Category : Around home

219 posts

This weeks T stands for Tuesday is dedicated to the great outdoors. I wish I could take you on a current up to the moment tour but…its raining…again. You’ll have to settle for some photos that have been taken over the past week or so.

Shall we start with the pest that is digging up my garden?

Cute isn’t she…pain in my @$$ is what she is. Her and her now babies are digging up plants everywhere!!!! Did you notice she seems to be red and grey…I looked it up and there seems to be some crossing of the species. These squirrels are closer to grey squirrel size but with a red squirrel temperament. “Fantastic” she says dripping with sarcasm.

We’ve also had a bunch of deer around eating my tiger lilies…I can’t blame this little fawn…mama left him rest in the tall grass by the fence.

She’s looking at me like I’m the paparazzi….

Here’s some adorable and equally destructive critters in the patch of clover my neighbor has in their yard.

This robin and the cedar wax wings are busy eating the service berries from our tree like they do every year…the only problem is the berries seem to go right through them if you catch my drift.

Do you notice the netting over my patio tomato plant? Squirrel deterrent. My in-laws used to have a huge strawberry patch…this was the leftover netting. Thank goodness!!

I also have it on my deck boxes and the raised bed. Marvin is out on a supervised visit of the great outdoors on one of our non-raining moments.

He’s such a handsome guy. I love how he poses for me.

He enjoys sniffing the air, watching bugs and birds and generally lounging around.

How do you like my new signs….

My MIL bought them for me. There are a few more but I need to repaint to reflect what I actually have planted.

My garden is finally looking pretty good. I’m excited to see how the yellow pear tomatoes do in this garden vs the raised bed by the deck.

Yesterday I put up a few flags…immediately after placing this one atop the fence post on the garden this dragonfly landed. Must have been an excellent hunting position since he would not move even when I adjusted the flag.

Marvin doesn’t love the heat…even though we’ve brushed and brushed him…he still has quite the coat. We know he’s warm when he does this… His other position is belly up on the floor. Poor baby…he’s a winter cat.

Are you still with me…I know its a long post…

For my art/beverage tie in we have this journal page. I kept meaning to post it but it never happened…as you can see by the date it’s a couple weeks old.

I love how the book page shows through the napkin so much!!! The page really didn’t need a whole lot more in my opinion. A little recycled sari fabric and found text…done.

Tuesday has lots of errands in store getting ready for the Independence Day holiday.

What are you doing today?

At my school the last day is grade level field trips. I went with 7th grade to Nickelodeon Universe at Mall of America. Nothing like setting 6 bus loads of kids free at the mall (and that was just from our school).

We walked in under this beautiful and interactive art installation.

There was a rope attached with a sign that read “Pull rope to help her fly“.  The kids had fun helping her flap her wings. Here’s a little news clip about it if you’d like to see more including a video of it in motion.

I went on 3 rides during our time at the mall. The first was the worst…hard on the body…very jerky, spinny and not for the feint of heart. The second was also pretty scary but not so hard on the body.

All those teal twists and turns made me scream a few times much the the glee of the students.

This was the view from the Ferris wheel…nice and slow with a great view of the park.

Over the weekend I did some outdoor sprucing up. I stitched up some new buntings for my gardens…

FYI…My glass of water is just out of frame on the step in adherence with T stands for Tuesday.

And refreshed some metal garden art…

I used several cans of spray paint to brighten up the flower. I’m not sure I love it but it’s so much better than before!

This little sign really needed help and a 3D element. I had two of these metal flowers. They have a metal pin out from the back. I used a tie tack back and a washer to hold it on the sign. IT hangs from a shepherds hook along the front walk.

Today I took Mini-me to take her drivers test…and she passed!! Then I sent her to Target on an errand.

Woot! She did great. She is so happy…so am I! Now she can drive herself to work and school and volleyball and well you get the picture…

Tuesday morning we are getting a new roof put on the house. I know…super exciting. I’ve got all kinds of busy work to do in the house while the nail guns are hammering.

What are you doing today?

Hello and welcome back! I haven’t posted anything in two weeks! Yikes! My creativity is in a slump. I think there are just too many other things on my to-do list that the creative side of me doesn’t get a chance.

That isn’t to say I haven’t done anything creative…just not post worthy at least singularly. Since we had yet another big storm roll through last week we had a snow day on Wednesday. Before beginning the snow removal process I got out my Silhouette and added a vinyl name plate to my school Chromebook. My old one bit the dust after it was knocked off a table. I was issued a replacement…the only trouble is that it looks identical to all the kids.

Not anymore….now I want to add a little more bling just for fun.

Meanwhile the winter storm raged on outside. We got 9.5 inches at our house. There was so much snow that we were running out places to put it. Plus Mr. G had pulled a giant drift off the roof onto the deck. He shocked the heck out of me when he dragged the snowblower up the deck stairs and carefully used it to get rid of the majority of the snow.

After all that it was definitely time for a warm beverage.

Mini-me had another archery tournament and scored her personal best on Saturday.

This weekend our school is hosting a tournament. That means there is lots of work to do for all the kids…and us parents as well.

Yesterday afternoon was spent baking and bagging cookies to sell.  I knew our week was going to be too hectic to do any baking after work. Now to resist the temptation all week….exactly the reason I bagged them all up right away. I know me….my weakness is strong, to quote Patton Oswalt.

What are you doing today?

Welcome to T stands for Tuesday! Last week was a cold one…record breaking. It was a crazy week for school as well. We started out Monday with a 2 hr late start due to snow. Then had 3 days off due to extreme cold. Friday was normal. Check out this little collage of images from my house.

