Frankles Visits the Dragons

 The Frankles spent a couple days with us

and she wanted to spend some time visiting

with the dragons. 

I love watching her 'interact' with them.

 Hahaha! Maleficent is a little taller!

She wanted to play with the one that didn't

have sharp edges and she was very careful.

 We visited with all the dragons -

I just didn't get photos with all the dragons.

And then we watched a bajillion hours of 

Paw Patrol. Oh my word! So many episodes!

Hahahahahaha! Great visit!

Beautiful Mama Dragon!

 If you have followed my work for any length of time,

you already know that I love dragons!

And mostly I want them all to live here at Storybrooke Manor 

with Mark and me.

Hahaha! Seriously, I do!

 Ina Sonnenmoser is one of the friends I collaborated with

on the Tangle It! Book Series. Well, she knows how much

I love dragons and she got with another

friend - Tammi Rapp - and asked Tammi to make me a dragon.

 Yes, you read that right.

Tammi made this sweet little girl by hand.

She used polymer clay to make my new baby.

 I love all the detail!

That egg is really beautiful and sparkly!

And check out those wings - gorgeous!

 I want you to admire every angle :). 

You can see the tail wrapping around on top of

the back under those wings.

 Those horns are wonderful!

 A little closer view of the nest and egg. 

And from above looking down onto the little dragon.

I do not know what I'm going to name her yet.

I love the colors Tammi used.

She does know I like pinks and teals.

Perfect color choices for any dragon!

Thank you so much, Tammi and Ina!!!

Best mail ever!

I truly love her!

Still Snowing???

 It has been a heck of a week in Maine.

Well, all up and down the east side of the country really. 

In the space of six hours we got right at two feet of snow.

It was snowing so hard it was difficult to plow and stay ahead of it. 

Then, just because it could, it snowed more yesterday. 

 On top of that our snow plow quit working.

The blade stopped going up and down which means

it is impossible to plow.

So we got deeper and deeper in the white fluffy stuff.

Our neighbor came and helped us - plowed us right out -

and told Mark what was wrong with the plow.

 $160.00 later we have a working plow again.

So Mark went today and plowed the neighbor's drive.

This particular photo was taken to show Larry - 

the man who made my big dragons - that they are getting buried. 

You can just see their heads peeking out behind the Storybrooke sign.

 Unbelievably it snowed a little more today.

But the sun came out and it warmed up to the low 30's, so some of the snow finally came off the roof. 

And of course I had to document the snow in my

Tangle Starts Planner.

Hahahahaha! I am loving this book!

If you are interested at all, here is a link.

Stay safe, stay warm, stay inside and drink coffee.

New Dragon from Mystic Reflections

 Check out this sweet little guy!

A friend sent me a link to an Etsy shop for

Mystic Reflections and in her shop I found

this dragon that I just had to have!

Cause - dragon!

 He doesn't have a name yet. 

This dapper little fellow is about 2 1/2 inches tall. 

What should I name him?

"Him?" you ask.

Yes.

Cause this is totally a little boy dragon!

I think I like his eyes the best.

And the wings and also the tail.

Hahaha!

Now to find somewhere safe to sit him.

In case you weren't aware -

I am all about the dragon!

You can see Caralyn Edwards' work at

www.MysticReflections.com

Yay!!! My New Mailbox is In!

 It's been a long time coming.

A couple months ago I got to thinking

I needed one more dragon.

A dragon mailbox maybe.

So I went to Mr. Google and began looking.

And . . .  this guy arrived last week.

 Mark was out of town and I needed to

wait till he got home,

but then we unboxed him.

 Looks pretty amazing, doesn't he?

The mailbox will sit on top of his head.

Those little outstretched hands are meant

to hold your newspaper.

Except we live where the wind blows like

crazy 24/7. Any newspaper we might get

would eventually end up in Canada somewhere.

 Isn't he cute?

Hehehehehe!

 Today was finally the day to set up the mailbox.

I have been concerned about the snow plows

taking him out, so I was glad to see Mark extend the mailbox out a little over the front.

The mail people will see that and steer clear,

hopefully meaning this little guy will be safe.

