Brain On Vacation - Need More Coffee!

May 11, 2010

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It's looking to be another beautiful day. Still, it's a bit chilly, not as warm as I would like it to be. I have had to run the electric fireplace to keep warm. Looks like the winter clothing may never really be put away, at least not for long.

Hopefully, it will warm up enough outside so that I can go out and pull a few weeds and plant my pansies. Then I have to look again for a new refrigerator. One of our refrigerators is about ready to stop working. The size of it is what is making finding a replacement difficult.

It's depth is quite narrow, and it fits exactly where it is. There is no room to put it somewhere else, and I fear they don't make that size refrigerator any more. I see a bit of re-organizing coming up. Something has to move in order to fit a new refrigerator. Hmmmm. This is not turning out to be a fun job!!

Plus, my brain seems to have taken an unscheduled vacation, leaving me behind. No matter what I start to work on, I get side-tracked and then forget how to do whatever it was that I was doing. Maybe I'm not drinking enough coffee! Think so? Better yet, maybe we should have fish for supper tonight. They say that fish is brain food, and I certainly do need it!

Today I have a couple of flower photos to share. One is of a tiny fuschia colored tulip, and the other is the quince bush at work.

The color of this quince is just yummy!! And so isn't the jellly that you can make from it's fruit!!

I shall leave you now, while I check out the assignment for Week 2 in Journal Camp. Till tomorrow, Y'all have a really marvelous day.

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Hugs, Edna B.

My Tootsie Is Just Full Of Surprises!

May 10, 2010

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It's 5:30 am, and I'm still at work. Already it's daylight and looking to be a beautiful day. Oh, I just have to share with you a photo of the beautiful pansies that my Tootsie gave to me yesterday. While I was napping, she had Uncle Moo go the store and pick them up for her. She has him wrapped right around her little paw. A lick and a smile, and she manages to talk him into all sorts of things!!

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It was a lovely day for me, and I got to chat with all my children. Moo cooked us a delicious turkey dinner. Mmmm mmmm mmmm! The stuffing was made it with cranberries and corn, and was very tasty!
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The photos that I have to share this morning were taken Saturday evening just before dark. Right outside the door at work, there is a lovely rhododendron bush. And the blooms are the prettiest shades of light pink and violet. It was raining, so they were covered with raindrops. Is this not just beautiful?
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And here it is up close and personal.

The sun is shining now, and I keep looking to see if there are any deer across the street in the field. But so far, no luck. In the back yard however, there is one little bunny hopping around and eating greens that are almost bigger than himself.
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So far this morning, I have done a bit of work on the October DD kit (this one is just awesome!), and a bit of designing for my own projects. Soon, I hope to have a few new kits ready for the shop whenever it re-opens.
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It's time for me to check on the Mrs again. So far, she's been sleeping nicely through the night.
Till tomorrow, Y'all have a magnificent day.
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Hugs, Edna B.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL YOU LADIES!

May 9, 2010

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I'm at work and it's still dark outside. Only 5 a.m. and quite soggy and windy. The birds are chirping though. There's nothing quite so soothing as listening to the birds chirping outside your window. I know there are folks who would disagree with me, but I suppose that's okay. All the more singing birdies for me.

Before I left for work last night, I took a few photos of raindrops and wisteria. How's that for a unique combination? On the way to work, the weather was "typical New England." Rain, cloudy, sprinkles of sun, bright sunshine, more gray clouds, more rain. All this in thirty minutes!

Before I share any photos, I want to wish Moms, Grandmothers, and Moms of furry kids everywhere a really beautiful day. HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all of you. I told you yesterday how my little Tootsie sent me a card, but did you notice that she also left me a Mothers Day greeting in my comment box? You just gotta love this little girl of mine!!!

Now for my photos. This first one is just one little leaf, but you can see the reflection of my house in the rain drop hanging from it's tip.

The next photo is the wisteria growing on the side of my house. Wisteria seems to belong with very old houses, and my house is very old! About 125 years old! The rain just seems to bring out the purple color nicely.

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It's daylight now, and it looks as though the rain has stopped. So maybe it will be a nice day to go visiting after all. If you don't have a Mom to visit, hug someone else's mom. Hug an elderly neighbor and wish her a good day. Any lady, anywhere, if she looks like she needs a hug, give her one, and wish her a beautiful day!!! I guarantee you'll feel better for it.

