Along the road

Isn't it just amazing all of the lovely flowers that pop up during the spring time!  I love checking our mail this time of year, not because I look forward to finding bills in the mail box, but because of all of the flowers that take over the area along the road by the mail box.  And where there are flowers, there are plenty of little amazing insects taking advantage of all the flowers have to offer.  While I did not get any mail today (which means I also did not get any bills!), I did take the time to snap a few photos of the life along the road.

All new light bulb necklace in the shop

We are slowly phasing out incandescent light bulbs in our house, replacing them with the little squiggly compact fluorescent bulbs (the U.S. is set to phase them out entirely by 2014).  Of course, for the bulbs in our ceiling fans and such that are exposed for all to see, we have opted for the squiggly bulbs that look like incandescents.  I cannot foresee a day when it will look acceptable to have bare little squiggly bulbs showing.  While the new breed of light bulbs are definitely a better idea when it comes to energy efficiency, I still love the iconic image of the standard incandescent light bulb.

Not too long ago, I created a hand carved stamp of the incandescent bulb and created a card, which you can find at my Etsy shop.  I wanted to take it a little further and add the image to a necklace.  Well...here it is now, and I could not be happier!  I really, really like this design.  I have the image framed a little by sanding the edges a little further than my other pendants. I think that it works well with this design. 

It starts with a toe in the water

Are you ready for a little swim? Well, grab that swimsuit, slip on those flip flops, and hit the beach!

On a spring evening

Spring comes early and leaves quickly around here.  Just last week, I was telling my co-workers to not complain about the abnormally cool weather when we all know that soon, very soon, the great outdoors will feel like a soup kitchen! People tend to think that all of Texas is like what you see in the movies--desert, tumbleweeds, cacti, cowboys, dry heat--and, there is a large portion of the state that is just like that.  We lived in Amarillo (in the panhandle of Texas, "near" New Mexico) for four years and, when we first moved there from east Texas (a full 11-hour drive from our hometown), we were elated to know that 100 degrees could actually feel "pleasant" if the humidity is only 10%!  Here in the piney woods of east Texas (sorry, no tumbleweeds, but plenty of folks in cowboy clothes), we often find ourselves sweating from the short walk from the front door to the mailbox in the summer because the humidity is 90% at 95 degrees.  Soupy, soupy days are ahead.  Already, the temperatures are peaking into the mid-90s.   Ugh.

To keep myself in full Spring mode, I dug through some of my favorites and found a few more along the way to put this little treasury together.  And if you don't instantly fall in love with the little Bambi in this treasury, well...I just don't know what to say. :) 

A feature on I's Ha-Lo Ha-Lo Blog

Irene of I's Ha-Lo Ha-Lo was kind enough to feature my Etsy shop in her lovely blog.  I truly appreciate the time she spent putting this together and hope that you can make your way over to her blog to take a peek. She puts these features together weekly and so be sure to check it out from time to time to catch the latest Etsy seller feature!

Thank you Irene!