Flower Bed Update and an INCREDIBLE Win

Now that my ICADs are complete, I have a few hours between Sunday and T Time.  My internet friend CJ has a weekly post asking How does your garden grow?  I think it's time for a final weekly update on my now dead flower bed.

Don't get me wrong.  Taking a few photos at my home is a whole lot easier than writing a movie review, creating a journal page, dyeing fabric, or driving all over town looking for murals.  But I simply can't continue creating two posts a day on the weekend.   It isn't fair to my readers and it puts a huge burden on me.

I consider my job to be my blog and, although I post daily, I still need down time on the weekend in order to do things I don't have time for during the week (like washing loads of towels and changing sheets on my bed).  In truth, I'm a creature of habit, and the weekend is for cleaning, dusting, vacuuming, and doing loads of laundry too large for daily hand or small load laundry.  It's also the time I need to dedicate to my herbs.  And let's not forget, I have to mow every couple of weeks, too.

One day late in August, I finally removed most of the blue plastic that had been covered by rocks when I removed the water feature.  

It was enmeshed with tree and plant roots, too.

That's a huge weight off my chest and now I can look on my flower bed and appreciate it, even if there are no flowers blooming.  I'll be back once a month with updates on my flower bed and my sad herb garden, too.  I hope you understand why I can no longer keep going at this pace.



I planned to share this for T this Tuesday, but I already had the post ready to go, so decided I needed to share it here, where it got the thanks and appreciation it definitely deserved.  Be aware this is incredibly photo heavy, so you might need your favorite drink 

as you peruse this box of goodies sent to Bleubeard and me for winning Valerie's tag contest she held at Tag Tuesday.  I really don't feel I deserve this.  Look at the size of this box.  It's huge.  I could barely lift it.  I love that Valerie uses real postage stamps to mail her packages, too.  BTW, I'm getting pretty good at the smudge tool in PhotoShop. 

It took awhile and a knife to finally get the tape cut on the box, but once I got it open

there were layers and layers of goodies staring at me.

The first thing I did was open the card Valerie sent.

I was blown away by the fact she sent this American money she possibly could have converted to Euros.   Yes, Valerie, even old money can be used here, and this isn't all that old.

If I'd been thinking, I could have used this as my Tuesday T post.  Instead, I slightly hid this darling hand decorated bag with this beautiful British flag ribbon.

But Valerie didn't stop there.  Here's yet another beautifully hand decorated bag.

There's also lots of cancelled postage stamps from all over the world.

Tulips dot this adorable hand decorated paper bag.

Even my bath will smell nice with this lavender sachet.

Valerie likes to wrap gifts in napkins/serviettes

and this is no different.  It's a gorgeous hand made and painted tiny book in which to keep messages and important information.

I pulled all these adorable ribbons from the box and attempted to corral them.

Also included were these beauties.  I already have an idea for those tiny bits in the top container.  Note the ribbon has been sorted, too.

I was head over heels with this wonderful date stamp Valerie sent.  What she may not have realized is I had purchased one of those date stamps like she sent me, but it was only good through 2018.  Now I have one that will last through 2022! 

Next came a beautiful batch of different decorated papers.  The fibrous paper Valerie sent was new to me, but I knew it was handmade.

Tucked inside this lovely paper were these masks and this grungeboard.  I was sure the "circle" that was missing had to be somewhere in the box.  As it turns out, it was a "zero" and I would find it as I explored the box further.

Next came stamps, both red rubber and cling.  I certainly have Christmas and Valentine's Day covered.

Yes, I'm in LOVE! Who wouldn't be, especially since I collect rocking horses and can now add it to my collection of over 470 rockers.  Stamps count, too! 

I tried to get a photo of this

cling stamp borders, but I realized I would have to remove the red rubber stamps from the back if I wanted to see what these borders look like. 

Next were more cling stamps, heart doilies, a stencil, and even more cling stamps.  I especially look forward to using the film strip in the top set and the floral stencil.

Next I unrolled these stunning stamped pieces of fabric.  Lo and behold I found the errant "zero" missing from the grungeboard set.

Another tiny book made by Valerie accompanied stickers and grunge pieces.

The beautiful sheer fabric on the left had been run through a printer.  More grunge pieces in the form of photo holders that were already colored sit below more cancelled postage stamps.  To the right is a set of Christmas wreaths.  Beyond that are two pads of paper and an ink pen with cat paws on it.  Then there's the Christmas clear stamps that I look forward to using.  To the left of the stamps is a small book with a note pad that has the adorable bird on it.

And finally, last but certainly not least, is this incredible tag Valerie featured on her blog when she announced this challenge.

Thanks for joining me today.  If you weren't as blown away by Valerie's generosity as I was, you are undoubtedly jaded, or have more craft supplies than most people.  Overwhelmed isn't a strong enough word, gratitude doesn't begin to express my feelings, and thank you seems a bit puny when I look back at all these goodies.  However, lacking the proper words, a big huge THANK YOU dear, generous Valerie will have to suffice.