So Not Perfect

Blessed

2012-02-17T13:42:00.001-05:00

Thank you, Father God, for the blessing of a new exercise bike.

My butt has been thoroughly kicked.

I've never worked that hard to burn 92.7 calories in my life.

What a huge, and unexpected, blessing.

Early bird

2012-02-17T05:37:00.001-05:00

Ooh.
It's early.
Ben's leaving for camp today.
We have to be at the church at 6:30.

I'm all crinkly-eyed and my hair is unattractive at the moment.

(Above doodle is a lie, because every cat is sleeping. They are creatures of comfort. The only way they are getting up is if there's food involved.)

So happy for Ben. He is really looking forward to this trip and hanging out with all his friends.

One more time....

2012-02-16T10:52:00.003-05:00

Another new template.

This one may be a keeper.

Pa, I drew the flower headed guy again, because I know you think he's cool.

Love you!

Received

2012-02-15T15:58:00.002-05:00

Thank you, Mumma, for the super cool Valentine's Day card.
It looks and fits great in my nook.
What a happy thing.

I can be inspired by Chris Roberts-Antieau -- and think of you -- all at the same time.

Love you!

(I switched to this template, let me know if it's better. Yesterday's template was too kooky.)

Pink!

2012-02-14T09:59:00.003-05:00

Lemony Coconut Macaroons

Pink in honor of Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's Day to my mom and dad, who gave me life

and John and Ben who make my life so much fun

I love all of you so much

(Also, I am trying out a new layout. Let me know if you hate it.)

Just sayin'

2012-02-10T15:12:00.002-05:00

Hi Pa

I love you

--yer girl

Sharing

2012-02-06T10:54:00.003-05:00

because our pastor recently started a new series on Sunday evenings
because he is so good at making complicated things seem less complicated
because I am so thankful for his teaching
because I am so grateful for our church

Here is the third sermon in a new series on the book of Romans.

The Glory of the Gospel of God in the book of Romans

If above link doesn't work, you can click here

Optimist

2012-02-03T20:09:00.000-05:00

We went thrifting tonight and stopped in at a shop we don't normally visit.

John pointed out their huge selection of quilting books. I searched through their shelves and found these:

Well, I'm a dunderhead. Here I thought weaving was weaving. Over and under, over and under....turns out there's more to it than that. Huh.

Yay! More slippers. Toasty feet. I had a dream I was furiously crocheting to finish a pair of slippers for my dad's birthday. I was halfway through the second slipper and thought to myself "He might not even like these. I've never seen him in slippers. Why didn't I start these sooner? This is so last minute...." I think in my dream my folks would be over for dinner that evening.

I am happy I found this. There is a lot of information for free on the internet. But to have a big old book is so handy.

From 1951. I have my eye on several sweaters in here. All the women inside modeling their crocheted sweaters look so classy.

Hard to believe there is this much information in such a tiny book.

It could happen. A girl can dream. Just because every time I use our sewing machine I usually end up in tears doesn't mean I can't eventually get the hang of it....and when I do, I'm going to make a skirt to go with my classy 1950s sweater.

***********************************************************

Thumbing through the Smart Crochet book. I can't resist sharing at least one photo. Look how unbelievably classy. I am hoping it's all due to the sweater. I have a feeling I may finish crocheting and still look frumpy in this. 1950s women are too cool.

Rock-a-bye

2012-02-02T15:46:00.001-05:00

(I thought these baby hats would look cute hanging in our tiny Japanese maple. But they kept sliding off the branches when I stepped away to take a picture, so they are resting safely on top instead.)

I found out last week that a dear group of ladies in our church meet once a month to make and crochet items to send to a missionary in Haiti. I was so excited to be able to put my renewed interest in crochet to use. So I dashed home and made two hats. Today I crocheted one more. It is the one on the bottom left and it has little bumpy, bobbly bits near the bottom. It's a dear little hat.

I'll be able to go to my first meeting on the fourth Tuesday this month. I'm looking forward to it. Wow, between that and my book club meeting in a couple of weeks....such the social butterfly.

hat with little bumps all around from here
double crochet beanie hat here

Hi!

2012-01-26T14:18:00.001-05:00

Practicing

2012-01-24T19:07:00.001-05:00

Learning new crochet stitches.
Mostly because I saw a book online yesterday that boasted "250 crochet stitches".
I was flabbergasted.
How can there be that many?
I should learn how to do more.....
So I'm working my way through a pocket-sized book of crochet stitches.
These are the first four.

You can tell I really liked the afghan stitch, because I did the most with that one. It's a fun stitch.

Well, now tomorrow's booked solid...

2012-01-23T19:23:00.001-05:00

Sweet!
Look what the boys brought home for me.
So many choices....which to do first?
The mobile?
Finger puppets?
What a fun decision.

Denizen of the Deep

2012-01-23T14:50:00.000-05:00

It's a cyclochotentaclops!

A dreaded one-eyed, eight-tentacled beastie!

I crocheted this little guy during Ben's English test.

I had a tiny bit of blue fuzzy yarn left.

He's fairly cute for a Terror of the Sea.

Sharing

2012-01-23T11:01:00.002-05:00

because our pastor recently started a new series on Sunday evenings
because he is so good at making complicated things seem less complicated
because I am so thankful for his teaching
because I am so grateful for our church

Here is the second sermon in a new series on the book of Romans.

The Glory of the Gospel of God in the book of Romans

If above link doesn't work, you can click here

For Ben

2012-01-21T08:22:00.001-05:00

A Creeper for Benja.
Okay, at the moment a faceless Creeper.
He (it?) had a face last night. I sewed it on at 10:30; I ripped it off around 11. It was the right blocky shape, but too small.
I'll try again today.

Pattern from here, but then you will judge me because her Creeper is much better. My Creeper is a bit more rounder and fatter.

Side view pics, plus Nibby, because "Something is on the floor that wasn't before....what is it? What does it smell like?" When I was crocheting on the couch, he sat rightnexttome with great interest. When he thought I wasn't looking, he'd take a swipe at my ball of yarn.

***********************************************************

Okay, here he is with a face.

I switched it so what I thought was his side before is now his front.

This wouldn't have mattered if I had understood and followed the instructions properly.

I know now where I messed up, and why he is more of a rectangle than a cube.

So maybe I'll get it right on the next attempt.

Fun with yarn

2012-01-19T16:31:00.000-05:00

Snowy today.

No need to go outside.

Ben can shovel the snow.

Why not weave a little yarn cup?

"Adventure time, c'mon grab your friends, we'll go to very distant lands...."

2012-01-18T16:06:00.004-05:00

Here is Finn.
This is what I get for not having a pattern.
I thought he would be so easy, since he is just a longish egg with limbs wearing a hat with pointy ears.

Ah well. He's not perfect, but he's still pretty cute.

He also doesn't sit up on his own, so that is why he is leaning against a book.

But it's an adventure book. So that's okay.

He has found a home in my nook, sharing a shelf with the happy little gremlin. They look very cheerful and content with each other.

Happy Washerwoman

2012-01-16T20:43:00.001-05:00

The boys went out tonight and came home with....
....a new laundry basket for me!
Yay!
I'm extraordinarily giddy about something this simple.
Before tonight's purchase, I had one good, sturdy laundry basket and one duct-taped, cracked, not-so-good laundry basket.
Now I have two tough and strong and pretty baskets.

I thought to myself, "Well! With this and my new dryer, I'll be a happy washerwoman indeed!"
(Because that's how I think to myself. Sort of like a Charles Dickens street urchin.)

