No Pictures of This Day

That's because it isn't pretty.

I am sorting, cleaning and attempting to bring order out of chaos.

I have to do that quite frequently, it seems.

There is something seriously wrong with me.

Tuesday I accomplished much in my three happy little rooms on my side of the basement.

So today I had planned that I would go back down there and continue on with my happy endeavors.

But then I remembered that it will be May 1st tomorrow and that I should switch out the bedroom into a bit less of a 'fall' look. Lighter comforter and pillow shams and basic things like that.

That's when I noticed just how much I've been piling up on my side of the bed.

Now I must backtrack here. Last night, for some reason unbeknownst to me, we could view the Style network. Style has never been a word used to describe me as I happily fall under the title of frumpled, frazzled and bewildered, which certainly cannot be considered a 'style'. More like a series of poor choices.

But this network aired a marathon last night of a show called "Clean House". THGGM and Oldest Son were eating candy and watching "Rent" in the basement, so I had control of the remote.

The people on this show had SERIOUS clutter problems. Seriously serious.

Now flash back to this morning, as I stood looking at the side of the bedroom I think of as mine.

Gorgeous view out the window. The blooming magnolia tree branches are visible. So pretty, even in the rain.

Not so pretty on the floor.

That is because whenever I have guests, I carry what I am working on to that corner in the bedroom and drop it there. Apparently, I also never think of it again.

Well. That is until today. My day of reckoning.

And I reckon that I better get back to it.

Puzzle Sandwiches

Today we had puzzle sandwiches for lunch.

The puzzle part was a hit.

Although it appeared that they both just ate the tips of the stars, the rest of the puzzle sandwich was happily fed to the birds.

This Report Just In

A woman, believed to be JudyH58 has been sighted.

Few people still believe in her existence, as she is rarely seen.

This reporter noticed JudyH58 running up and down the steps of her breezeway (should we keep in the part of her being sweaty and out of breath, or is that too much information? what? no. no, we don't want a law suit. strike that.).

It appeared that she was wearing something that looked like pajamas, although pajamas of that sort have never been seen in the real world (who would still be wearing pajamas at 3:00 in the afternoon? oh? she would? hmm).

While the keen reporter looked on, box after box was shoved up what appear to be basement steps (an odd place for basement steps to be located, but it is believed to be true) and deposited rather noisily into the attached garage.

Approaching the door, this reporter heard screams, squeals and sweet songs of joy.

What COULD JudyH58 have found?

Once, we've been told, she found a cute stuffed red mouse in her basement - which delighted her - but when she picked it up, she noticed that the gray animal laying next to it was NOT stuffed. No. It was NOT. It was a VERY MUCH ALIVE possum.

Reportedly, there were screams and squeals that day, too. But no sweet songs of joy. No, not one.

Repeated knocks at the door brought no response.

NEWS UPDATE!

At around 3:15 this afternoon, JudyH58 discovered at the very bottom of a large box in her basement THE MISSING FISHER PRICE LITTLE PEOPLE BABY! This baby went missing (we DO say 'went missing' now, don't we boss, even though it is extremely poor english? i thought so.) nearly two years ago. His family appeared to have been expecting him, as Fisher Price nursery furniture had been purchased in his absence.

Magical Saturday

It rained buckets around here today.

That caused the magnolia tree to bloom.

So fearful was I that all of the blossoms would wash away that I sent THGGM across the street in the rain to take a picture of it.

He is a good man. They are hard to find.

Anyway..,

I had plans to go to Alaine's garage sale today. On the way THGGM dropped me off at a thrift store so I could shop while he went to Marge's Donut Den for a donut. I cannot have donuts. No. No donuts for me. But, while I was in the thrift store it began 'the raining of the buckets', which I do not believe EVER stopped. It is STILL raining.

So, we changed plans and went dirt shopping instead. I found some seeds to go with my bags of potting soil and THGGM bought his yearly lawn treatment stuff and priced lawn mowers, as our lawn mower died a hideous death last year.

Next we went to Michael's where I bought three stuffed bunnies for 90% off. All they had left were two boy bunnies and one girl bunny. Just what I will need next year (psst.., judy.., you are going to put them on the shelf in the bedroom closet).

While the rain continued to fall, we ate our lunch at Hunan. I love to eat lunch at Hunan. There we decided that we would see if Jonge was available to go to the magic show at the nursing home where my mom lives.

He was.

We went.

