It's Back

Winter again!   Maggie just left....isn't she adorable.

Is this high fashion or what?  Hoodie and a fur!

The doggies love it!

I met a new blogger friend for coffee today.  Judy from CJ Stitches and Blooms.  What a talented and gifted woman!  She shared with me some of her creations.  I am so envious.   If I could be half the talented crafter she is I would be in heaven.  Here is a sample of some of her work.






We're tucked in for the day.  Brrrr...it's snowing and blowing and cold. By tomorrow we're suppose to get ten inches.  Florida can't come soon enough.

Contrast

This was last Friday




Same yard today




What's going on?

Snow Virgin

The Blessed Virgin Mary with a snow cap!

A friend of mine, he talented and gifted, Roberta King, photographed this at Prince of Peace Church.  Thank you Roberta for allowing me to share this amazing photo.

Linking up to Heather at The Colors of My Garden

Winter Structures

We went out for a drive today to photograph a few winter scenes.

Brave fisherman out on the ice in their ice shanties

The Lighthouse with Icebergs on the background

No takers for the picnic table or park benches

Ice covered pier

Waves hitting against the icebergs

More icebergs

No picnics....no grilling

My umbrella girl in our front yard wrapped in a shawl made of snow.

Hope you enjoyed a little tour of our winter wonderland!

Winter Wonderland

Wouldn't you know, last night I had a dinner scheduled with former work buddies.  Worst snow day of the year so far!  But, I bundled up and went out.

 It took me a half hour to get to The Lake House - it's normally a 12 minute drive.
We had a wonderful evening.  The place was packed!  Great Wednesday night attraction - half off drinks and half off all appetizers.  So we drank and munched!
We headed out to the parking lot, my car was covered with snow and dah!....no snowbrush.  Wello, we haven't had any snow so .....didn't even think about it.  Joni came to the rescue and made me get in and warm the car while she cleaned my car off!  Thanks J!
Onward;;;;thank goodness Diane was leading the way down Seaway Drive.....you couldn't see the road...it was a white out.  No tracks either.  Oh my gosh!

That's out my windshield!  Got home safe and sound.
All that blizzard like stuff resulted in this beauty this morning.

And look who came to visit.

A Treasure Unburied

My sister is cleaning, tossing, and organizing my mother's basement.  She has boxes on shelves everywhere.  Perhaps two things in this box, next box may be empty, next one full.  Piles are being created.....one for trash, one for Goodwill and one "give-away".

I stopped by yesterday to take a look! Hmmm....what shall I take?  Of course, they have suggestions as to what I might like and this was one of them.

My Grandpa Lundeen, my mother's dad, made this years and years ago.  It is a tissue holder or could be used for a napkin holder.  Grandpa worked at the Brunswick, where they made pool cues and bowling balls.

As you can see in this picture above, the lovely handle that is so perfectly crafted.  Like a pool cue.  He created those perfectly sculpted fine lines.  What a craft, what a treasure.

I plan on polishing it up and it will fit just perfectly in the vintage camper.....perhaps holding a few vintage linen napkins!

I thought I would share a glimpse of the beauty I'm beholding out the window this morning.

Our snow gauge!

It's a little chilly out there....8 degrees.  My husband is coaxing me to come outside and shovel with him!
Hmmmm....do I really want to?

Snowing and Blowing and Cold

So.....



Why not bake? Fresh out of the oven. Orange Rolls.

No Winter Whining!

Finding Color in Winter.  This is the idea behind the latest blog I stumbled upon The Colors of My Garden blog.  A dear friend, I met through blogging, shared with me that this idea that was created by a few bloggers....finding color in the snow.

Granted, I could go out in the cold and wander, however, it would be a challenge to find color.  Everything is pretty much brown.  We live in the cold....freezing cold.  It was 17 degrees today!  There is very little color.  Yes, I could go to a car lot or sledding hill to find color.  The sledding hill a tad questionable since we have only about an inch of snow on the ground.

I challenged myself to come up with ideas how I find color in the winter.  This is what came to mind:

I create my own color! 
Top left:  I buy pretty flowers for my house to brighten a gray day;
Top middle: We usually take a trip down to Florida and enjoy the color of the sky and the water.
Top right:   I craft....these are some felt hearts I am working of for valentines day.
Middle row left :  vintage postcards.  I am sorting through hundreds of vintage postcards and listing them on ebay.
Middle row:  Pink and blue....nothing more colorful than fresh flowers in lovely Florida. 
Middle right:  There is color right in our backyard.  The  white snow and the green of the pines.  It can be lovely, especially after a fresh snowfall.
Bottom left:  Ahhh..... the beaches of Florida.
Middle:  Pretty fabric - I sew and the colors and textures of beautiful fabric can be intoxicating.
Bottom right:  Buttons...vintage buttons.  I have every color imaginable.  These are my valentine mixes.  I have been gathering buttons and listing them on ebay.

