Follow your bliss

Have you ever had an activity that was your bliss? While you are doing it you are in the zone and peaceful. You feel so happy and you could do it forever. That' show I feel when I am decorating. It might be making a vignette or arranging flowers or in today's case doing a craft.

I found some pretties in Virginia at Hobby Lobby....some of the new mesh ribbon in a gorgeous shade of turquoise blue and 3 big blue balls. That along with some snowflakes from Tuesday Morning and some ivory balls from Goodwill made the basis for my new outdoor wreath.

You may remember my front door fiasco from a few years back. I decided to paint it yellow. I'm a horrible painter and I won't bore you with all the sordid details but suffice to say my husband had to completely redo it. He painted it a beautiful shade of blue that I have enjoyed through all the seasons. I felt this year not to do a traditional Christmas outdoors but to use blue and silver.

I climbed up in the attic and found this shabby wreath. It was quite large.

So I spent some time taking off all the decorations and lights. Next I started making the wreath by adding the mesh ribbon. It is very easy to work with and eye catching. If you haven't tried it you will love it.

 

I put the three balls hanging in the center and ivory balls around. I added the two snowflakes and some sparkly mesh ivory ribbon.

I made a matching wreath for the light pole too.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Ring of Fire

Who doesn't love a Johnny Cash song. The Minnesota a Capella group home Free posted their version on You Tube. Love it!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Dollywood

Ryan has a season pass to Dollywood. He lives near Knoxville, TN and they can go whenever they wish. It looks like they had a fun day

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Fast runner

Dan and Gretchen in Pittsburgh.

Gretchen ran in race.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Fascinating trees

My sister sent me an email that had these unusual trees.

The dragonblood tree earned its fearsome name due to its crimson red sap, which is used as a dye and was used as a violin varnish,

an alchemical ingredient, and a folk remedy for various ailments.

The rainbow eucalyptus, which grows throughout the South Pacific, is both useful and beautiful.

It is prized for both the colorful patches left by its shedding bark and for its pulpwood, which is used to make paper.

President, located in Sequoia National Park in California, stands 241 ft. tall and has a ground circumference of 93 ft.

It is the third largest giant sequoia in the world (second if you count its branches in addition to its trunk).

Look closely to see the man in the yellow jacket climbing up.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

November

 

What a cozy month. Yes, there are no leaves on the trees and the hills are brown and gray. But that just encourages us to make our own color inside our house. It is the season of candlelight. Maybe it is something in our DNA that draws us to a flame. As the daylight wanes we light a candle and it becomes a little ritual every night.

Scented candles are a way to bring fall fragrances into your home. Almost every store has a variety of colored candles with smells of cinnamon, pine or pumpkin. People can be seen putting jars to their noses as they pick out the smell that appeals to their senses. Once the candle is home and lit the wonderful smell wafts through the room and subtly hints of peace and calmness.

There are some people who fear letting a candle burn and like the convience of battery powered candles. Now there are some, like Luminara, that have such realistic flames that you cannot distinguish them from real flames. And now that they have timers they spare you even having to turn them on at night...or off.

Source

So light your candle, smell the scent, and relax.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

What do you know about Peru?

Today at our Literary club meeting a young fifteen year old Rotary exchange student told us about his native country. We used to show slides. He used a power point presentation to acquaint us with the topography and differences between our cultures. He compared our town of ten thousand people with his home town of Lima with ten million. One thing he admired about living here was the size of our houses and our enormous..in his eyes...lawns. We take our vastness for granted. He especially has enjoyed his trips to Pittsburgh and Niagara Falls.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Linking

Never too old to learn. I'm trying to create a link. I'm going to use this word.

 

 

 

 

Source

To create a link to a picture.

Let's see if this works.

Posted with Blogsy

I'll get by with a little help from my friends

I love the internet. I know some people my age who refuse to have a computer and fear having their credit card numbers or identity stolen. But they are not aware of the wonderful qualities of having this miraculous device in their home. It's like an endless font of information. Even my husband who at first refused to touch our first computer finds himself browsing subjects that interest him.

I have learned so much from other bloggers. When I first started this blog in 2006 I was ignorant and didn't know anything about how to create a blog. When I reached out to other bloggers they were very helpful in the technical aspects of blogging. Soon I was able to make headers, place my type where I wanted it and put in pictures.

 

Recently I was admiring another favorite blog...Here there be musing....and Tessa reached out and taught me how to find illustrations from Bing.com similar to the ones she puts on her blog. Although I usually try to have my own photos there are times when I am too busy or the weather is uncooperative and I need to borrow the pictures I find on the web. There is so much out there.

Thank you, Tessa.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Pick a pepper

On these beautiful fall days Don likes to go fishing for Steelhead trout. In the fall the fish, like salmon, leave the waters of Lake Erie and migrate upstream to spawn. About an hour away from us is Cattaraugus Creek, a wide creek which draws many fisherman from all over the state and country. Don and his buddies try to get out fishing every nice day they can.  We usually donate the fish we catch to our friend, Jack, who smokes them and eats them throughout the winter.
    On the way back Don usually stops at a small local roadside stand for produce. He picks up cabbages, acorn squash, butternut squash, and peppers.  That keeps me busy making stuffed peppers and a cabbage casserole that he likes.
  The peppers also make excellent subjects for photography. Here is the result of playing around today on the computer.

Original:

OMG

OMG..it's Tuesday night and I forgot to blog...so shoot me. It has been a warm sixty degree day. Sadie and I walked, I did laundry, what else do you need to know? I'll just leave you with some pretty pictures.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Can you believe it's November?

It seems November just rushed right in. The leaves are down, the hills are brown and it will be Christmas next month. Why does it seem like there is not enough time to get all the things done for Christmas in just this short time? I'm having all my family for thanksgiving so I won't get started on Christmas until after that. But all the blogs already are putting on Christmas ideas..do it yourself crafts and hints. This Christmas will be simpler. Less and less gets put out every year. We have cut our outside decorating down to about a fourth of what we used to do. Gone are the days when we ..and by that I mean Don....would string lights the whole length of the house, decorate every doorway, and go all out. Now it's just a few strings of lights and wreaths. In fact, I got some ribbon and balls and am going to make a new wreath for my blue front door. Inside I plan on a little French Christmas. I did get these deer at Tuesday Morning in Fredericksburg.

Right now they are in my china closet.

 

And here is my new lantern and stand. I love it's unique shape.

 

Today I'm a little tired from my ride home from Virginia yesterday. Tonight my friends and I are going to a production of Smokey Joe,s cafe with sixties music. Should be fun. I'll think about Christmas later.

 

Posted with Blogsy

The craft

We always love a sister craft. This time we decoupaged bird cutouts onto glass. Linda sent away for the Martha Stewart bird cutouts from the Plaid website. She also got Martha Stewart decoupage liquid. You could also use Mod Podge.

As crafts go I would qualify this one as very easy. Step one is gathering glass containers of all sorts. We went to Goodwill. Then we washed all the glassware and rubbed it with alcohol.

Then we punched out the birds and leaves and decided where we wanted them.

Then came painting on the decoupage liquid on the glass and the back of the cutout and pressing it on the glass. We put one coat on the front and two hours later another coat.

This is the final result

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy