Leedra's Photos For Fun

Happy New Year's to all my blog buddies

2011-12-31T18:32:00.003-05:00

I went this week to visit my Uncle Johnny and Aunt Perry Nell in Ellijay, Georgia. I went to teach Aunt Perry Nell to knit. She did very well, which shows you that you are never too old to learn new things (don't tell anybody, but she is 75 years young). We had a very good visit. This was the view Thursday morning from their front porch. The frost was so heavy that it looked like snow.

Hope everybody has a very good 2012!!

Wendy's 2nd book - now available

2011-12-03T11:53:00.011-05:00

Wendy's 2nd book in the Campbell Creek series is now available.
Just in time for Christmas.

Wendy has a blog now about being a writer, if you are interested in following her, http://wendylyoung.wordpress.com/. On Amazon and Barnes&Noble you can do a search on Wendy L. Young to see both books and her short story "One Final Night".

Wendy's Amazon page.

Wendy's Barnes & Noble page.

Check out her reviews, especially for the new book. Here is one from a fellow blogger some of you might know her as ItsJustMeWendy, not to be confused with my daughter Wendy.

And just in case you haven't picked up on it yet. The cover photograph was taken by me. Wendy's husband, Lukas, used photoshop on it (which I don't even have a clue how to use) and changed it to red. The original photograph was more orange (which you see when I post comments on your blog). But for this book it needed to be red.

Check out this blogger review with Wendy. Notice at the bottom, Wendy has now gone on the international best seller list.

Old Car and barn

2011-10-26T11:03:00.002-04:00

The family went for a 'fall color' ride this past Sunday afternoon.
Thought this was neat.
Wish they had a hole cut out so we could stand behind
the door like we were actually in the car.

Fall has arrived

2011-10-19T20:33:00.002-04:00

This photograph was taken last year at the Cumberland Mountain State Park. That day was a beautiful fall day. Not like today. Today has been a very rainy, COLD day. We were in the 80's here yesterday, today the high was 55. And dropped quickly from there.

Just in case you don't know it yet, I have finally started a blog about my knitting. You can find it here. Since I knit more than get out with my camera, it will probably get posted more often than this blog, especially during the winter.

A Sept day at Appalachain Museum

2011-10-13T09:45:00.001-04:00

I stopped to photograph the sheep,
but couldn't resist some of the rest of the museum.
My friend Alice loves goats,
so I just had to photograph the goats for Alice.

I don't blog much, but it seems like when I do blog it is about my knitting.
So I decided to start another blog (????). And today I have posted sheep photos from the Appalachain Museum taken this same day. The link to my new blog is here.

Butterflies in the yard

2011-08-24T10:42:00.002-04:00

Most of my flowers this year were destroyed by the hail storm of 4/27/11, or the repairmen that came to my house. I did have a few flowers and the butterflies are still coming around. I don't have near as many zinnia as I usually do because they were just beginning to come up when the roofers came. Then about the time a few more came up the gutter replacement happened. I just keep saying next year we will have our flowers back.

I am just glad some butterflies have decided to stop for a visit. Right now my Crepe Myrtles are helping too. Don't think I have ever noticed the butterflies on the Crepe Myrtles before this year, maybe they are 2nd choice to all my other blooms. And as you can see I still preferred to photograph the butterfly on the zinnia (one of the few I have).

Review and interview with Wendy

2011-08-21T14:53:00.005-04:00

My friend, Wendy, at Wall to Wall Books has a review of Wendy's book (yep, same first name)and an interview with Wendy. Hope you will check it out. Wendy has her book (post below this one) download for $0.99 this weekend only. Downloads are normally $2.99. Her short story download is now free. Think it will remain that way, at least for a while.

Wendy has another blog I follow, It's Just Me.
Some of you might know Wendy from there.

And my daughter has a blog here, about being a writer.

Wendy's 1st book

2011-08-03T22:26:00.003-04:00

My daughter, Wendy, has self published her first novel.
It is now available for ebooks.
The link for the Kindle is here.
The link for the Nook is here.

The printed copy should be available very soon on Amazon.

I bought my Nook edition today, but I have already read it twice.
My sister-in-law couldn't put it down, she read it in less than 24 hours.

Surprise Lilies for Starr Lillie

2011-07-24T11:40:00.003-04:00

This is the sight all over east Tennessee right now.
One time I used one of my photographs of these lilies for my niece Starr Lillie,
without thinking about her middle name.

Now I think of her everytime I see them bloom.
Today is her daddy's birthday, but this post goes to Starr.

For those of you that don't understand why the name, I will explain.
In the spring the greenery shoots up with the daffodils, even appears to be a daffodil, but it never blooms. The greenery fades, along with the daffodils. Then late July or early August upshoots the flower stem, with buds aplenty.

Hope everybody is doing well, and has a blessed day.

Odds and Ends

2011-07-09T16:08:00.004-04:00

Even though so many of my flowers were destroyed by the hail storms of 4/27/2011 I do still have a few visiting butterflies. I also got a quick glance of the Clearwing Moth (so commonly called Hummingbird Moth, although there are 2 different Clearwing Moths)

The most unusual place I have ever seen a bird lay it's egg.
Guess it was because of the color on the right of way post.
No, I do not know what happened, because I forgot about it for a few days.
When I went back to check there was no sign of it.

My new knit designs

2011-06-23T15:22:00.009-04:00

I have been designing this summer, while at home getting the repairs completed from all the damage caused during the storms 4/27/11.
Audrey modeling her suntop and then her sundress. The sundress pattern is with a test knitter right now in hopes of selling this pattern.

I have also been designing lace gloves. The teal pair has a ruffle at the cuff.
Not sure I am going to publish this pattern, but it is also
with a test knitter right now.

The cream colored lace gloves, is a different pattern.
The stitch is called drooping dayflower, which instantly caught my eye.
I took the drooping dayflower stitch and designed a glove around it.
This pattern has already been with the test knitter,
and the pattern has been added to Ravelry for purchase.
And I sold my first pattern within 24 hours.
If you are a Ravelry member click here for the link to the pattern.
Ravelry does require a login, if you are a knitter and don't
belong you should join, it is free.

The rains and storms are in East Tennessee again,
so temporarily my repairs are on hold.

Hope all of you are doing ok.

Purple Coneflowers this morning

2011-06-18T08:53:00.002-04:00

It was still early, so the shadows are more than I like in the photos.
But notice the difference in the flowers.
The top photo is a typical coneflower bloom.
The next one is more flat than Coneflowers usually appear.

The 3rd one is my favorite. I love how the petals are straight down.

As you can the roofers didn't kill all my plants close to the front of the house.

Hope everybody has a wonderful weekend. Happy Birthday to my friend Jan.

Beautiful morning

2011-06-07T10:16:00.004-04:00

The yard is beginning to recover a little from the hail damage of 4/27/11. I have one bloom on two different hydrangeas. You can see just a little hail damage on the greenry.

My daylilies are going to bloom, but it appears that all my asiatic and oriental lily bulbs have been eaten by something since last year. I had a 12 ft, by 3 ft patch, and a single row about 20 ft long. Not one single sprout this year. I don't know what else other than some critter must have enjoyed the taste. Thank goodness they don't like daylilies.

The roofers came today and are hard at work.

Spring keeps getting better

2011-04-12T11:30:00.000-04:00

Love birds are flying everywhere. They are fighting over the boxes, but I am sure soon they will have all that straightened out between them.My small purple wisteria. And my white wisteria on the arbor in the backyard. Someday it will be as large as the one we had in Halls, but it still has a way to go.

This morning from the front porch

2011-04-10T07:44:00.003-04:00

This was the veiw from the front porch 45 minutes ago.

Spring has turned pink today

2011-03-21T07:00:00.001-04:00

The Flowering Almonds have just started to open.
They will be gorgeous in a few more days.

See the spideweb below?

My hyacinth bulbs were transplanted from Rockwood.
I didn't even know what color they were going to be.
The bulbs were planted in the grass and the bulbs were just
about to nothing when we moved them. They are so pretty,
sure am glad we moved them home.

Daffodils that look like peonies

2011-03-19T17:57:00.002-04:00

I bought these daffodil bulbs from Brecks years ago, but the first years they
weren't even pretty, because they didn't develop correctly.
Now they develop and are very pretty, but they are so full the stems won't even support them. I just give up and cut them and bring them in the house to enjoy.

Oh, and they smell heavenly.

Spring is in the air--with Granny's daffodils

2011-03-13T15:00:00.002-04:00

Granny Sorrells daffodils are my first real sign of spring is here.

Such a gorgeous day outside today,
and Granny's daffodils are getting thicker every year.

