SueBee Arts

The tree squirrels in my back yard enjoy a wide variety of activities as noted in this photo! ~SueBee

I’ve always enjoyed looking at the mural inside my city post office. It seems that, per Wikipedia, “from 1934 to 1943, the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury commissioned murals in post office buildings across the country. Part of the New Deal, the stated objective of commissioning United States post office murals was to secure […]

Walking to the very back of my yard yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised to see bees swarming on the volunteer moonflower! There are several moonflower bushes scattered throughout the garden. I hadn’t realized the bees would adore them, too! You might notice the vine on the right… volunteer wild morning glory! It will soon be […]

The tallest of my garden’s volunteer sunflowers. ~SueBee

I spent a wonderful day exploring in Wichita yesterday, the final day of April, 2026. It was the perfect weather, cool and overcast, my favorite! First off, I visited a fabric store specializing in remnant pieces, thousands of them all beautifully folded and organized by type and color. After all my years spent dressmaking (Irish […]

The day was overcast and on the chilly side, but that didn’t dampen my enjoyment of a visit to Lucas, Kansas. I drove about an hour and a half on country roads, which in itself was really nice. After living in very crowded, urban Southern California for most of my life, I absolutely love the […]

I visited the town of Lucas, Kansas, today. Per the internet, “Lucas is a small city in Russell County, Kansas, known as the “Grassroots Art Capital of Kansas,” with a population of 332 as of the 2020 census” and is about an hour and a half drive northwest from my home. An art display was […]

The month of March features our local Amish village’s Parade of Quilts. As March is quickly coming to a close I decided to visit yesterday, a cold and blustery day (in direct contrast to the upper 90s we had the day before). Several of the local shops hang the handmade quilts for display and sale. […]

After a few chilly days with mornings well below freezing, today jumped up to the mid 70s. I took the warmth as a nudge to visit a local arboretum and enjoy a nice walk. In the little village of Hesston, about half an hour drive due east on a less-traveled country road, is the Dyck […]

Continuing from part 1, today’s post features various murals and sculptures I saw while driving around Salina, Kansas this past Monday. The day was cold and overcast, but the art on public display brightened everything up. I highly recommend a visit to Salina! ~SueBee

I drove my car about an hour north yesterday for its checkup at the dealership in Salina, Kansas. Before the appointment I had time for lunch at the best Italian restaurant I’ve been to here in Kansas, Martinelli’s. I didn’t want heavy pasta so instead I had a bowl of yummy minestrone soup and a […]

I read that a restaurant about six miles from home, Carriage Crossing Restaurant in the Amish village of Yoder, was serving their annual fried filet of catfish Fridays during the season up to Easter. Late afternoon this past Friday, I took myself out to early dinner. The meal was delicious, the portion very generous and […]

My yard attracts a large variety of wild birds, but the one I always smile at is the red cardinal. Seeing that bright spot of red is something special! ~SueBee Note: While my yard looks pretty ragged at the moment, once spring is sprung it will be a wonderland of plants and flowers.

The “storm of the century” had been forecast, based on all the social media hype and apparently as per the grocery stocking-up that many seem to have done. We did get snow but I don’t think it was nearly what was expected. Perhaps 6″ in my yard, if that. The rest of the week looks […]

Ever since moving to Kansas in late 2021, I’ve been fascinated by the giant green tennis balls scattered beneath some fairly scraggly-looking trees. I’d never seen anything like them. Upon researching, I’ve learned the tree, per Wikipedia, “Maclura pomifera, commonly known as the Osage orange, is a small deciduous tree or large shrub, native to the south-central United States“. “American […]

I spent a lovely day in Wichita late last week and visited Botanica, of which I’m a proud member. The steadfast gardeners there have changed out many of the plantings with autumn in mind. One very interesting observation, though, was all the damage done to the giant lily pads by the hailstorm from the previous […]

The question is redundant in my view… this plant is most definitely evil. It’s called a sandbur, but my name for it is the Velcro Weed. It sticks to everything, just like Velcro does. It can’t be killed, and the stickers (seed pods) hurt like a son-of-a-gun whether on the foot, finger, pants leg, shirt, […]

I found the variety of blooms on a single zinnia bush in my backyard garden just fascinating. These pictures were taken using my iPhone 12. Do you have a favorite? ~SueBee

I’ve been tickled pink, to use an old-time expression, with the giant poofballs growing in my backyard. The plant is actually yellow salsify, or tragopogon dubius, but I refer to them as poofballs. The past two years or so I’ve let nature reclaim my backyard, and have been thrilled with all the flowers, plants, grasses, […]

This is the final post of the road trip I made with my long-time friend, Aranka, through Missouri, into a bit of Oklahoma and back through southeast Kansas. We drove just under 1000 miles by the time we were back at my home in Hutchinson, Kansas. As this is the final post, there are more […]