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Before I go, I do have a QP freebie for you. One little fairy is blowing kisses, so maybe it will be good for a photo of someone you love. Till tomorrow, Y'all have a fantabulous day.

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Hugs, Edna B.

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"QP - 025"

Weather, Weather, Everywhere!

May 7, 2010

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Oh my, it looks like lots of rain coming. The thunder has been making lots of noise, and I can hear the rain drops hitting the awning over my window. Tootsie and I got up rather early, and I've been sitting here doing a bit of designing. I'm even on my second cup of coffee!!

Whoops!! Now there was a really loud boom of the thunder, and my poor little Tootsie's head popped right up. A pat on the head and a little cuddling, and she's alright.

You'll never guess what my little girl did! She bought me a Mother's Day card, and had a friend in Virginia mail it to me. Isn't she just the sweetest? Thank you Ellen, for mailing it for her. You are a good friend. Here's a picture of my card.

The photo I have to share this morning is one I took while in Florida back in March. My friends and I were out taking photos of birds, and we realized that the bridge and its shadows made a very interesting picture. The lines and colors are quite pleasing. You lose a bit of the beauty by cropping the photo smaller, but it's the only way to get it to fit here.

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I got the nicest compliment yesterday from my friend Mary Ann. She is a professional, and she told me that my photos were excellent. To me, that is quite a WOW! Thank you so much my friend. That makes me keep trying harder to take better photos.

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Gosh, I'm watching the weather channel on TV, and the weather in other parts of the country doesn't look so good. My friends in Wisconsin are having quite a snow storm. You heard me right. They had 80 degree temperatures the other day, and today it is snowing up a storm. At the same time, Jackson, Mississippi is having hail and lightning, and I mean really BIG hailstorms.

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You know, folks can say all they want that we have not hurt our Eco system, but our weather patterns and our seasons have been changing drastically over the years. When I was a little girl, we had four distinct seasons and now it's more like two seasons. Summer and Winter, with a sprinkle of Spring and Fall in between the two seasons.

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Enough of the weather, it's time to start my laundry so I have clean clothes for work tonight. Don't forget tomorrow is Mother's Day. Plan something nice for Mom or someone else you love.

Till tomorrow, Y'all have a wonderful day.

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Hugs, Edna B.

May 7, 2010

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It's another lovely sunny morning, and I've already managed to accomplish a few things this morning. I'm not sure where the extra boost of energy came from, but it's much appreciated. Along with paying bills, making the bed, etc, I even made a new QP for you. I need to work on the QP's more often. I think I like making them the best.

The photo I have to share today is one my daughter in law, Janet, took in her garden. I have never seen mutated flowers before this, so I looked them up on Google. I found that they seem to be fairly rare, and the only reason given for the mutation was maybe an insect virus. Have a look here.

Is this not strange? It almost looks like some sort of slug. Yuck!! Ah well, Mother Nature never promised perfection all the time!

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Today I think I'll pick another room to work on, then maybe I'll take Tootsie out in the yard for a while. Her lump appears to be getting smaller. For joy! The antibiotics seem to be working well. That is quite a relief as I was not looking forward to her having any surgery. Another blessing to be thankful for.

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Also, today, I want to work on a new challenge that Kyra has come up with. We have to make a layout designed as a cover to a mystery novel. Hmmmm! This should be interesting. A lot of my favorite mysteries were the old ones. My favorite is the Perry Mason mysteries by Erle Stanley Gardner. When they started appearing on TV, I was thrilled.

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I think I will make a layout chronicling the life of my last big bruise. (Sometimes, I have weird tastes.) It is fading, but two weeks later, it is still on my arm. Even when I'm careful, I manage to get new bruises here and there. I should probably change my name to Klutzilda. Might be more fitting. Lol.

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Now I think I'll have me another cup of coffee, and start my day here. Enjoy your QP freebie. Till tomorrow, Y'all have a marvelous day.

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Hugs, Edna B.