So, there you have it.  I seek color in various ways when I am not able to step outside and readily see it during the winter months.  I also find color in cooking and baking.  Chocolate's a color, right!

If you are new to visiting my blog, I thank you and hope to see you again.  If you are already a follower, take a gander over to Heather's blog and see what others have come up with to cure their winter whining.
www.thecolorsofmygarden.blogspot.ca

Rid Your House of Winter Staleness

I recently came across a post on another blog for making homemade fresh scents for your home.  What a delightful and easy idea. They are so pretty and you could use them as a hostess gift.

Here is the link to the recipes.  I added lemon and rosemary to my grocery shopping list for the week!
I'll let you know how it smells.http://www.theyummylife.com/Natural_Room_Scents

Christmas Crafting I Didn"t Blog About.

I think I may have mentioned previously that I began taking a class at a sewing center in Grand Rapids.  The class meets once a month , Stitching and Embellishments.   I really enjoy this class and the participants as well as the instructors.  Each month we take on a few new stitches.  I was the newbie for a few months but now.....I'm moving up the ranks!  Several have joined in after me!

I wanted to make my nieces a "funky" kind of pin for Christmas.  The first one I made, I solicited feedback from my classmates and the consensus was it was real pretty but something a grandma would wear.  NOT!
I want funk!  Two or three classmates sat with me and we chatted.  One of them real encouraged me to not think too hard about what I'm doing and just go for it.  Just start and don't be to perfect and forget symmetry.   Start a stitch and don't be afraid to stop half way around.  OK....I thought I'll go for it.

These are the finished products.  Personally, I think they look pretty darn good.  My nieces really liked them.  I am currently wearing the one on the upper right.  I've received many compliments on it, actually.

Setting out to make one for my sister.  She would like purple, turquoise, orange funk.  So I'll see what I can come up with.  Stay tuned....I'll show you the end result.

Re-Cap

Yesterday's birthday celebration was wonderful.  The day was filled with visiting, food, friends, family and laughter.

Lynne and I went out to lunch.  Sorry forgot the camera!  Maggie prepared dinner and Phil, my brother, made a fabulous German Chocolate Birthday Cake.

Received many good wishes and a few lovely gifts.

Lovely clay tag Lynne crafated, bottom left:  Bavarian heart dish with chocolates, my mom gifted me with her wedding rings, cookie scoop, new ipad cover, and many cards.

My mother and me

My darling husband

The Cake (and me with my head cropped off!)

Thank you all for the birthday gifts, cards, food and wishes!

Celebrate!

Spending the day celebrating the last year of this decade. YIKES!
Lynne is taking me to lunch; my sister will host dinner.




Happy Birthday to me!

Valentine Craft

Thought this was kind of cute. Thoughts? A little "scrappy" towel.



Just playing today!

What Have I Done?

I just updated my iPad to new software, IOS6. Some things are different.
Let's see how blogger works.

So far, I can't find history. I wanted to insert this recipe into my recipe manager, Paprika, but only got the picture and now cannot find the website.



Vanilla butter Cinnamon Pull Apart bread.

One exciting thing to share....we booked our flight to Orlando for next month! Sunshine, warm temperatures only a month away! YIPPEE!

Google Chrome experiment

Just trying out using blogger and Google Chrome.  People are experiencing difficulty with Blogger so I thought I would give this a try.

Continuing with the Valentine creations!  The clay tags are such fun.  I am also doing some felted hearts.
What on earth will I do with all these things?

Gloomy day here....rain.  Better than snow in my opinion.  It will be 50 this weekend then drop back down to 30.  Weird weather.!!!!

I'm feeling so much better now.  Had been under the weather with ear infections since Christmas.  I saw an ear specialist this week.  All better....thank heavens.  I can hear again.

Been very quiet since the first of the year.....I like it.  Getting things done - decluttering, crafting, reflecting.

Enjoy your weekend!

Clay Tags

Yesterday was our get together day....Lynne and I.  This project was on our "to-do" list....attempting to make clay gift tags.  We admire Razmataz' wonderful tags and with her instruction, we set out to give it a whirl.

It was fun, creative, and pretty easy.