Eagle at Tierra Verde, Florida

2011-02-16T18:02:00.001-05:00

I took these photographs February 2011. I posted photographs taken February 2009 at the same location, click here to see the earlier post. The photographs then were of what I thought was a 3rd year eagle. So is this the 5th year, or has the 3rd year eagle gone and this is one of the original parent eagles?

Sorry, the photographs aren't closer, there is a pond between the nest and me. With signs that people are not allowed any closer, due to the eagle nest.

I retire the end of the month. I will see if I am able to get back to blogging, or if retirement will still have me too busy to sit in front of a computer.

Dallas Star Daylily

2010-09-14T09:39:00.002-04:00

This photograph was taken 2 days ago. This is my last daylily hurrah for the year.

I bought this one in 2009. The book says "Masses of star-shaped lavender pink blooms". For this to be a very divided plant this is great, specially late in the year like this. I can't wait to see this one as the plant gets larger. It is suppose to be a mid-season bloomer, but oh well, who is complaining about beautiful daylilies in September? Not me.

It is a beautiful day outside and I have less than 2 weeks until I start working dayshift instead of evening shift....think I will go outside and enjoy God's gorgeous world.

Red Spotted Purple

2010-09-13T07:00:00.000-04:00

I don't know why I can't ever photograph the Red Spotted Purple on a flower. They are a gorgeous butterfly.
but they are always on the ugliest backgrounds.

Variegated Fritillary and bees

2010-09-10T07:00:00.000-04:00

Just a beautiful Variegated Fritillary Butterfly on a "beautiful flower" as Mason says as he snaps that bloom off and gives it to me.
Mason does love to pick his Granny's flowers,

but on this day the butterfly was allowed to enjoy the bloom by itself.

That is until the bee came along.

And then a second bee came along, and the butterfly was gone.

Notice the pollen sac on the 2nd bee.

Five Spotted Hawkmoth

2010-09-08T14:00:00.000-04:00

This was a chance meeting. My driveway washed out due some heavy rains. While I was working my husband came home (works out of town) to straighten out the driveway. He called me and said we had something unusual at the 4 o'clocks. I am trying to tell him over the phone how to use my D-SLR. Which was fairly comical in itself, since he doesn't use a camera at all.Well, he was not successful. Neither was I the first night I was there at dusk.
For some reason my 4 o'clocks don't open at 4PM, but at dusk. And that is when this moth shows up. Every night apparently....at dusk.

The very worse time for photographing anything that won't stay still longer than a second.

But I did capture enough photographs to send off to Hap for his advise. I told Hap I thought it was a Carolina Sphinx. I was close in appearance, but wrong. And once Hap said it is a Five Spotted Hawkmoth I see the differences.

I don't know if this moth just comes out at night, or if it just wants the 4 o'clocks and doesn't like any of the other flowers that I have. But I have not seen it at any other time. There we were at dusk, sitting in the lawn chairs waiting on the 4 o'clocks to open. They open and less than 2 minutes later the moth shows up. What internal clocks they must have. Or kind of like when the bird feeder is empty and you fill it and instantly you have a backyard full of birds.

It was a wonderful experience and one of those times for the memory bank.

Me at the Grove Park Inn

2010-09-08T02:15:00.002-04:00

The Gallery of the Mountains inside the Grove Park Inn has a blog post (or two) about my greeting cards and fingerless gloves that they are now selling.
The most recent blog post is HERE.

Earlier they posted just about my greeting cards HERE.

I was surprised about the most recent post because it had not been that long since they posted about my cards. The Gallery of the Mountains is a very nice gift shop that only sells high end crafts. The Gallery is located in the Grove Park Inn, Asheville North Carolina. If you are in the Asheville area just a visit to the Grove Park Inn is worth a stop by.

I would greatly appreciate comments on their blog
from those of you that have seen my cards in person.

Clearwing Moth

2010-08-25T15:00:00.000-04:00

This Clearwing Moth is a Snowberry. I would love to see the Hummingbird Clearwing Moth,

because it has more color than the Snowberry.
The Snowberry was in my flowerbeds for 4 or 5 days.

The one below the wings can't be seen at all,

guess that is where it got it's name.

But against the sidewalk background the wings can be seen.

If you only click on one to enlarge, it needs to be the one below.

Coneflowers and a skipper

2010-08-19T12:37:00.003-04:00

This photograph (taken in June) makes me realize how few Skippers I have seen this year. I usually have lots of different skippers. Other than the Silver Spotted Skippers I think this is the one skipper I have seen. Very unusual around my zinnias.

Love the dew on this one.
Or maybe from the looks of this, it was rain instead of dew.

You know me, I just have to get closer and closer.

And I do have a few white Coneflowers.

Working on my card order, which makes me go through photos and decided to take a pause and post these.

Fluttering Buckeyes

2010-08-18T07:00:00.004-04:00

We have had more Buckeye butterflies at our house this year than in previous years. Since I really like the Buckeye butterflies, I have really enjoyed the additional visits.

The next one is such an unusual capture, I just had to include it here.

The Buckeye on the pale pink zinnia is so different looking.

I also posted one at my Photography By Leedra blog back on July 29.
Not many people follow me there anymore, but the Buckeye on a different color looks so different. I have been lucky enough to capture them on different flowers, including the butterfly bush in the last photo.

Notice the difference in the eyespots on this last one.

It is getting real hectic at work with all the changes going on. I am still on evenings at this time, but doing prep work for going to days. Looks like it will be the end of October before I actually go to days. I decided to go ahead and post my butterfly pictures while they are fresh, and I will visit as I get a chance.

Tuesday evening I heard from the Gallery of the Mountains (Grove Park Inn, Asheville North Carolina). They are reordering cards from me. I checked their blog and one of my cards is on their blog, posted this past Sunday.

Oh, and some more good news is, the fawn was seen on Sunday afternoon. When spooked she goes straight for the woods behind the house, and not in the direction of the highway. So maybe she will survive.

Spicebush Butterfly

2010-08-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

Some of these photographs are already in my greeting cards.

And there are two chasing each other.

The Solo Monarch has arrived

2010-08-14T09:00:00.003-04:00

The Monarch has finally arrived in my yard.
We don't get alot of Monarch butterflies. Wish we did get more. I don't know if I have ever seen more than one at the same time.
But they sure are real eye catches.

If you wonder what you are seeing is a Monarch, it isn't.
They just stand out in the crowd.

I find the Monarch harder to photograph than other butterflies.

Especially to capture a great photograph with the wings spread open.
Still working on that, someday I will get a good clear one.

Now 'somebody' has left me a present on the cushion of my rocker.
Monarch? Tawny Emperor?
Or as Jimmy says "a REALLY MEAN spider"?

The eggs are really much smaller than they appear here.

All of these photographs were taken on Friday.

Today I am taking a knitting class in Crossville,
then spending the rest of the weekend with my hubby in our 2nd home.
Jimmy saw our resident Fawn on Friday, so hopefully I will get to see it over the weekend.

Tawny Emperor

2010-08-13T11:07:00.002-04:00

I stepped outside this morning with camera in hand with the telephoto lens. The second I closed the door this little butterfly landed on my hand. I sure was wishing there was somebody else around to photograph it. I also instantly thought "Tawny Emperor". Don't know where I brought that thought from, but I think I was correct.

I walked over to the zinnia patch and had to force the butterfly to leave my hand for the zinnia blooms. The color of this cutie is just unbelievable, such a dreamy color.

Fawn at Rockwood

2010-08-09T14:32:00.003-04:00

This is our resident fawn in the backyard at Rockwood.The Mama was hit by a car and died in our backyard,
about 2 weeks ago.
We just hope this little one will remain on our side of the highway so it will not be hit too.
These were all taken one week ago today,
but we have not seen it since then.
UPDATE: Jimmy saw the deer tonight (Monday) when he pulled in the driveway.

If you ever wondered why they are called White Tail Deer
you have never seen one take off in the opposite direction.

I would like to ask for prayer for Larry and Deanna Weaver.
Their 18 year old son unexpectedly died last week
and are very much in need of prayer.

Pale Swallowtail Butterfly

2010-07-31T18:40:00.001-04:00

This first photograph was taken August 2008. Notice just a little blue showing. The rest of these photographs were taken this afternoon in my zinnia flowerbed,
which the butterflies all absolutely love.
Notice the blue on this one.
I apologize for all the photographs, and they are not all clear.

I was trying to capture every angle that I could.

Because I don't think I have ever seen one with this much blue on it,
and it looked much more bright yellow instead of pale while I was photographing it.

After looking at all these photographs I think it is a Tiger just like the one from 2 years ago.

Maybe it is in it's first days and the blue fades.

Just a thought, but I don't really know.