Then I thought of Toad and his disguise as a washerwoman and I picked up my beloved copy of The Wind in the Willows.

This will forever be a favorite book. It was the first chapter book (hardcover no less!) that my dad bought for me. I felt very grown up. A real book. There are beautiful color illustrations throughout, plus the black and white illustrations like the one above.

I took it to my Grandma Cheresko's once when I spent the night. I must have asked what a word meant. Always willing to teach me something, she didn't just tell me the meaning of the word. She had me look it up and then write the word and definition in the back of the book, in case I ever needed it again. It looks like she helped out with the writing for the first few.

See:

I love that--

emancipate-- to be free!

That sums up my grandma so beautifully. She did everything with exclamation points.

I treasure this book for its simple and beautiful story, for the person who bought it for me, and for the beautiful woman who sat at her kitchen table with her granddaughter and wrote inside it.

Sharing

2012-01-16T13:56:00.001-05:00

because our pastor recently started a new series on Sunday evenings
because he is so good at making complicated things seem less complicated
because I am so thankful for his teaching
because I am so grateful for our church

Here is the first sermon in a new series on the book of Romans.

The Glory of the Gospel of God in the book of Romans

(the second one was last night, but I don't think it has been uploaded yet)

I can't think of a clever title

2012-01-14T20:14:00.002-05:00

I was poking around in our house for something craft-y but not terribly think-y.
I think this fits the bill.
Plus, I can "Easily Create [my] Own Masterpiece!"
I'm pretty sure that it says "ages 35 & up" at the top.

I think I'll paint the one on the left, even though I'm not quite sure what Artoo is doing there. (Shouldn't he be with the ship? I think he was supposed to stay with the ship. Wait, was R2-D2 even on Mustafar? Why can't I remember, we just watched this...)

I have a feeling that once I pop open when of the tops of the paints I will instantly feel eight years old.

THRIFT!

2012-01-13T20:11:00.001-05:00

Well! Tonight we really hit the jackpot, but here are a few of my favorite finds.
First, look at all that thread! It's over three pounds of thread--only $4.50 for all of it.
I'm going to be organizing like a fiend. *

Hobbes is there both for comparison and because he is always up there. He was chewing the plastic bag between shots.

These are just too sweet. What darling little faces. Many of them are headed to Florida, for my cousin's dear little boy.

A Richard Scarry book that I didn't own. A big one, too. Every now and then I find Little Golden Books, but this one was a nice find. I actually saw it last week, but I thought "Surely I own this already." I was surprised and a little sad when I checked my shelf later and realized I didn't. Happily, still at the shop tonight. So it came home with me.*

A new piece of handmade pottery for my small, but growing, collection. Thank you, SK 89. I think it's beautiful.
Talk about your thrift store blessings, check out the dryer it's sitting on. Our dryer died Monday afternoon, and Monday evening John came home with this Kenmore beauty. I know we usually are blessed with finding things when we need them eventually, but finding this the same day is totally awesome. Very, very thankful for God's providence on this one.

Lastly, no pic, but we bought a TI-84 graphing calculator for Ben for school for only $2.50. That one was pretty unbelievable.

Hooray for thrift and God's blessings on us!

*(I couldn't help it. I had to know how much floss I had just brought home. After John had been so nice to find some boxes to keep the little baggies in--did I mention that the person that donated the floss had put each color in separate baggies and labeled them with their DMC number?--I pulled them all back out of the boxes and counted. Four hundred fifty. There are 450 skeins of floss. I think it's sort of cool it's a nice round number. Actually, now that I think of it, it's sort of weird. I paid $4.50, so it works out to a penny a skein. Huh.)

*(whoops....John just found a copy of that book on my shelf. How did I miss it? Oh well, they are slightly different editions. No biggie.)

Hey there, Mumma!

2012-01-12T22:12:00.001-05:00

I finally made one of the ribbon crosses.

I think I messed up somewhere along the way, because it said I would have enough ribbon left to make a hanger for the top. But I didn't even have enough left over to knot it.

So I cheated and used glue on the back.

Anyway, almost a month later....here's one done anyway!

They said it was a children's craft. Well, I needed a child with me then, or a step-by-step-with-pictures type of instruction, because I easily got confused.

(And I messed up when I was cutting out my first cross, and the horizontal bar was uneven. The right side was one row lower than the left. Duh.)

Which seems sort of pitiful.

Love you, Mumma!

Slipper no. 2

2012-01-11T16:33:00.002-05:00

Second attempt at slippers.

This is soft and fuzzy and pink and I added a bow.
So there's really no chance of anyone else here borrowing it.
(Not that everyone was clamoring for the previous pair.....)

The problem with crocheting slippers is you have to make two.
And maybe you were just trying to learn how to do something, and you feel like you've accomplished that task. Done. Learned it.
Except you can't very well walk around with one slipper.

So, you have to make another one.

Maybe I could reverse the colors, so it sort of matches, but is still something new.....

Books I've read -- 2012

2012-01-10T11:18:00.004-05:00

1. Love Letters from Cell 92: the correspondence between Dietrick Bonhoeffer and Maria Von Wedemeyer 1943-1945 edited by Ruth-Alice Von Bismarck and Ulrich Kabitz, Translated by John Brownjohn (I enjoyed reading this book after having read Eric Mataxas's Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. This collection of letters between Bonhoeffer and Maria Von Wedemeyer was touching, sad, hopeful and romantic. I enjoyed seeing this side of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, because I tend to think of him as lofty and intellectual. To see him in love, and passionately so, was beautiful. I would like to read Eberhard Bethge's biography of Bonhoeffer, for another perspective.)

2. The Warm Bucket Brigade: Drunks, Hacks, Crooks & Oddballs--the Story of the American Vice-Presidency by Jeremy Lott (Very similar to Barbara Holland's Hail to the Chiefs, only this time around the vice-presidents are the subject. I found parts of it very amusing. It was entertaining and not dry at all, considering the topic. But it was also crammed with facts, and I would find myself getting nervous, asking "How will I ever remember all this? How can I keep all this straight in my head?" But that's just my wacky reaction. Most would probably read it for amusement and trivia.)

3. Livingstone the Pathfinder by Basil Mathews (I think I may have found our church library's oldest book. It is from 1912. I am including a scan of its cover at the end of this entry because I think it is so cool. Previous to reading this, my knowledge of David Livingstone could be summed up with 1. He worked in Africa and 2. "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" I thoroughly enjoyed this biography. First because it was a hundred years old. It felt so delicate in my hands. I had to turn the pages carefully, and I wondered about the others that had read this before me. Second, it was written for ages twelve and up, but I didn't realize that until a few chapters in. I liked the illustrations and photos and the clear and simple way the author described this subject. And third, what a brave and godly man Livingstone was. I was so impressed with how much he traveled across the continent, how courageous he was (he fought off a lion! That is the illustration on the cover. He had scars--11 teeth marks!-- in his arm as proof of the battle. I would like to read another biography about him....Sweet. Just found Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa by David Livingstone for free for my Kindle.)

