Dried Fruit Decorations

A year ago I stuck some cloves in an orange and forgot to eat a pomegranate. These pretty decorations were the results. I think it would be awesome to make a bunch of these and use them instead of those styrofoam balls on a tree.

Making the clove orange is easy, but a little time consuming. Make holes in a nifty design with a metal skewer and stick the cloves in those hole. I took the cute, little, powder-filled balls off the top of my cloves so it would be less messy. 

I don't know how this would work in a damper climate, but my two fruits dried beautifully.

A Goodbye in the Fabric

Photo by AB

This is this dress's last hurrah. I have never gotten as many compliments on a single item of clothing. It has small spots and small tears throughout from all of the use it has seen. It has been my go to party dress and hot-summer-day dress for five years. 

Photo by AB

I got it in a small shop in Asheville. I've been back to this shop a few times and they have had the same Gilli dress in different colors, but never this color again. And none of the other colors ever seem to work. Pale pink looks awful on me. I tried. Anyway, no color looks as good against storm-clouds as chartreuse. 

This is also my last goodbye to this large pin oak. It was put down due to rotting that may or may not have caused structural damage to the upper limbs. People should never plant trees that grow this tall next to their house... it is just too sad when the inevitable has to happen. 

I hope my dress and the tree can find new life in something else. I guess I'll probably still wear the dress as a kick-around dress, but it will never be a nice dinner dress again. I hope the tree gets carved into pretty things or is at least used as mulch and firewood.

 The momento mori picture of the beautiful tree. Its sibling still stands strong!