We didn't get as much as predicted (not complaining) Maybe 2.5 - 3 inches. The snow was light and not difficult to push. I cleared the stairs, walk, and driveway and then the plow guy showed up. I honestly didn't think there was enough to plow.
Sorrow as far as the eye can see
Where's Dedo?
Friends having a snack
Brrrr with temps feeling like - BRRRRR
There's Dedo!
Little footprints on the back step
Bunny prints
Too cold for me to go around taking pictures, but no too cold for my new friend. He's happy because a lot more frozen tears will be falling Monday night through Tuesday with lingering heartbreak on Wednesday. The latest forecast was for 8 to 14 inches of snow.
Over 10 days, post your 10 all time favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.
Only I had a hard time picking out just 10 movies so my favorites over the next few hundred Saturdays 😸 in semi-alphabetical order my favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) Bette Davis, Joan Crawford
If you haven't seen this movie, you may be able to find it on YouTube.
1. Mama Cardinal was in the honeysuckle vine. I think she's looking for a spot to build her nest
2. Dug out The Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea DVDs for some mindless entertainment.
3. While Himself watched football all day, I watched some old movies. Robert Taylor in Knights of the Round Table (1953) and Katherine Hepburn in Little Women (1933)
4. Messenger convo with Teague. She finally got the New Year's card I sent.
5. On the last shopping order, Himself included lamb tamales. First time we ever had tamales. Not bad and not as spicy as I thought they would be.
A Thinking of You card for my friend who is in charge of Infection Control at Stanford University Hospital in California. California is one of the Covid hot spots in the country. A text a while ago to ask how she was came back with Tired. Long hours.
The card gave me a chance to use the envelope punch board to make a coordinating envelope for the card which went well with last year's Year of the Rat stamp. I also used some of the new Washi tape. The sentiment on the front of the card was written in faux calligraphyand the envelope addressed in my every day handwriting with decorations inspired by the stamp.
A proper Thank You card to Robin from Pink House Studiosfor sending me a milk frother. It's getting quite a workout and comes in handy to beat mug eggs or ingredients for mug muffins besides frothing milk.
Robin lives in Florida so the flamingo is probably trite, but I couldn't resist when I found the cut file from a project on the Brother Scan n Cut Canvas site. Dressing it in hat and mittens just cracked me up. The sentiment and address on the card is done in lettering inspired by Ben Shahn. The Ellsworth Kelly stamp made a handsome addition as did the wrap-around Ink address labels.
I hate grocery shopping. Himself did the grocery shopping for his mother so when we got married, he was already trained for grocery shopping. He didn't seem to mind so that became his chore. Having difficulty walking makes a circuit around the grocery store fatiguing for Himself. He's been a good sport, but the walking takes a lot out of him.
I decided I would do the grocery shopping online. A perfect solution for me since I hate to go to the store. Point and click, point and click, and the groceries are delivered a few days later. Online shopping is fine if you don't need items right away as it seems lots of people are doing their grocery shopping online and it may take a few days before you can get a delivery time. I don't wait until I'm out of Half n'Half to put my order in so I don't mind the wait.
Shopping online is a bit different than shopping in store. Produce items are selected by the each and not by a pound or a bunch. I ordered 6 bananas, finished the rest of my list and waited for the text the driver had arrived with the groceries.
Himself sits by the refrigerator and will put away the items that need to be refrigerated or frozen. As I go through the bags in the porch, I bring those things in first. I found the first bag with the bananas and then another bag, and another bag. Bags and bags of bananas.
Six hands of bananas! Over 40 individual bananas! Somewhere between my placing the order, and the order being shopped and shipped, bananas went from each to a hand.
The driver must have thought we needed a diet to curb "the runs" or we were running a primate center!
Fortunately, bananas can be frozen. I peeled the bananas, individually wrapped some of them whole in plastic wrap, tucked them in freezer bags and laid them in the freezer. A few bananas I cut into coins. Froze the banana slices on baking sheets in the big freezer (the sun room) and then placed the coins in small bags and into the freezer. Whew! So, who wants a smoothie?
I know some of you like to use ephemera in your art. I saved the stickers and have enough to send to two people. If you would like some banana stickers, let me know in the comments and I'll randomly draw two names. I'll announce who gets the stickers on Monday, 1. February 2021.
And to end, a favorite, audience participation number at Harry Chapin concerts. 30,000 Pounds of Bananas. You can read the lyrics here
Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s blog to find out what the rest of the T gang is up to. If you want to play, include a beverage or beverage container in your post. Don’t forget to link your blog from Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s page.
From the comfort of your own home, schedule some Me time out of your busy schedule. Using materials you probably have around the house, reduce your stress with art.