4. The Shadow of the Broad Brim: the life story of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Heir of the Puritans by Richard Ellsworth Day (Every weekday morning our family gathers at 7 for prayer and a reading from Spurgeon's Morning and Evening devotional. I was happy to find this book in our church library, so that I could learn more about this great preacher. I read it all (230 pages) in one day. John asked me this morning what he died from. "Ummmmm....gout? I can't remember." Then he said, "See? That's what happens when you read a book in one day." He was teasing. Spurgeon was such an admirer of the Puritans, it has made me want to read some of their works. I have a biography of Johnathan and Sarah Edwards out that I'm reading next, after that, I'll finish David Brainerd's journal. Then, the Puritans for sure... )

5. Jonathan and Sarah: an uncommon union by Edna Gerstner (I liked this biography. It was a good glimpse into life during this time. But I think the title is misleading. There was not much written about their "uncommon union", and only a touch more written about Sarah herself. Many pages were given to disagreements and quarrels between Jonathan Edwards and those in and outside his congregation. Many more pages given to explaining the differing opinions towards Native Americans and slaves at that time. I would have liked to have read more about their marriage, and certainly more about Sarah. From our church library.)

Done!

2012-01-08T16:27:00.001-05:00

I finished my second slipper.
Now I can have two warm feet.

I was happy because it only took me an hour and a half to crochet the second slipper.

Here is what they look like when they are not on my feet:

I'm giggling to myself because they sort of look like crocheted Crocs.
Or Christmas clown shoes.

I might make another pair with a different yarn. I'm not wild about these colors. I picked this skein because these were a first attempt and I wasn't sure if they would turn out.

I have a soft, fuzzy skein of pink yarn that would be perfect.

It's a start

2012-01-07T15:00:00.001-05:00

I'm crocheting myself a pair of slippers.

Right now it just looks like a toe cozy.

Or like my foot is wearing a hat.

I found a pattern that was easy to follow and (so far) easy to do.

Crochet Spot Easy Adjustable Slippers

Hooray for (soon to be) warm feet!

(Although the weather has been so beautiful and un-wintry lately. We went for a two and a half mile walk today. It was 40 and gorgeously sunny.)

************************************

Hey! I finished one!
This isn't a very good photo, but you can see it's done, anyway.

I made a little strap for it because it wasn't quite snug enough.

It's also very slippery on our laminate floors. I rushed into the computer room to show John I finished one and slid a bit.

Wire + beads = necklace, no. 2

2012-01-06T15:46:00.002-05:00

Here is my second attempt.
I made it by breaking apart a necklace I had made years ago and never liked.
It has paper beads, which I love and are fun to make. It's like wearing a little book.

Happy Friday, everybody!

Wire + beads = necklace

2012-01-05T20:44:00.000-05:00

I found a pack of three memory wires for necklaces when we were thrifting last Friday.

Here is my first one.

Beady, beady, beady....

I cropped this poorly. It wasn't straight on my scanner. Whoops.

Johnny's so the coolest....

2012-01-05T18:01:00.000-05:00

Look what John brought home for me today!

Richard Scarry fabric!

BEST FABRIC EVER!

Rub a dub dub

2012-01-03T21:31:00.001-05:00

This evening a crocheted a soap saver.
It's just a wee little bag to keep slivers of soap in.
You can wash your hands by wetting the little bag and it gets soapy, and there's no mess or fumbling with a tiny bit of soap.

It took less than a half an hour to make.
You would think something this small wouldn't make a girl happy.
But you would be wrong, because I was pretty geeked about it.
The whole time I was crocheting I was thinking "Hee hee....a place for all my slivers of soap!"
Now its hanging from the faucet on our laundry tub, waiting for grimy hands.
Here is a link to dozens of free patterns, just in case you want to make your own:

Crochet Pattern Central-- soap savers

Rawr

2012-01-02T22:02:00.000-05:00

A monster, for no other reason than that I was going to toss this box in the recycling bin, looked at it and thought, "That looks like a face!"

I like the inside of his mouth the best. And his nose helps keep his mouth closed. Handy.

I found a spot for him on my shelf.

He can store my stuffies.

Cut and paste

2012-01-02T08:52:00.006-05:00

I'm (finally) working on my first altered book.
I've seen them in Cloth Paper Scissors and thought about them for so long.
Then I discovered Craftster during Christmas break (and spent way too much time there in the paper community) and was inspired by so many people.
The biggest inspiration for me was when I read about people using bits and pieces of failed art projects.
I thought--- "I have half a drawer full of those!"

So I dug around and found a page of insect drawings I did two years ago. I never liked the full page, but I did like the drawings by themselves. That's my spider on the top to the right. He looks better by himself.
And on the bottom are two more. That stick insect was tricky to cut out, but the spines on the praying mantis gave me the most trouble. (That's an observation, not a complaint. I'm going to attempt to not complain in 2012. "Do all things without grumbling and disputing." Philippians 2:14)

If the book looks messy, well, it is a bit. That's not the scanner's fault. I'm cool with it, though. I think I'd rather be doing something, than fretting about doing it perfectly.

Happy New Year!

I'm going to need some more toothpicks

2011-12-30T09:35:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I learned you could make dolls out of toothpicks and embroidery floss.

I'm going to need to buy a lot more toothpicks.

I may just fill a shelf with them.

Here is her glamorous photo, so you can see her long, blonde hair:

Hello darling

2011-12-26T10:46:00.002-05:00

Happy birthday dear Johnnnnnny

Happy birthday toooooo yooooooou!

Love you, babe!

Green Christmas

2011-12-25T07:15:00.000-05:00

(I'm definitely in agreement with the woodland creatures on this one.)

Happy Christmas, everybody!

above story from The Animals' Merry Christmas

21 Stories by Kathryn Jackson

Illustrated by Richard Scarry

(this is the back cover, the book is a bit too large for my scanner.)

Thankful

2011-12-24T16:32:00.000-05:00

Hooray for husbands that happily clean and organize the basement.
On Christmas Eve, no less.

I'm not sure I was quite as helpful as little Sue and Benjy were in the above book.

But I was grateful. It looks great down here.

Love you, Johnny!

(By the way, that daddy in the book keeps his pipe in his mouth on almost every page. It doesn't matter if he is washing the car, hanging a picture, trimming the hedge or bathing the dog. Pipe, pipe, pipe....The copyright is 1962.)

a Little Golden Book Christmas

2011-12-24T16:29:00.000-05:00

Christmas Carols, arranged by Marjorie Wyckoff

pictures by Corinne Malvern

How sweet that Tom and Jerry can put aside their feud at Christmas

MGM's Tom and Jerry's Merry Christmas, told by Peter Archer

pictures by MGM Cartoons

No one drew babies better than Eloise Wilkin

Baby's Christmas, by Esther Wilkin

pictures by Eloise Wilkin

inside illustration from Baby's Christmas.

That baby got quite a haul.

I just love how Eloise Wilkin draws children's faces. They look so sweet and gentle.

from The Christmas Story, told by Jane Werner

pictures by Eloise Wilkin

from The Christmas Story

Oh! That face!

from The Christmas Story

Just so you know

2011-12-20T22:12:00.001-05:00

Even better than the first one.

Hi there

2011-12-17T11:59:00.001-05:00

Today I felt like doodling.

So with the boys gone, I went down to my neglected little nook.

And sat at my workspace, Sharpie pen in hand. Well, now what? Dum de dum de doo....Then I looked up.

The above doodle is inspired by an ad I tore out of a magazine and stuck on the wall above my workspace. I don't remember what it's for. Some sort of chicken tenders or kid-friendly food. It's a little boy running around, top half in a cardboard box with a monster face drawn on the front.

I didn't shut the door to my nook, so Nibs came in to visit.

He likes to hang out behind the curtain in the back corner, because that's where I keep my overflow of yarn.