Hoping Hap will stop by and clarify for me.

Think this is why I don't photograph as much as I used to. When I get to the computer I grab all my reference books and spend way too many hours pouring over them trying to see the subtle differences in the butterflies and birds.

And then there is Etsy....on the Etsy site there is something called Treasury List. People that list on Etsy make these list of items they like, I made one here of things that flutter. Just click here and see the listing. I actually don't see what it benefits me to pick and build a Treasury List because if you follow the rules (which I did) you can't include one of your own listings. But you all know how well I like things that flutter and I do think I picked some very pretty items. The beaded butterfly pillow is gorgeous.

Dark Swallowtail Butterflies

2010-07-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

I have had a lot of butterflies in what I call my butterfly garden. It is actually a very small part of my flower beds. All zinnias. The butterflies love them. This year I didn't plant any zinnia seeds, but the seeds from last year have given me as many flowers as I have had in previous years. Last week I photographed butterflies on several different days. Notice the top photograph the dark swallowtail only has one row of orange spots. This tells me this is a dark Tiger Swallowtail. The Tiger can be up to 5 1/2 inches. These two photographs of the wings open are what really tells me it is a dark Tiger Swallowtail. Notice the blue highlights around the white dots, these are not present on the Spicebush Swallowtail.

Next we have a Spicebush Swallowtail, it has 2 rows of the orange spots.
The Spicebush is only up to 4 1/2 inches.

Notice the white dots on the upper wings, no second row of blue highlights.

The last photograph is a better photograph of the Spicebush.

Until I loaded the photos in the computer I did not even know I had two different types of swallowtails. The dark Tiger was photographed on 7/19. The Spicebush were photographed on 7/23 and 7/24. There were 2 Spicebush here at the same time.

Then there is the Pipevine Swallowtail, which only gets to 3 3/8 inches. When seen in the field it appears different right off, at least to me. I don't think I have ever seen a Pipevine in my own yard. The first time I photographed one was at Cataloochee Cove in the Smoky Mtns National Park. Still hope to see one this summer.

And I did see a Red Spotted Purple this summer at Rockwood, but could not get my camera quick enough for a photo. They are more rare in this area, and I have very few photographs of a Red Spotted Purple.

Babies in the trees

2010-07-26T16:24:00.000-04:00

Not sure what the baby birds are. We have a row of 14 Leyland Cypress that we planted in October of 2004 when we purchased the property.

This year they have been full of nest. A few weeks ago Jimmy took Mason to see the baby birds. So a week ago when they were at the house Mason wanted to go see the baby birds. Papa (Jimmy) had to explain the baby birds were already gone.

But then Saturday afternoon we found yet another nest with more babies. They will probably be gone before Mason comes back this coming weekend.

Old Fashioned Daylily

2010-07-23T09:00:00.003-04:00

One of my very first daylilies. I do not know the name of this one, had it before I started buying daylilies. I have shared this one with so many people that it is all over East Tennessee now. Thought I had given them all away, but was glad to find 2 small clumps this year.

As an added note to previous post. I was with Audrey and Mason yesterday, I had printed the picture of Mason and he saw it. He told me that Mason was 'using the bathroom'. I told him, no not quite. He is such a joy to be with.

Today I am going to spend some time with Noah and daughter Wendy.

Mason just not sure about this

2010-07-22T07:12:00.002-04:00

Mason has been scared to sit on the potty training seat. We now know why. He asked his daddy if he could fit in there. John has this picture posted on FB, and I grabbed it because I get tickled everytime I see it.

I get to see Mason and Audrey today and then Noah on Friday. Such joy to have them all within 45 minutes of me.

Eastern Bluebird in my yard

2010-07-17T12:01:00.002-04:00

Even though I don't get much computer time, I do still take the camera outside.

And I do still have birds in the yard, although these photographs were taken a couple of months ago (May, 2010). They are also greatly cropped.

Eastern Bluebirds are the first birds I ever really noticed.
They were my earliest bird watching.

Someday I will actually retire and watch the birds more often, probably while I sit on the back porch and knit.

Jimmy must be planning on me doing that some in Rockwood, he just finished a deck there. Think that is a hint for me to retire and be there with him full time?

My grandbabies

2010-07-16T09:00:00.001-04:00

It has been a while since I have shown any photographs of my grandbabies. They are what I photograph the most anymore, so I am not sure why not. These are the most recent ones, all taken in the last 7 days.

This is Noah, he is now 14 months old. I took this one through a longer section of the toy block he has in his hand. He thought his Granny was crazy.

Next is Mason, with his mother, my daugther-in-law, Lindsey. He loves to climb on top of his play car. He is sitting on top of it and Lindsey just stopped long enough for me to snap this. Think it turned out nicely. Mason is now 2 1/2 years.

Next is Audrey, she is 5 1/2 months now. We were checking out a hat I knit her a couple of weeks after she was born. It won't fit her much longer, but it still fits ok right now.

I had to include a second one of Audrey to show this cute little 'sun top' I knit her this week. We were trying it on yesterday just to see if my design work turned out ok.

I spent some time with Mason and Audrey on Thursday. Now I am headed to spend some time with Noah. Got to get those weekly visits.

Seven and half years ago Jimmy and I both went to evening shift work. If you have followed my blog for very long you know that 2 1/2 years ago Jimmy's company shut their plant in Knoxville and he was moved to Spring City to work. I have continued to work evening shift even after Jimmy moved to his new location. Last week my work announced that the evening shift work is going to Charlotte, NC. I will be going on days and won't be able to have these weekday daytime visits with my grandbabies when that happens. Still not sure what I will be doing, but I will still be located in the same building I am in now. And it will be a definite change for me. Jimmy is still out of town, and expects to be there until retirement, at least 3 more years. I hope to retire before that time and go with him during the weeks. Weekend marriages are not the greatest, but we sure do enjoy the time we get to spend together.

Hope everybody has a wonderful weekend.

Knitting Project Updates

2010-07-10T16:22:00.003-04:00

I had listed this purse earlier on Etsy, but removed it because I wanted to add more flowers. I have worked on it all day today and just listed it again on Etsy. I also have a Common Yellowthroat Warbler on a green purse. Then one of a bird (not quite a Chickadee in my opinion) and some flowers on a turquoise purse.

You can click on the Etsy site to the left to view all my Etsy listings.

I am off to babysit with Mason and Audrey, because it is John's 10th high school reunion tonight. I am then going to spend the night with my husband, he has been working all day today. Just glad we will get to see each other this weekend. Hope everybody is getting to spend time with their loved ones.....know Dorothy is glad to have Joe home.

The gift that keeps on giving

2010-07-07T19:50:00.002-04:00

For a person that loves flowers (as I do) the best gift they can receive is flowers that are planted and continue to return every year.

The flower above was given to me by Mrs Harris. She was in her eighties when she gave it to me and she only lived one more year. This is non-hardy surprise lily. It is planted in a pot and I put it in the attic over the winter, with no water. In early spring bring it back outside and start watering it. The greenery never showed this year so when it bloomed I was really surprised. Thought I had killed both pots Mrs Harris gave me. Her daughter lives next door and I am sure I could have gotten a new start, but would have hated to have to tell Gwen I had killed it.

This is absolutely the most gorgeous gladiolus bloom I have ever seen. I am fortunate to have 6 or 7 of these this year due to a very good blogging buddy, Mildred. Last year we exchanged a couple of gifts and this is one of the ones Mildred sent to me. I have glads in my yard, but the ones I already had are not this pretty.

I love remembering my friends when I walk through my flower gardens and see blooms that remind me of them. Definitely the gifts that keep giving.

I went to Asheville today to the Gallery of the Mountains located inside the Grove Park Inn, Asheville, North Carolina. I am so very excited that they are now carrying my greeting cards. If you are ever there please ask to see my cards (anything helps--HA!) If you have never been there, it is a real treat just to visit this historical inn.

Dayliles that look so much alike

2010-06-25T19:00:00.002-04:00

With 96 varieties of daylilies sometimes they are not much easier to id than butterflies and moths (previous post about moths). I decided to bring some blooms inside and photograph them together. In the yard they are not next to each other. In both of these photos the right one is Canadian Border Patrol, had since 2006. Second from the right is Custard Candy, a new one last year. The one in the back (in the photo below) is Designer Gown, had since 2003. It appears the two on the left are both Sweet Summer Valentine, from 2008. I also thought I was picking Emperor's Dragon, new in 2009, but as you can see those 2 on the left are the same. Emperor's Dragon is only slightly different for Sweet Summer Valentine, but the difference is NOT in either one of those blooms.

