Butterflies

Hubby is back at raising butterflies.  His primary interest is Monarchs but he has also raised black swallowtails.  Right now on the dining room table in a plastic shoe box, he has two Monarch chrysalis. He also has 14 more Monarch caterpillars.  He has 10 Black swallowtail caterpillars. They are eating fennel.

Hubby has given presentations before the Lions Club on the Monarch butterfly.  The butterfly has been endangered but this year we have seen more of them than ever in the past. The video was taken of the butterflies coming out of the chrysalis.

The Cactus

About 22 years ago when I was first dating Hubby, I knew how much he loved the West and cacti, so I gave him a cactus for his birthday.  It was an African cactus from Frank's Nursery, about 3 feet tall. Every summer we take it outdoors and bring it in for the winter. It is very susceptible to frost. It takes both of us and a wheeled wooden platform to move it.  We never give it water during the winter.  An easy houseplant, except, it grows. When it becomes too big to fit through the door we cut it back and start a new cactus.  That has happened three or four times.  I found a picture of it several years ago as it summered on out deck.

 A few days ago, Hubby got out his Saws-all and took it down  This is about a third of the cactus.  He lets the pieces harden and then plants them in a sand and soil mixture. We have several friends who want one.

Spinner Quilt

I finished the top of my Spinner Quilt.  The pattern is from Quiltmaker magazine. I have made several quilts from that magazine.  I used all scraps and did the cutting with my Go Big Accucutter.  Of course my new design wall made it much easier to lay out because each square contained pieces of the adjoining four squares.

The Deadly Rotary Cutter

Is there a quilter that hasn't slipped with the rotary cutter. I know of several nasty incidents.  Mine have been relatively minor.  My friend, Donna, dropped one on her foot. At least mine closes if I am not using it. Blood on a quilt used to be limited to needle pricks .

Chickens

One of the two adjacent yards which do not have privacy fence belongs to Sam. He has chickens. A friend gave five chicks to his daughter one Easter.  One of them turned out to be a rooster and was eliminated (I don't know how).  Then another friend was getting rid of his chickens so Sam took one, so he is back to five(He calls that one a "rescue chicken"). They are all different breeds.  He has given us eggs and each breed has a different color of egg. I love watching the chickens as they all run together

Changes in the Back Yard

Our backyard has changed dramatically this summer. The family behind us decided to put in a privacy fence which meant taking down four trees in the corner of their yard. This really cut the shade for our yard. Then the neighbor beside us decided they wanted a privacy fence too, so they cut a tree down. (Maybe we aren't as well liked as we thought.) The result is a lot of sun in our yard.  The grass looks healthier than it has ever looked. It has meant some changes in our gardens. Fortunately the fences are on the north and west sides of the yard so the vegetable garden is not affected.  My hostas are turning yellow with too much sun but we are kind of pleased with the effect.

Thge trumpet vine suffered a little from being torn off the previous fence but you can't kill a trumpet vine. 

The visits are Almost Over

Gretel and family left this morning.  Mary and Sofie go tomorrow.  The dog is exhausted. The two 6 year old girls played together, Talked non-stop and finally slept together. What treasures!

Tiger Game

Last night, Gretel, Tom, Molly, Jim, Austin, Miles, and I went to a Tigers Game in Detroit. The weather was perfect and the Tigers won!

Gretel and I rode in Jim's chick magnet. We found lots of leg room in the back seat but no head room. 

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

After such a hot spell, today is lovely, breezy and cool.  I spent a good deal of time this morning weeding and then took a little rest.

 Molly did some posing to show off the garden.  It is the prettiest this year more than ever before.

A Gift for an Art Teacher

My step daughter, Amy, is an art teacher in Baltimore.  I made this quilt for her. It is called "Color outside the Lines." I made it entirely from my stash.  I quilted it by machine with invisible thread.  Lately I buy all my thread from Connecting Threads.

A Quilting Buddy

My Daughter, Gretel, likes to quilt as much as I do. Yesterday we spent the day working on our quilts. She finished the prairie points on a baby quilt she was making and started another using my Accucutter.  Hubby has half of my design wall up.  It is super.

A Week for Visitors

Last Friday, my daughter Martha, came to visit for the weekend.  She brought her dog, Mika. So Mindy had a playmate.

  Saturday we went to Greenfield Village with my brother and sister-in-law. (The hottest day of the year). Their children were up here visiting from Florida. Mary came down from Ohio with Sofie.  We had such a good time. Avery, my great niece, and Sofie asked such good questions and were so interested in the craft areas, it made the heat much more bearable.

 Afterward we all went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Martha and my son, Jim, met us there.
Jim had been at the rally in Detroit against separation of families. Gretel and Amy were at the rally in Washington D.C.

Detroit

Washington D.C.

Sunday morning Martha had to leave but that afternoon Tom, Gretel and Molly arrived for the week.