I lifted the curtain and saw him all curled up cozy on top of a bunch of skeins. Aw, how sweet.....

Then he started chewing some plastic bags, so I booted him out.

I have lost interest in blogging. So there's not as many posts lately.

(Hello to the faithful two or three that visit! You're awesome!)

I thought about it this morning, and I think my main reasons are:

--It feels like too much of me. Who needs this much me?

--It feels like work.

--I still have another five pounds to lose.

Hi to my mumma, who keeps hoping something new will pop up.

Look, Mumma! Something new!

Love you!

Comfort food

2011-12-13T16:44:00.000-05:00

Know what makes a (somewhat) sickly girl feel better?

Homemade macaroni and cheese with a panko bread crumb and cheese topping, that's what.

Or at least, that's the hope.

I haven't tried any yet. I've just stood over it, impatiently waiting for it to cool so I could slice into it.

It smells deeelicious.

Sigh.....

2011-11-26T19:21:00.001-05:00

Tis a mug full of happiness and longing and sighs.
I am drinking the very last mug of Almond Sunset tea.
There was just one tea bag left, so I made sure to do it up proper, with sugar and heavy cream.

How sad Celestial Seasonings stopped making this, the best herbal dessert tea ever.

It doesn't seem right to let it cool. It's just sitting there as I type. I will go and curl up in our comfiest chair and enjoy it.

Farewell, my yummy friend.

Woot woot!

2011-11-19T15:19:00.001-05:00

Sherlock will be back on PBS May 6!
Everyone, mark your calendars!
(My calendar only goes to January. Probably yours does, too. So really you probably can't mark your calendar. Unless you use some sort of Google-y, internet-y kind of calendar.)

There should be some sort of countdown widget for this on my blog, slowly ticking off the days until the premiere.

On pins and needles waiting for this season.
(Wait, does that mean nervous or excited? I'm not nervous about it, but I am tremendously excited.)

A Scandal in Belgravia, May 6, 2012 (oooh....)

The Hounds of Baskerville, May 13, 2012 (OOOOH....)

The Reichenbach Fall, May 20, 2012 (OOOOOOOH!!!!)

Quick! Someone get me a baby!

2011-11-14T19:44:00.001-05:00

This....cracked....me....up.

Turns out I don't really need a baby for this hat/beard combo.

They sell it in adult sizes too.

I bet Benja would love this.

Page from Real Simple, Dec. 2011 issue
Super-cool hat sold here, burlybeard.com

All kinds of awesome

2011-11-10T21:16:00.001-05:00

Image copyright Ryan Berkley Illustration
(who is terribly clever)

Please visit this shop

berkleyillustration

I'm so in love.
It was really hard to pick just one to put in this post.

So here is another.
(because it's a badger!)

Image copyright Ryan Berkley Illustration
(just plain brilliant)

I want to purchase many things.

Tuesday Night Book Club

2011-11-09T09:09:00.003-05:00

Last night was the first meeting of our women's book club.
I'm in a book club!
I'm so excited.
(I'm such a book nerd. Or a regular nerd. I'm not sure. I approach this club with the same joy that I have every Sunday morning and Wednesday night when I'm working in the library. I think to myself "I'm working in a library!" and I'm just so delighted about it.)

I am looking forward to discussing books with others. I've read over a 100 books this year, and it's really cool to be able to talk about a book you've read with others that have also read that book. (Which, I guess, is the definition of a book club.)

Last night's discussion was on

which I really enjoyed. I read it twice, and took notes, so I was very prepared. I wasn't sure about this book, because this was the third study I've done on Ruth in a year, but there were points that Carolyn Custis James made in this that I hadn't heard or read anywhere else. So it was refreshing and there was lively discussion about it.

The next book, which we will discuss in January is

and I'm really excited about this biography because

1. I already own it, having bought it as a Kindle Daily Deal over a month ago

2. I've been meaning to read it, especially since we sell it in the bookstore and Mr. Bonhoeffer seems to be challenging me with that intense stare every time I glance over at that shelf

3. Our pastor mentions Bonhoeffer so often, and really seems to admire him so I want to know more about this "pastor, martyr, prophet, spy"

So, yay me! Books!

Having a cuppa (or two)

2011-11-03T07:45:00.000-04:00

It seems like a lot. Is it?

I have a lot of tea.
Or, it seems like I do.
Which affects me in two ways:
One, I'm really happy when I open the cupboard and see all those cheerful, colorful boxes. So many choices! What will I have this morning?
And two, Oh goodness. That's so much tea. I'll never be able to drink it all. How will I ever get through that much tea?

This is a good morning for tea. It's dark and cold outside, and a warm mug sounds lovely. Along with a hoodie and really thick socks.

I already had a mug of English breakfast tea, thanks to our Keurig. (I don't seem to have the patience to steep that first cup in the morning. Thank you, instant tea for making my morning easier.) Now I'm taking a mug of Roastaroma downstairs with me so we can start our school day. And I steeped a tiny pot of artichoke tea for later.

Have a beautiful morning! Go grab yourself a cup of something delicious and think of me! (I suppose that last line is really just directed at my mom. Hi Mumma!)

Happy 50th, Milo!

2011-10-31T15:08:00.000-04:00

Just arrived, delivered by our friendly UPS man about three hours ago.
It's a big, beautiful, hefty book.
I put it on our bookshelf in our living room, facing out, so I could see the cover.
I want to look at it and read it and study the photos and illustrations inside.
But I am my mother's daughter, and I love the whole anticipation of the thing too.
Just knowing something fun is waiting for me.

I tried to hold back with Every Thing On It. I was reading just a few poems a day.
Then I was waiting for clothes to dry in the dryer (natch) Saturday and I read the whole rest of the book.

Perhaps I'll be better about piecing this one out.

Thank you, Mom and Dad (again and again and again)

2011-10-14T16:29:00.001-04:00

On this day, thirty-seven years ago, I came home from the hospital.
My mom just called to wish me a happy anniversary.
I looked through my baby book, and there it was, a clipping from our local paper announcing that "to the great joy of her parents" I had "now reached the magic weight of five pounds and was thus released from the hospital" on October 14, 1974.

The above photo is me at the not-quite-there-yet weight of three and a half pounds. I didn't find any photos labeled "Five Pounds! Hooray! We did it!" So I chose this one, because I have a faint little smile. So it's a happy little photo.

Thank you, Mom and Dad.
I love you very, very much.

Benja

2011-10-13T11:53:00.001-04:00

I was in my nook, drawing a little bird for a project and it seemed really tiny, even for me.
Benja sidled up behind me and peered over my shoulder.
"You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling," he said with a smile. Then he patted my shoulder and walked away.

Benja cracks me up.

Unrelated, but I'm really, really sweaty right now. That's a good sign, right? I think that means I'm getting better. Like all the sickness is being sweated away.

I'm going to be hopeful and say that that's true........

Slightly achy and really tired

2011-10-13T08:42:00.005-04:00

Hey there.

I know, I know. No posts.

I'm a wee bit sickish.

Not sick enough to cancel scholastic activities and crawl back into bed.

But just sick enough that I'm less than enthusiastic about everything.

Ben just shouted from the other side of the basement that he, too, is tired. And he wondered if we could take the day off and declare it "Nap Thursday".

That sounds really good.

But no.

Hope you are feeling most excellent.

Have a happy Thursday, everybody!