It was magically wonderful!

Birds. Goldfish. Cute bunny.

The magic was great, surprising to me as I've never been a fan of illusion (illusion confusion gives me a headache).

The most amazing magic was watching Jonge enjoy something with his great grandma and grandpa. They had more fun watching him watch the magician and THGGM and I enjoyed watching THEM watch him watching the magician.

Yes. It was a magical Saturday.

Despite the buckets of rain.

Eight Months Until Christmas

I Made This

This bookmark is made from a 1st edition Bobbsey Twins in the Country book (click image to enlarge).

I bought it at the thrift store for cheap.

No way would I have paid much for it, because of a pet-peeve of mine.

I HATE IT when the thrift store people put the price tag sticker on the PICTURE on the front of the books. It RUINS the picture when one tries to remove the sticker.

So today I found this book, purchased months ago, hidden away and thought I ought to make something of it.

The spine still looked good.

And on the front cover only Freddie Bobbsey's face had been damaged by the sticker removal.

I had just made a paper hat out of white tissue paper, so the packing tape was out.

I remembered having read somewhere about making a 'transfer' out of packing tape, so I tried it on Flossie.

She transferred nicely from the front cover of the book to the spine.

Next, I covered both sides with packing tape, rounded all four corners, punched a hole and added ribbon. I think it needs vintage ribbon, so I'll change it when I come across my stash. Until then, this will do nicely.

Spring Has Arrived

Is there anything more beautiful than a blooming magnolia tree?

I Am SUCH a Grandma

This is how one knows one is a grandma.

A sad looking child holds up her index finger to your face and you kiss it, presuming it to be an owie.

She looks strangely at you, and you realize that you now have a booger on your lip.

This Is My Beloved Famke

She's inquisitive.

She's beautiful.

She's thoughtful.

She's an absolute goof-ball.

A Wedding Is Approaching!

And we could not be any happier!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Fairy Jar

Too many great ideas in the new "Somerset Life".

The fairy jars reminded me that I had a blurry picture of Famke wearing wings.

The blurriness suited the picture nicely, for this. All I had to do was cutout whatever wasn't Famke.

I found the canning jar, tea-dyed cheese cloth, and the paper roses in the bedroom.

The rock was on the living room floor, for some reason that I cannot recall (what? you don't have random rocks on YOUR living room floor?).

The rhinestone pin was in the bathroom.

You would not believe how easy it is to make a decent bow with cheesecloth.

I need to buy more of that.

The interesting lighting comes from setting the jar on the recessed light in the mantle.

I suppose another option would be to put a battery operated votive into the jar.

Next time I rework this (i love projects that do not require anything to be permanently adhered) I might add some tiny shells to the jar and place a larger shell on the lid.

Lots of possibilities here.

Old Spice

I went through my old spices.

The first one I came to was crushed mint.

I've never used crushed mint for anything (i'm not much of a cook) so I thought I'd give that a try.

Again, it worked so well that I wish I had taken the time to write neater.

Oh, well. Some people live and learn.

I live, and keep making the same mistakes over and over and over.

I think I'm going to try making some note cards. The mint smell is great.

HEY!

I think I shall attempt to write out Jonge and Famke's names in glue and sprinkle those tiny colorful cake decorations on it!

I hope it works as well in reality as it seems it will in my head.

Famke's New Hat

Famke is not a fan of hats, so Jonge kindly offered to model it for me.

This time around I learned a few things.

Do not try to mold it to your own head. A medium size mixing bowl works MUCH better.

Forget about regular tape. Packing tape actually holds.

Scrunching up the brim? Yes, BUT, put a small amount of Elmer's Glue underneath and hold it down with pinch clothespins.

Then, decorate however you choose!

Next, find a cute model!

Hymn for a Sunday Evening

Do you recognize that reference?

I'm not at all sure how memory works, and I've NEVER seen a complete episode of the Ed Sullivan Show, but I could sing you Hymn for a Sunday Evening from the musical Bye-Bye Birdie without missing a beat.

You can thank my 8th grade choir experience for that.

Anyway, it truly IS Sunday evening, and all I have are random bits and odd pieces from my very own life.

Isn't that picture fabulous? It is actually an altered bit of a picture I took at Meijer Gardens. It's the arm of one of the statues surrounding that little water feature that Famke took such delight in. I was actually taking a picture of the boy statue holding up his baseball glove. But then there was this arm, just sticking out there all expectant-like. Had to mess with it. Had to.

