Summer Fun ... Games and Fireflies Mantel

Summer Fun ... Games, Lightening Bugs, (Fireflies) Mantel

This large floral painting sets the mood with the feeling of freshly picked flowers, bringing the sunshine and happiness in. 

This is the third time I have decorated the mantel for Summer this year. Two failures ... third time is a charm. 

You can see number two HERE ... 
... number one ... not photographed.

An old wonky bicycle basket filled with croquet balls and these two time-worn mallets remind me of Summer fun. 

... jacks and ball too.

 

My daughter made me a wonderful memory book several years ago (EIGHT, exactly) … and included this email I had sent her in 2005.

 A note from Mom (that’s me) … 
dated June 6, 2005 … 7:48 p.m. 

" I have been on the front porch eating my tuna sandwich and pickled beets … (great combination … ha)

 

… and watching the fireflies moving in to light up the night.

IF I WERE A KID …

 I would run in the kitchen and get an old Mason jar and catch a jar full of fireflies.

Then I would find one of my Mom’s old worn-out quilts ...

   ... spread it on the grass …

... let the jar of fireflies light up the darkness and 
watch the beautiful sky and the sparkling stars.

IF I WERE A KID ... ???

 

... well, those days are gone forever … but I can still remember the fun time of my youth. 

 

Hope your night is lit by the beauty of the fireflies and you have a peaceful evening.

Love U ... Mom"

 

Riding Bicycles.
Playing Jacks and Ball.
Chasing Fireflies (Lightening Bugs).
Watching the stars.
Old Quilts.

Croquet.. an outdoor game where players use a long-handled mallet to drive a wooden ball  through a series of metal hoops placed in the ground.

 Love using cement birdbath or yard ornaments in the house.

Thanks for visiting ... hope my Summertime mantel stirred some good memories for you.

Love your comments ...  
Did you love catching lightening bugs (fireflies)?
What was your favorite outdoor game?
Did you ever lay on the grass watching the stars and making wishes?
Tell me about your favorite childhood game ...

IF I WERE A KID !!!

Old quilts and Lightening bugs ...

Blessings ... 

Linking to:  
 I Gotta Create


 Atta Girl Says, Worthing Court , The Everyday Home and Marty’s Musings.
Homework Wednesday
 Lavender Garden Cottage
Fluster Buster
The Dedicated House

BeBetsy
Kathie with an E
 Give me the Goods Monday
  



Homemaker on a Dime
 

Nifty Thrifty Things

The Table Scrapper 
Knick of Time Tuesday
Funky Junk Interiors  

Before and After Kids School Chairs.Numbered webbing seats

These are going to be so cute ...

 

This Blog FEATURED: by Amber at Dimples & Pigtails

   
GIVE ME THE GOODS MONDAY 
Thanks, Amber and co-hostesses for a fun party.

Two kids oak school chairs that had been up in the attic for a long time ... no seats ... no problem.  
I took some chair webbing ... taped off the black stripes with green Duck tape and painted the outside edges. Tape stuck really good, no bleed and used it over and over again. 

 

I stenciled random numbers in the center stripe. 

... they would be perfect with this sweet little table that I bought at a garage sale for $2.00 ... (sorry no before of the table)

Table needed some repair and sanding ... and found aqua paint under the creamy white.  I gathered up several colors of paint to mix to try to match the aqua. Got pretty close. (see glob of paint).

Added un-sanded grout to make a chalk paint.

Oak chairs had a lot of texture, so I gave a light coat of paint, letting some of the wood grain show. Washing down with a damp cloth did the trick on giving the paint the time-worn look. Used Min-wax clear wax, then rubbed with Mix-wax Provincial stain and finished up with the clear wax. 

I painted the rings on the legs and did not stain them, so they are a brighter aqua. I may stain them to match the color of the chairs.

 I wove the webbing; tacking them to the rungs. Webbing was too wide to do a basket weave, but it will work like it is.