In this hour-long workshop learn how to turn your handwriting or printing into faux calligraphy using an ordinary marker, pen, or pencil. We’ll work together to write out a sentiment. You can ask questions and have them answered in real time. Then put your new skill to use to make a sweet card to send to your favorite Valentine.
You’ll be able to use your faux calligraphy to make your own greeting cards, add sentiments to scrapbooks, or use in journaling.
Easy and fun. Teens welcome. A materials list will be sent when you sign up.
We had depressing snow showers and flurries all week.
Another cold day in a string of endless, Winter days
Look! Bernie showed up in my yard!
If you don't understand the reference, Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont attended President Biden's inauguration bundled up for the cold as any sensible person from New England would dress. I would have also brought a blanket with me. Bernie's mittens became an Internet sensation, and Bernie has been cropping up in memes all over the place.
Senator Sanders was such a good sport. He had his picture put on tee shirts for sale. The shirts sold out in record time. Senator Sanders donated all the money from the sales to Meals on Wheels Vermont.
Bernie will be needing his mittens all week as New England is headed into a deep freeze.
Over 10 days, post your 10 all time favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.
Only I had a hard time picking out just 10 movies so my favorites over the next few hundred Saturdays 😸 in semi-alphabetical order my favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.
The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966) Alan Arkin, Carl Reiner
If you haven't seen this movie, you might be able to find the movie free on YouTube.
1. A rainy, dreary Saturday. We slept in and got up later than normal
2. The cleaning sheets I ordered for the scanning document arrived. The scanner was leaving a grey streak down the middle of the scan. I ran the clean sheet through the scanner a couple of times and no more streak.
3. Bananas 😺 More about this on Tuesday
4. Enjoyed a nice Skype session with Nan.
5. Watched a free live planetarium program on the Aurora Borealis. Lots of cool time lapse images and links to Aurora cameras.
On Tuesday, I showed the We R Memory Maker's Envelope Punch Board for making envelopes. Suppose you don't have the punch board or don't want to buy the punch board, but need an envelope to fit an A2 card (4.25 in. x 5.5 in.) what do you do?
I was watching some craft videos and came across this quick method. Many of you probably know this method already, but I'm a day late and a dollar short.
From using the punch board, I remembered that I would need to cut an 8 .5 in. x 11 in. sheet of paper to 8 1/8 inch. square and placed on my table so it formed a diamond.
The left point and the right point are folded to the middle just until the points touch.
The bottom point is folded up just a little past where the left and right points meet. If the bottom point was folded up just to where it meets the other points, there would be a gap.
A little glue stick or double stick tape to hold the envelope together and now it's ready for your card or the check you need to send to the heating oil company within 7 days so you don't lose the discount.
I've had students and friends who have gifted me with odd size envelopes . I've been making a lot of greeting cards and have started running out of the small, A2 size. (Fits 1/4 sheet of standard 8.5I x 11" paper or a 4.25 in. x 5.5 in. card.
While indulging in some retail therapy, I came across the We R Memory Makers Envelope Punch Board. I thought it would be a useful tool for making envelopes in 60 different sizes. The punch board is available at Michael's, and you could get it cheaper with their coupon. I ordered it from Amazon at a much cheaper price.
There's a measurement guide printed on the tool as well as two paper inserts. It's too bad that We R Memory Makers went for pretty instead of functional. The aqua and buff print is hard to see for old eyes. Even my Seeing Eye Kid had trouble reading the guide.
We ended taking screen shots of the guide from the We R Memory Makers website and through the magic of PSP changed the image to black and white so the guide can be more easily read.
I was making a Thinking of You card for a friend and wanted a matching envelope. The card is A2 and you find the card on the guide and look to see what size paper you need. In this case, 8 1/8 inch square and aligned to 3/4 inch on the guide.
From there, a simple process of scoring and punching
A bit of double stick tape or glue stick and a rounded corner to make the envelope look prettier. I only rounded the corner on the top flap as all the other flaps will be hidden when the envelope is sealed.
Et voila! A perfect envelope in the size and color I need.
We are Memory Makers has an instruction video on YouTube.
After all that hard work making an envelope, a well deserved cup of tea.
Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s blog to find out what the rest of the T gang is up to. If you want to play, include a beverage or beverage container in your post. Don’t forget to link your blog from Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s page.
From the comfort of your own home, schedule some Me time out of your busy schedule. Using materials you probably have around the house, reduce your stress with art.
In this hour-long workshop learn how to turn your handwriting or printing into faux calligraphy using an ordinary marker, pen, or pencil. We’ll work together to write out a sentiment. You can ask questions and have them answered in real time. Then put your new skill to use to make a sweet card to send to your favorite Valentine.
