Category : Blog

1717 posts

T Tuesday: end of season edition

Ah here we are…the end of summer. Gardening is all but done. Leaves are turning and falling at a rapid pace around here. The birds and critters are frantically storing food for the long winter. IMG_0614

I ripped out the plants from the home gardens yesterday. I still have plants in my in-laws garden that will come out next weekend.canningI’ve been canning like crazy. More spicy beans and salsa. I’m really looking forward to breaking into those jars come the dead of winter!!

I also have to share my colorful carrots.carrots

Aren’t they pretty!! I sampled a couple and they are quite tasty. These are going in my next beef roast dinner. YUM!

My important phone call I mentioned last week came but not with the results I had hoped for. Such a bummer!!! I really thought I had that job! I even had gotten a tour of “my work space” at the end of the interview.

BAH!! Anyway…moving on…

Since I don’t have a regular gig to go to, I’ll continue to do my on-call subbing. At least that leaves time for art!

I’ve actually done a bit of creating! Will wonders never cease! IMG_0617I completed one art journal page and just need to put the  final touches on a second. Waiting for paint and glue to dry. The above page isn’t my favorite but I was just happy that I still had the drive to create.

I’ll be meeting with some friends for breakfast today…real casual. Likely head there after working out…seriously casual. :) Not exactly sure what the rest of the day holds for me…other than a shower. HA!

What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: birthday edition

For this Labor Day, we hosted a gathering to celebrate my father-in-law’s birthday. Of course there was more than plenty of food, wine and dessert. I have a hard time scaling back the menu.T Tuesday birthday edition

I didn’t remember to nab a photo of the before…only this small after shot of empty wine glasses so I could keep up appearance here with T stands for Tuesday. I won’t scare you with the rest of the dirty dishes. I love hosting…I just wish there were fairies or elves that would clean up while I slept.

Anyway, back to the celebration. My FIL and I have a long standing joke that gets played out each year on his birthday. He made fun of me taking photos of “weeds” during some downtime at one of Big J’s lacrosse games several years ago.  I said they were wildflowers but he saw weeds. So in response to his teasing, each year I give him a handmade card with a photo of a weed on it for his birthday.

Happy Birthday thistle card | Halle's Hobbies

Mr. G helped me with the words this year.

IMG_0605

OH how we love puns.

I’ll be mowing today…hopefully pop by knitting and *fingers crossed* receive a very important phone call. More on that one next week.

What are you doing today?

PS….mom’s cataract surgery went well!  She got a bit mixed up with the drops the first day but I made her a new chart which made things much easier for her. She’s had two follow-up appts and she can now see 20/40 with no glasses and passed her drivers license eye test with flying colors.

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A second look: Asian theme altered book

I decided to dig deep in the blog history for Second on the 2nd this month.

Secondlook

I’ve been scattered lately when it comes to art…a big part of me thinks that the “old days” when I participated in many more swaps and round robins….before postage got too out of hand…I was forced out of my comfort zone and in the process grew as an artist.

This post was definitely from those days. Have a look…

eyes

I completed my pages for the latest book I received in my current round robin.

The original drawings from the book were hand-painted by me with watercolor crayons. The chopsticks were shorten by breaking then shaping them in a pencil sharpener before a slight bit of whittling and sanding.

The bamboo was drawn then painted by yours truly. The fortune reads “The luck that is ordained for you will be coveted by others”

I’ve never done any Asian themed art before…at least not consciously. I did do a mixed-media painting a while back that ended up having an Asian flare.

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Hope you enjoyed this second look at my post from January 2008

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2015 Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt wrap up

Here we are at the end of summer…well, at least the end of the 2015 Summer photo Scavenger hunt hosted by Rinda.

At my last check in I had over half of the items on the list as well as the alternates.

2015photo hunt 1

I am so happy to say that I have completed the list!! Hooray! I love being able to check something off a list. In fact…secret coming…I write stuff on my to-do list after doing it just so I can cross it off. Yeah…I have a problem.

The remainder of the items are as follows….

