All The Things

Yesterday, I woke to a butterfly...one of the chrysalis I have been nurturing since last fall, emerged today.

I had not given up hope, 

I continued to keep it safe...but I thought it was unlikely it had survived the long winter and hot summer.

But she did, this is a...

- female black swallowtail butterfly -

I lifted her out of the cage, she posed for a few pictures then flew away with beauty and grace, 

fluttering about before taking off for parts unknown.

It was not easy to say goodbye, she had been with me a long time.

But her wings were strong and she was ready to go and experience the world.

I have been painting with watercolors, I am pretty happy with the progress I have been making.

- garden flowers -

- buttercup -

- rose -

I am learning a lot about how much water is needed for the proper look of "blending".

I would like to take a class, to see how other painters use this medium.

I am watching videos on Youtube to learn other peoples technique, that varies, and has been very helpful.

I have a few more done, I will share in a later post.

My wildflower garden is doing so well.

The plants are towering up and there are so many buds ready to burst open.

These are both Cosmos.

I am also knitting a purple Honey Cowl by Ann Maria

The color of this yarn is better portrayed in the first picture.

The yarn does have a lot of different colors woven through it...as whole, it looks purple.

The pattern is free and only requires you to know how to knit, purl, and slip one, wyif 

 (with the yarn in the front).

Easy...Peasy

Liz made the bag for me, I love it, it is my favorite bag and the perfect size for this smaller project.

 ~ The pattern can be found here  ~

I am not much of a reader but I read about how wonderful this book is.

 It is a small book, in both size and length, 130 pages.

The pages are thick and have a slightly torn/worn look to the edges.

I would like to read more so I thought this book would be the perfect place to start.

I started it and so far, I love it.

I made Beef Stroganoff last night, one of the fresh meals by CookUniy...

This may be my new favorite.

The sauce and noodles were a 10 out of 10, the meat was just a little "tough", but full of flavor.

All things considered, I really enjoyed this meal!

Last night's sunset was spectacular, the clouds were thick and looked so heavy...

yet they also looked soft and fluffy!!

I prefer seeing the sunset because I am always awake for it, mornings are tough for me, I sleep too late.

- which do you prefer -