 Of course we will probably keep him shoveled

out a little bit, too.

 That post extends down through the dragon

and into the ground a couple feet.

He shouldn't be going anywhere.

Hopefully.

He should fit right in with the rest of the crew. That brings my outside tally to 8 dragons.

Can't Believe How Fast the Grass Grows!

 I seriously can't believe how fast the

grass grows here in Maine. Mark could mow

twice a week and just barely be keeping

ahead of it. 

It does - however - create a beautiful backdrop.

I have no idea what kind of flower this is.

I guess I need to send Brenda a picture and ask.

Hahaha!

I ask her about plants

and

I ask Mike about animals and bugs.

 There are a whole lot of blooms on the bush.

Whatever it is.

Here is part of my little garden that came with the house.

I didn't do a thing - except replace the gazing

ball that broke under a ton of snow.

 You want to see my dragons?

Cause you know I haven't posted any pictures of them

in a week or so. Hahaha!

This awesome bench stayed on the porch all winter.

Tons of snow would not have been good for it.

Each dragon was carved with a small chain saw

from . . . 

pine tree stumps!

 Here is Mushu and a little dragon

that I really haven't named yet.

I know.

He is going to have an identity crisis.

Mark was able to glue his wings back on.

The snow got away from me this year

and before I knew it - he was buried under

several feet of snow.

And his wings totally fell off. 

 And across from them are Maleficent,

Prince Charming, and Lilly.

If you watch Once Upon a Time you will

already know that Lilly is Maleficent's daughter,

and that in one scene Prince Charming

fights Maleficent.

Here is a quick overview of my dragon area. I can sit on my dragon bench and read. It is usually too windy to draw. The wind blows all the time here. And the black flies and mosquitoes are unreal right now. Soon. 
Just have one more thing to go into the dragon hollow. A rock. Mark and Mike are going to bring it home for me. I found it way down the road from our house. It will require two people, a truck, maybe a wench. It reminds me of Newfoundland.  And it will go in here with the dragons somewhere. 

Stinking Benjamins

Yes.  You did read that title correctly. We have a bunch of these little plants blooming in our yard. Our neighbor Mike came over today to help Mark move some of the dragons back out into the yard. Mike spotted these flowers and told us they are called Stinking Benjamins.
Apparently they smell really bad. Like rotting meat bad. I did a little google research - cause we know it's right if we see it online - (hahahah!) but truly they are called Stinking Benjamins. They are a type of trillium that grows in wooded areas around us.  The flower sits about 4" above ground and blooms for 2-3 weeks. The foul smell attracts flies that act as pollinators.  Identifiers of the flower - three petals that curve backwards and three leaves that are diamond-shaped. And they are growing around the edge of the dragon den. Cool!

Speaking of dragons - it was time to move the dragon bench back into the hollow where my dragons live. These two dragons are the end posts for a dragon bench. They are carved out of pine tree stumps - with a chain saw made for that purpose. They are pretty awesome! Learning new stuff in Maine every day!

The Birds Are Coming Back

Mark put new birdseed out about a month ago.

It's taken this long for the birds to find it.

Hahaha!

(These first three photos were shot through

the kitchen window.)

 Actually there were about 8-10 blue jays flying

around the front yard. 

 I took a chance and stepped out onto the porch -

hoping they wouldn't all get scared and fly away.

 The jays put a little distance between 

them and me to start with.

 Thankful for my long lens.

When I bought it I had no idea we would be

moving to Maine where wildlife teems in

abundance. 

And you can see - the trees are all bursting

into bloom. Green everywhere.

 And apparently not all the bugs froze to death

over winter. Hahaha! At one time this spot of

ground was buried under about 3 feet of snow.

 Distorted when enlarged,

but you can see the bug more here.

 I guess these Maine insects go down smooth.

Hahahaha!

I love the crisp colors of the blue jays!

 Before I went outside,

the jays were hopping all around my dragons.

In this photo you can see two in the tree

branches above Maleficent and Prince Charming.

If you look closely, you can see a total of four dragons here. Pretty soon, there will be two more joining them. When all the mud dries up.