Next we get to I THINK, Ruffled Apricot and Lady Georgia. I bought these 2 and Decatur Apricot, all in 2003. These 2, plus Decatur Apricot are the most confusing to tell apart of any of my daylilies, except the red ones. All the red ones look JUST alike to me.

Next is Always Afternoon and Addie Branch Smith. These two blooms do not even look similiar in color in the catalog. But you can see from the photos they are same color.

I bought both of these in 2005. They look much the same other than bloom size. Addie Branch is a 4" bloom, and Always Afternoon is a 5 1/2" bloom. They are planted at least 150 ft from each other, so I have to get the blooms next to each other to compare them. I go through this every year when they first bloom, after I get it straight in my head I know Addie Branch is in my largest daylily flowerbed and Always Afternoon is planted at my front door.

We built the house in 2006. Beginning in June 2006 I can tell which daylily by where it is planted. Yes, I write as Jimmy plants. I have little diagrams attached to the cutout pictures from the catalogs. But any daylily bought before 2006 (42 of my 96 varieties) have been moved 3 times, while not in bloom and I have to go with my best guess. That is why the reds are so hard. One day I will do a post like this with all my reds.

All of these dayliles were purchased at Oakes Daylilies, and most of them were during the annual Oakes Dayliy Festival. The festival is going on this weekend, but I am not going this year. I don't need anymore daylilies (you think???), and my friend that goes with me every year is pregnant and currrenly 5 days past her due date. If you are in East Tennessee and looking for something to do Saturday check it out. It is gorgeous and they give everybody a free daylily.

UPDATE to previous post for those with inquiring minds.....the 2nd one wasn't even a moth, Hap says it is a Female Dobsonfly. Dar got the 3rd one right, a Pandorus Sphinx Moth, and Rita got the 1st one (Dar nor I got that one). This is what Rita told me in an email about why she knew what the moth was...."My Dad brought a cocoon home when I was in about the 4th grade and showed it to me. He put it up on a window ledge and forgot about it. Lo and behold, a while later a giant butterfly was flying around in the house.It was very fun as you can imagine. I took it to school and my teacher helped identify it as the cecropia moth."

Just had to share that wonderful story, because it is a great reminder that everything we teach a child has the potential to stay with them their whole life.

Moths

2010-06-23T12:03:00.007-04:00

First, all of these moths are dead.
Jimmy found them close to the brick plant and brought them to me.

The first one looks like a Columbia Silkmoth to me.

The other two I don't have a clue.
Notice the camouflage appearance of the last one.

If interested, watch for Hap's comment,
because I think he will come and id them for us.

Underside of all 3.
Look how much larger the first one is.

Update: The first one is a Cecropia Moth, the second one is a female Dobsonfly, and the third one is a Pandorus Sphinx Moth. Thanks for all the comments.

The view from my back deck

2010-06-22T11:09:00.000-04:00

The field behind has always been a hay field. In 2008 they turned the ground over at least 4 times, then planted something different. It was harvested like hay, but had to be planted each time. Did the same thing last year.This year they have not touched it.
And now it looks like snow from my deck. For the next two photos I was on that slope to the left. I was trying to show you how full it is.

There has also been Common Milkweed in the past, and I have caught it a time or two just loaded with all different types of butterflies, including Monarch.

This field did have some of the orange variety, which my book says is Butterfly Weed. Don't tell anybody, but Jimmy dug me enough for us to place it in 3 different locations in our yard.

But this is what the field is full of.

I had thought it was the bigger daisies until I walked out there to photograph the whole field.

These daisies are in the all the un-maintained fields this year.
And the white clover is in all the yards.
I have never seen as much white clover as we have in East Tennessee this year.
The yards looks like snow too, and it doesn't take but a couple of hours after mowing to look like it is in full bloom again.

My daylilies are in full bloom too, but I thought I would share this first.

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T06:50:00.001-04:00

A father's love. This is my son-in-law with my grandson, Noah.
Taken one week ago at my front door.

Happy Father's Day to all Dads today!!!

Florida Hawk at resort

2010-06-12T17:18:00.004-04:00

Supper time at the condo, but I think I got too close before he captured his supper.

We went to the park to see the Hawk and Osprey.

Didn't see either one, when we got back to our time share this Hawk was there.

I think it is a Florida Red Shoulder (which apparently look different than other Red Shoulder Hawks), but it could be the Broad Shoulder. A lady there told me it was a "Golden". Think she was thinking of eagles, which I do know it isn't an eagle.

This last photo was the second before it took flight.
Don't really care which type Hawk, he was just pretty to look at.

Oh, and if anybody is interested in the upper left corner is my Etsy site, you can see what I have been spending my time doing. As I list new purses they change there and you can keep an eye on my lastest listings. Right now I am knitting on a Red, White and Blue purse. Hopefully it will be listed in the next week.

Heron at Lake Seminole Park

2010-06-09T07:00:00.001-04:00

I am not exactly sure which bird this is.
I did eliminate the Bittern, because he is not brown.

From a distance I told Jimmy it was a Green Heron.

But when I saw that LONG neck I decided it was not,
but the body is so small compared to the neck.
Sorry that the photos are not better.
The light was bad, and there was a chain link
fence between us, although the bird is not captive.

I have now decided again that it is a juvenile Green Heron.

My reference book is the Sibley Guide to Birds, page 64,
best I can tell Ninth Printing (pages could vary).

But what happens to that neck as it matures?

What does everybody out there think it is?

Snowy Egret -- St Pete Beach

2010-06-08T07:25:00.004-04:00

All of these photographs of the Snowy Egret were taken
at sunset along St Pete Beach, Florida.
This Egret has one injured leg, but he did fine with it.
We saw him several different days along the edge of the water.

St Pete at sunset

2010-06-07T07:13:00.000-04:00

Back from a week in the sun. Our time share was totally shut down for about 4 months to update it. It really looks good now, and we had a wonderful time in the sun, just relaxing.

It seems all my sunset photographs were stars this year.

The last one is my favorite.

The rest was great, now I see why we needed the rest....to prepare for the yard work waiting for Jimmy and me.

Memorial Day Tribute

2010-05-31T07:00:00.001-04:00

The reflection caught my eye, but notice the flag in the lower left too (2 for 1). The flag in the reflection was behind me, and is shown below.

Today remember the casualties of war are not always visible. The men and women of war are good at keeping it all in, sometimes until it is too late for them to receive help. My father was one of these casualties of World War II, he took his own life December 1954. I am just asking (and reminding myself) to remember our military past and present and their families in our prayers today.

I will be on the beach today, able to be there today because
our military has kept our country a free country.

Remember our freedom is not free.

Be thankful we do still have the freedom to go where we wish in our beautiful country.

Scenery from the Smokies

2010-05-20T10:00:00.001-04:00

Jimmy and I have very limited time together anymore. I arrived home late Saturday evening from the festival, and Sunday we had a chance to spend the day together without other family members. Jimmy and I just got in the car and drove, when we first met we did this every weekend. We talked about some of the times we got lost and of things we just came across by being lost. We did leave the house with an idea in mind of where were going this time, but still went down some memory lanes together along the way.This is the nicest scarecrow I have ever seen. Look at the way the blue has faded in the front. When printed that blue is vibrant.

There is a loop road (for some reason I think 8 miles, but that might not even be close) of Arts and Crafts that turns off the highway between Gatlinburg and Cosby. There are shops all along the road, some shops are close to each other, so some of time when you park you get to go through 5 to 10 shops before getting back in your vehicle. Some of the time, just one shop before you are driving again. I am including this information because I had a couple of questions since my earlier post this week.

All of the photographs in this post are taken at one stop along the road. These were all in the yard of an old house. The old house was the home of the Paul Murray Gallery , but when we first pulled up I had to grab my camera. It was the neatest little place. A man came out while we were in the yard and as he was leaving told us the artist was great. Seemed kind of odd, most people don't give out that kind of praise. Check out the link, this artist is awesome.

By the way, the photograph above and below are the same photograph,
the one below has been cropped. I like both.

This is just the barn door to a barn in the front/side yard.

If you follow my Photography By Leedra blog , the peony bloom was posted there earlier this week, just in case you are thinking you have already seen this photograph.

All but the barn door have been made into greeting cards already (including both the cropped and the non cropped version of the birdhouse),
with some of them already selling.

Photos from KY Sheep and Fiber Festival

2010-05-19T07:00:00.005-04:00

At the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival I took two full day classes. The first one was making Santa. The second day was a sheep. Believe it or not, the sheep is harder. I left class with a completed Santa. I left class with 4 hours left of punching those curls all over the sheep.

As you can see from the photo below,
I needed some guidance on what a sheep actually looks like.