Notice the spider web between the index and middle fingers. I find spider webs to be interesting.

I've been reading "Another Country". I highly recommend this book. At some point I shall try to review bits and pieces of it, just so I can remember the highlights before I return it to my niece. If you are a human being, you should read this book. That leaves out only a few of the people I know.

THGGM had Friday off. The day was perfect. See pictures below for proof. We also did a little bit of thrift shopping www.simplythrift.blogspot.com .

And because it was such a gorgeous day on Saturday also, THGGM cleaned the garage and raked up the yard. While he did all that, I took the time to sit in my sewing room in the window-less corner of the basement and sewed while I caught up on laundry. But I didn't mind. I got a bit sunburned on Friday, and my natural tendencies is towards dark corners and basements that smell like Tide and Downy.

Then, there is today. Well, actually, NOW there is today. Today. One of those wonderful April-showers-bring-May-flowers sort of spring days. I love those, too.

I watched the very pretty sparrows with the white necks, a pair of cardinals and a brownish bird with an iridescent purple head eating at the bird feeder.

As is my habit every year, I also purchased seeds. There is such HOPE in spring! I bought organic bean seeds. I've been buying bean seeds every year for as long as I can remember. This year, I might get farther than planting them in peat pots that later drown and float away...

I also bought zinnia seeds. I LOVE zinnias. One year I actually had a row of them growing along the side of my house. Last year's zinnias floated away. But this year! Yes. Again, I remain hopeful. I HAVE SEEDS!

Someday in the near future I'm hoping to sew up some fabric birds. Suddenly, I've again become crazy about birds!

Oh, no. Maybe I've just become CRAZY. The birds might have nothing to do with it.

Now on to the thought that has taken over my weekend.

I had an extremely horrible nightmare on Friday night. The kind that feels so real that even though it is presently Sunday evening, my memories of that dream are clearer than the memory of what I have eaten today.

The dream was all about THGGM and when I woke up, I have never been more angry at him in my life! He, of course, is always dreaming some deep and realistic epic, but I've only had this type of dream a few times in my life, and it left me shaken (shaked, shooked, shook-up?). I still sort of want to PUNCH HIM!

But, he is already sleeping and I would hate to disturb him.

It took three FULL days of not watching "The Wiggles" to get those Wiggles songs out of my head. I spent yesterday singing "Beach beach sandy beach, feel the sand on my feet". And so now what do I get? I get:

Ed Sullivan! Ed Sullivan! We're going to be on Ed Sullivan!

I'm leaving now to go play the piano. Must find a better hymn for a Sunday evening.

Meijer Gardens Part Three

Oh, it just was THE perfect day to wander around both inside and out.

Um.

Can you tell which one is the pregnant one (do note that there are NO pictures of me)?




This sculture is made of letters. Jonge found that to be of interest. Even though no water poured out from it.

It really IS amazing.

Meijer Gardens Part 2

There were just enough butterflies for me. Not so many that my reflexes wanted to swat at them, but enough that they were visible wherever one looked.

Famke. She had a great time. I'm sure at her height she saw more knees than anything else. Her favorite phrases?

"I DO IT!"



Nice family I found at the gardens.

Jonge, more than likely pointing in the direction Famke is heading.

There really is an amazing amount of beauty everywhere you look.

So glad we took the time TO look today.

The Kind of Day We Waited for All Winter Long

THGGM had today off. It was 68 degrees, and SUNNY!

We went for breakfast with Daughter, Jonge and Famke and then to Meijer Gardens.

It was a perfectly lovely day for that. Lots of people thought so. Jonge and Famke were delighted that the water features in the children's garden were open. They had a fabulous time.

The new sculptures are great, too.

The weird picture of the horse is for perspective. THGGM, Daughter, Jonge and Famke can be seen sitting down in the background.

Jonge Plays

Too Simple Too Fun

This idea came from the new issue of "Somerset Life". I love that book-a-zine.
Sketch out something in pencil, go over it in plain old Elmer's Glue, and sprinkle it with something.
In the book they used dried larkspur. I didn't have that. This is some lavender that has been sitting in a tea cup in my bathroom for awhile.
But now I'm starting to look with interest at the plethora (hey.., didn't i used to have another blog named that?) of old spices in my spice rack. That just might be fun, too!

