Blooms and grooms

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Several plants are now blooming in our yard:

Firecracker Plant with Caladiums

Ixora

Copper is blooming, too- having been groomed this weekend. He feels much better now in this hot weather--it's been in the low 90's for awhile.

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I finished these pieces today for a FiberArtTraders swap; it required that I use blue fabric, circles, thread or yarn, recycled plastic, and something representative of nature. The kimono are made of shipping tags, inked, stamped, and embossed with UTEE. I used pieces of black plastic mesh vegetable bags to tie on Japanese 5 yen pieces and added eyelash yarn. The obi are made of blue fabric with a silk flower attached to each one. I used chenille yarn with old pink and blue plastic macrame beads as hanging loops.

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Here's the blue jacaranda tree we planted in the front yard. It's about 8' tall, but they grow fast. It looks spindly (and it is!) but the winds here will toughen the trunk within a year or so. DH grew this one from seed.

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My MIL agreed to wear an alert necklace, so we got her one. She's still wearing it, but the unit doesn't work. The company agreed to replace the base unit, but we haven't told her it doesn't work right now; it would convince her that it's unreliable and she would stop wearing it. At least we know the alert system works, the company called all three of the responders to tell them the unit wasn't working. I hope the new unit gets here soon.

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