I took lots of photos of the sheep, in hopes of knowing what they look like from now on.
Meet Rebecca Booth from Punkin's Patch, a wonderful blog about raising sheep.
Isn't she just the cutest sheep? I love her color.

I don't know much about sheep (as evidence look at the first sheep I needle felted -HAH!), so I don't know what type she is, but if you visit the Punkin's Patch blog I am sure Sara tells you. All you have to do is click on Rebecca Booth to see the post(s) about Rebecca.

And they sell Rebecca's curls. I bought some of Rebecca's curls, hoping I can needle felt a sheep that will remotely look like her.

Off to my knitting group meeting.
So nice to have found a group within a few miles of home.

Rhododendron are beginning to bloom in the Smokies

2010-05-18T08:45:00.003-04:00

I got back home late Saturday evening, in that terrible storm. Sunday Jimmy and I went to the mountains, and most of the day was nice. It did start raining, and did rain rather hard, but I was able to get some photographs of the rhododendron beginning to bloom before it beat them all down.

We didn't actually go to the GSMNP, we went to the Arts and Craft loop road. Yes, I am forever looking for ideas.

I had a great time at the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival, and I will post photos soon.

Off to classes .... again

2010-05-13T07:00:00.004-04:00

I am headed to the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival. I am going to be taking 2 all days classes on needle felting. The first day is making Santa Claus sculptures. The second day is making sheep. Since I have never taken a class on the needle felted sculptures I hope to come away all fired up.

I also hope I will get the opportunity to visit all the booths. (Wool for needle felting!!!) The problem being the booths are just Saturday and Sunday and I am planning to come home Saturday evening. I wish the booths were open on Friday after class. Oh, well, guess I will have to walk and shop fast.

I am keeping my Etsy shop open while I am gone this time, since I will be back Saturday evening. Anthing purchased while I am gone will be shipped on Monday.

Latest needle felted purse, finished and listed

2010-05-11T11:28:00.001-04:00

This is the purse I showed in progress
(a few post down the page if you want to see it while I was working on it).
The first picture is what I call the back of the purse,
because the flap closure is on the other side.

Once it was completed I had a hard time making up my mind if it was going on Etsy, or my shoulder. Etsy finally won out, and the listing is here.

I know the butterfly isn't really a Swallowtail (at least not one that I have ever photographed). Have you ever tried to needle felt a Swallowtail? It ain't easy! LOL! So this is what I decided on after looking at my own bought clothing that had butterflies. None of those butterflies look like the real thing either. Notice the tiny little bead for his eye. I was afraid to use the size I have been using for the birds, thought it would be too big. Can barely see this one in person.

The last picture is the front of the purse. Notice the green at the bottom on the front and the back. It is needle felted across the bottom and goes up just enough on each side for the flower stems to start in the grass.

When I make these and list them on Etsy my thought is if they don't sell the nieces will get purses for Christmas this year. This past year they all received scarfs, (never listed on Etsy). The purses would be a step up, don't you think? So far, they are selling, some faster than others. The last one I sold was shipped to Alaska, as far as I know, not to somebody that follows my blog.

It has turned cool here, and I refuse to turn the heat back on (so far). We had a little rain yesterday. I don't think Nashville got much, they aren't over the flood yet, so they can't handle much. My paying job is related to circuit troubles for AT&T, in 6 states. So I have had to work extra due to the flooding in Tennessee. The stories I am hearing out of Nashville are bad. The people in Nashville need continued prayer at this time.

Also remember Dorothy's Joe and Darla's Dad.

Signs of things to come

2010-05-10T07:00:00.002-04:00

Hopefully my flower gardens will be as full of butterflies this year as in the last several years.

I just love ladybugs. This is a partial view of one of my daylily flowerbeds. As you can see I am going to have a real hard time getting in there for photographs. My husband likes to plant them close to begin with, and then when they grow there is NO room to get around them. He did weed and mulch this spring before the daylilies started showing themself, so with the mulch and the closeness of the daylilies, not much room for weeds. Thank goodness, since we couldn't get to them if they were there. I do think he is seeing the error of his ways right now.

In the back there is a hint of purple from the iris bed, and you can see the road. The daylilies are right up to the edge of the bank down to the road. I used to be able to walk around that edge, but this year the daylilies have grown so much I won't be able to. This one bed is 10 rows, of about 20 plants in each row. Then I had Jimmy leave me a path before the next section. Hah! The path is almost closed up. I may end out getting him to dig a row up every so often just so I can have a path. Won't be this year. He barely gets home before he has to go back to work.

We did have a wonderful day Saturday....no work for either of us. I had to work Sunday, so he left his yard work for Sunday. Those of you that are against that, just keep the comments to yourself. We do what we have to do. I ended out only having to work 6 hours, so Jimmy met me in Knoxville and took me to The Chop House. He went onto Rockwood and I returned home to continue with my current needle felting project.

The One Flaw in Women

2010-05-09T07:00:00.001-04:00

By the time the Lord made woman,

He was into his sixth day of working overtime.

An angel appeared and said, 'Why are you spending so much time on this one?'

And the Lord answered, 'Have you seen my spec sheet on her?

She has to be completely washable, but not plastic,

have over 200 movable parts, all replaceable and able to run on diet coke and leftovers,

have a lap that can hold four children at one time,

have a kiss that can cure anything from a scraped knee to a broken heart

-and she will do everything with only two hands.'
The angel was astounded at the requirements. 'Only two hands!?

No way! And that's just on the standard model?

That's too much work for one day.

Wait until tomorrow to finish.'
'But I won't, ' the Lord protested.

'I am so close to finishing this creation that is so close to my own heart.

She already heals herself when she is sick AND can work 18 hour days.'
The angel moved closer and touched the woman.

'But you have made her so soft, Lord.'
'She is soft,' the Lord agreed, 'but I have also made her tough.

You have no idea what she can endure or accomplish.'
'Will she be able to think?', asked the angel.
The Lord replied, 'Not only will she be able to think,

she will be able to reason and negotiate.'
The angel then noticed something, and reaching out, touched the woman's cheek.

'Oops, it looks like you have a leak in this model..

I told you that you were trying to put too much into this one.'
'That's not a leak,' the Lord corrected, 'that's a tear!'

'What's the tear for?' the angel asked.
The Lord said, 'The tear is her way of expressing her joy, her sorrow, her pain, her disappointment, her love, her loneliness, her grief and her pride.'

The angel was impressed.

'You are a genius, Lord. You thought of everything!

Woman is truly amazing.'
And she is! Women have strengths that amaze men.

They bear hardships and they carry burdens, but they hold happiness, love and joy.

They smile when they want to scream.

They sing when they want to cry.

They cry when they are happy and laugh when they are nervous.

They fight for what they believe in.

They stand up to injustice.

They don't take 'no' for an answer when they believe there is a better solution.

They go without so their family can have.

They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.

They love unconditionally.

They cry when their children excel and cheer when their friends get awards.

They are happy when they hear about a birth or a wedding.

Their hearts break when a friend dies.

They grieve at the loss of a family member,

yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left..

They know that a hug and a kiss can heal a broken heart.

Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you to show how much they care about you.

The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning

They bring joy, hope and love.

They have compassion and ideals.

They give moral support to their family and friends.

Women have vital things to say and everything to give
HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE TINY FLAW IN WOMEN,
IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

The photograph was taken two years ago. It is my daugher-in-law with my first grandson when he was about 3 months old. This photograph displays a Mother's Love is why I am using it today.

Happy Mother's Day to all!!!

Knitting Project Update

2010-05-04T15:04:00.000-04:00

The collage has several small purses I have made, the coral colored ones are the only ones I still have. The entrelac purple and green ones (little squares) were ordered by one person for his daughters. He also purchased one of these in 2 colors of blue, and the purple peace sign one.

In Atlanta I took 2 classes taught by Gwen Bortiner on entrelac. The first class was design and I didn't even get to pick up my knitting needles. The 2nd class with Gwen was Mix and Match in Entrelac. We knit this cap while in class. For those of you that don't know anything about entrelac, it usually does not have design and different colors in each square. I really enjoyed this class and teacher. She has a new entrelac book coming out August-September 2010, Entree to Entrelac. I do plan on purchasing it.

This purse was not going to be needle felted to begin with, but after I knit and felted it something about it was crying out for some blue butterflies. I couldn't resist.

This one is listed on Etsy here.
Now to what I am currently working on. Almost every purse I knit to felt is a new pattern, I keep changing my designs. And with felting you can't be sure how it is going to turn out when it is felted. The one below turned out to my favor, but I had planned on needle felting a Northern Cardinal. Something was telling me to change my mind again and I have now started needle felting Black Eyed Susans, on the front.
And on the back. This is just the beginning stage.
I will show you again when I list it on Etsy.
I have now started another purse with 'basically' the same design as the one above. I have not even thought about what I am going to needle felt on it. Seems like I change my mind by the time it comes out of the machine from the felting process, so why think about it right now?

