Nature Friday – Bugs and Blooms

Hi everyone! It’s Cindy here. Summer is near the end and so is the growing season for the flowers in our yard. We still have a few daylilies blooming.

Rose colored daylily

Yellow daylily

Some of the hosta still have flowers too.

Hosta flowers

Another late bloomer in our yard is our non-vining clematis.

Clematis “Mrs. Robert Brydon”

The various bees around our yard seem to be working overtime collecting pollen.

Bumble bee on Joe Pye Weed

Bumble Bee on Blue Fortune Agastache

This little guy was so loaded down with pollen he could barely take off.

Now those are full saddle bags

Next I want to show you some dragonflies.

Orange Meadowhawk dragonfly

Orange Meadowhawk dragonfly on hypericum berry

Lastly I want to show you one of the many leopard frogs we have in our yard.

Leopard frog

There are so many of these frogs in the lawn that when I mow the lawn I have to go very slow around the edge of the grass (where they seem to be the most plentiful) to try not to squash or mow over them. We seem to be having a banner year for leopard frogs in our yard this year. It usually takes me about 2 hours to mow our lawn but since the frogs have appeared it’s taken me about 1/2 hour longer because I’ve had to go much slower. I want to get a bumper sticker for my tractor that says, “I Brake for Frogs”!

I hope you enjoyed this stroll around the garden today.

Join the Nature Friday Blog Hop

We are joining our Sorrell the Feline Boss of the Texas Branch of the LLB Gang for their Nature Friday Blog Hop. You should pop over to their blog to see all the other posts.

Advertisements

Hooking on Hump Day for Feel Better Friends

Hi everyone it’s Cindy here. Today I’m joining the Hookin on Hump Day blog hop to tell you about my most recent Feel Better Friends (FBF) doll that I made.

Emmalynn

Emmalynn is a 9 year old girl with epilepsy and some other health issues. She recently received a VNS device that helps control seizures.

Emmalynn is pretty in pink

Emmalynn’s mother said that her favorite color is pink and that she is in and out of the hospital a lot. She hopes that a doll would be a great comfort for Emmalynn when she is having testing or when she is admitted to the hospital.

Doll and accessories for Emmalynn

I noticed in the pictures that were sent to me that Emmalynn was often accompanied by a stuffed Teddy bear so I decided her doll needed one too.

A perfect bear for a doll

I found a cute little Teddy bear pattern from AmigurumiToGo.com. Emmalynn’s bear has lighter colored paws and nose so I made that adaptation to the pattern. I love the way the bear turned out and think he is the perfect size for the doll.

Every doll needs a bear for a sidekick.

To go along with her fancy dress I made a pair of “Mary Jane” shoes for the doll.

Cute little Mary Jane’s for the doll with her pink socks.

The hair for this doll was made using Knit Picks Shine sport weight yarn that was first hooked into the scalp. I then styled it as close to Emmalynn’s hair as possible.

The last thing I did was to try and simulate this doll having a VNS device. I started with a small piece of wood that I covered with muslin and then sewed into the chest of the doll.

I also added scars where the surgery left scars on Emmalynn.

VNS scars on the doll

A VNS device is sort of like a pacemaker for the brain. The wood piece that is in the doll doesn’t really stand out but it can be felt just below the scar on the chest.

Emmalynn loves her doll

According to Emmalynn’s mom, “My daughter Emmalynn loves her Feel Better Friend! Thank you so much! You did an amazing job! And to make her teddy also. You made my little girl so happy!!!!”

Making Feel Better Friends dolls has been a great way to use my crochet skills for charity work. Right now FBF is in need of more volunteers to make dolls. We are an all volunteer organization and recently the number of requests for the United States reached a point that the leaders have had to shut down requests for the USA so we can catch up. If you would like to help please click here to learn how to become a volunteer.

You should stop by the Hookin on Hump Day blog hop to see some of the other projects people have posted.

Selfie Sunday

Hi everyone. It’s Millie & Walter here. Another week has past so here are a couple more selfies.

I’m going for a serious look this week.

The shutter noise is disturbing my nap.

We’re joining The Cat on My Head for their Selfie Sunday blog hop.

You should check out the hop to see some of the other selfies. Today is the 5th anniversary of the Selfie Sunday blog hop!

Thanks for stopping by.

Selfie Sunday – Fun in the Sun

Hi everyone. It’s Millie & Walter here. We can’t believe it’s been a week since our last post. This time we are coming to you in living color.

A boy and his ball

Keeping an eye on the birds

We’re joining The Cat on My Head for their Selfie Sunday blog hop.

You should check out the hop to see some of the other selfies.

We apologize if we haven’t been around much or commenting either. Our mom has been busy this week taking care of our Oma who got a new hip installed over a week ago. Oma is doing great with the help of our Aunt Colleen who is staying with Oma. The bottom line is mom has been away a lot and trying to keep up reading all of your blogs too.

Selfie Sunday in Black & White

Hi everyone. It’s Millie & Walter here. We love doing selfies and it’s always fun to be outside but for dark colored dogs like Millie it can be difficult to stand out from the green grass. That’s why our dad used the infrared filter to process her pictures to turn the dark green grass white.

Am I running or just laying in the grass?

I love laying in the grass.

For Walter no infrared filter is needed but he still looks good in black and white.

I’m always happy when I’m laying in the grass on a nice day.

We’re joining The Cat on My Head for their Selfie Sunday blog hop.

You should check out the hop to see some of the other selfies.

Daylily Delights

Hi everyone! It’s Cindy here. We’re entering into daylily season in our yard so that is what I’m going to show you today. There isn’t much to say about them so enjoy the show.

.

.

.

This next daylily is a hybrid that sprouted from the one above.

Hybrid from the previous daylily.

This is the largest daylily flower in our yard.

.

.

.

.

.

.

This is my favorite of all our daylilies. I just love the burgundy ruffles on it.

I hope you enjoyed this stroll around the garden today.

Join the Nature Friday Blog Hop

We are joining our friends Arty, Jakey and Rosy (a day late, but better than never) for their Nature Friday Blog Hop. You should pop over to their blog to see all the other posts.

Wild Bird Wednesday

Hi everyone! It’s Cindy here. Our yard offers birds lots of trees to perch on. Some of the favorites are the evergreens where they are often watching over their young or on the hunt for food.

American Robin on Alaskan cedar

Female Eastern Bluebird on spruce tree

One of our favorite backyard birds is the Eastern Phoebe.

Eastern Phoebe on Alaskan cedar

After a quick bath the phoebe perched on the cedar to dry off.

The phoebe keeps watch for its preferred food

Is that a fly down there that I can catch?

According to the “All About Birds” website phoebes “typically place their mud-and-grass nests in protected nooks on bridges, barns, and houses.” We’ve looked around our house and there isn’t a nest on it that we’ve found so we aren’t sure where these little birds are nesting but they must be close by as they are frequently hunting all around our yard.

Female or Juvenile Baltimore Oriole with bug in beak

Sometimes even when the birds are eating berries they can find a tasty bug right under their beaks. You may have to click on the above image to see the what the oriole found.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into the birds we see around our yard. I’m joining the Wild Bird Wednesday blog hop. You should stop by and see some more birds.