(Image above from "Freddy and the Bean Home News" by Walter Brooks, illustrated by the brilliant and wonderful Kurt Wiese. The Freddy series is the best children's book series EVER, on equal footing with Redwall, but much more gentle and endearing. I adore Freddy the pig.)

Drawing a blank

2011-10-06T11:46:00.001-04:00

Hey there!

I know I haven't been posting much lately.

I'm fine. Really.

I'm not sad or down or tired or even particularly busy.

I just go through times where I can't think of anything witty, interesting or useful to say.

(Which is usually followed by a couple weeks of daily postings. So, any day now, expect a deluge of me.)

Am very tempted to title a post "Mr. Bun, the Professional Titanic Polish Paper Cut" because all of my traffic seems to be because of here here here and here.

Thank you to the three or four of you that stop by frequently just because. That's so cool.

I'll think of something soon.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

2011-10-05T13:14:00.001-04:00

For my birthday this year my mom and dad bought me an Amazon giftcard.
I have been having so much fun buying books.
I've snatched up quite a few books for my Kindle.
But today, this arrived in the mail and I'm so excited.
An actual book with paper pages.
A new collection of Shel Silverstein's poems and drawings.

Johnny brought it downstairs while we were doing school, and I had to take it back up just now because I was sneaking looks at it instead of paying attention.

So, thanks, Mom and Pop. I still have almost half of the card left. It's been a blast.

Love you!

Boooooks!

2011-09-29T16:20:00.000-04:00

Nothing perks a girl up more than coming home from the library with a stack of new books to read.

Well, this girl anyway.

I found all of my books in the Young Adult section. They have the best books. Everything in that sections seems so flashy and interesting and new.

I came home with:

Really excited about this one. Time travel, Nazis and pirates. I wish Benja and I still read books together.

Plus Benja and I checked out a few children's books in Spanish, to see if we could pick out a word here and there.

They had a Spanish edition of Olivia! That went out to my bag right away.

I'm off to go steep a lovely cup of tea, plunk myself down in our most comfortable chair and read for a while.

Feeling sluggish

2011-09-28T10:54:00.002-04:00

Hiya.

Sorry about the not-posting and all.

Just feeling sluggish lately.

Hard to doodle when you are so sleepy.

Feeling a bit perkier today, but I still grabbed a pic instead drawing one myself.

¡Hoy es miércoles!
Church today!

No. 2

2011-09-24T20:47:00.002-04:00

Happy anniversary, dear Hobbie.
We are celebrating two years with you today.

It's true we didn't get you a cake, but you did chew through my favorite pair of headphones this week.

So I guess we're even.

You incorrigible rascal.

ABCs

2011-09-22T21:42:00.000-04:00

Quick doodle and color before bedtime.

I didn't start out to make a set of alphabetical doodles.

It just sort of happened.

Elephant's sort of odd.

I could draw little birds all day long.

Well, coloring and a warm cup of tea

have made me a bit of a sleepyhead.

Off I go.

Sweet dreams, everybody!

Doodler's Block

2011-09-22T05:40:00.001-04:00

Bah. I could not figure out how to draw a hippo this morning. This was my second attempt. I couldn't figure out his body. Truth be known, I was too lazy to look up an actual hippo photo, too. So---Unfinished Hippo.

Having a case of Doodler's Block. That is why there was no post yesterday. Dangerously close to no post today, but thought I'd stop by and say hi anyway.

Walked this morning to the second in the "Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution" series. Really enjoyed the segments on the hippo and the earthworm (of all things). I just marvel at the complexity and uniqueness of all the creatures in God's kingdom. I cannot imagine believing all of this wonder and majesty and beauty is the result of chance and time.

That hippo doodle is really irking me. I need to try again later today.

Coffee awaits....

Happy Tuesday!

2011-09-20T05:20:00.000-04:00

(Oooh...that bird looks way too close to the sun.)

Some mornings I sit here and cannot think of anything to say.

Dum de dum de dooooo....Nothing's coming to me.

So, here are three fast facts instead:

1. I'm reading Homer's Odyssey: A fearless feline tale, or how I learned about love and life with a blind wonder cat by Gwen Cooper this week. It is so well-written, Homer is amazing, and if he dies at the end of this book (like so many other pet bios), I will be so upset.

2. Our own Hobbie's anniversary is this Saturday. Two years with that rascal. Yesterday he was such a goof, and alternated between Halloween cat (spooked, with tail puffy, back arched) every time someone entered the room and pouncing on feet and swiping at legs as you walked by.

3. I'm growing out my hair. I miss pulling it back and/or braiding it. But right now it's in the awkward, growing-out stage where it flips under and up and generally has a mind of its own. Everyday I look like I don't own a mirror.

Delightful

2011-09-19T05:52:00.002-04:00

Dragging this morning, woke up late and there was nothing I felt like watching on TV while I walked on the treadmill.
(This may be hard to believe, but there isn't always something interesting on at 5 in the morning.)

So, I looked through our Netflix Instant Queue and saw this series.

What a delight.

When the program got to the woodpecker, I thought to myself, what a crazy little bird. Following that was the incubator bird, and he was even more amazing.

It was a perfect way to perk up this morning. And there's two more in the series, so I will be able to watch them the next couple days.

Ah! I just looked up this DVD series to find a link for my post. I didn't finish the first volume today, and coming up next -- the platypus (whee!) and the black and yellow garden spider! Get out, our own little Charlotte gets a mention. I will be able to bore John and Ben with garden spider facts. She still is living in the exact same spot, feasting on big, fat flies.

Happy (slow-moving) Monday everybody!

Link to DVD

Ah, so this is it

2011-09-18T15:06:00.000-04:00

Conversation a couple months ago:

Annie: What's the name of that song I like?

John: What song?

Annie: The one we sing in church.

John: How does it go?

Annie: I can't remember. I just know I like it. You know the one.

John: No. Who sings it?

Annie: I don't know. But I know it's a really good one.

Well, we finally sang it in church again.

So, here it is.

It was "Our God Saves" by Paul Baloche

If you are in church with me, when the song gets to

"And the world will see that...

....our God saves..."

I will be the one with my hand raised like "Woo-hoo!"
and the rest of the song involves me bobbing my head and clapping.

Because it's a great song.

And He's a great God.

Be blessed today.

Happy Sunday everybody!

Pájaros del Amor*

2011-09-17T21:41:00.001-04:00

Love Birds

A quick little doodle.

*I used Google Translate. We are not that far in Spanish yet.

Yum!

2011-09-17T13:19:00.001-04:00

Honeycrisp apples are back!

Yum!

Johnny and I each had one for lunch!

T. G. I. F.

2011-09-16T05:19:00.001-04:00

Happy Friday, everybody!

Woot woot!

Monkey says "Hi!"

2011-09-15T05:53:00.002-04:00

(Bah. I can't really draw a good monkey.....)

Some mornings it is a little harder to wake up.

This was one of those mornings.

Happily, there was a PBS show on this morning about monkeys. I caught the last half of it while I was walking on the treadmill.

What a creative Creator. I have to believe God has a sense of humor. Each of the monkeys was amusing in its own way. Monkeys with big noses, monkeys with moustaches, clever monkeys, flirty monkeys, sneaky monkeys, chatty monkeys, nut-cracking monkeys.....What a delight.

But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the LORD has done this?
In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of all mankind.

Job 12:7-10

O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

Psalm 104:24

Happy Thursday morning to you!

Our (home)school mascots

2011-09-14T17:18:00.002-04:00

Just plain cheerful.

