, and would like to leave messages for her sister, please go to her blog.

Here is the poem Aiyana had/has on her blog. It just shows her heart.

OUT OF THE VAST

There's part of the sun in an apple,
There's part of the moon in a rose;
There's part of the flaming Pleiades
In every leaf that grows.

Out of the vast comes nearness;
For the God whose love we sing
Lends a little of his heaven
To every living thing.

August W. Bornberger

I will miss you very much Aiyana.  You were a wonderful friend to me.
Hugs for eternity,
Julie