Common Columbine

2010-04-30T09:00:00.000-04:00

I sat and photographed this common columbine bloom as the light changed,
but I like the first photograph the best.

Very slight difference in the 2nd and 3rd photograph.

I have 4 or 5 clumps that look like this.

Bleeding Hearts in full bloom

2010-04-27T10:00:00.001-04:00

How many ways can a person photograph a Bleeding Heart plant?Way too many.....
Then I can't decide which one I really like.

This one is already in a card.

See just the slight difference in turn of the heart from the one above.

This one is early on, before they branched on out like the last photos.

Please pray for Dorothy's son and Darla's Father.

Blog comments frustration

2010-04-27T09:55:00.001-04:00

I am going on my soapbox here. I go and visit blogs and view the post, read (sometimes long) post and get ready to comment. Open up comments and the setting is embedded and then I cannot comment from the computer I am using. One of my computers does not let me comment at all on the embedded comments page (I don't know why), and the other computer I use lets me sometimes and does not sometimes.

I wish everybody would set comments to half page or full page. If you are set to embedded you are missing out on good comments alot. I have seen many post about this in the past and do not understand why blogspot's default is embedded, but it is easy to change. Go to settings, comments. Make the change and be sure to save at the bottom of the page.

I just visited a blog that I know I have visited in the past and did not have this problem, now they are set to embedded.

I know that I am not the only one that has this problem.

Purple Wisteria

2010-04-25T13:04:00.002-04:00

I am home from Stitches South. Had a WONDERFUL time, spent way too much time ( and money) in the market place. Came home with yarn and ideas for myself and to sell (for my Etsy shop). In time I will show my workshop accomplishments, none of which are quite complete at this time. I took two entrelac workshops from a wonderful teacher, Gwen Bortiner, one of the nations top entrelac experts. She has an entrelac book coming out in August at Stitches Midwest, out for the general public in September. Sweaters, etc in this book, I can't wait to get my copy, but I won't be going to Stitches Midwest.

Oh yes, the purple wisteria above is not at my arbor, but in my backyard. It is from my mother's yard, which means it is from my Granny's yard. Wish I knew where all Granny's flowers originated, may be from several more generations of my family.

April Snow in the oldest town in Tennessee

2010-04-22T09:00:00.002-04:00

I went to the knitters group on Wednesday. Did you ever meet somebody and the two of just could not shut up? Yes, Shelley and Betsy and I did that when we met last year. I already felt like I knew Shelley and Betsy. Well, the lady that invited me to the knitters group (that I met and spoke to for about 5 minutes a month ago) and I hit it off that well, that fast. We both felt our knitting, etc. We have plans of getting together in addition to the knitters group. So, yes I had a great time. Will be returning.

Now to my photo op that was created by going to Dandridge right after the knitters group meeting. I was on my way to the courthouse (car tag time yet again), and this is what I see.

And the pink snow is actually falling as I pull over to take pictures.
I had to get up on the side to try to get the road traffic and the house across the street out of the background.
This was gorgeous!

The blooms are falling off as whole blooms, not just pedals.

Not sure why God didn't make snow pink.

But He really gave me a treat with this pink snow.

There actually were some blooms still on the trees.

Now to what I am doing today and the rest of the week. I am headed to Atlanta to Stitcher's South. I am taking 4 different classes, all knit related. One is needle felting on felt. Yep, already doing that, but I am sure I will pick up some 'ah ha' stuff about needle felting. I am taking 2 entrelac classes, one about entrelac design. I also design entrelac already, but again sure there is ALOT for me to learn. Friday evening I will be meeting my Mother for supper. Just not enough time while I am there to visit more family than that. Saturday as soon as class is out I will be heading to whichever house my hubby is at so I can see him some over the weekend.

I hope everybody likes God's pink snow that He sent my way.

Daffodils are still blooming around here

2010-04-21T09:00:00.000-04:00

I just can't get enough of my daffodils.
They have all been so pretty this year.

And they just keep blooming.

When I went to the Fiber Festival in Townsend last month I found out there is a group of 'knitters' that meet 5 miles from my house once a month. I am off to meet with them for the first time this morning. I am so excited that they are right here, and I don't have to drive to Knoxville for it. I am sure I am fixing to make several new friends.

Tree Swallow and White Wisteria

2010-04-20T09:39:00.001-04:00

The first spring after we bought the property Jimmy built this in the middle of the 'backyard' for my wisteria. We brought starts of the white and the purple from our house. This was the spring of 2005. It has been a very slow process. Thought we had lost them all, me being more upset about the white. Knew I could get more of the purple from my mother.

Well, the white survived and 5 years later I have a few blooms, but I think I can finally say the vine itself is going to make it. On the opposite end we replanted purple. The plan is to have the purple and the white mingled together. Although I have now heard one is dominate. If so, again I hope it is the white. I have a good start of the purple in another location. At our previous house we had both, planted 100 ft from each other. Does anybody know about this with wisteria?

These photos are all un-cropped....to tell another story.

This past Saturday afternoon I sat in the photographer's blind to get some photos of the Tree Swallow. First, I should have been there in the morning(lighting reasons). Second, I should have been braver, hence closer.

But the real funny part of this is, the last photograph is still not cropped. After coming out of the blind I kept walking toward the birdhouse snapping away. I walked almost all the way around the birdhouse. This was the last photograph I took. I turned my head and the Tree Swallow flew away at that time.

The grandchildren have swings attached right behind the birdhouse. On Sunday they were out there swinging and the birds flew as if to attack as long as an adult was with them. The adult could walk just a short distance away and at least one of the birds went in the house. After that all was ok. They just want to protect their little ones.

a stroll through my yard this morning

2010-04-10T17:33:00.001-04:00

The morning started out a little on the cool side, but it is a gorgeous day in East Tennessee. I got out with my camera and took a stroll, came back with over 100 photos, some of which I am sharing here. More than I usually put in one post. Daffodils
Purple Leaf Sand Cherry Tree

Next came my old fashioned bleeding hearts. It always amazes me that this delicate looking plant comes out before frost is all gone, and does not seem to be affected by the cold. Mid summer everybody thinks it is dying, it just can not take the heat, but it comes back early spring.I promise to share more photos from this little delicate plant.

more Daffodils

Wildflower - Little Brown Jug....looking good

The white dogwoods are just beginning to show a little bit.

Redbud that Jimmy had trimmed way back because it was shading too many of my flowers.

Common Columbine

more Daffodils

Flowering Almond, already fading. I have 4 of these in my yard.
(Acquired from my Mother)

This Wisteria will be blooming all over itself in the next day or two. This Wisteria is about waist high, tiny as far as Wisteria go, but it is going to be covered. I have other Wisteria, including white, but they are not as far along as this one.

And finally to the fruit trees. Hope I get pears off this one this year. Year before last I had pears, but not last year. Time will tell.

hopefully the bee is helping my chances at fruit on my many different fruit trees

I hope everybody is having a wonderful weekend. We are getting together with our children and grandchildren tomorrow afternoon. The grandchildren get to try out the new swings their Papa has hung for them.

Two new needle felted purses

2010-04-07T14:31:00.000-04:00

I have been working on these 2 purses since I posted the Chickadee purse. Lots of interest in my needle felted purses, so thought I would post these here too. The styles of these two purses are totally different from each other.

The Etsy link for this first purse is here.

The Etsy link for the 2nd purse is here.

Now to go work on a custom order for a dark purple drawstring pouch with a needle felted lightening flash. Have the pouch knitted and felted, now to work on the needle felting.

And by the way, the Knoxville Dogwood Festival has started, but the dogwoods have not made an appearance yet. Need to get out and visit some of the many dogwood trails in the Knoxville neighborhoods.

Fiber Festival in Townsend, Tennessee

2010-03-30T11:51:00.007-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned I was going to go the Fiber Festival. I had a blast. But I didn't do very well with my photography. Been knitting too much and not going out with my camera enough. Forgot a very basic rule. The sun was not shining on their faces and I didn't turn on the flash. Nor did I up the ISO. Hence, cannot see their faces, too dark.

I learned just a little about different sheep. These are Suffolk Sheep. And they herd with Border Collies.
They all want to stay real close to each other, and do not like it when one is separated to be sheared.

And the one being captured to be sheared isn't too excited about it either.
But once the shearing begins the sheep are really very calm.

Every few minutes could hear a very quiet "Bhah, Bhah"

And look at the wool off just one sheep. I am sure there is some work to do with it before it gets to the consumer (me) even when we get it in close to raw form for needle felting.