Cartoon Network has "Adventure Time" cutouts.
I did LSP yesterday to surprise Benja, and the other three today.
(I was in a hurry with LSP and used tape. I was more careful with the others and used a glue stick.)

They sat right in this spot all day long, keeping us company while we did school.

The Ice King is just too cool.

Robot's good idea

2011-09-14T05:40:00.002-04:00

Happy Wednesday morning to you.

I'm going to go upstairs and get a cup of coffee.

Robot's got the right idea this morning.

Have a beautiful day!

Hooray!

2011-09-13T16:38:00.002-04:00

Yay!
I'm weaving!
I can't write anymore. I must hurry back upstairs. I left the loom unprotected and Nibby is in the living room.

**************************************************

Well, I'm done!
The yarn for my warp was just a little over three feet.
I wanted to start out small until I got the hang of it.

It's not quite long enough for a scarf. I think I'll just put it on top of my dresser in my nook like a runner.

I was surprised at how fast the actual weaving went. It was the setting up that took a long time.

Perhaps next time will go faster.

I heart Holmes

2011-09-13T15:09:00.000-04:00

This year I fell hard for Sherlock Holmes.

It started with getting a Kindle for Christmas. (Thank you, Mumma and Pa!) I downloaded many of the free classics that I always meant to read but never got around to reading. I think I actually paid a couple bucks for the Holmes stories, but it was every short story collection and novel ever written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with a working table of contents, so there you go.

I devoured them.

I rushed through them because I just couldn't wait to see what happened next in the story, but then they were all gone.

And then BBC came out with their Sherlock series.
I won't even try to say how much I like this series. I could try, but it won't sound eloquent and there will be a lot of exclamation points and a fair amount of hyperbole.

Suffice it to say, I really liked the show. And the season finale was crazy. I have watched the last ten minutes of the episode six times now, and the whole episode twice. I think Benedict Cumberbatch is a brilliant Holmes, and Martin Freeman is a winning Watson and I am finding it very, very difficult to wait for season two. Especially since the titles of the episodes are "A Scandal in Belgravia", "The Hounds of Baskerville" and "The Reichenbach Fall".

Oh goodness.

In the meantime I am working my way through Jeremy Brett's equally terrific portrayal of Holmes in "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" series, which are conveniently on Netflix streaming, so I can walk to them.

And I just found on iTunes free episodes of the radio dramas with Basil Rathbone. I will be listening to these today while I try to figure out how/why warping my loom turned into such a disaster.

So it was too cool that John and Ben brought back this adorable Lego detective for me last night. He's simply charming and I love him. Thank you for thinking of me! He's so cute.

I want to build a tiny Watson and send them off on all sorts of adventures.

On the case

2011-09-13T07:52:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago we were out thrifting and Ben found this super cool Sergeant Murphy cookie jar from my beloved author, Richard Scarry. We came home and placed him on the dining room table with the rest of our finds. But before bed, I moved him to the living room, on top of our record player, because I didn't want a cat knocking poor Sgt. Murphy off the table during the night.

Well, he's stayed up there ever since. We should probably find him a permanent home, but I'm not sure where he will go. Perhaps with the other cookie jars.

Last Friday we found this cute Scrubbing Bubble bank. For lack of a better spot, I plunked him down next to our sergeant.

Then it occured to me yesterday. They look like a crime-fighting team. For some sort of buddy-cop movie.

I don't know what the title will be, but I already have the tagline:

"They're gonna clean up this town."

Kitties everywhere (a doodle kind of like our house....only without the hair)

2011-09-13T05:19:00.002-04:00

Dum de dum de doo.....now there's kitties everywhere

I showed Ben yesterday's doodle and he said it looked like a lion. Oh....well, whoops. It was supposed to be a kitty sun.

I've removed all doubt today. There's cats everywhere.

Kind of like living here. Always underfoot. Or on the table. Or sitting in the bathtub.

Cats.....

Yesterday's school day was long, but hilarious. I don't know if you have seen "Adventure Time", but Benja does a perfect Lumpy Space Princess voice. He responded back in that voice to the questions on the online video for English and I laughed so hard I was crying.

Benja's such a ham.

Monday morning visitor

2011-09-12T07:41:00.001-04:00

Mantises are the coolest.

Monday

2011-09-12T05:34:00.001-04:00

Happy Monday Morning to you!

It's early, so my coloring's a bit sloppy.

Week two--whoopdedeoo! Entering our second week of school today. We are getting the hang of it. I feel like I'm in ninth grade all over again, watching the online courses along with Benja. We both love his Spanish teacher. Señor Cancino is a hoot.

So proud of our boy. He was interviewed at church last night for the kickoff meeting for the new middle school/high school year. Our youth pastor talked with him about his experiences at camp this summer. Benja seemed so calm and confident (and funny). There were over a hundred people there. I would have been shaking in me boots.

Hope you have a beautiful day!

Found

2011-09-10T09:57:00.002-04:00

I wanted to share with you what I found last night while we were out thrifting.

I have been looking for tiny little pieces of handmade pottery lately. There's just something about finding a little vase or pot that someone made. Maybe they were a high school student in art class. Maybe a stay-at-home mom took a pottery class and got to put a piece in the kiln. I don't know who made them, sometimes there's only initials. I don't know how old they are, sometimes there's a date. But I feel like I'm honoring their little piece of art and rescuing it at the same time.

It just makes me feel good to see other's art on my shelves.

So I saw these tiny little pieces last night and knew I'd buy them.

The colors are pretty. They fit nicely in my hand. They can hold pencils, which is always handy in my little nook.

And then I tipped them over to see whose initals were on the bottom.....and imagine my surprise.

How cool is that? That is so cool. Girl Scout Roundup 1965.

Now I definitely feel like I rescued something.

How cool.

Here is Hobbes getting in on the action:

Still rainy here, if you can't tell by the photos.

Also--our spider is still in the same location. She caught two big flies yesterday. Thank you, Miss Spider. We are deciding on a name. I am voting for Charlotte.

It's Friday!

2011-09-09T05:32:00.004-04:00

(Lu, Nibs, Hobbes)

Whee!

One week down*,

thirty-five more to go.

Happy Friday everybody!

*Well, almost. It's only 5:32 am. We haven't even started the school day yet. But, ten hours from now? Done!

"Let the rain kiss you...."

2011-09-08T05:46:00.000-04:00

April Rain Song

Let the rain kiss you
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops
Let the rain sing you a lullaby
The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk
The rain makes running pools in the gutter
The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night
And I love the rain

Langston Hughes

Few more rain clouds added to yesterday's doodle.

It's another rainy day today.

Not that I mind.

Yesterday's goal of books and tea was not met. Tea, yes. Books, not so much. We did school from 8 am until after 4. That left a couple hours until we would need to leave for church, but I spent it on the phone and making meals and wandering about the house.

Perhaps today there will be time for listening to the rain on our Florida room roof.

Although, Ben and I have planned to watch a movie and pop up some popcorn after school. So we'll see. Movie time is fun, too.

Huzzahs for Ben, for acing his first two quizzes of the year. Great job, my boy!

So Not Itsy Bitsy

2011-09-07T17:23:00.000-04:00

Wow.

Look at her.

Isn't she gorgeous?

I can say she's gorgeous because she is outside our home.

I don't know what adjectives I would use to describe her if she made her way inside.

We three were in the Florida room talking about our day and Ben stopped midsentence and pointed -- "Look at that spider!"

She was in the small garden by our garage. That's about twenty feet away, and we could see her.

