03.30.12...

March 30 - my workplace

I work in a hospital lab, which isn't a very pretty, aesthetic place, rather utilitarian.
I also have a "cube office", which isn't very pretty either, but I have tried to make it look pretty by hanging
some scrapbook pages of my family. It makes me happy to see them whenever I have a desk day and can
catch up on necessary work that tends to get put off until there is time.

A friend of mine was cleaning out a house and needed boxes, so we were saving them for her and storing them in my cube. It got a little crowded this past week, while I just happened to have several desk days in a row, and I teased her about crawling over the boxes, arranging them in the entry and hiding from the rest of the lab. I think she thought I was actually upset at all the boxes (I wasn't, I enjoy coziness) because when I came back from a short break yesterday, I found a bag of M&Ms and a tiny Daffodil plant sitting on my desk. I sat there trying to figure out who they were for and who left them, when I realized 1/2 of the boxes were missing. Just as the lightbulb turned on over my head, my friend walked in to get another load of boxes.  I had started to panic when I saw the M&Ms, because I don't eat chocolate anymore, so when she walked in, she told me they were for the guy who was nice enough to save the boxes for her. Whew!!
She is such a sweet, caring person, always thinking of nice things like this.

Thank-you dear friend, I love the little Daffodils, they bring color and happiness to my dreary little cube.

03.28.12...

March 28 - animal

My favorite place to go, especially if I'm feeling sort of down, is the zoo. I always feel great after wandering the paths, inside and out, of my very favorite Minnesota Zoo.
I have several favorites:

grizzly bear
amur leopard
tiger
flying fox
wolf

but the Gibbons have to be #1 because of how fun they are to watch and because of the sounds they make...whoop, whoop, whoop! I get goosebumps just thinking of it.

03.27.12...

March 27 - bag/purse

This was an easy one...I love this bag/purse that Kira made me. It's perfect for vacations, with long straps that I can wear across, instead of killing my left shoulder. I can carry my camera in it, it has a pocket for my phone and another pocket for lipgloss. It's light and bright and pretty and I've gotten tons of compliments on it.
Thank you Bugs!!

03.25.12...

March 25 - what's on your feet

Feet...slippers, socks, boots, tennis, heels, loafers, clogs, sandels, flip flops, naked, our feet help us to get from point A to point B. They run, walk, dance, skip, hop. They get cold, they get hot, they get sore, they get dry, they get painted and prettied. They get stuffed in shoes and they get to wiggle free.
See some of the shoes that have been on my feet...

03.24.12...

March 24 - colorful

I usually wear solid colors. I'm not sure why, it's just what I do, but I do have one very colorful knit top that I pull out from time to time. I don't feel like I'm able to blend in with the background when I wear this, so it has to be just the right time and place when I put it on.
I think this pretty much fits the word colorful...

03.23.12...

March 23 - sweet

When I think of the word sweet, I automatically think of chocolate cake, or cookies, or candy, but I don't eat those anymore. Once in a blue moon, I will eat a little cake, no frosting, just cake, but without the frosting, it just doesn't taste as good, and if I eat the frosting, I will get very crabby.
So, what else is sweet???
Flowers!
We planted a Magnolia bush the end of last summer and we were praying it made it through winter, and it did a very fine job of surviving. It is beautiful and full of blooms, and the smell is heavenly sweet.

The other thing I found that is really sweet, is our dead Balsam Christmas tree. We always buy a cut tree and we like the Balsam, because it is very soft and thick and nicely shaped. Also, I can touch it without having my skin break out. When I'm working outside and am anywhere near this tree, I can smell it's sweet smell and I can't wait until we burn it in the fire pit.

Linked 52 - Spring/Autumn

While looking through my photos from last fall, I realized my poor camera was horribly ignored, so much so that I'm surprised I even remembered how to use it. Pickings were pretty slim, but I was able to find a few to post for Autumn.

I've been doing a March Photo a Day challenge, and my camera must be wondering what's going on with all the use it's getting. (a photo everyday??? come on, you leave me in the dark bag for months and now I get no rest?? well, all this practice better be helping!)