4. People playing a board game or card game

game time

a rousing game of Scattergories Categories

6. A metal bridge

metal bridge 1

This first photo was taken while passing a company that builds metal bridges. We passed it at least three times so on the last time I had passed of my phone off for someone to snap the photo at my direction.

metal bridge 2

I think this may have been one from that same company in real world use.

8. Someone “plugged in” to social media

plugged in

Sad but true…computer in the van.

11. A cellular tower or television satellite dish

cell tower

Along the interstate…

14. A traffic signaltraffic signal

Rural central Minnesota gas station with really old pumps and the craziest items for sale in a convenience store I’ve ever seen. It was like an episode of Hoarders with price tags complete with a literal path to the “customers only” restroom. Yikes!

15. A flag pole with at least three flags on it

three flags

Ok I’m taking a little liberty with this one…but it was REALLY HARD to find.

18. An overloaded truck, car, bicycle or other vehicle

overloaded 1

Two examples on the interstate…The first some big piece of farm equipment

overloaded 2

And this one was just crazy and freaked me out when it came into view. I saw this white truck in my lane ahead of me suddenly.  AWH!!!! But it was being towed by another truck piggy backing on the lead truck.  WHAT?!?!  I’ve never seen anything like that before.

Photos taken while on the road were taken by my kids…thanks you two!!  Safety first. :)

21. A photograph of you with a sign reading “2015 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt”. Note: you may not use a substitute for this item.

sign

This was great fun! I’m already looking forward to playing along next year! Special thanks to Rinda for once again hosting this great summer challenge.

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T Tuesday: abbreviated edition

Hello and welcome to an extremely abbreviated edition of T stands for Tuesday hosted by the one and only Elizabeth. I must admit this is a scheduled post. As you read this Tuesday morning, I’ll be sitting in a waiting room as my mom has cataract surgery.

I thought I’d share a sweet little tea set my my mom picked up for a song at the annual garage sale in her building.

mini tea set | Halle's Hobbies

It’s so cute and so tiny…I really should had set a coin out for reference.  The entire plate is perhaps 6 inches across at the widest point.

Fingers crossed that next week I’ll be here in full capacity …school has started…things should be settling down.

What are you doing today??

19 Comments

T Tuesday: vacation edition

Welcome to another edition of T stands for Tuesday where we share a beverage and catch up a bit.

T stands for Tuesday

Summer is winding down. The back to school preparations have begun. Orientation, picture day, curriculum night.

But before that happened we got out of town for a few days. The weather was a scorcher the day we arrived…105°F heat index. All we could think of was jumping in the lake. It was delightful!!

resort 1

The evening ended with a beautiful sunset.

We woke the next morning to overcast skies and rough water.

resort 3

The kids did their best to try out the activities, I even did the stand up paddle board for a bit. The waves made it a bit more challenging.  Even a bad day by the lake is a better day than at the usual grind.

The following day was even more windy and rough water to start the day. I don’t even have photos of that. The lake looked and sounded more like the ocean with the crashing waves.

But then something wonderful happened. The wind calmed, giving way to another beautiful evening.

resort 2Hot dogs were roasted. Marshmallows were toasted. A lovely final evening for our mini vacation. The rest of the extended family were staying a few more days…we had to hurry home for the aforementioned school preparations.

The kids and I also made it to a local pub yesterday for their Monday special…2 for 1 appetizers and drinks all day.

pub 1

The calamari was delish!!

pub 2

I chose to sit at lucky table #13.

More school stuff today and hopefully I’ll get some salsa canned as well. I have a ton of tomatoes!!

What are you doing today?

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17 Comments

Time to go

Nothing like waiting to the last minute or the final hour to work on the Art Journal Journey theme for this month… TIME

Art Journal Journey

Honestly I wasn’t working directly towards the theme but after placing the focal image down the idea that she was in a hurry came to mind. Then it was just a point of find the right words to fit her look.

Time to go Art Journal Journey entry| Halle's Hobbies

I find it ironic that the happens to be an ermine on the page….part of the weasel family…often associated with being sneaky. Fun how things work out sometimes.

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