Treats

Becky made macaroons and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert...yum!

Easter Sunday

What a wonderful dinner..ham and all the trimmings. I had to take a picture of the dogs in the kitchen when we were cleaning up. Now we are going to watch home videos and reminiscence.

In North Carolina

Today my sister Linda and I arrived in Raleigh to visit my middle sister Diane. The van was so loaded with all our stuff...two coolers of food, suitcases, books, makeup bags...well you know the drill. We only made one shopping stop on the way down. Linda found a large black framed mirror at Through the Garden Gate. She is looking for a large piece of furniture such as a dresser to turn into a coffee bar and will hang the mirror above it in her kitchen. Of course we had room for that. By the way.. If she does find a dresser we can put it in the van and put the rest of the stuff in Diane's SUV because she is coming up to Linda's next weekend.
The picture shows Diane and Linda trying to find room in the fridge for all the food. Needless to say there will be a lot of eating and partying this week.

Molly's new bedroom

Today Diane and Becky painted Molly's room purple and she got a new bedroom set.

Sisters

The liquor is out...we're here!

Kinzua Kuties

Our Kinzua Kuties, formerly known as the Red Hats had a new experience today. We went up to our local airport for lunch at the Runway Cafe. Our airport is very small with only a few flights in and out. There was a small plane there when we arrived but it loaded up quickly and flew off. I remember flying in one time in the winter from Atlanta when the runway was covered in snow. When we hit the ground and a huge blinding waft of snow completely covered the windshield which I could plainly see since I had an encumbered view of the pilot's cabin. Very scary.
Good places to eat are rare in our neck of the woods and I can recommend the Runway. I had a salad with grilled chicken, homemade croutons, bacon bits, mozzarella, and a hard boiled egg. The people who had the sirloin burger were very happy also. They have an extensive dinner menu for a small cafe . I'll be happy to go for a meal there again.

Do you Netflix?

I remember the day when we had lots of video stores in town and every weekend I'd pick out a few to entertain us on a Saturday night. That was in the days of VCRs. (By the way, I have to admit that I still tape on those). But now we only have one video store. But instead of using it I get my movies through Netflix. About once a week I get a movie. I'd get more if I'd watch them right away and send them back. I go online and make a list of the ones I want and they are shipped automatically. Today we watched the new James Bond...Skyfall.
Another way I use Netflix is to stream movies through our Wii. It's a great way to watch tv shows I have missed right from the beginning as well as older movies.
But nothing will replace going to the movies. There is something about sitting in a dark theater watching the big screen that really makes me happy. No interruptions, no phone calls, not even getting up to go to the bathroom. I love it!

Snow outside, green inside

Still snowing out this morning. All people are talking about is the bad weather and when we are going to get a break. I can't wait to go south next week! Toady I hemmed the piece of fabric I got for a tablecloth. I love the bright green

Oh my gosh..I can see ground!

Sunny days seem so rare that today it surprises me. It’s amazing how fast the snow is melting in the back yard. On the bank I can see green in patches. It comes and goes as the clouds rolls by but it is most welcome.
   I’ve spent the morning working on my Lightroom class, trying to figure it out. I’m making peace with it but still don’t have a good grasp of the whole concept. My computer is running so slowly that it makes it difficult to see videos and work through windows. When I get back I think I need to call in the computer doctor to give it a good checkup before it completely crashes.
   Sadie and Don went for a walk since the temperature got up to forty. He is feeling a little better now but still on his antibiotic. I can tell he’s feeling better because he was checking the computer on a site which tells him how fast the water is going over his favorite fishing spot.This tells him is the water is ok for fishing. I know this time of year he is getting antsy to get out and get his line in the water.  
     Now I need to sit and read since the library books are piling up. Oh how I miss Downton Abbey on Sunday nights!

The Willows

Tonight Don, Linda and I went out to the Willows for dinner. This restaurant is out in the woods about seven miles from our house. Even though it is rustic the food has always been good there. We knew it had changed hands and the new owners had redecorated and we wanted to check it out. Gone were all the deer heads and stuffed squirrels. The decor was more in tune with finer dining now. The ceilings had been redone and were a warm dark wood. The fire was very warm and welcoming. We had a great meal. Don and Linda commented that the flavor on the prime rib made it the best they ever tasted. I had a good fish fry. It was a great evening.

If I decorate will Spring finally come?

After looking at the snowflakes again this morning and bemoaning that it seems that Spring will never arrive I decided to go up in the attic and look through my bins of Spring decorations. I really wasn't in the Spring mood but forged ahead anyway. I didn't get out the Easter bunnies and baskets knowing that I'm leaving for Raleigh next weekend. So most of what I'm using was more of a gardening theme. I even put the slipcovers from Pier One on my zebra chairs for a different look. It was a lot of work pressing all the pleats and shimming it on like OJSimpson's glove. But after while it was all done and I was rewarded with a long ray of sunshine that lasted about five minutes...how glorious.

Not the toughest weather town

We are out of the running for the weather channel competition. caribou beat us by 322votes. We still are having snow and cold weather. Everyone here is longing for Soring. I'm getting tired of shoveling the driveway. If I go out early and get the snow off the ice underneath will melt away and I won't slip bringing the car up the driveway.

PLAYING WITH DAFFODILS

Today’s Beyond Layers 2 class was about using type. Kim taught us how to change the type on our quotes. Here are my examples:

Winter wonderland ?