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"QP - 024"

Layouts For Week One Journal Camp

May 06, 2010
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It's looking like the beginning of a rather nice day today. A bit windy, but still nice. I tried to sleep late this morning, but I've been waking up and dozing back off since about 4 am. They say us older folks don't require as much sleep as we did before, but I don 't know about that. My body seems to think that now is the time to catch up on all the sleep it ever missed.

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Yesterday afternoon, my daughter in law, Janet, came by and showed me some of the photos that she had taken of the double rainbow and of her garden. She is new to photography, and having a grand time photographing all the beautiful flowers growing in her garden. Here is one that is quite pretty.

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Earlier in the afternoon, I had worked on the Journal Camp assignment. We were to make a layout featuring one or two photos and use "Helper" journaling - a verse, song lyric, quote, etc. that told the story behind the photos. I think that maybe this can be used in reverse too.

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For my layout, instead of showcasing a photograph, I made my photo into the background setting for what I think is a really beautiful song. "Somewhere Over The Rainbow' tells of a longing for the freedom to make our dreams a reality. It's a hope that someday, somehow, somewhere, all dreams are possible. At least that's my thought.

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It's also a special song, because it was written the year I was born. The rainbow photo is special because it was over my house. As a child, I had so many wonderful dreams, and you know? Most all of them have come true.

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Of course, after I studied my layout for a while, I realized that this is not what Nani had in mind about featuring photos. So I re-read the assignment, (which said to use photos of someone you love) and I made another layout. I took these photos of my son, my granddaughter, and my great grandson about a month ago. Then I found this lovely little verse on the web. It is titled "My Son Grown Up" and had no author named. Nani supplied the template, and the background came from "Pansy Patch." (My color challenge kit for May)

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As for my furry friend, Rosie Raccoon, I haven't seen her for a while. So I'm thinking that maybe she went off to have her babies, and I'm hoping all is well for her.

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That's all the news for today. I think maybe I shall try a little more housework this morning. I have to do it in little bits because the effort used takes all my breath, and I'd rather keep my breath for me. (sounds like a good enough excuse to me not to work too hard!! lol.) Till tomorrow, Y'all have a fantabulous day.

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Hugs, Edna B.

Double Rainbows

May 5, 2010

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Good morning, and oh boy, do I have some exciting news to share today. Last night, just before we ran out of daylight, Moo called me from the little store down the street. He was very excited, and was telling me "Ed, you've got to grab your camera and get outside by the street. There's a gorgeous double rainbow in the sky, but it's disappearing fast!"

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Oh wow!! I have never seen a double rainbow, and Moo has only seen one once before. Yesterday was a beautiful, warm, sunny day, that turned into thunder storms late in the afternoon. When Moo called me, the rain was just letting up, but the sky was filled with lots of weird looking clouds - some various shades of gray, and some reddish, and they were moving fast.

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I was able to get a few photos of the first rainbow, but the second one was already almost completely covered up by the clouds. Whichever direction you turned, the sky was different. It was hard to choose a couple of photos to post here, so I'm posting most of them. The first photo is the rainbow over my house. As you can see, only one is showing here.

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These next two photos were taken a few houses down from my house where there was still a glimpse of the second rainbow. I have put a yellow arrow pointing to this second rainbow, because the clouds are moving so fast that it is difficult to capture it with the camera.

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I turned a bit to the left and took this photo of the clouds that were quickly hiding the rainbows from us. Note the weird colors, and how quickly the sky is changing, all in a matter of seconds.

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This next photo shows the clouds swallowing up the only rainbow still visible. What an unbelievably beautiful sight!!!!!!!

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For this last photo, we moved a few house past mine in the opposite direction. The view of the sky there was just awesome. Imagine!! All this in just a seconds, and depending on which direction your camera was facing.

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After this last photo, I said to Moo, "All is well now with God and His Heavens." A couple minutes later, I was sitting here at my laptop looking at my photos, and it was already dark outside. This whole episode only took a few minutes. Wow!!
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A coincidence maybe, but all of this took place just moments after Tootsie's doctor called to give us the results of her latest tests for the lump under her jaw. There does not appear to be anything malignant there. The worst that will happen will be if the antibiotics don't clear it up, then they can operate and remove it. A much better diagnosis than the alternative.

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On this note, I shall drink my coffee, and wish Y'all a magnificent day.

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Hugs, Edna B.