How impressive.

Book and tea weather

2011-09-07T05:38:00.000-04:00

Hiya.

Good Wednesday Morning!
Just finished walking on the treadmill to the news.
Up at 4:46 this morning. Two days in a row! Feels like some sort of record.

Forecast for today: 68 with off and on showers.

The news anchor referred to it as "dreary".

I think it sounds beautiful.

Planning on spending every free moment in the Florida room with a mug of tea and a book.
I'm rereading The Series of Unfortunate Events at the moment. Current book--The Miserable Mill.

Love you, Mumma!
Love you, Pa!

Rise and shine!

2011-09-06T06:21:00.000-04:00

(He's drinking a cup of coffee. That's supposed to be steam.)

Good morning!

I'm up! At 6:17. Ready to start the day!

First day back to school today.

I prayed that God would wake me up early, so that I would have some time of exercise and some time of quiet before my day started.

Well, I woke at 2, but thought, that can't be right.

Then I woke up at 3, and was wide awake and excited and ready for the day for about 40 minutes. But it still seemed a wee bit early. So, I thought, 4:45 would work. Maybe I'll wake up around then.

I woke up right at 4:45, and seriously considered rolling over. Which is terrible of me, since I asked for it and all.

So I got up and walked on the treadmill while I watched the morning news like a grownup. Now I have a mini pot of Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice tea and my iPad waiting for me, so I'm going to go read for a while before everyone else wakes up.

Here we go!

Today....

2011-09-05T10:57:00.001-04:00

Eh. The pot has a weird bump, the right cat looks too small and that arrow is goofy. The little smiling bean is cute, though

....is brisk.

Downright chilly.

It's only 60 degrees outside right now. We have many windows open in the house. It feels wonderful.

Today I'm going to make a big pot of chicken chili, which is the easiest chili recipe ever. (And today I'm using Newman's Own chunky peach salsa, which will make it extra yummy.) But first I'm going to go see if my darling hubby wants to take a walk in the sub. It's just too crisp and cool out there to not go walking and enjoy it.

It's long sleeve tee weather. That's second only to hoodie weather. Bliss!

School starts tomorrow. Woo-hoo!

Isn't she just so cute?

2011-09-04T18:38:00.000-04:00

Whee!
Look, it's my new loom!
Not a photo of the actual one I got from a thrift store yesterday, because I'm too lazy to take a picture right now.
But it is a photo of the same model that I found.
So super excited. What a blessing. I am really looking forward to this!

Johnny ordered me a new heddle, because it was missing its heddle. Otherwise, it is perfect.

Wheeeee!!!!

Everyone will have to expect scarves for Christmas from now on.
(just kidding)

Yay! A loom!

Link to Harrisville Designs site here

Holiday

2011-09-02T12:22:00.002-04:00

On Monday morning we said goodbye to the cats

And left the great state of Michigan to spend a few days in the beautiful state of Ohio

We really enjoyed our first visit to the Toledo Zoo. It is a beautiful zoo. We were there 3 1/2 hours.

We loved the polar bear exhibit.

and the bird house....

the hornbill was too cool!

and the aquarium....

moon jellies!

and, of course, baby Lucas--the three month old elephant!

Best of all--isn't God neat?--we ran into dear friends (Hi Janet! Hi Missy! Love you!) that we hadn't seen in years at the giraffe exhibit. How cool is that? I couldn't believe it.

(I'm terrible at drawing people, so I opted to draw the giraffes instead, so I wouldn't insult good friends...)

On to.....

Sandusky!

Our hotel was lovely and historic and creaky and beautiful. We could see the beach from our hotel room window.

And if we were on the beach we could see the rides and hear the people screaming. Pretty cool.

We went to the beach....

and the pool.....

hot tub!

And ate at the Friday's in the hotel.

Ben had ribs!

Tuesday

Up early. (due to a mix of being excited about the day and beds that were less-than-soft) Went for a walk along the beach with Johnny. We laughed at the seagulls.

Supercool thing about staying where we did--you get to enter the park an hour earlier.

So our day at Cedar Point started at 10.

We rode the Iron Dragon

Maverick

and Millenium Force

I know you look goofy here, Johnny. You are actually quite handsome. This is a bad doodle.

in the first hour there.

Our longest wait for the day was thirty-five minutes. Our shortest was no wait at all....we walked right on to Raptor and Mean Streak.

We ate a lot of fast food.

It costs more at the park.

Another cool thing about having a hotel room is that if you all poop out in the afternoon, you can go back to the room, put your comfies on and eat Doritoes and watch cable TV.

Which is what we did.

Then we hit the park again to ride the two coasters we missed.....

waved goodbye to some more money at the diner....

and headed back to our room.

Wednesday

Back home by noon.

Cats unimpressed.

I took a nap in our soft bed with non-scratchy sheets.

John did all the laundry while I slept.

Because he's that awesome.

Church in the evening.

Thursday

Yard work.

So hot.

Planted shrubs, moved other plants, put out ten bags of pine bark, built a planter out of landscaping bricks, sweated a lot.....

Friday

Mostly grocery shopping and thrift store perusing.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday

Getting ready for school (starting Tuesday!) and finishing up yard work and muttering "Boy this summer went by fast...."

We had a lovely holiday. Thanks, Johnny! What happy memories!

Skipping Autumn

2011-08-27T09:01:00.001-04:00

I must have had thoughts of cooler weather yesterday when I was doodling.

You know this has been a hot and sticky summer if I'm looking forward to snow.

Cooler today. Just got back from an almost two mile walk with the hubby. Now going outside to tear out whole bunches of landscaping.

Farewell, Fat Pine, haven for sparrows and spiders. We will miss you, but you have become quite ugly.

Movin' slow

2011-08-26T09:18:00.000-04:00

'morning!

Moving slow this a.m.

Have a lovely Friday everybody!

Still....

2011-08-25T15:40:00.002-04:00

Image from katewinsletfan.com

It is true that my rabid obsessiveness with Kate is fading.
(It is too.)
(Honest.)
Still, I did pause for a while when I saw this photo today.
It is just so touching.
Good job, Ms. Winslet.

What I'm eating today

2011-08-25T12:21:00.003-04:00

Oooh...with a tote bag! How cute!

Herr's Potato Chips with Old Bay seasoning.
Crazy good.

Like ketchup potato chips, only spicy.

And if you order them from Herr's, you can get a tote bag.

Aw...... I just got mine from a regular ol' grocery store and brought them home in a paper bag.

But, I needed the paper bag for our newspaper and magazines and junk mail to put out for recycling.

So, it's all good.

Five things, part 17

2011-08-23T15:17:00.000-04:00

1. Above is the best water bottle ever. Johnny got one thrift and he liked it so much we actually bought two more (one for Benja, one for me) at a real store. I don't know why, but I love drinking out of it. I drink so much more water because of this cute bottle. Mine is red, John's is charcoal and Ben's is lime. I have the 32 ounce and I easily drink two bottles of water a day now.
Contigo's website.

2. I just learned that Orange-Glo gets grease pencil marks off of book jackets. I had to share that. I have bought so many books thrift, and I hate seeing that $1.81 price in red on the front. It cleans it off quickly and perfectly. I just sprayed a little on a paper towel, then wiped the price right off. So cool.

3. I'm getting rid of stuff left and right over here. It feels so good to bag stuff up for donation or just chuck it altogether. I may need to take a break, or we might not have anything left soon. The more bare space I see, the happier I get.

