Miss Pearl, a turtle, and a new barrel

Can you believe someone was throwing this out??? I couldn't! My brother was working at a  house for the past week and the house next door had this old whiskey barrel and some tires at the roadside for free so he brought it home for me! I LOVE IT! He took a hammer and fixed the slots(?) that were out of shape. I'm not sure where it will go yet but I'm thinking it would look great in our garden beside or under my old water hand pump.

My Mom went shopping and bought Miss Pearl some new summer clothes. Here she is looking pretty in her new dress. 

I love this next photo - it's like she's saying "oh no, the butterfly fell". She's actually just trying to keep the hair out of her face...it's been a very windy spring for us so far. 

And this visitor showed up last week in the parking lot of my parent's store. We didn't get too close because he was snapping at a stick my brother put in front of his face - course, I'd be snapping if someone was trying to poke me with a stick too! There seem to be a lot more turtles around this year. Sadly, I've already seen 3 as roadkill on the highway by our place.

I'm still pluggin' away at simplifying or decluttering my house. Little by little it WILL get done. I never realized what a pack rat I am. NO MORE! I think a yard sale will be in order soon - maybe a few!