Not a lot has been going on around here, but I will fill you in on everything that has happened.
One birthday, a few years ago, my MIL Mimi gave me this beautiful artist's set. It has colored pencils, watercolors, acrylics, oils, and pastels. It also has brushes, palettes, an eraser, and a pencil sharpener. It has everything one needs except for paper or canvas. I have been using Bristol paper.
Mimi also loaned me this Beautiful Nature Coloring Book.
I searched through it and began to draw some of the fabulous butterflies that were in the pages. Every night, while we watched a movie, I would draw a butterfly with my colored pencils. I also recorded the name of each specimen on a separate work of art.
Here is the finished product.
This is Ashley and Doc's favorite:
This is Mimi's favorite:
This is my favorite:
The purple one is Preston's favorite, and the little green one is the only fantasy butterfly that is not a replica of a real species.
Here is the completed legend:
I still need to frame these two pieces and hang them in my She Shed. I have quite the gallery going on out there.
Along with the butterflies, we have been having a few more grasshopper friends come by to visit. Do you see him here?
A little closer....
A little closer...
There he is! I named him Grenville.
Look how amazing he is!
He was quite friendly, hanging out on the ADT Security sign. I put him on my hand and brought him in to meet Doc. Then I took him back out so he could eat more of my flowers. There are plenty of them, so Grenville was welcome to feast away.
Grenville showed up on August 14th. On August 25th, I went outside and met his commander in chief - Colonel Lickspittle of the Hopperian Light Infantry Brigade.
This gigantic grasshopper was hanging out eating flowers. He jumped into my hand, and I brought him in to meet Doc. Then I let him go and he was gracious enough to pose for these portraits.
On August 17th, the Salvation Army had another $2.99 sale. We have a branch nearby that always has the most awesome stuff - cute, clean, and lots of nice brands. Here is what I got and what it would have cost if I paid retail.
This first babydoll dress is from Universal Standard. This is an ethically made and sourced brand, but I find that their prices are quite high, so I have never purchased from them. This 100% cotton dress retails for $169. It has a smocked back.
Here I am wearing it on August 19th. I paired it with gold sandals and a chunky bead necklace.
Next, an ethnic tunic dress from The Gap that retails for $80. It has a drop waist with a drawstring and a border print.
I wore it on August 18th with my Zelle sneakers to go dog walking. It was really comfy.
This next dress was very difficult to find on the internet to compare price. When I picked it up, it was obvious that it was very high quality - it is silk, has weights on the sleeves and hem to hold them down, and is completely lined in lime green silk.
I had trouble reading the label.
After much searching, I found the brand - Christopher Esber, a UK brand. A similar dress sells for UK 395 pounds. I haven't had the chance to wear this beauty yet.
Then we have this black knit mesh column dress from Trouve. It retails for $229. I haven't worn it yet either.
Next, a cool peasant style polyester blouse from Jennifer Lopez with lots of golden studs. It retails for $69. I am saving it to wear in the fall.
I got a pair of Champion athletic shorts, retail $20. Wore these immediately.
I got some white denim Gloria Vanderbilt shorts, retail $35. Also worn immediately.
Then I got these "Gucci" sweatpants. They are undoubtedly fake, but I have an authentic black Gucci logo T shirt that I want to try them with.
Then I saw these silk sweatpants. They looked very high end, so I picked them up. The aglets read Sylvian Heach.
These retail for $168. Score! I am also saving these for cooler weather.
After that, I stumbled over to the men's section. Doc likes thin long sleeved T shirts to wear for dog walking and in the pool to keep him from sunburning. They had an entire rack of brand-new ones, in every color imaginable. The brand is True Classic.
I got him all the 2XLs. They are sold at Kohl's and retail for $35 apiece.
I got my Birchbox on August 20th. In it, from left to right:
1) Doucce eyeshadow palette with bronzer and highlighter
2) Logie Regaard des Vagues Refreshing Eye Gel
3) Arrow Radiant Skin Moisturizer
4) John Frieda Frizz Ease Weightless Wonder Featherlight Smoothing Creme
5) Full Size! $28 value! Paul Mitchell BON Deeply Nourishing Hair Treatment
6) Daily Concepts Daily Konjac Exfoliating Sponge
A great box this month!
That night, August 20th, we had the full moon. It was called the Sturgeon Moon Supermoon. Check out the freaky pictures that I took! Wonder what the celestial meaning of this could be?
On August 21st, I went to Hobby Lobby to look at frames for the Melange Papillon drawing. I didn't find any, but I did find two things:
First, this ornament for my neighbor Alice. Her dog Maggie died after a battle with cancer. She was 12. I got his for her to put Maggie's picture in.
Then I saw this cute sign about Labrador Retrievers. I hung it on my dog gallery wall.
