FairieMoon

In which....... well, you'll see.....

Middle School is out for summer!

Judy's Free!

Punch is sad.

In which we celebrate the old on Pink Saturday

Well, hello! I've missed you guys!

It has been so busy here. Judy has only one day left of school and celebrated tonight by attending the School Luau. She got a new dress for the event, but ended up calling me from the event to bring her shorts and a sweatshirt...I had a feeling. It was an outdoor event that included a bonfire, not really a sundress soiree in my opinion, but Judy usually has definite plans of her own. Sometimes it is better to let her play a scenario out the way she has envisioned it, otherwise disappointment ensues.

Punch (who still has two weeks left before school is out)  has been running a fever of 102 degrees for the last two days. He never gets a fever, so it concerns me, as does the fact that Judy is scheduled to have her tonsils removed in precisely two weeks. We cannot afford to be getting sick right now. But every cloud has a silver lining and Punch's is this...he won't be able to play in tomorrow's little league game. Whew! I think we are all breathing a collective sigh of relief.

Despite the ongoing end of the year events (note: little league tomorrow, dance recital on Sunday), it is beginning to feel like things are slowing down. Well, maybe "slowing down" would be the wrong choice of words...let me correct myself...I am beginning to see the end of the long, dark tunnel in which we've been trapped since the beginning of May. I've begun to tick off the "lasts" -- the last dance class of the year, the recital, the last band concert, the last school party, the last final, the last day of school... It is such a relief. I am ready for the long, hot, lazy days of summer.

Anyway, on account of the continuing melee of my life, I am going to cheat today and show you some old pictures of a Fairy Doll I made some years ago, which just happens to be on sale in my Etsy store.

She is a Fuchsia Fairy, notice the petals, and she sports a very lovely multi-colored mohair hair-do.

I had some fuchsia in hanging baskets on my porch a few years ago (silly me, I think I've told you that) and as pretty as they were, they did not have faces as sweet as this little lady.

Today, with this very missive, I have officially published my 93rd post. SEVEN more to go until I reach 100. I am planning to throw a little party of sorts to celebrate. I am having a hard time with the concept of coordinating a party on the EXACT day of my 100th post, as that day is rapidly approaching and we are still in the throes of School Chaos, but I am planning some sort of extravaganza which will include a whole new dollhouse party, PLUS a special give-away, so please stay tuned for further announcements. Besides, if I didn't schedule the party, but just let it occur on any random 100th post day, how would you know to attend?

Thank you for visiting me on this splendid Pink Saturday! Please leave me a comment, I so love hearing from you. If you can think of nothing to say, just tell me your favorite Jane Austen character! (I made a necklace today that is called the Misselthwaite necklace -- hee-hee!)  If you are dying to see more pink, please visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for a full list of participants.

Happy Pink Saturday!

In which Judy fixes dinner

Notice:

I seem to need a week off. We have been so busy with the end of school activities and little league. I will be back on Saturday with a new Pink Saturday installment! See you then!

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This year Judy was required to fix a meal from start to finish for her Character Skills class. Last night, I relinquished my kitchen and Judy took charge of dinner. (I have to admit, I loved it. Relinquishing should happen far more often!)

She planned her meal on Sunday, made a list of the ingredients she needed and shopped for them herself.

There are just so many things a girl needs to pay attention to while making a meal.

She sauteed sun-dried tomatoes and garlic to add to her alfredo sauce.

She set the table with the best china and prepared all of the beverages.

"Dinner's Ready!"

She prepared stuffed potato skins for an appetizer...

...and Fettuccine Alfredo with Sun-dried Tomatoes for the main course.

Everything was quite tasty if a little heavy on the starch!

And then for desert she made two kinds of Fruit Salad, a tropical version, heavy on pineapple and watermelon, and a red, white and blue version which featured bananas, strawberries, grapes and blueberries.

She served a delicious cream cheese dip on the side in which to dip our fruit. It's main ingredients consisted of cream cheese and marshmallow cream. It was surprisingly tasty, much like a cheesecake, but more pudding-ish.

She did a fabulous job, but got strangely tired when it came to cleaning the kitchen after-wards. I really can sympathize. She did it, but a mother knows.

I think this should become a weekly tradition. What do you think?

In which Punch finds a caterpillar

Today, Punch found a caterpillar.

They look so small and innocent, don't they?

"Which one?" You might ask, "the 'bug' or the boy?"

One might respond to that question with "both." And in the natural order of things that would be true, because both the mischievous boy and the forest tent caterpillar are only doing what comes naturally to them. (Of course Judy would say that Punch doesn't look innocent at all. That I am just falling for his act.)

But the caterpillar, along with his buddies, will defoliate the trees. And the boy?

Well...sweet though he is, he is going through a rough patch right now. He really misses his dad and probably has just had a new infusion of testosterone. I have to keep my eye on him constantly. He has got a mind of his own and quite an imagination.

But what can I say, I love him...

...the boy that is...perhaps even more on account of his hooliganism.

The 'bug,' on the other hand, is lucky there isn't an proliferation of his species this year.

The frogs and fish LOVE his kind.

 

****We are in the countdown to the 100th episode here at Fairiemoon. Nine more left after this one. I am planning something big so please stay tuned.

****Also, I've had so many nice compliments about my photography which makes me blush crimson, but pleases me to no end as I truly love to take photos for this blog. Thank you so very, very much! Some have asked what kind of camera I use. My camera is at least five years old, but I love it. It is an SLR type digital camera that can be used manually or automatically, a feature which gives me more control, plus it has a nice big lens. It is a Fuji FinePix S7000, I believe, 6 megapixel, 19X: 6X optical, 3.2X digital zoom with macro and super macro settings. I like to use natural light whenever possible and really only use the automatic setting, but as the flash has to be activated to work, it will automatically adjust to the lighting in which I am taking pictures, if it can, and for this, it does a pretty good job! For the close work, I tend to use the super macro and get as close as possible to the subject, sometimes practically touching it. That gives the photo intense focus on a specific point on the subject and then blurs as the object recedes. At that distance, movement can ruin the focus, so if you are, say, taking a picture of a very small flower in the wind, you'll probably have a hard time getting the camera to focus. You can always use a tripod and try to shelter your subject or wait for another day. For a more overall focused subject, use the regular macro and pull back the camera a bit and remember that you can always crop things out. Also, I take at least 15 pictures of each shot in the hope that I get the right focus and composition. It takes practice. I hope this helps! Thank you again! You can't know how much it means to me that you are enjoying the pictures!