 

BEFORE ........

 AFTER ...........

 Thanks for the visit ... love your comments. 



Linking to: Homemaker on a Dime
 Savvy Southern Style

 Lavender Garden Cottage

 Miss Mustard Seed

 Ivy & Elephants What's It Wednesday
The Shabby Creek Cottage

 I Gotta Create
 Knick of Time

Give Me The Goods Link Party
 

June is birthing month ... Texas Whitetail Deer

 Texas Whitetail deer ... June is birthing month. 

(photo courtesy of Rockin' W Ranch)

This is Jasmine and new born, wobbly legs, Kimmie. 

Jas was a bottle fed deer and was tame when she came to live at the Ranch owned by our daughter and son-in-law. Don't know if she is still tame.

Meet Markie ...

 

he also lives at the Ranch and is used for breeding only. He is in a large pasture with twenty or more selected Doe (females). 

Last year he had 21 off-springs ...

or as they say at the Ranch ... 21 babies on the ground!

In 2013 the count was 23.

So he is doing his job and earning his pay ...

... which is apples and pears and of course, special food.

This is our grandson, Justin feeding Markie apples.

Very tame and a beautiful deer. 

  

But you don't mess with him during rut (breeding time) ... 

he gets pretty mean.

June is the normal month for fawns to birth, but some come as late as July.

 When the fawn arrives, the mother will place him in a place that she knows is safe and tells him/her to STAY there while she goes to forage for food. The baby will not move until she comes back for him or calls out to him. We have had several babies left/born in our yard at our house in town.  

This one is in our front yard in town. He thought he was hidden in the grass. He is wet because the automatic sprinkler came on, but he did not move.  It was early morning and when I saw him, I turned the sprinkler off.

This little one was next to a large tree right at our front porch. He was there for a long time, but his Mommie came back in the late afternoon for her. He turned around but stayed in this fetal position.

 (source)

(photo courtesy of Rockin' W Ranch)

Precious, is all I can say about this one. 

Don't know this location.

(photo courtesy of Rockin' W Ranch)

This one was taken at the Ranch ... in a safe place.

A little older than a new-born. 

(photo courtesy of Rockin' W Ranch)

Settled in and feeling safe in some cool damp soil.

 Some of the big Bucks ... likely two year olds.  

The antlers are in velvet. Soon the deer will find a willowy branch or tree trunk and rub the velvet off to a hard horn. Bucks drop/loose their antlers every year and the next year the antlers are expected to be bigger. 
  Deer are tagged by a color coded tag in the ear for record keeping. 

This is an Axis with a set of antlers that any trophy hunter would be more than happy to take home.

As we were leaving the ranch on late afternoon; we spotted several Axis near one of the feeders and I was lucky to get this picture even though they were very far away. Zoomed them in and got lucky. Several hunters hunted him, but Mr. Axis was smart and went into hiding. We do not know if he is still on the Ranch as he was in free range.

 

Isn't he beautiful?

A Texas Longhorn ... nothing to do with Texas Whitetail deer and birthing, but just a beautiful horned animal. He was in a pasture near the road and was so nice to poise for me, but stayed very far away from me. 

Hope you enjoyed this little bit of 

Texas ranch life. 

Have you ever been driving around ... see something beautiful and wish you had your camera ?  Well ... I was lucky this day to have my camera with me and lucky to get some 

once-in-a- lifetime pictures. 

Thanks for visiting.

Blessings,

Audrey Z. 

All photos are property of this blog. 

Pictures may be used by other blogs, if it is linked to my blog and I am given credit.

Photos may not be published, copied, or reprinted without my knowledge and consent.

Linking to:

Martys Musings Atta Girl Says, Worthing Court , The Everyday Home and Marty’s Musings.

Lavender Garden Cottage

Kathie with a E

Homemaker on a Dime

The Dedicated House

Knick of Time Tuesday
Cozy Little House   Tweak It Tuesday #51
Coastal Charm