It was real fun.  I will definitely do some more.  We worked so hard that afterward we had to reap a reward.

Well maybe a reward or two!  Here's to Razmataz' and her inspiration!

Thought

And so......

So sorry my followers that I have been absent.  I have not been feeling well at all since right after Christmas.  Last week was a lost week.  I turned the corner this past weekend and am feeling so much more like myself.

Since I lost a bit of time, not too many new developments here.

I did get out of the house today, which is a first in pretty much over a week.  I took a trip over to Grand Rapids.  I had not been in the Woodland Mall for quite some time.  I wandered and it really is nice there.  They've really changed storefronts and added a lot of new stores.  There is actually is a Pottery Barn there.  I wandered through the store and oh what a lot of nice things to look at and dream about.  Took a stroll through Williams Sonoma.  You know I saw on Pinterest a recipe for the smell in Williams Sonoma.  You simmer on your store a combination of  rosemary sprigs, lemon slices and vanilla in a small pot of water.  I think I will give that a try.  It always smells so delicious in that store.

Well, you know my post from the first of the year when I spoke of being simple.  Living a simple life style, etc.  I blew it today!  Just a little! Please don't think I was just blowing smoke!  I splurged with some Christmas money and bought myself a new pair of quality sunglasses.  I really did need some.  The pair I had been wearing were dollar store glasses and I lost them so I think that was a sign.

Remember my Christmas Wish List.  My wonderful mother gave me some Christmas money to buy something on my list plus I had some stash tucked away.  Thus, The Classic Wayfarers by RayBan.  So stylish, so chic.  I wore them on the drive home and man what a difference from that of my cheapsters.

The weather is mild here.  The extended forecast says 50 by the end of the week.  Remember, this is Michigan and this is January.  Go figure?  We have very little snow on the ground.  In fact, we see mostly grass when we look outside.  Weird weather.

Happy I'm back into the swing of things!  Keep yourselves healthy....there's lots of flu going around.
WASH YOUR HANDS OFTEN!

Where Does This Lead?

What's behind this gate?

Does it lead to a house or a garden or a lake?

What do you enjoy about this photo?

photo courtesy of apositivelybeautifulblog via tumblr

Something New

I discovered a new app for Tumblr and love it! Thus, I think several times a week when I don't do a regular post, I will post something fun from Tumbler for you to enjoy.

Today, I bring you a lovely photo straight from Wyoming. (This is not a Tumblr today). This was taken by my nephew's gal..Hayley. They were hitting the slopes recently.  Must have been on along the way.

Isn't this gorgeous?

Word of the Year

There is a recurring theme I am reading in blog land.  No new year resolutions this year.  The thing is what is your WORD for the year?

 I've read "embrace", "simplify", "relevance", "connect", "focus", etc.

Is this saying people have enough!  It's as though it is time to get down to basics.  Our lives are filled with clutter, too much stuff, too many commitments, too much competition, too much stress, too many outside distractions and on and on.  It's really quite simple, life that is.  Back to Leave it to Beaver?

 No where do I see the word of the year being:

Thus, is everyone telling us that competitiveness with others, the best of the best, high end riches, money, debt, extravagance, etc. is not the answer?

I've learned a lot since I've quit working.  Being home has given me a whole different perspective on things.  All the fluff is not necessary nor the key to happiness.  No more buying a work wardrobe, jewelery, new shoes, new cars.  We don't eat out much; I don't spend money on things just because I want them, we are more resourceful.  It's not like we absolutely can't but our monies are limited and we must budget to continue to live without working.  And you know what?  I don't miss a thing.  It's actually one of the better things that has happened.  Life is simple.  There is nothing I enjoy more than being in my home, fluffing or tidying, baking or cooking, reading or knitting.  It's wonderful to be able to help out my Mom with transportation and errands, visit with friends, go for walks and camping.  I've joined a stitching group, met many new people, and learned I enjoy hikes in the woods.  I do need to volunteer more.

You see, my friends, life is wonderful when it is simple and not clouded with the need to keep in line with others or to over-commit or overspend.  Life in the fast lane, not for me.

So as we all look forward to a brand new year, I encourage you to take a look at your life and ponder a WORD.  A word that has meaning and one you would like to commit to.  Then mid-year take a look and see how you are doing.

My WORD is PURPOSE.  I will be working on focusing and identifying my purpose in life and the purpose of the things I choose to do on a daily basis.

My other one is DeCLUTTER.  Self explanatory and I have to do so!  That I began today!

Good luck with your word and feel free to share with me your word and your progress.

Happy New Year

May 2013 be the best yet!