Spring is well on it's way in Minnesota now and I've been wandering around my yard, a lot of the time getting my jeans dirty by kneeling on the grass, leaves or woodchips to get a close up of a little flower or plant.
Here are a few of what's blooming now.

These are what I could find from last Autumn.
As far away as that sounds, it will be here before we know it.

Click on Linked 52 above and check out all the talented ladies' takes on Spring/Autumn.

03.21.12...

March 21 - living room

Oops, I'm a day late and I'm not going to catch up until tomorrow.
Our livingroom doesn't get a whole lot of use, (unless our furnace goes out and we want to stay warm).
I spend most of my time in my room, watching something on my computer and David spends his time between my room with me, and his room recording music. It's kind of sad, actually. Hopefully we will have more evenings by the fire, now that our patio is all done...hopefully!
I often wonder why people want houses that have 3000+ square feet of living space.
What in the world does one do with all that room???
It's just more to clean.

03.20.12...

March 20 - flower

On my way home from work, I stopped at Cub Foods and bought a bouquet of flowers for today's photo challenge. It's not like I don't already have a ton of flower photos, but because today was "Flower" day, I though it was a good excuse to buy some pretty flowers to brighten up my dining room.
Sadly, there were too many choices and I had a hard time deciding which bouquet to get. I usually tend to lean toward warm colors like orange, yellow, rust, peach, but these pinkish white roses were the lucky winners that caught my eye and now grace my table.
Murphy's Law (me and Murphy are very close) says there would be something blooming IN my yard and I wouldn't have needed to spend money on cut flowers...and sure enough, I walk through the garage door and find little purple crocus in full bloom, right in front of the porch. I'm hoping they will still be nicely blooming tomorrow so I can get a photo of them then.
Here are two of the flowers in my Cub bouquet...

03.19.12...

March 19 - office supply

Well, I don't work in an office, and I don't call my room at home an office.
I do use the same supplies as anyone in an office does;
envelopes
pens
pencils
stapler
paperclips
paper
etc...boring


So, I took a picture of the thing I use most often, that is found in an office,
my computer and printer
(I love them both)

03.18.12...

March 18 - book

After church today, I stopped at Menard's to pick up some paint for the porch ceiling. I want to finish off the ceiling with the beadboard I have had for three years now, (I've been waiting for my youngest son to get it painted and help put it up...because he owes me lotsssss of money) and I was all out of white ceiling paint. I suppose I didn't need 'ceiling paint' but is was the cheapest, so, there you go!

Now, it is physically impossible for me to go into any store, get what I need and leave, without spending quite a bit of time wandering about looking at all sorts of things. I happen to love wandering around Menard's and The Home Depot, I get so many ideas this way, which is what happened today. I finally found myself in the paint department, after picking up a five pack of socks, looking at landscaping blocks, decorative antique looking tins, and garden shed plans. They just happen to have their 'How To' books in the paint department and, well, I pretty much have to look at books when I see them. I looked through several and then came upon this book...

Just what I wanted...we've been thinking of building a combination greenhouse/gardenshed and this has a lot  of examples of both and how to get electricity and water to it, etc. 

This is pretty much what I would like. I've been looking on Craigslist for used windows, but so far I haven't found any that I want. I'm going to stop at Bauer Bros. tomorrow and see what they have for decent windows.

I could have just told my husband about this great book and he could have taken a look at it next time he was in Menard's, but it found it's way into my cart and once something jumps into my cart, I usually let it stay there. I found a few more cool ideas while looking though it when I got home...

Raised beds...I would love some raised beds.

Copper and bamboo fencing 

(I wonder how long it would take Annie to demolish these)

Concrete edging

(I think this is a great idea, easier than laying edging blocks all around the flower gardens)

So, I've put more things on the 'To Do List' and there might be a very slight chance that one of them may get started (after the basement gets done and the flower gardens get weeded and mulched and David spends some of his weekends at the cabin splitting wood, and.................)