Some more of my seedlings made it to the front porch! I have started a new batch, but there's not much action yet.
I got three items from Temu. First, this long-haired red rug for my bathroom. Pandi had to approve it.
Then, a Welcome mat for the fall season, after October 1st. Also Pandi approved.
Lastly, eight solar lights for the front porch flower beds.
This is how they look at night. They flicker like flames.
My next home project is to put a TV in the backyard so we can go out there to watch it. I am looking for cabinets. This one would be perfect, and the house is identical to ours.
On August 27th, Doc was in the pool when he called me to come and look at the bird in the tree down the street. I thought it was an owl because it was so big, but it turned out to be a beautiful red-tailed hawk.
On Labor Day, we got Whopper Juniors to bring over to Win and Mimi's. We fed them, us, Luke, Ashley and Preston for $35. They had a special with two burgers for five dollars. So, we ordered ten and two large fries, and everyone liked it. I gave Ashley this bag of cosmetics. I tried to give her a little bit of everything.
Later that day, I worked out. I am an avid exerciser and have been for my whole life. Since my knee injury in November, I no longer run, which I am not too disappointed about. I usually work out five days a week for 90 minutes, with two rest days. I do one hour long hard work out and one 30 minute less strenuous dance type thing. Lately, I have been doing very hard work outs for the hour. I am very fit as a result. On this day, Doc said that I was the sweatiest that he had ever seen me. I looked like I jumped in the pool, I was so wet! I planned this, so I weighed myself before and after, and I lost three pounds in that hour. But don't worry, I will most likely not be doing that again anytime soon. It was an experiment, since Billy Blanks of Tae Bo fame said that he loses five pounds per workout. Now I believe him. I guess that professional boxers do the same thing to make the very upper end of their weight class.
I allow myself one Temu order and one Shein order per month. It's cheap, and it's fun. You saw my Temu order earlier. My Shien order cost $11.23. I got the following:
Three strand goldtone necklace.
Four-piece silver tone teardrop jewelry set.
Here it is on my hand.
Six pair of goldtone and pearl hoop earrings.
A three-piece heart shaped necklace and earrings.
A multitude of goldtone rings in varying sizes.
My hands and fingers look like they belong to an elephant, but I am sixty-five years old. I like to wear this inexpensive jewelry around town, because if I get robbed, they can have every single bit of it. I only wear the good stuff on special occasions.
Last of all, some miscellaneous outfits, and where I sported them!
On August 16th, I wore Express ponte pants, a Vince Camuto burnout tank and Temu sneakers for dog walking and movie watching. The necklace is Cookie Lee.
Then on August 20th, I wore a plisse pleated dress from Sunny Leigh to go grocery shopping on Senior Day at Grocery Outlet. We get very good deals there and are friends with Linda the cashier. I wore a Bandolino necklace and some designer sandals.
On August 22nd, I wore the Gap dress that I bought at the Salvation Army sale in July to see the tax attorney. It was cool and comfy, and I wore it to go for a walk in Huntington Beach Central Park while Doc looked in the used bookstore. I brought my sneakers with me and changed into them.
This dress is from BeBop. I got it at EcoTown, a great thrift store in Fountain Valley for three dollars. They have very good deals. I wore it to go visit my in-laws and then I had a little medical emergency and had to see the doctor that afternoon. It turned out okay, but I was scared. I washed this and it turned out perfectly - this is why I love polyester.
Thursday August 29th, I went back to Grocery Outlet to get Pandi's chicken treats. The chicken jerky is $20 for two pounds. I wore these cute paisley shorts from The Limited and a long sleeve T shirt. I thought the shorts would be too short, but they were fine.
I have been figuring out my retirement accounts. I saved a bunch of dough in pre-tax accounts when I was working to save taxes, and now I have to plan the withdrawals of the funds to save taxes. Yikes.
So on August 30th, I went to Wells Fargo and cashed out an IRA from the 1980s. I wore a cute shift dress from Weekend Traffic with Steve Madden shoes and a belt that I got in San Antonio.
On Labor Day, to get burgers, I wore the Cynthia Steffe dress that I got on July 25th at the Salvation Army sale. It retails for $139. It was a wonderful dress - comfy and cute. I wore it with Thalia gold sandals and a Joan Rivers necklace.
Today, I had another session between Bank of America and Wells Fargo to settle some retirement accounts. I wore an eyelet sundress from Susana Monaco and pearl trimmed sandals from Marc Fisher. I also wore pearl jewelry - some nice, some Temu, to complete the outfit.
One day, August 18th, we were thrilled to see an egret, an Ibis, and a sandpiper all hanging out at the Waterfowl Resort. We dubbed them the Breakfast Club.
So that's all for now. Hopefully, the next episode will be more exciting, but there is no guarantee!
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