I bought lots of rovering for my needle felting and even found a wonderful blue for bluebirds. Now if I can just needle felt a bluebird I am satisfied with. I only get to keep the purses to use for myself when I don't think they are quite up to selling quality. Ladies, it looks like I might be getting the first one. No, I didn't do this on purpose so I could have the first one.

Spring is in the air

2010-03-26T09:22:00.008-04:00

When we first bought the property we now live at I planted crocus on the bank at the road. We bought the property in 2004. I had forgotten about the crocus, until this year, when they finally decided to bloom.
They are scattered across the 300 yards of road frontage.
Hopefully they will get thicker over time.

On that same embankment I also planted extra daffodils. They have been doing very good and begin blooming every year before the ones in my yard bloom. This is due to the way the sun hits that small hill.

But when Granny Sorrells' daffodils begin blooming is when I really get excited.

This row of Granny's daffodils is the width of an old style tiller. Jimmy tilled 140ft strip to plant these numerous blubs in. Then I sat and planted one bulb in each hole I made. These were planted in October 2004. One week after the closing of property purchase. After all, I have to keep my priorities in order. Notice Jimmy also lined both sides with a brick border.

Here is last year's post about Granny's daffodils. The daffodils were further in the season than they are right now, so they look alot thicker.

Mason (at 2 years old) loves his Granny's daffodils. Someday he will know they are actually his Great-Great Granny's daffodils. I hope he (and all my grandchildren) will cherish them as much as I do.

A Couple of Brown Headed Nuthatch

2010-03-17T11:09:00.002-04:00

These photographs of a pair of Brown Headed Nuthatch were taken one year ago this Sunday at our house in Rockwood. Brown Headed Nuthatch do not go as far north as Knoxville and until Jimmy's job moved to Spring City I had never seen one. I was wandering around the Veteran's Park in Spring City with camera in hand when I saw my first one. (Don't we all remember those lifer days of a particular bird?)
Clearly on the map they just barely get that far north in Tennessee. Rockwood is 10 miles north of Spring City and I was really excited the first time I saw them in our own yard. If the pair stayed there all summer I was not aware of them.

But they brought a smile to my face that day as I sat in our yard in my photographer's blind.

Birds bring such joy to our lives if we just give them a chance.

Maybe this year they will nest there and have their babies. Sorry, Betsy, I think they would be out of range if they are seen on the plateau.

Lynne from Hasty Brook purchased my Chickadee purse from the post below. I have had some inquiries about future bird needle felted purses, so I guess I better get busy knitting and designing. Thanks Lynne for the purchase, it will be shipped today.

My needle felting purse

2010-03-16T10:36:00.005-04:00

The company I purchase my needle felting supplies from sends out a newsletter every week. This week my needle felted purse is featured on it, with a link to their blog. On the blog they have the same 4 photos I have below. I can't figure out how to get the newsletter linked here, but you can click here for the link to their blog to see my purse on their blog.

I 'had' to add a bead for the eye. We need that shine in the eye when we photograph them, so I wanted it in my needle felting.

I put a pocket on the back of the purse (thanks, Wendy of It's Just Me for the idea) and added sead beads in the center of the dogwood blooms.
The purse is listed on Etsy, to see my Etsy listing click here. From there you can go to 'shop' on the right side and see all my needle felted purses that I have currently for sale. I have sold 3 locally.

In the needle felting world the thing to try is 3D. So after needle felting a few of my felted purses I decided it was time to try my hand at the 3D of needle felting. My first (and only, so far) is pictured above. This is a very time consuming art form. Not sure how many of these I will do, but it does have my interest right now. This little bear has moving parts. His head, arms and legs move. Notice the eyes are also beads.

The link to Living Felt for needle felting supplies is http://www.livingfelt.com/ they are great. Real fast shipping. and they accept Paypal.

By the way....here in East Tennessee we were teased by spring last week. Although I was way too sick to get out in the pretty weather. Now I am feeling much better and it is gloomy and cold again. Hopefully before too long Granny Sorrells' daffodils will be blooming and they will drag me away from knitting and needle felting to photograph them.

This weekend is a fiber festival in Townsend, Tennessee. The quiet side of the Smokies. I hope to go and photograph the sheep, some as they are sheared. I am also going to Stitches South in Atlanta late April to learn more about knitting and needle felting. If any of you that knit are going to Atlanta please let me know, maybe we can meet up there.

Signs of Spring

2010-03-03T00:44:00.003-05:00

I am only wishing...these photographs were all taken Spring 2009, late March and early April. So I have to wait alittle longer to see these signs here.

It does give us something to look forward too. I am so tired of the cold.

I hope everybody is doing well.

George W. Bush at Fort Hood

2010-02-22T17:09:00.004-05:00

I know I don't blog very often anymore...I just had to share something I received in an email from my brother.

So, who told the White House?

When George W. Bush heard about Fort Hood, got in his car without any escort, apparently they did not have time to react, and drove to Fort Hood. He was stopped at the gate and the guard could not believe who he had just stopped. Bush only ask for directions to the hospital then drove on. The gate guard called that "The president is on Fort Hood and driving to the hospital." The base went bananas looking for Obama. When they found it was Bush they immediately offered escort and Bush simply told them to shut up and let him visit the wounded and the dependents of the dead. He stayed at Fort Hood for over six hours and was finally asked to leave by a message from the White House.

Obama flew in days later and held a "photo" session in a gym and did not even go to the hospital. All this I picked up from two soldiers here who happened to be at Fort Hood when it happened.This Bush/Obama/Ft. Hood story is something that should be sent to every voter in the US .Class shows up...

The doctor had his TV on in his office when the news of the military base shootings came on. The husband of one of his employees was stationed there. He called her into his office and as he told her what had happened, she got a text message from her husband saying, "I am okay." Her cell phone rang right after she read the message. It was an ER nurse, "I'm the one who just sent you a text, not your husband. I thought it would be comforting but I was mistaken in doing so. I am sorry to tell you this, but your husband has been shot 4 times and he is in surgery."The soldier's wife left Southern Clinic in Dothan and drove all night to Ft. Hood . When she arrived, she found out her husband was out of surgery and would be OK. She rushed to his room and found that he already had visitors there to comfort him. He was just waking up and found his wife and the visitors by his side. The nurse took this picture:　　

What? No news crews and cameras?　　This is how people with class respond and pay respect to those in uniform.

Audrey Campbell Harrell has arrived

2010-02-09T19:50:00.005-05:00

Yep, that is me with my newest Grandchild. The first granddaughter. Audrey was born February 8, 2010 at 8:31PM. She weighs 6 lbs, 6 ozs, and 21 inched long. Yes, I knitted the blanket and the hat in the picture that was taken today.Not to forget the boys. This next one is Mason, with John and Lindsey (the proud parents of Mason and Audrey). Mason was about 3 months old in this one, and he just turned 2 in January.
The last one is Noah, his proud parents are Wendy and Lukas, although the picture I have handy doesn't have them in it.

I am called Granny, for a while Mason called be GeGe, but he has dropped the nickname and is now calling me Granny. I kind of liked he had picked a name for me all by himself, but I really do want to be Granny. My Granny was so special to me, I feel honored to be a Granny.

We returned from a two week vacation just in time for Audrey's entry into this world.

My knitting projects update

2010-01-08T10:28:00.006-05:00

Well, it is VERY COLD here for the Tennessee Valley. It has not reached 32 in the last 8 days, and no chance of it in the next week. Thinking we are going to break the record of 12 days. The edges of the lakes are frozen, and all the ponds are frozen. I am not out taking photographs of the snow we received yesterday because I HATE the cold! So I continue to knit, and thought I would show you some of what I have been knitting.

The first photo is Mason showing off his cap.

These two are Noah showing off his cap. The male adults think the caps are cute on backwards. Me? I like it on the correct way. And Mason in his newest cap. This one has the earflaps and ties. It was hard to keep him still to take any photos. It has been cold and he was so excited about being outside.

So here is the cap laying on the sofa.
After I made my first pair of fingerless gloves (for Lindsey) I decided for myself they need to be a little larger. I designed this pattern myself. I am currently knitting my 6th pair of fingerless gloves.
The first sweater I sold on my Etsy site.

The 2nd sweater I sold on my Etsy site (to the same customer).

I have labels I ordered from another Etsy person. I also have labels that say "designed and hand knit by" for the items that I design. Although I don't put any labels in the gloves, don't figure they will be very comfortable in there.
My "Big Orange" purse. I designed this one, and have enjoyed it more than I thought I would, because I don't normally wear alot of UT orange clothing. I have been stopped in the stores when I am out and about with it. What an opportunity to give out business cards. One lady wanted to know if I would be willing to make her a Kentucky one. She got a business card, but I have not heard from her yet.

