Wise Words On Sunday

 

Saturday Critters #550

 550 times we have come together as critter lovers and shared our finds.

I thought the coloring around this Great Blue Herons head was "peachy"...

Standing with eye closed in the above picture, eye opened in the picture below.

Female American Black Duck

I saw several Bufflehead Ducks as we were still in March.

This Red-Winged Blackbird serenaded us for quite some time.

These are the last of the pictures that were taken at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

They were taken on March 31st and this was the view then.

Sharing today's images with Eileen at 

Viewing Nature With Eileen 

for Saturday Critters

Christmas In June

I am in a little bit of a knitting lull, but not a creative lull.

I have been making these little embroidered Christmas ornaments 

to include with the money gifts I give at Christmas time.

To people like my manicurist, my hairdresser, 

my mail carrier (she is such a sweet woman)...people like that.

This is a kit I saw on Instagram and ordered from Homestead & Thread.

It was very inexpensive, and included the patterns and the snowflake designs which were on a water soluble material, Stick and Stitch.

The felt and embroidery thread were not included.

These 3 need to be sewn together with a blanket stitch, stuffed, 

and cording included on top to hang them from.

I am using the "star"...not the heart or circle, I like the star as it is much more Christmassy.

I cut the felt into the shape and then embroider the design over the water soluble pattern.

Once done, you soak it in warm water which dissolves water soluble product.

These 2 were included as a thank-you. 

These are so fun to make 

and I will be so happy in December that they are done.

Busy As A Bee

 My Butterfly Bushes are blooming beautifully.

I have 3 in total and each is filled with gorgeous flowers, lots of bees and even a few butterflies.

This deep purple bush is a "random transplant" as I never planted it, just one day it appeared.

I did a little googling to see if I could find the correct name for this, I think I use to know it.

If you do, please share it in the comments.

This color is my favorite.

I have caterpillars, both large and teeny tiny small and chrysalis, both from this summer and last fall.

It's a whole story I will share another time.

This caterpillar is now in chrysalis form and will emerge

in 10 or so days!

More From The Farmingdale Enchanted Forest

This is what I wrote on June 20th to introduce you all to this fairy garden/walking path.

"Quite by accident and much to my surprise, 

we stumbled upon this Enchanted Forest in Farmingdale, NJ...but really in the middle of nowhere.

This is a quaint, self guided walking tour through the woods of the town of Farmingdale.

There are dozens of really lovely handcrafted fairy houses, and fun activities for the kids to do.

I have never seen anything like this and what a joy it was to walk through.

There were lights along the trail, they were on, 

but we were there at 7pm, it closes at 8pm making it difficult to see the lights."

Here is what we saw on the second half of the walking path...

- this was a magical adventure -

Heat, Rain And A Puzzle

It got really hot here in New Jersey, high 90's, in some areas it was 100 degrees.

It wasn't just hot, it was humid as well.

We did the final clean up of the pool, got the corn hole set up, and have enjoyed two really nice swims.

The water temperature is perfect, 82 degrees, cool and still refreshing.

We are a bit rusty on the corn hole, this is a new set and the bags are filled differently.

After 3 games, Chuck was the total winner 1 - 0...

that's right between the 2 of us Chuck was the only one to score a point, and it was only one.

"I have placed my head down in shame". 

It started to rain while we were outside...

There was thunder and lighting and pouring down rain, it was the perfect storm...

I love when it rains.

We had to come inside and it was the perfect time for a puzzle.

The house got dark from the storm, and the thunder and lightning was intense.

The mood inside the house was also a little intense, 

putting together a puzzle "always seems like a good idea".

These puzzles are really cool.

If you would like to, you can put the puzzle together using the letters on the back of the pieces.

We separated the pieces into sections, A B C D and it does make it easier to put the puzzle together.

We separated them into little sacks until it was time to do that part.

I had the right side of the puzzle, of course...much more difficult to put together, mostly white!

We finished about 3/4 of the puzzle...that would be the hub's side, my face,

since I got stuck with mostly white.

I'll show you the completed puzzle when it is finished.

This is a high quality puzzle with wooden pieces from Wentworth Puzzles.