I finished my Q3 swap bag for my partner, Jennifer. For this swap, I knew Jennifer liked green, and having a bag she could throw stuff into and throw over her shoulder. So, I made this bag:
I’ve been wanting to try a felted bag with cutouts, so this was my first shot at it. Pretty cute, huh? For her package, I included a “Going Green” theme. Here’s what I put in it:
- a green bag (of course) with turquoise ribbon handles to match the pattern on the lining fabric
- a green post card from Florida with (what else?) an alligator on it
- a green Florida pen
- a green candy alligator from a local candy store called Webb’s.
- Florida citrus candy (very big around here), also from Webb’s (okay, only some of it is green)
- plastic bag “plarn,” to make an eco-friendly project
- eco-friendly bamboo yarn, in shades of solid and variegated green.

I hope she likes it!

So, I’ve learned something in my short time as a Floridian: there are a LOT of animals here we didn’t have in Pennsylvania. The damn lizards are everywhere, I tell ya. They lurk in corners, on tree trunks, and windowsills. They scuttle across the sidewalk a mere foot in front of me, ever reminding me that there may be a day when they go right across my flip-flop-clad foot. (Shudder.) Then, of course, there’s the fact that my children will NEVER be allowed to go swimming lakes around here, because I’m not having them eaten by alligators, no sir.

However, there is some wildlife here that’s fun. The palm and citrus trees are all over, and we plan to plant some in our yard when we move into our house. There are armadillos, too, and they’re pretty cute (except when they’re being eaten by the buzzards). There are really cool birds, too. We saw roadrunners in the Winn Dixie parking lot, and today we even saw these guys in our hotel parking lot:

I have no idea what type of birds they are, but they were gorgeous. Sorry for the blurry photos – my camera lens was steaming up a little from coming out of the air conditioning and into the great outdoors. These birds caused Jilly Bean to cry a little, though, because they didn’t want to hang around long enough for her to catch them and pet them. Maybe they’ve been talking to our cats.

Finally, there’s this variety of Florida wildlife:

Okay, okay, so really it’s just a cute little dragon I made. He’s a gift for the secretary at my school who has been so helpful with our move and all. She’s really into dragons, and I couldn’t resist the pattern when I saw it.

More wildlife updates to come, I’m sure. Hopefully they’re of the more pleasant variety.

Okay, sorry I’ve been MIA for a week, but my internet access is limited lately due to the move, so I don’t have time to sit and muse on creative, fun posts. Look for a few in the near future, though, as I’ll have some FOs to share soon.

But, for now, this week’s installment of Booking Thru Thursday. Here’s the prompt:
Are there any particular worlds in books where you’d like to live?

(This came to me when reviewing a Jonathan Carroll book – I’m not sure I’d like to live in the worlds of his books.)

Well, here are a few, as I think of them at random:
1. Hogwarts, of course. The wizarding world in general, for that matter. Also, maybe Milford.
2. I would NOT want to live in Dante’s Inferno. That’s for sure.
3. I have always wanted to become a Jane Austen heroine, so that’d be cool. Or, of course, J.K. Rowling (again, duh).

Also, along the lines of all things literary, may I recommend a good book? Here goes …

I just finished reading The Mermaid Chair, by Sue Monk Kidd (she of the Bean Trees book). It was really good. Takes place on a fictional island off of one of the Carolinas (geography isn’t my forte, so to speak). It’s about a woman and her relationship with a crazy mother, her relationship with her husband, and her relationship with a monk. It’s also about the mother and her friendships with two other women on the island, and her descent into psychosis. It’s a really good book; I liked it a lot. Check it out!