I tried writing out "hope" in cursive, but the loopy parts became clogged with the lavender. So, I rubbed it off, turned it over, and sketched out a tea cup just to see if something other than a letter would work.

It would.

Now I only wish I had drawn it more carefully.

Oh, well. Live and learn.

I really think you should try this.

Sort of Semi Totally Somewhat Random

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE having my entire family over for major holidays. I LOVE it.

But for some unknown reason, I end up very tired when it is all done.

And no, it isn't because I do EVERYTHING. Actually, for this one, I can't even think of what I DID do. It wasn't much, I know that.

I think it has more to do with what I eat than with what I do.

Why couldn't I have come from a family that goes rock climbing on holidays, instead of centering each holiday around candy?

Okay. So my entire family doesn't do that. It's me. I confess. I took Easter off from diabetes. That's not working out so well for me.

Yesterday, I was SO tired. It was almost a blessing that the colds Jonge and Famke have are causing them to be tired also. I napped when they napped. I napped during several episodes of "The Wiggles" while they happily snuggled up against me. I napped when I napped. None of it helped.

When I went to donate plasma, I answered one of the dozens of questions they ask (via computer) incorrectly and had to be hauled into a small conference room to be 'requestioned'. The one I answer incorrectly was the one that asked if I understood what I was doing. I said, 'no'. The correct answer would have been 'yes', but you knew that already, didn't you? Eh hem...

Oh, well. I suppose it could have been worse. I once took my mom for her annual mammagram. She had me fill out the questionaire for her, and I marked her down as being pregnant. She was in her late 70's at the time. Thankfully, she thought it was funny. Well, I don't think she thought that being in her late 70's was funny, but the thought of being pregnant in her late 70's, well, THAT was the funny part.

Anyway, donating plasma took much longer yesterday. I had a rolling vein. That hasn't ever happened to me before. I think my entire body knows that my plasma money is now going to pay for the shiny new water heater working away in the basement.

Oh, and I am also working on a NEW something. I got an idea from the new issue of "Somerset Life". If it turns out, I shall show post a picture. And, you know me, I'll probably do that even if it doesn't turn out well.

Let's see.., what am I forgetting (besides everything)?

THGGM is participating in a very interesting research study. He has to swallow a huge capsule. I won't let you know how that comes out.

What's new with you? Do tell!

Fancy Famke

Famke looked adorable in her Easter finery.

She and Jonge are suffering from colds. His has left him with a very sore upper lip.

Today they were subdued.

Jonge doesn't care to eat, and Famke only cared to eat candy.

No one knows why, but Famke's language has turned into something that sounds very much oriental. It's cute, although a bit surprising.

We had a lovely Easter with the extended family.

I tasted no residual rye flour in the lemon fruit pizza. It was good. In fact, I ate everything that was made, and behold, it was VERY good.

Now I am off to bed, with a very good book my niece loaned to me yesterday. It's "Another Country" by Mary Pipher. I started it tonight while I was donating plasma. The time just flew by.

Another Saturday Night

Well. Would you look at that?

Easter dinner for twenty-five will be here tomorrow. It is now nearly 11:00 pm and THIS is what my kitchen looks like!

It was a lovely day, though.

THGGM and I went out for breakfast. We haven't done that in a very long time.

The weather was cool and sunny making every minute of the long list of varied and sundry things we had to accomplish enjoyable.

Cleaning the kitchen wasn't one of them. It WAS clean.

Until, that is, we arrived home for the evening, and THGGM set to work making the dessert. I've never made this one, as he has been making it himself for over 25 years.

Lemon Fruit Pizza. It's wonderful.

It isn't easy, making a dessert in a small kitchen while an old and ornery cat zigzags around ones ankles. And then there was me, also old (but not ornery, not yet) adding a final layer of smelly varnish to my latest projects.

Since I wasn't sure if we had powdered sugar, we bought new.

But THGGM found some powdered sugar in an unmarked clear glass jar, so he used that instead of the new stuff.

I could have sworn we were out of it, and said so.

But wait!

We WERE out of it.

THGGM made a lovely lemon fruit pizza with a middle layer of cream cheese and (drum roll, please) RYE FLOUR.

Yum.

Wouldn't you think he could have just stuck his finger into the clear glass jar and TASTED it's contents? But, I won't say anything (haha) as I'd rather varnish things than make a dessert.

He assures me that it is fine now.

But instead of placing a yellow Peep on top of each piece like I had planned, maybe I'll just sprinkle the top layer with caraway seeds.