Well, I can dream can't I?!?

03.17.12...

March 17 - green

Happy St. Patrick's Day to ye all.

When I saw that today's word was green, my first thought was green beer. Now I don't care for beer, never have, probably never will, but green beer and St. Patty's Day just seem to go hand in hand.

I love the color green, for things I have around my house. I don't wear much green at all, but my eyes are green!!
Whenever I am at an antique shop, I always look for green glasswear, not any old green though, it has to be a certain color of green. I guess I'm kind of picky when it comes to green glasswear.

Anyway, I was thinking of something to photograph today that was green. Let's see...grass, plants, my glass serving pieces, the glass canning jar in the bathroom that we keep our toothbrushes in, the carpet up the stairs and in the hallway of the second floor, my sweater that I adopted from Kira when she left it behind.
Well, I was still thinking while I was lightly raking up all the branches and pinecones, when I came upon a piece of green glass that was once probably a beer bottle, under some bushes I was cleaning up.

It's so much prettier in person.

My Grandparents used to own the house I now live in, and way back then, they used to bury things that we would now just toss in the garbage can. We have found all sorts of things while digging holes for new plants, bushes and trees. I've finally started to keep the pieces I find and plan on using them in a mosaic project of some sort, whenever I get around to it. hahaha

Here are a few more items my husband found (excluding the green glass) while digging a hole for an egress window.

03.16.12...

 March 16 - me

I find it extremely difficult to take a photo of myself, because...I can't stand the way I look.
My teeth aren't white, I have jowls, my neck is wobbly and wrinkled, I have hardly any eyelashes or
eyebrows. tsk I should be happy and thankful that I am alive, and healthy, and I am very thankful, but
I wish I looked like I used to, or someone else, or that I could manipulate my face like I can in photographs. Yikes! That might get a bit strange, if people's faces started to morph into something else while they were
talking to you.
Anyhoo, I just couldn't get excited enough to try real hard, so I took these with my phone, futzed around a bit and this is what I got! I like the one in the lower right corner best, because it is the darkest and much of
me is in shadow!!!   :-)

Linked 52 - Underneath...

I went scouting around my yard looking for examples of underneath. I really wanted to get a picture of Annie underneath one of the pine trees, doing what she does best...barkingatthesquirrels. But, of course, we were not able to coordinate our schedules. Ha! So I rooted around underneath the ground cover to see if anything was starting to come up yet. I guess I was a little surprised at how many plants were not showing any life yet, seeing as how we've had such warm weather. I guess they must know what's best for them, and it is only March 15th...we could still have snow next month, highly doubtful, but not impossible. I did find a few early risers...underneath the straw were some healthy looking strawberry plants.

Underneath some overhanging rocks, I found this groundcover getting an early start. It's quite hardy so I'm not going to worry about it.

Lastly, underneath another pine tree, along with tons of pinecones and tree branches, (complements of the many squirrels that inhabit our yard, and play in our trees) were a bunch of bark chips that had fallen from the trunk. They caught my eye because they remind me of pieces of slate.

03.15.12...

March 15 - wood

We have no shortage of wood at our house. It is our main source of heat through out the winter, especially this year because of the mild weather we had. By the end of summer though, we will have a whole lot more.
My sister has a cabin on a lake in Wisconsin that was, unfortunately, in the path of a very nasty storm this last summer. Straight line winds knocked down many, many, many, many trees. Some lots ended up with No full trees at all. It was a very sad sight to see. Anyway, it was good for us, because we get the wood. My husband went up a few days after the storm and helped clear away a lot of the mess, then again several more times during the summer and fall to cut more trees into manageable chunks and then stack out of her way. Soon we will go up to split and stack all the chunks that are left. It's a lot of wood.
So, each load we bring back will be added to what we have here...

03.14.12...

