Flying creatures and positive features

The monarchs are out in force right now!  With temperatures still in the 80s and the milkweed in full bloom, butterflies are really happy.

Positively giddy!

Here are the milkweed flowers they love, looking like tiny ballerinas.

Halloween is just around the corner, and it certainly felt like orange and black were the colors of the day on our recent hike.  First you have those brightly-colored monarch butterflies...and then, the spiky-backed ladybug nymphs...

...and finally, the milkweed bug, keeping the color theme going strong.

Does yellow and black count?

I also noticed another theme...babies!  Here's a group of eggs that I think belong to the southern stink bug...

...and if you can handle it...a huge spider egg sac!

If you look closely, you can see all the babies!

I think these two are going to be producing some of those babies really soon!

He's not an ostrich, but this anole was pretty sure that we couldn't see him.

We did catch a glimpse of a bolder fellow.

Here's another unseen creature...a slug.  He left a silvery trail on our cobblestones, but I have yet to catch him in the act!

And another cagey fellow - this spittlebug, hiding under his clever protection.

Here at home, I've been doing a little baking.  Spicy pumpkin whoopie pies!  The recipe is in the Sally's Cookie Adventure cookbook and they are the most delicious whoopie pies I've ever had. 

Sugar cookie bars with cinnamon chips and buttercream frosting, also from the same cookbook.

Official Halloween baking begins TOMORROW!

Speaking of Halloween, I just finished a quick quilting project.  I had the idea to make quilted Halloween banner flags to hang up this week.  I used Hocus Pocus fabric from Moda and a pattern from my Farm Girl Vintage book.  The squares were 6.5" x 6.5".

I was just winging the flag design and made several mistakes before deciding to sew banner jags onto the bottoms.  So, they look a bit like little teeth...

...but they sure feel festive!

Another project is a positivity plan I started about a month ago.  I started writing positive sayings on a white board in the kitchen, but they soon devolved into corny jokes, puns, and cartoons.

Some I make up (SNARK-EOLOGIST!!) and some I crib from the internet.  It's so much fun...I think I get a bigger kick out of them than Todd does!  Hopefully I have enough material to keep the white board humerus humorous for at least another month!

Have a great week!

Around the Homestead

It's been a very busy long weekend around here, but I love being productive.  I started working on refinishing a work table for my model kits.

I made little topiary trees for the fireplace, inspired by something I saw recently on Pinterest.  I bought some floral cones and moss at Michael's...

I originally attached the moss with double-stick tape, which was a terrible idea.  I had to go back with my glue gun to re-affix the moss.

Some sticks from the yard, placed in terra cotta pots...and voila!

I'm pleased!

I made a rough corkboard collage of some of my favorite things, which will eventually hang somewhere in my office:

Speaking of my office, I'm currently trying to select a paint color for it.  This is something I'm absolutely terrible at doing, because I gravitate toward very light green, which always looks like toothpaste when it goes up:

So much for a sophisticated slate blue:

...and a bold, overwhelming green:

I think I've finally settled on, ironically enough, Carolina Inn Club Aqua.

Who knows what I'll decide tomorrow, though! 

I organized my messy cooking shelves...

...with the help of a Todd-built device:

I started framing some things, like these Victorian bird puzzles Todd got for me a year ago.  Better late than never! 

I did a ton of work in the yard, and I also baked all - weekend - long.  I made chocolate chip cookies (unphotographed), and orange sherbet (too strong for me, but Todd loves the bittersweet treat that uses the zest of 3 oranges):

A tender, tangy grapefruit loaf:

Lots of baguettes:

Chocolate whoopie pies...

...and boxed them up for some neighbors.

Also, I made gnocchi for the first time.  It's actually much easier than I expected it to be, although you have to plan ahead.  I baked two potatoes and mashed the innards up with an egg, salt, and flour...

Then rolled the resulting mixture into ropes, and cut them.

I boiled the little squares in salted water for a few minutes, and they were done.

They tasted a little bland to me, alone, but with a little salt and pepper, and mixed with caramelized onions and roasted asparagus...

...they made a pretty tasty meal for Todd!

The recipe is here at Smitten Kitchen.  It was quick and easy, and I was able to freeze half of it for another meal.  Success!

Hope you're having a productive week!