Vintage Educational Coloring Books

Love these vintage educational coloring books. There are also reprints out there too. These are just so much better than the cutsey character waste of paper that you commonly find.

The drawings are .... gasp .... realistic and show details about the animal you will recognize in pictures, or if lucky enough, in person.

Thrift Store Desk

This would have been my desk if I didn't already have a refinished table for the chickies to do school work on. Isn't it sweet? It was so tempting to buy, I had to take a picture of it to sooth the shopping beastie inside that was shouting at me just to buy it anyway .....

My Turn, My Turn ... Leading Some Little Flowers

I was able to lead the girls' club this month. We made little bright fabric drawstring pouches with tea bags and get well notes inside. The girls were quite excited to choose from various fabrics and try their hands at sewing.

The Works of Mercy we listed on sheets improved immensly by two fanastic images from The Graphics Fairy. Here is the blue label and the pink cherubs.

Heavenly Bamboo

Okay, this photo is of the very top of a 8 foot Nandina domestica. Isn't it gorgeous? Obviously evergreen as it's up and kickin!

Blooming in Northeast Florida

My lavendar Trailing Lantana (L. montevidensis/ L. sellowiana) is holding on through several freezes. It seems that the foliage has become a dark purple color. As much as I do not like Lantana (from childhood) I find this little jewel boldly standing in my garden struck a chord adn it's currently my favorite plant. Of course, it is also the only bloom to be found.

Luckily for lantana, the plant has several things going for it in our area. It loves full sun, needs moderate water (good for those of us that don't turn on sprinkles unless it's for a playdate) and is evergreen until heavy freezes. It is one of those great butterfly attractors, and little girls seem to be drawn to the little clusters of flowers which pull off easily for confetti. The fruit is noted as poisonous if ingested. I also find that any scratches from lantanta branches my my skin itch a bit.

Thinking of Summer

Now that we have had several days of freezing lows, I was lingering over summertime photos.

This is the Sign You Hope to See at Magic Kingdom

This is the standby wait time, there was no fast pass distribution simply because there weren't enough people in the standby line to pass.

Epcot on Kim Possible Missions

Talk about a gorgeous end of the day! That water was molten gold. Yes, that is the top of the "Tour Eiffel" and Dolphin and Swan Resort silhouetted by the sunset.



This visit we attempted the Kim Possible Missions Disney has set up in Epcot. You pick up a "Kimmunicator" at one of several locations in the park, then follow the instructions to a Country's Pavillion to complete a mission. There are several inventive responses during the adventures that even surprised me. We were able to keep up a brisk pace, but when we took time to stop at the movie in France, it caused our "Kimmunicator" to time out. We walked back to pick up a new one. I would suggest this for older children (at 6, he was challenged with most clues, at 10, she was challenged with a few) for a few countries. We tackled France, Japan, Germany and Norway and were bushed!

We are Thankful For ...

Good Loyal Friends - whatever their race, color, creed or breed.
Leaves ... eventually, even in Florida, some leaves will fall for a leaf pile. This bounty is provided by our neighbors sycamore.

Fall Has Arrived to the First Coast

I wore a long sleeved shirt the other morning and didn't sweat through it immediately. Yes, outside, people. This is a sure sign that Fall has arrived.

My neighbor's south dogwood is the first to start dropping it's leaves. I see our little red berries peaking out, but the leaves are still on. The crepe myrtles are nodding their heads, heavy with seed pods maturing. Mowing the grass is now put off to every other week - one of my favorites as I mow it.

Walking to the specialty market is again a pleasant experience. Yay!