A bunch of Very Random Photographs

These are bunch of very random pictures... very random
Coco sleeping in her hay

Pretty Wardian case in the entryway, inhabited by "found" ferns.

My Purslane hybrid "Alina"

Succulents on a tray

Our lovely ditch

Purslane in full bloom (4" across--HUGE)

A sinkside water garden

Howdy ya'll!

Purslane Madness!

I got my hands on two new pots of purslane yesterday at Target. As many of you know, I LOVE purslane. I love the flowers, I love the taste, I love the colors....... this could go on for quite some time. Anyway, they both had the leaf shape of moss rose, (if you don't know what that is, call me to set up an appointment: ) one actually was moss rose, with multicolored flowers(the flowers themselves weren't multicolor, they just had different colored flowers on the same plant). The other one was white-flowered. I potted them up in a window box with three other varieties I had on hand(yellow, hot pink, and hot pink with yellow edges). This box

is going to be beautiful once the plants start filling in all the empty space. Here's some close-ups of some of the flowers

Sorry I couldn't get all of them!

This is a mystery flower. We have no idea what it is! If you know, let me know!

I had to write a "descriptive paragraph" for my composition class. Mom said I ought to put it on my blog, so here I am. Of course I changed a few details........I couldn't remember every single word that was spoken!

The Dog Ride
I hopped up into the grooved, leaf-strewn truck bed, right behind my siblings and the two dogs. The tailgate slammed shut. Amos, the dog, gave me a lick on the face. “All ready?” came the call from the cab. “Ready!” we yelled. With a lurch, the truck started. My sister squealed with delight as the ride bumped and jostled us against each other. Once we were to the side of the road, we picked up speed. The wind whistled past the sides of the truck. It was exhilarating. As we whizzed along, I looked up at the sky, which was a delicate azure, with hardly any clouds. Beautiful. The air smelled of pine and sweet grass. It also smelled of dogs, but I didn't mind...too much. Gleefully, Amos stood with his front paws on the side of the pickup. Elated at this unexpected bit of fun, the other canine stuck his nose in my face and grinned, if ever a dog could grin. I laughed and smiled back. Stroking his soft fur, I thought, Surely, surely, they must have dog rides in heaven.

Thank you for the dog ride, Grandaddy.

Pretty flower pictures to brighten your day.

Did it work?

If this doesn't gross you out...

I went out on the porch a few nights ago to get Noname in for the night, and I stumbled upon

some of my worst enemies on earth

Slugs. And not just any ordinary 'ole garden slugs either, they were...

Banana slugs.

I guess I need to go renew my salt trail around the porch. Yuck!

Not much has been going on around here lately.... unless you count a visit from the most awesome aunt in the world and my brand-new cousin from Colorado, something. They arrived on....Saturday of last week, stayed until Tuesday (two days ago) and flew off. Mom was going crazy the whole time they were here. She just couldn't get enough of little baby Hunter. Here's one of the few videos in which he is smiling(I apologize for my mother's cooing) . Here's some pictures of aunt Katy

Here's Hunter and "Hunclebarry" And here's me holding HunterIf I look sleepy, it's because I am. It was about seven a.m. and we were about to leave for the airport. That meant I had to get up at six. As many of you know, I'm not a big fan of getting up at six. Anyway......

We had a sweet visit, and we all hope that they'll come back soon ( aunt Katy, if you happen to read this, I still don't think the cottage/storage shed in the back yard is a bad idea) .

Tea parties and a box!

I have finally done it! What have I done, you ask? I finally learned how to make paper boxes! Take a look!

We have attended two tea parties recently. One was a birthday party for a friend, and the other was a spur-of-the-moment thing on the porch. Actually what happened was I had made a small pot of mint tea from our plants on the porch, and B. ( that stands for Brennan, or brother) asked if he could have tea with me, and then everyone else ended up asking until tea for two became tea for six, and then Lu offered to whip up a batch of scones...
The Birthday\tea party

Yummy strawberries!

Needless to say, we had a wonderful time!

Over the past few days I have been working on some projects (other than cleaning my room) and I stumbled across a blog post that my mom had printed out. It told you how to make teeny-tiny matchbox dollhouses. I was hooked. I thought ya' might like to see the results:

Not bad....
and of course I had to make a doll to go in the house

Unfortunately the doll can't actually fit in the house when it's closed....

While I was at it, I went ahead and did some other miniatures

This is Rosie Rockhead (I had to do something with the leftover doll hair!)

I also made a dollhouse-sized fountain

Isn't it adorable?

Thank you for putting up with the results of my creativity!

Toodle pip an' all that!

Lights, Camera, Action!

Ta-da! It is my debut in the blogging world! My mom finally let me have a blog! Yippee! Pardon me, I'm rather excited...

For those of you who don't know, the bird at the top of the page is lovingly referred to as "Noname" pronounced no-(as in the opposite of yes)na-(short a)mi(me,you, us, that kind of thing). She is one of our four birds that regularly graces our floor with feathers, dust, birdseed.... and then I have to clean it all up!
Here are the fluffed-up featherbags

.....enjoying an afternoon snack! (at my expense)

Oh well, I need to get a lock for the cage door anyway.

We have several other pests... excuse me, pets in and around our household.

There is Annie, ( her full name is Anonymous) the black panther (cat) who has some rather odd tendencies.....

She must have heard me say "Catfish"

Talk about the cat who ate the canary!

Here are my (lovable, huggable, butterfingered, forgetful, sometimes-annoying-but-still-very- sweet) siblings

Jess,

....B. Cole

And (drumroll please), Lu!

Here is my mom....

and my dad....

And Coco, our household behemoth:

....Playing dead. (or is she?)

Those confounded budgies were wandering all over my rooom, making a mess, and I found a solution! Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! I present to you.......... quick and easy parakeet storage!

Over-the- door shoe organizers are awesome!

Now let me see, who did I forget? hmmmm. ME! So, here is a picture of me......

In my fairy costume!( a year ago)

Here is a more recent picture:

Can you believe it snowed in Louisiana two years in a row?