Well I think I have finally adjusted to being alone in the house during the day. Early in the week I finally got around to fixing my hypertufa planter that I made and broke last fall. It was so large and heavy that when I turned it over I dropped a few inches and broke off one side into several pieces. That was a frustrating reminder that patience always pays off. I had made an attempt this spring at a repair but was interrupted by a visitor and the cement mortar dried fast and basically made the situation even worse. I think it looks fine now but probably not very strong so I don't intend to move it. Its really too heavy to move anyway and I know my husband hasn't enjoyed moving these planters around too much. I love their rustic earthy look!
I also played around and made a few cement mushrooms but the paper towel roll bases in my first attempt were much too small. So I made a rough cylinder form with some cardboard and tape that should make a sturdier base. I am hoping if I "plant" them in a shady spot I can get some moss to grow on them a bit. A buttermilk and crumbled moss mixture is a good starter for that.
This is one photo of my lopsided cement balls. I just filled in with concrete a few deflated balls the kids broke. I peeled off the plastic ball early so I could smooth it a bit too.
I took a bunch of photos of Mexican stone carvings down at the Museum of Natural History in NY this summer and would love to try making something like them in hypertufa. I think I will avoid some of the interesting "fertility" sculptures that might get too much attention from the kids though. They seemed amused enough at the museum!
I am busily working on my little birds and finished this one this week.
I just had to make something for Halloween and made this little display of pumpkins.
Take a look at this cute Etsy Treasury! Its called "
I do ... do you?" by
terbearco.
We have two new additions to our crowded house -- a pair of zebra finches. They and five other birds were abandoned at the local hardware store. I suppose that the owner planned on trying to give them to the nearby pet store but they could not take them due to quarantine issues. He asked an employee at the hardware store for some water for them and while that employee was getting the water he took off leaving the birds behind. My friend happened to stop in the store for paint and agreed to take them home. Before we were married and later before we had kids we had quite a few little birds like this so it wasn't difficult to convince me to bring a few home. They are noisy little ones though!
Yesterday was our town's 275th birthday celebration. I am sure everyone was relieved to have such beautiful weather too! We decided to walk with our children in the 4H float for the parade. They did such an awesome job with the float. They had a sheep and several chickens in cages on the float and off the back a few bunnies in cages too!
The kids had several baskets of candy which they handed out to children along the parade route. Everyone had so much fun.
Well I think I have finally adjusted to being alone in the house during the day. Early in the week I finally got around to fixing my hypertufa planter that I made and broke last fall. It was so large and heavy that when I turned it over I dropped a few inches and broke off one side into several pieces. That was a frustrating reminder that patience always pays off. I had made an attempt this spring at a repair but was interrupted by a visitor and the cement mortar dried fast and basically made the situation even worse. I think it looks fine now but probably not very strong so I don't intend to move it. Its really too heavy to move anyway and I know my husband hasn't enjoyed moving these planters around too much. I love their rustic earthy look! 
I also played around and made a few cement mushrooms but the paper towel roll bases in my first attempt were much too small. So I made a rough cylinder form with some cardboard and tape that should make a sturdier base. I am hoping if I "plant" them in a shady spot I can get some moss to grow on them a bit. A buttermilk and crumbled moss mixture is a good starter for that.
This is one photo of my lopsided cement balls. I just filled in with concrete a few deflated balls the kids broke. I peeled off the plastic ball early so I could smooth it a bit too.
I took my camera onto the porch and a pair of wedding birds to take a few pictures. In an elm tree of ours that died suddenly this summer there were a pair of woodpeckers pecking noisily at the trunk of the tree. They were larger than the small downy woodpeckers I have seen visiting the tree recently. I have been thinking about what to do about this tree quite a bit. Its so sad just looking at the dead limbs and I am tempted to cut it down. My other thought was to put up many bird houses on the tree. We have a gourd plant growing crazily in our garden this year with so many gourds too. So I could hang a bunch of these up. I'm not sure how pretty it will be and certainly won't provide any shade like that lovely tree did but it would be nice for the birds. I like having the woodpeckers visit too.