4. The weather is getting cooler! Yay! Fall is almost here! Walked yesterday and then again this morning, and it was pleasant. Not humid, not sticky, not miserable. Pleasant. Happy sigh....

5. I tried to stay focused on the present and what was going on around me on my walk. Usually I zone out and think about what I'll do next when I get home, or what I'll do tomorrow, or what I should have done/said yesterday....This time I tried to make up little games of observation which sped the time up considerably. Name ten sounds you hear, find ten things that are red, or ten things that start with "s" (bonus on someone's lawn decoration because I got "statue" and "smile" out of one thing), find ten squares (fairly easy), ten triangles (not as hard as I thought it would be), ten circles (slightly trickier because I told myself I couldn't repeat things and just keep pointing out car tires over and over). Our speaker last night at church said that we really don't use our memory that much anymore because we have phones that store numbers, GPS tells us where to go on drives, we can look up things on the internet if we forget them, instead of trying to commit them to memory, like Bible verses, etc. He focused mostly on remembering passages or sermons, but I thought it doesn't hurt to just use my brain in ways I wouldn't normally.

Happy Puppy

2011-08-23T14:57:00.001-04:00

I saw this ad and immediately stuck it up on our fridge.
It made me giggle when I first saw it.
Each day when I would stand in the kitchen wondering what to eat next, I would see this little guy and smile again.

Now it's been up there for a week or so, and all it gets out of me is a little smirk.
So it's probably time to take it down.

Thanks, Happy Puppy, for the week of smiles.

Full ad:

Real Clever

2011-08-22T09:21:00.001-04:00

This just makes me smile.
It was an ad in my Real Simple magazine.
I liked it so much, it's now my desktop wallpaper.
How clever.

Here is the full ad:

Socks

2011-08-21T20:39:00.000-04:00

Because they may not match by color
but they do match by comfort level
(they are my softest socks...too bad I lost each of their mates)

Because at least they are both striped,
so they match by pattern

and because, as I told Johnny, no one looks at your socks anyway.
(No one at church would have noticed. My jeans are long. I hiked them up to show off my hosiery.)

Aw...

2011-08-21T16:15:00.001-04:00

....who's the cutest little covered coffee can ever? Who is it?
You are! Yes, you are. Yes. You. Are.
(Well, you both are. But "who are the cutest coffee cans ever" sounded odd.)

Thank you to Johnny for the little coffee cans to put my Prismacolor pencils in. Spreading them out all over in their little trays was taking up way too much of my space.

Thank you also for taking care of that really ugly spider for me. Urgh....

Other view, so I can show you:

Cheerful things

2011-08-21T15:16:00.004-04:00

...because you never know when you might need some. So, just in case. A bit of happiness on your screen.

What a stinker

2011-08-19T11:16:00.000-04:00

This morning I had a dream.....

I had gone into the bathroom and I heard a buzzing sound.
I looked in the planter in our bathroom (I don't know why there was a planter in our bathroom. We don't have one in there.) And saw, to my horror, a scorpion.

And a rather cute goldfinch.

I tried to catch it in a yellow cup, but it crawled right out of the cup. So I ran screaming to John for help.

Being Johnny, he very easily caught the scorpion and the goldfinch.

But quite uncharacteristically unlike Johnny, he gave the cup with the scorpion in it to Hobbes. Because, naturally, Hobbes was standing in the hallway on his hind legs watching the procedings, and of course he wanted to help.

So, Johnny told Hobbes to take the cup to the front door, so that Hobbes could let out the scorpion and Johnny could set the goldfinch free.

Hobbie only walked a few steps before he turned to me, and with a look of "What are you going to do about it?" tipped the scorpion out of the cup on to the floor.

Which in my dream involved me screaming as the scorpion scurried around my feet and laughing as well, thinking "That little stinker! The nerve of him. I can't believe he did that."

Of course, Johnny managed to catch the little critter again, and set both the scorpion and goldfinch free and that was the end of that.

But what a stinker that Hobbie is, even in my dreams.

Rascal.....

Mon couer

2011-08-18T20:27:00.001-04:00

It is actually still drying, but I wanted to take a picture of my heart necklace anyway.
Apologies for the darkness, there is not a lot of light (and no natural light, since there are no windows and it is underneath the basement stairs. I'm not complaining, I'm merely stating. I'm quite happy in my little space.) but you can still see it.

I found a spot to hang my necklaces in my little nook. Now I can look at them whenever I'm down there. (Which seems to be a lot lately. Must be an end of summer cram.)

Such a happy little space.

Dum de dum de doooo.....

2011-08-18T20:11:00.000-04:00

....doodling monsters just because I felt like coloring.

Well, that went by fast....

2011-08-18T16:14:00.001-04:00

Almost time for school to start up again.

Nineteen days of summer left.

I'm going to miss the sleeping in. I think that's the best part.

Boy, did this summer fly by.

Matinee

2011-08-18T15:27:00.002-04:00

Today Benja and I popped some popcorn and got comfy on the couch and watched "My Neighbor Totoro" which was so cute. I loved the cat bus.
My doodles do not do that big furry guy justice. He looks so simple to draw, but apparently he isn't easy for me. I think it's the ears that are wrong. My Totoro just looks like a giant cat. At least I can draw soot sprites....

Doodley-Doo.....

2011-08-17T11:42:00.002-04:00

Doodling away waiting for laundry to finish up.
Each is one inch square, so I think they look better in person instead of all blown up like this.
(I think the heart will become a necklace.)

Numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5

2011-08-17T09:18:00.001-04:00

Okay.
I'm learning.
Numbers two and three (the nesting doll and spider) are not quite perfect. The problem I am having with the E-6000 is how much to use. If I use slightly too little, like with these, there will be areas that have no E-6000, and even though it dries clear, you can tell. It looks like shiny spots. You might not notice in the photos.
By the bunny, number four, I decided I would just use more than I needed of the E-6000. Well. That made it look right, but a whole lot of the epoxy gooshed out the sides, and it is not so fun to clean up. But the tile looks right. It was just messy.
Number five, the sun, I just did because I wanted to do a round necklace and the doodle was round, and well, there you go. It's cute, but I'm not in love.

Here are the backs of the necklaces, because they are quite pretty. I bought pendant trays (from Sun and Moon Craft Kits ...which is just about the funnest site ever.) in shiny silver, bronze and gunmetal black.

And well, it just wouldn't be a post by me without cats, so....

Whatcha doin'?

Wider shot. Still interested.

Now slightly less interested, because something else has caught his eye. And there she is, the Queen of Crabbiness herself on the left. Poor ol' Lu.

Waiting....

2011-08-16T21:18:00.001-04:00

Quick robot doodle waiting for my glass tiles to dry.
E-6000 is a flat-out mess to work with.
I am making mistakes left and right over here.

Here they are all colored in:

Quiet

2011-08-15T13:34:00.000-04:00

Benja is working at the church, so I decided to pop in at our local (and cool and beautiful and oh-so-quiet) library.
I haven't been here in months. Maybe a year, even. I have been getting all my books either on my beloved Kindle or at our church library or e-books through Overdrive.
Goodness, it is so quiet here.
I found a stack of books on collage techniques, medieval manuscript painting, jewelry making and "the art of letter arrangement". So, now I'm sitting in the most comfortable chair ever, in the quietest place ever, getting ready to look through the funnest books ever.
(Apologies to my husband for bumping my "Happy Anniversary!" post, but it is just too much fun to blog from my iPad at the library....you know I love you.)