Things To Make on a Gorgeous Spring Afternoon

Today I ripped up old books and glued the pictures to stuff.

I sort of painted, too. More like I slabbed paint onto the areas that the pictures didn't cover.

The clipboards look much better in real life than in the pictures. Not sure why, but if you do not believe me I have fifty other pictures of even poorer quality than this one.

For the clipboard on the right I painted the tiny ABC blocks so they would better match the picture.

I really love this part of 'The Velveteen Rabbit'.

The cans are just empty soup cans covered in bunny pictures. These will hopefully make adaquate Easter baskets for some kids I know ;) .

I hope to get it all finished tonight!

Not sure if we shall see the Easter bunny, or not. Around here we can always count on the woodchucks. By the number of them we have seen, that groundhog apparently saw more than just his shadow when he emerged from the ground on February 2.

Enjoy the Holiday weekend!

Some Not Very Interesting Things

Okay. I must admit. I find these things interesting but perhaps you, being a normal person, will not.


Yesterday I arrived on time to donate my blood plasma only to be rejected. I hate rejection.


Of course, I had to wait for THGGM who was not rejected. My rejection will cost me fifty dollars this week. Of course, I've had rejections which cost me considerably more than fifty dollars, but I am an honest woman and - honestly - it made me very whiny.


I failed to bring my purse with me, so I had no driver's license and could not leave. What I had was a book and an uncomfortably hard 'waiting room' chair. Oh, and the opening game of Tiger Baseball playing loudly. I would not have minded that if things had been going better for them.


The book I had brought along to read while donating was Faith Baldwin's "Testament of Trust". It's good 'light reading' while my plasma is being twirled and spun out of my blood, but not so good with a ball game blaring in the background. Normally, the waiting room is a good place for people watching, but since we had late appointments, I was about the only people there, and we have already confirmed that I am not interesting. And it would be weird to watch oneself, I suppose.

But! The silver lining!

First I must tell you that I HATE the word 'serendipity'. I don't know why. I just do. It might have something to do with a group I belonged to once that used the Serendipity Bible as a Bible study tool. I never became a fan of that style of question and multiple choice answers it provided. Somehow, I could not find relevance in being asked if I was more like person A, B, C, or D in a particular chapter, especially when the choices had little connection to the text at hand. And, it made me itchy, as I am wont to be when pressed for an answer that doesn't really exist.

Although THIS did catch my attention, even with the Tiger's losing loudly in the background:

"Serendipity - This word, coined by Horace Walpole in 1754, is coming into use again (note from me - this book was written in 1958). It derives from his allusion to a fantasy, 'The Three Princes of Serendip' - which was the old name for Ceylon - in the course of which the princes were always making discoveries of things they weren't looking for - happy things, as well as unexpected. Always in the reflections of our minds we are looking for reasons for what has happened or is happening; we are in search of answers. Perhaps we will chance on something lovely and unexpected, a thought leading us into paths we had forgotten or did not know were there."

Oh, it's hard to argue against a word THAT good.

And did YOU know that Ceylon used to be called Serendip?

See? I can learn stuff!

It isn't interesting stuff. But, in a teachable moment, when I feel rejected, my team is losing, my chair is uncomfortable, there are no interesting people to watch and I've nowhere to go, a thought may pass through my brain and stick there long enough for me to learn something.

Now run along and have yourself a serendipity-doo-dah day.

Which, of course, would mean a day filled with:

a.) something lovely
b.) something unexpected
c.) forgotten paths
d.) that which we did not know was there
e.) all of the above
f.) none of the above
g.) pink stuff put in one's hair in the 1960's

Going Nuts for Squirrels

First Jonge sees the squirrel, then I see the squirrel. I'll let you guess when Famke sees the squirrel.

Door Knobs and Squirrels

Truly, I DO strive to provide interesting toys for Jonge and Famke to play with when they visit.

But, it seems Famke prefers to play with an old glass door knob.

There IS no accounting for taste.

Last night, since I could not even LOOK at the TV during that sad basketball game of which we will not speak, I listened instead and stitched together this little finger puppet from an old sweater of THGGM's.

We've been having great fun watching the squirrel that frequents the bird feeder. Maybe his silly antics will appear in a finger puppet show, someday.

The glass door knob also fits upon a tiny finger, but I cannot imagine what a glass door knob could possibly do in a finger puppet show.

I try. Really, I do.