I had ice on my wall next to the front door. All the windows were iced up…even the nail heads of the trim were frozen. The cold was desperate to get in. So much tea was drank…so much…of course, no picture because I’m forgetful sometimes.

Friday we had a normal day of school. Saturday Mini-me had an archery tournament in the morning. 

She did well and is looking forward to the next tournament in a couple weeks. The day actually got so warm that I grilled steaks! Of course the deck had to be shoveled to even get to the grill but…details, details. Yummy grilled steak is totally worth it!

This morning we awoke to icy conditions but had our regularly scheduled work and school for all of us. The poor neighbor girl fell down her front steps on the way to our house from the glaze of ice. Several people fell at both schools I have contact with. Bad news!! I’m thankful I did the penguin shuffle and made it without incident.

Today is also J’s 19th birthday! It’s the first one I haven’t spent with him. *sniff* He is planning to come home next weekend so at least we won’t have to wait too long to give him a birthday hug!

I did a little journal work today but I think I’ll save that for tomorrow.

I am going to try and upload a video flip through I did over the weekend. The end got cut off when my phone started to ring but hey that’s life. Fingers crossed I did this properly again. I’m really thinking I need to just upload to YouTube…I’m just not sure I want to deal with all the haters out there. Everyone’s a critic.

 

Journal Flip

 

What are you doing today?

It’s almost here! Winter break. Christmas. Mini-me’s sweet sixteen. New Years. It’s all just around the corner. I’m so ready and not ready all at the same time! So much excitement…so much to do.

Saturday Mini-me and I got up early, grabbed coffee and breakfast( sorry not photographic proof) then drove to Duluth to pick up J for his winter break. Finals are over. He’s off for almost a month. 

The weather was beautiful…42°F and sunny! Mini-me and I took a brief walk around canal park before heading to the university to get J and his gear.

The weather is continuing to be very unseasonably warm as we sneak up on Christmas. In fact, Mr. G and I removed the screens and washed windows on Sunday afternoon. Now I know you are all super jealous of our momentous afternoon date. :)

Last week we had a team party at work. We were all asked to bring a $5 giftcard in disguise. As soon as I read the email the cartoon bubble in my head went to work.

Behold…my giftcard in disguise. I had really wanted to make the eyebrows and mustache more “furry” but since I was so sick I wasn’t able to find anything more than some black ribbon.

Since the grass is showing green outside with very little snow anywhere to be found I am looking to our tree to bring up the festive spirit. Maybe some of these words will inspire me more.

What are you doing today?

Welcome to T stands for Tuesday where we share a little about whatever the heck we want along with our beverage of choice. Pretty easy rules, right?!? Here’s my adherence to the rules…

Since I am finishing up my extended break from work….6 days off… Woohoo!…. I thought I’d share a few highlights.

Wednesday evening, Mini-me and I went to MOA (Mall of America) not to shop but to pick up J.  So cool that he can take the bus right from campus to home…or relatively close.

Thursday, we enjoyed a lovely meal at my in-laws. I brought the stuffing aka: dressing as it is unstuffed. I wrapped the dutch oven in newspaper and towels just like my parents taught me when I was a kid.Later my BIL followed us home to extend our visit a bit. We hadn’t seen any family in a couple months which is sad when we are only about 20 minutes drive from one another.

Friday, we decorated for Christmas….it’s our tradition to decorate the day after Thanksgiving. No Black Friday shopping for us. Only twice in my life have I braved that chaos. No thank you!

Saturday was so quiet I can’t even remember what we did…or didn’t do.

Sunday Mini me and I made the first batch of lefse of the season. So yummy.  Of course, later In the day Mr. G and I had to deliver J back to MOA to catch the bus back to college.  Just a few short weeks and we’ll be driving up north to get him for winter break.

Monday I spent going through some totes in the storage room. I was able to reorganize and purge enough stuff that I have one completely empty tote. Mini-me and I brought a pile of stuff to Goodwill to donate. They always give a 25% off coupon when you donate…so of course we went in to see what they had. Mini-me found some yarn…she’s requesting another cowl.

I did manage to work on some creative pursuits as well during this long break.  You can check out the previous two posts for my vintage linen remake and art journal page. I also continued work on my personal journal and completed my December Daily journal. It’s all ready to go! I’m thinking I’ll do a video with a flip through perhaps. It has WAY too many pages for photos. WAY more than I need but hey…I’m still learning with this process.

The current experiment is rose gold tint for Mini-me

She’s been trying little bits of it all through the break but tonight decided to go all in. I helped her spray it in damp hair…now she’s waiting to rinse.

I think it will be fun regardless. Besides…it’s temporary. When I go, I go all in with the pink hair…permanent style.

Tuesday is back to reality for everyone.  All good things come to an end. I do really like my job, so its not all bad. I just miss my free time. My mini-me time. Gosh, it’s going to be really hard when she goes off to college. *sniff*

 

What are you doing today?

I have so many vintage linens squirreled away in boxes. It’s really a shame. Lately I’ve been thinking about purging some things especially things that no longer bring me joy. My trouble is that I have a hard time parting with some of these vintage pieces. I’m beginning my journey of letting go by cutting up the stained and tattered ones first because in reality…who’s going to want them other than me for sentimental value.

These pieces were just waiting for an opportunity to come together.

I’ve added the completed piece to enhance my laundry room decor.

I think perhaps this is a good first step in letting go by being able to hold onto a little piece…if that even makes sense.

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