Tonight it was snowing so hard. It seemed more like December than March. Even though it still is so lovely coming down so fast from the sky it still is not so welcome this time of year.
Did you know that Bradford is opinion the running for the toughest weather city in the USA? The weather channel sponsored this contest last year and we came in second behind Fargo, ND.

This week we are in the bracket with Caribou, Maine just in case you think that the weather must be better in Maine here is the forecast for the two cities for today.

caribou......sunny, high of 38 degrees
bradford...cloudy with snow showers, high of 25


Will you help us win this contest? Just go to weather.com go to Sports and Recreation under the Lifestyles tab. Vote at the top of the page.

Thanks!

Loved this image from Susan Branch

LIGHTROOM

 

Has this ever happened to you? You bite off more than you can chew? Or you get into something and then think you’ll never figure it out?
   I decided to buy  a program called Lightroom and take a course learning how to use it. After a few weeks I was totally lost. I think I’m fairly good at computers but I reached a point where I was totally ready to give it up completely. I was so frustrated and discouraged that I couldn’t learn to do what I was supposed to. It was so muddled in my mind and each time I would go over the lesson I became more and more confused.
   I am not a quitter and didn’t want that course to get the best of me, but I was finding myself just not wanting to even go there anymore.
  But today I decided to give it one more try and guess what? Things started clearing up. I discovered what I was doing wrong and it started to make more sense to me. Now I feel I can continue. 
   This frustration about learning was something new for me. I was the one that hardly had to study in high school because things came easy. I worked hard, but I always felt that I was blessed to be able to do things without a great deal of effort or struggle. This frustration with Lightroom made me want to bang my head against the wall. Now I understand what some of my students used to go through trying to learn math in my classroom. We all have different challenges when it comes to learning. When I taught I was able to patiently explain and demonstrate things over and over until a student had the light bulb go off over their head.  And that is what happened to me today.  The light bulb went off.
  Hopefully now I will be able to continue. I did the above picture using Lightroom.

Getting better

Don had a dr's appointment this morning. He has bronchitis and the dr extended his antibiotic for a few more days. His blood work was excellent as well as his ultrasound on his heart. He's still just taking it easy.
The snow is still coming down. Then for a few minutes it will stop and the sun will shine brightly, then back to snow. Welcome first day of spring.

Here we go again!

Look at the snow coming down now.

What are you reading today?

I love Brad Meltzer and have started his new book The Fifth Assassin. It's a good day to relax and read. I've cleaned up the house a little and had a nice chicken salad for lunch.
Don is still sick and doesn't leave his chair very often. He has a doctor's appointment tomorrow. It's hard to see him down and out like this. For most of his life he was as healthy as could be but in the last four years he's had prostate surgery and two stents plus COPD.
It's snowing again and I shoveled the driveway earlier. Now back to my book.


What are you reading?

Can you say more snow?

We had quite a blizzard this morning with sleety wet snow and slippery roads. The wind has been whipping around and it's been cold. But does that stop the coffee girls from their morning meeting? Never. After coffee I went to Curves. I am one of those people who really hates any exercise besides walking. And no wonder. After Curves my lower back hurt the rest of the day. Today was a catchup day...calling for appointments,etc. I called the dr's office to see when I could get my shingles shot and isn't it nice to live in a small town? They faxed the order to the pharmacy, I picked up the shot and went right out. Since my sister has the shingles right now she was really encouraging me not to put it off any longer. While I was out I stopped by to get an antibiotic for my very sick husband. Hopefully it will help him feel better. He's had chills, fever, coughing, aches, and trouble breathing. Just miserable..
I stopped by the library to pick up some best sellers so I can stay in and stay warm.

More daffodil pictures

I really enjoy using special effects on photos. The ipad makes it easy to do.

Daffodil time?

It's so snowy out there that the daffodils are not ready to come up yet. It doesn't surprise me since we never have our display of those happy yellow flowers until Mid April . But thanks to winning the centerpiece at Literary Club on Friday I have sunny flowers on my windowsill. It does help with the winter slump...those final weeks where the snow and cold hang on and sunshine is rare. How can you not smile at a daffodil?

Old friends are the best

We had a great time today with our good friends Jamie and Gary. Jamie and I met when I had her daughter in school and quickly became fast friends. She was the kind of friend that would just drop in on you at a moments notice for a quick visit. Our children were close in age. She had girls and I had boys. They grew up together. Today they came up to play cards and have dinner. We initiated our new pasta bowls and since I'm so tired of winter we had strawberry shortcake for dessert. Her daughter Amy stopped by with her grandson Kyler and stayed for dinner too.

The Universe

The Universe was kind to me again. I won the table centerpiece at our Literary Club luncheon today. It was our final meeting of the season. We meet every Friday from October to March. We had an excellent speaker, Rebecca Ryan, who told us all about a trip that she and her girlfriends took to near Toronto to attend a weekend of Victorian seminars. Becky is one of those knowledgable people who has a repertoire of experiences which she can relate in a way that not only makes you feel that you were along on the trip but also like she is your best friend. She regaled us with tidbits of the Victorian style of life. Her advice: use those precious things that you have. Don't keep them packed away. She had a wonderful display of some of her china, pictures, and postcards.
What a wonderful way to end our year.