You’ll be able to use your faux calligraphy to make your own greeting cards, add sentiments to scrapbooks, or use in journaling.
Easy and fun. Teens welcome. A materials list will be sent when you sign up.
There was a cardinal at the feeder, but when I moved the curtain to take the picture through the window, the movement scared him off. A flicker took his place.
Snowbirds were more interested in pecking around the Zensical garden than they were pecking around the bird feeder.
A balmy 49 oF (9.44 oC.) and lots of rain today and
there is still a pile of snow.
This is Walk. We first spotted him walking around the ceiling in the sun room back in the Fall. It's been a warmer than usual month and we found him walking around the kitchen and living room ceilings. Here he is walking along the divider of the double sink in the kitchen (photo cropped so you can't see the dirty dishes in the sink). I carefully scooped Walk into two paper cups and took him outside. He wouldn't leave his cup.
While writing this blog post, I decided to see if I could find out what kind of bug Walk is. Turns out, he's a Stink Bug. I'm glad I didn't crush him or frighten him enough to scent the air with his perfume. I'm also glad I got him out of the house.
Over 10 days, post your 10 all time favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.
Only I had a hard time picking out just 10 movies so my favorites over the next few hundred Saturdays 😸 in semi-alphabetical order my favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.
The Way We Were (1973) Robert Redford, Barbara Streisand
If you haven't seen this movie, it's available for rent at YouTube.
Gift giving to adult children can be difficult. What do they need? What do they want? What do they like? It's easier for me to take the Italian route and just give money (a check). That way they can save or spend. A card or envelope with a check in it isn't very exciting.
I was trying to think of a way to present the Young One's Christmas gift in a fun way or wrapping. She's a gamer, enjoys video games, computer games, table games. For her birthday, I had already made her a Gamer Gift Box and Card. What else could I do?
When she was a teen, she played a game on the Play Station called Little Big Planet. The game involved a character named Sackboy or Sack Child. The game was a puzzle game. You guided your Sack Boy through mazes and obstacles. You also dressed Sackboy in various costumes and decorated the walls of his abode with stickers and stuff.
I'm not sure how I thought of Sackboy, but as luck would have it, I found a crochet pattern for him. Make Your Own SackboyThe cool part of this doll was the working zipper. His body cavity would be the perfect place to tuck the check. Three weeks or so before Christmas, I began crocheting the doll. After a couple of false starts, the doll began to take shape.
I used to play Little Big Planet with the Young One. More often than not, I watched as I was so slow with the controls or couldn't remember which control button did what. The Young One patiently went over buttons over and over again.
Her Sackboy would pick up a frying pan and would sidle over next to my Sackboy as I tried to remember buttons and how to pick up objects. When I didn't get the buttons correct, her SackBoy would bang my Sackboy upside the head with the best BBBBOOOnnnnnggggg sound effect. That would dissolve us into gales of laughter.
As it happened, I found a pattern to make a frying pan to complete Sackboy's ensemble. With a little fiddling, I was able to size it for the doll.
A tag would let her know that something was inside Sackboy, an origami envelope with the check inside. Happily, the doll went over just as well as the check did. I think a happy memory of having fun together. Either that or the joy of banging Mama upside the head with a frying pan. 😺
I was picking up some office supplies. Glue sticks, double stick tape. And then, what the heck, a little retail therapy never hurt. Washi tape, functional pretty, and then I saw it
One tape to rule them all,
And to the paper bind them!
A black, Maneki-neko in a tea cup! Ink! My Precious!
Do you use washi tape or do you just look at it and pet it?
Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s blog to find out what the rest of the T gang is up to. If you want to play, include a beverage or beverage container in your post. Don’t forget to link your blog from Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s page.
From the comfort of your own home, schedule some Me time out of your busy schedule. Using materials you probably have around the house, reduce your stress with art.
In this hour-long workshop learn how to turn your handwriting or printing into faux calligraphy using an ordinary marker, pen, or pencil. We’ll work together to write out a sentiment. You can ask questions and have them answered in real time. Then put your new skill to use to make a sweet card to send to your favorite Valentine.
You’ll be able to use your faux calligraphy to make your own greeting cards, add sentiments to scrapbooks, or use in journaling.
Easy and fun. Teens welcome. A materials list will be sent when you sign up.
I finally got around to getting a battery for the weather station. It's Winter and the little tree is bare. The station took the temperature of the house as the outside high temperature at 68 oF. Don't I wish!
Inside, pictures of the farm. Lots of blossoms on the pepper plant
The green mountain
Lots of little tomatoes, we hope
The Eldest sent Himself and herb garden for Christmas
The tall plant on the right with the yellow flower is broccoli. I thought it grew in a poly bag.
