Outside the Box....

This morning it was so nice outside that I decided to hide the mini tools and go out in the back yard and play with the big ones....Gardening ones, that is.

I am officially a happy camper now. What was left of my plants after the big, bad, hard frost are now making a comeback. Time to celebrate and show you what is happening.

The pomegranate tree is about 8 feet tall and full of blossoms. I love to watch these grow. The blossom doesn't really fade. It just magically turns itself into a fruit by turning green, then back to red as it swells. We are going to have a bumper crop this year.

I did have to replace my favorite patio plant. It is a Medusa Plant of the euphorbia species. The blossoms that it is covering itself in are less than a quarter inch across. This one is even prettier than the one that I started with.

This Burbank cactus was about seven feet high and all that was left of it after the frost was the few larger gray green pads. We didn't think that it was going to make it. As you can see, it is coming back like a champ! Soon all of those small paddles will be as large as the old ones. It is amazing how much this one grows in a year's time. I got a two pad piece from April and Seth's old one and poked it into the ground. The one that they have is as tall as their house and about eight to ten feet wide. These things are monsters! I am glad to have him back.

Now for what I have been doing in place of minis.....I made a cushion and pillow for the porch swing a week or so ago. I fully intend to use it later today when I take a break.

I know. Get back to the minis and where's Tessie? She's pouting because I'm not mini making. I keep hearing strange noises from the townhouse. They are coming from the vicinity of the closet...

Meanwhile, I am perfectly happy embroidering shoes....Yes. You heard me. I bought some new thongs. You know the kind that we all wear in the summertime. I hate switching to regular shoes for anything this time of year. It's toooooo hot! Well, maybe not quite yet, but it's going to be soon.

I got these at Walmart for about eight dollars. I was tired of looking at plain black, so I took some embroidery thread and used all six strands and a tapestry needle.

I carefully back stitched on the underside to start and finish the threads. No knots that way. Then I just started with the blue and winged the first one. With each color, I did both shoes before I started a new one. It's easier to make them match that way.

I imagine that you could draw on them with a piece of chalk to mark where you want to go, if you were unsure.

Anyway, I like them so well that I am going to go for it with the white and beige pairs that I have too.....It's something that I can do when taking one of those porch swing break. Maybe it will start a fad!

See you tomorrow.