Still tweaking the design and will be making more in other colors.

Been doing alot of other knitting too, it is TOO COLD here to be outside with a camera, even for snow photos.

Hope everybody is staying warm, no matter where you are. Miss everybody, but life is still busy, and yes, alot of the busy is knitting.

Snow in East Tennessee

2009-12-05T16:26:00.001-05:00

Some of what we saw around East Tennessee this morning.Our house as we returned from driving around.

Some color in the snow.

My daylilies still trying to bloom. Several buds left, they probably won't bloom now.

Encore azalea, this is a repeat bloomer.

And my crazy iris.

There have been alot of predictions about our winter having more snow this year. If this morning is any sign I may get some good snow photos this year.

Turtles in Florida

2009-11-30T07:00:00.000-05:00

Just some turtle photos taken in Florida during our February 2009 trip.

Cades Cove Turkey in the GSMNP

2009-11-26T07:00:00.003-05:00

This turkey is safe from hunters because he is at Cades Cove,

in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

He did puff up a little for me, but not as much as I would have liked him to.

He finally decided he didn't want to show off for me at all.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and your families!!

Morning Light at Cades Cove

2009-11-20T01:00:00.002-05:00

Times like this is when I can feel God all around me.

These were taken within 5 minutes of each other in the picnic

area of Cades Cove, October 29, 2009.

I have already made them into greeting cards,

you can check the greeting cards out by clicking here and here.

Newfound Gap - Fall 2008

2009-11-12T14:51:00.001-05:00

These fall color photographs were taken October 2008.

This year I returned to Newfound Gap, one year and one day later. The leaves were gone. The bright colored tree above had no leaves. The Gap had snow about 8 - 10 days earlier, and my speculation is that the snow brought the leaves down. Two weeks later I was at Campbell Overlook (a mile or so down the mountain toward Gatlinburg) and the leaves were the prettiest I have ever seen there. Kind of supports my snow theory for the top.

These were taken at sunrise. When I go for the fall colors, I want to be there when the sun comes up, sometimes arriving while it is still pitch black.

I hate that the Gap didn't show these gorgeous colors again this year,

but there is always next year.

Streams with fall colors in the GSMNP

2009-11-04T14:21:00.002-05:00

Jimmy and I took 2 days off to go to the mountains to see the fall colors, the previous post is the beginning of the photographs I took. The first day we went to Cades Cove, which I have not begun to go through those photographs yet. To get to Cades Cove from our house we go through Wears Valley to Townsend and onto Cades Cove. The 2nd day we also went through Wears Valley, but then we went across the Foothills Parkway to 129. 129 is known as the Tail of the Dragon, which we traveled to Deal's Gap, and onto Fontana and Cherokee. Normally we would have gone to I40 to head home, but with the landslide totally blocking I40 we cut back across the mountain through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

If we had gone our usual route we would not have seen this beautiful setting.

We saw 2 tractor trailers and a tractor without the trailer that thought they would also cut through the park to avoid going the detour route. The park rangers had them all stopped. A person cannot miss the signs about no commercial vehicles in the park, and you know a truck driver would not have missed them. Guess they thought they would just sneak through, like nobody would notice the only tractor trailers to ever be in the park in the 75 years of it's existence.

Fontana North Carolina fall colors

2009-11-03T02:08:00.002-05:00

Jimmy and I were able to take off Thursday and Friday and we went to the mountains. They are so close to us we came home both nights. We had a great time and I got some fall color photographs.The first 2 shots are on the road to Fontana Village, a sharp turn in the road and this water cove caught my eye. The sign said we were at Tapoco, part of Alcoa Power.

The red trees were in Fontana Village, hopped out at a stop sign and snapped this one.

The view from the top of Fontana Dam.

A shot taken from inside the moving car, through my dirty windshield. (Jimmy was driving.)

My favorite of these is the 2nd photograph. I haven't been through everything I took in those 2 days, but so far I have only seen one I liked better. I will post it in a few days. I have to get to sleep so I can go to knitting class before I go to work Tuesday afternoon.

My knitting projects

2009-10-22T14:47:00.002-04:00

Thought I would show some of what I have been doing while I have not been blogging. This first is called a shawlette, it is smaller than a shawl. Made out of 100% Merino Wool, so soft. Next my first attempt at hand knit socks. The pattern is boot, or ski socks. I will use them as house socks. I had to make socks before I could register for the Christmas Stocking class. I did enjoy making them, made both in 4 days.
This scarf is for my mother for Christmas (she doesn't blog, so she won't see it).
Another scarf, this one is so very, very easy and fast to knit.
Market bag, just throw this one in your purse and pull it out at the register instead of getting their plastic.

A baby jacket

another baby jacket

and yet another baby jacket. The 3rd photo comparing the size of the orange and white baby jacket to the brown one. Not much difference.

In an earlier post I showed the orange and white baby jacket and Mason in his wallaby sweater. Below is Noah in his wallaby sweater, with his proud Mom (Wendy).

You can click here and see Noah with 2 blankets I knit him before he was born. Wendy's post is nice and he is so cute (can you tell I am the Granny?!?)

I actually have more but that is all I have photos of for today's post. Yesterday I went to Newfound Gap to see the colors, very disappointing. At Newfound Gap the leaves were all gone, think that snow took them right off the trees. At the bottom of the mountains the colors are just getting started good so will have to go back again, just not to the top.

I hope everybody is doing good, and I will try to get around to visiting all of you.

Cleome in the previous post

2009-10-11T13:24:00.002-04:00

I am sorry, I did forget to tell the name of the flower. I bought Burpee Signature Heirloom package of Cleome Queen Mix. I know they do re-seed, so I know if the blooms get to mature before it gets too cold here I should have more next year. The package showed the color I posted (below) and a white, and a pale lavender-almost white.

Falls Blooms in the yard

2009-10-10T15:41:00.003-04:00

I planted a package of seeds in the spring. The package says the seedlings emerge in 14-21 days. First I only got ONE out of the whole pack and it just now came up.The bud emerged late last week. The first 2 photos were taken Tuesday morning.
The next 4 photos were taken Friday morning as I left to go to a knitting workshop.

I really do like these flowers, and I guess they were worth the wait, just not worth the money I spent. Sure hope they come back next year. One plant for a package of seed is terrible.

The daylily, "Dainy Eyes", was taken Friday morning too. Still have a few blooms here and there, as you can see there are still more buds on this one.

I went to a knitting workshop on fairisle knitting. I am knitting a Christmas stocking, or two. The workshop was great! We found out earlier this week John and Lindsey's baby (due in February) is a girl. 2 grandsons, we were hoping for a granddaugther this time. Hope everybody is doing fine.

Pair of Silver Spotted Skippers

2009-10-01T13:57:00.000-04:00

These photographs of a pair of Silver Spotted Skippers was taken earlier in the year. The first 3 photographs are very similiar but notice in the first one the skipper in the back is turned looking at the one closer to the camera.

One thing I found interesting is the color difference of the wings together and the wings open.

I am still seeing a few butterflies, but it has turned fairly cool here this week so I don't guess I will be seeing them for long. Also, this morning saw 2 Eastern Bluebirds checking out my birdhouse on the deck (the one I had so many photos of the Tree Swallows at this past spring), I sure hope they were looking for a winter home and not crazy enough be starting another family this late.

Pink Oriental Lilies

2009-09-28T15:11:00.000-04:00

These oriental lily photos are obviously from earlier in the year. I do still have some daylilies blooming (very few) but no oriental lilies left. This first one is called Oriental X-otica, you can see the coloring of my daylilies in the background. The X-otica is planted in the edge of my largest daylily flowerbed.

You know me, I have to get closer and closer.

Although they all look like the same lily to me, the last one is Pink Pearl, the oriental I posted early July, here. The Pink Pearls are planted up close to the house, you can see the brick in the background.

Just taking a little time to blog. I am going to try to visit some too.

American Chestnut Tree closeup

2009-09-27T13:09:00.002-04:00

As promised in the last post I have some more photographs of the American Chestnut Tree. And I do now believe it is an American Chestnut instead of a Buckeye. What do you think?

This last photo is more blurry, but it really shows the leaves.

Not home for long....just long enough for Jimmy to mow and me wash clothes, but I did also post on my other blog, Photography By Leedra with a much prettier photograph. Have started a knit project for myself. Taking a weekly knit class right now, and am learning so much. Also keeping Mason on Wednesday mornings, and just have to go see Wendy and Noah one day during the week. Staying real busy. Hope all is well with all of you.