March 14 - something in my front yard

My dear sweet Annie Belle loves to bark at squirrels and where do squirrels hang out??? In trees, and that is where Annie hangs out, under any tree that happens to have a squirrel in it. She doesn't care if there happens to be a fence, or plants, or a birdbath, or decorative solar lights. She justs plows through anything in her way so she can
getatthesquirrelsandbarkatthem. 

I have put these lights Back in the ground so many times I have lost count, and I am pretty dang sure I will continue to put them back. So, until the weekend, when I get to work in the yard, this is how they look.

Now, as for the squirrels...this is what they do to my grass...

03.13.12...

March 13 - Favorite Accessory

These are This is half of my very favorite earrings. Earrings that I can no longer wear because the other half is either on the shore of the Mississippi in Monticello, or it was on Main Street in Anoka. I was wearing them last month when David and I took a drive to see the Trumpeter Swans, and I didn't realize that I had lost one until we got in the house and I took off my jacket. I'm in the habit of routinely checking my ears whenever I wear any of my wire earrings, just to make sure they are still hanging there, so I was shocked when I only felt one. This really upsets me, because I bought them in a little shop in Scottsdale Arizona. I figure I could fly out and visit Kira and maybe pick up a new pair at the same time, but she doesn't have any free time for a visit, what with working two jobs just to make ends meet, besides that, she would really rather come home to visit.
Soooo, I'm thinking of contacting the artist to see if he would be willing to make me a replacement. I've got my fingers crossed.

03.12.12...

March 12 - Store

I was out and about today, stopping at JoAnn Etc., Cub Foods, and Target and I had my camera with me, knowing that today's word was Store. I completely forgot about taking a picture at JoAnn's, even though I had my big girl camera in my purse and the weight of it was giving me a headache. I thought about taking a picture of Cub when I was in the parking lot, then decided it was just boring, and the thought of taking a picture of Target didn't do anything for me either. My last idea was to take a picture of the new WalMart that is being built where Brookdale used to be. I nixed that idea too when I realized there was no good place to park, and I would have to walk. tsk...there I go being lazy again. Ha! I figured I would just wait until tomorrow after work, to find a store.
Once I was home, I walked past one of the plastic bins that store some of the stuff my kids left behind, one of the bins that I already have some pictures of. hmmm, but...that would be cheating, right?? Maybe not.
Then...my eyes noticed the closet in my work room (Kira's old room that I took over when she moved) the closet that I store all of my craft/art/sewing/wrapping stuff in. That would work, right?? So I took a bunch of pictures of that, and, well, that turned out to be just.plain.dull. My very last idea was the tall, black cabinet that my maternal Great Grandfather made for his kitchen. It was in my basement (which was my maternal Grandparents house) when I moved in, and in my breakfast nook, when I started decorating. It went back to the basement after David and I married and we remodeled the house, where I used it to store laundry soap and dryer sheets. It finally found it's way to the my workroom on the second floor, thank-you David and Ethan for lugging it up for me, and with several coats of black and green paint, I have a place to store books and pretty boxes and tins and candles (and my iron). I've loved this cabinet ever since I was a little girl visiting my Grandma and playing in her basement. I think it's happy with it's black and green coat.

03.11.12...

March 11 - Clock

After our walk around Lake of the Isles, on an absolutely gorgeous Sunday afternoon, we missed the exit for 94 and ended up going through Downtown instead. We passed by a clock and I said, 'Hey, that's my word for the day, Clock!' and David said, 'Do you want to take a picture of the Millwaukee clock?' Well, of course I did, and it was just around the corner, down the street.
He made a u-turn in the middle of the road, parked the car and I got out to get a couple shots of...

Then he asked me if I wanted to get a picture of the clock on the Police Station...well, yeah!

So, we drive a few blocks and he parks in front of the building, I get out and jaywalk across the street to the courthouse and get a few of this clock...

I also got one of the clock above, reflected in the courthouse windows...

Sunday afternoon is a great time of the week to see all the great architecture in Minneapolis. We decided to make a special point of doing just that, sometime very soon.

03.10.12...

March 10 - Something that Sparkles

My ring...in the sun