this is  something that takes me lots of determination . . . going outside and experiencing the dreadful heat index of 100 plus degrees and the high, high, high humid weather and just knowing before hand how gross I am going to feel in minutes when I depart from the air conditioning.

But for the past three days that is what my hubby and I have been doing – just for three gourd plants.    This all started when a few weeks ago I spotted some gourds spouting up in our grass. I just could not bear the thought of the lawn mower running over them so I very carefully uprooted them and placed them in nice little peat pots. They began to flourish so we decided they needed a proper place to grow and bear fruit – so we cleared a little plot in the back yard and built a trellis.   I am hopeful they will continue to grow and I will have a nice gourd harvest around  December. Here is a look at what we did-

The gourd patch

One of the gourd plants

Peeking through to the gourd patch

This is my favorite orchid! The fragrance is chocolate - yummm !!

Kinda’ ready for the weekend and I just wish it was cooler!  It is so hot outside I am still hiding – but of course that means I am painting!

Yesterday I did venture out and looked for some photo opportunities and caught this Ibis dancing on the dock railing – so graceful!  Some day I will try and paint one these birds but feel my work would be so inferior to God’s creation.

I will leave you with a sneak peek of my latest recycled light bulb Christmas ornament design which is inspired by the Russian matryoshka dolls –

Have a great weekend!

We were in for a real and unusual treat Tuesday when the Redbull Skydive team “dropped in” next door to us !!  It was a spectacular site to see-