Country Living

This balloon landed at the across-the-street neighbor's at sunset

Ooooh!  Cool!

Trying to take a picture of this bird is a little like Where's Waldo?

Bambi!

Don't worry about Bambi -- his sibling and momma were there the whole time

Look at this cutie!

This butterfly was so obsessed with our mint, he didn't mind I took a million pictures

He moves fast!

I made myself whittle it down to my top ten  of the butterfly

Bleach Dye

So, I have this shirt, and it got sprayed with toothpaste.  Don't ask me how.  You know.  And, as it turns out, whitening toothpaste will bleach things.  Go figure.  So, I have this shirt with microscopic bleach spots, and this is the kind of problem that will make me never wear the shirt again.  I know it's almost invisible, and no one will notice, but I will know, and have to get rid of the shirt.  It's the kind of flaw that makes you give something to the thrift store, and the person who buys it at the thrift store is thinking, now why would someone give away this really cute shirt?  Enter Bleach Dye.  I have tie-dyed with bleach before, but it's been awhile, so I googled some instructions, and then loosely followed them.  Behold, my craft:

Microscopic bleach spots

Otherwise cute t-shirt

Fold in thirds, accordion fold, make straight with a ruler, rubber band

More rubber bands for good measure

Steps not pictured!  Put bleach and water in a bucket.  The directions want you to use 4 cups of bleach, but I am not wasting that much bleach on a craft.  So I used less bleach and less water, and had to dye the shirt one half at a time, like easter eggs that you have to flip.  Dip t-shirt in bucket.  You're only supposed to do this for a few seconds, because bleach can destroy fabric.  But, since it's me, and I didn't see anything "happening", I did it for thirty seconds.  No harm, no foul.  Rinse with water until it doesn't smell bleachy, or until you're bored of rinsing.  Wear gloves!  Also, maybe wear goggles.  I may have sprayed bleach in my eyes (how have I not maimed myself?  I don't know!).

Hang up to dry

It's dry!  The front

And the back

It would have been so funny, if I did all this, and the spot that had been spotted with bleach, wasn't one of the spots that got bleach-dyed, and you could still see it.  Fortunately, and by no design of my own, that didn't happen.  The universe smiled on me for this craft.

Also, I may have bleach dyed some underwear while I was at it, but I didn't take pics of that!  I want to keep the universe on my side...

I Love a Parade

You should know, when I go to a parade, I'm singing this song in my head.

Monroe Fair Days Parade 2012.  The first few pics were with my fancy camera, all the rest with my phone.  Not too shabby!  Tractors, trucks, princesses, dancing horses...  Oh, and pirates!  All my favorite things.  I do love a parade!