Category : Around home

219 posts

T Tuesday: I have no idea edition

Wow…I don’t even know where to start. I had effectively checked out of blogland for an extensive period of time. I wasn’t creating, feeling like being creative or even enjoying looking at others creative work. A big old funk is what I’m calling it.

Now perhaps since we are heading into this crazy uncharted waters time of life, I feel the deep need to reach out to my online folk and participate. I hope you will all welcome me back with open arms…because after all…we are maintaining a 6 foot distance.

I don’t mean to sound flippant about the current state of the world at all. I mean it. It’s serious folks. Life as we know it is changing more rapidly everyday. Schools are closing and moving to online learning models. Case in point….I spent all day today typing online curriculum in the event we go to “distance learning” after our extended spring break.

J got the notice today that his college has been moved to online learning for the remainder of the semester. It’s really too bad that we had just traveled to Duluth on Saturday to get his laptop and books along with some clothes…now he needs to move completely out. *sigh*

With all the ever-changing, fluid nature of everyday life we are currently dealing with, it’s nice to be able to share with others some beauty, some stories, some escape. With that in mind I will update you on a few things since I’ve been AFK.

In the art realm, I’ve been a bit stagnant. I did create this journal page which made me happy that I hadn’t completely forgotten how to art journal.retro color quote art journal page

I like the ragged edge on this page. It will eventuality get glued onto a black card stock page in a binder journal.

Over the past few week school and school events have kind of taken a bunch of my time and energy. Our school does a fantastic fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of MN each year. Our students take this very seriously. During the final push classrooms hold garage sales with donated or created items all under $2. Juniper my pet rock

Meet Juniper, my new pet rock. She lives in my locker. Greets me each morning upon arrival to school and makes me smile.snowshoeing

My job as a special education paraprofessional has an extremely varied job description. I go from class to class supporting my learners in whatever it is they are doing. Science, math, reading, home economics, technology etc. This day it included snowshoeing. It was actually really fun and not as physically taxing as I had imagined. We traveled 1.5 miles in about an hour through the woods up and down a ravine. Marvin field trip

Speaking of school…on a workshop day, Marvin went on a little field trip to the high school. Do you see him?cookies

Mini-me and I worked our district archery tournament right after Marvin’s’ field trip. IT was a busy weekend. Mini-me made lots of cookies to sell for concessions. This picture show the ducks and grey ducks….its a MN thing…and the right thing. Duck, duck, grey duck NOT duck, duck, goose.archery tournament

I worked the team registration table so I decided that some signage was needed. It turned out really well so it went in the tournament bin for next year. archery tournament

Mini-me shot her personal best once again. She has been continuing to shoot better each tournament. She shot a 272 out of a possible 300. Now with COVID-19 running rampant, the final tournaments have been canceled. Hopefully they will still grant her varsity letter in archery.painted fingers

Yesterday I snapped this photo…messy painted fingers. They made me so happy.

I have two more days of school…with no children there…until our extended spring break. Then who knows what will happen. Mini-me was supposed to get her wisdom teeth removed over break…again…who knows what is going to happen. I guess we all are learning to be flexible.

 

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: Christmas wrap(up) edition

Hello and welcome to another edition of T stands for Tuesday! You may have noticed that I’ve been gone a while. I talked about my back saga in the previous post so we are moving on to something more festive and fun!

Since we were hosting Christmas (because I love it!) I had to lean on the rest of the family to do all of the heavy and not so heavy lifting.

Even the simple things like getting a cake in and out of the oven.

The past few years I’ve made a rum cake for Christmas but this time I went for a Fireball Whiskey cake. It was so good. I forgot to take a photo of it with the icing…likely because it wasn’t very pretty.

We had overnight guests on Christmas eve…Mini-me gave up her bed and slept on the couch. Of course, this meant that she was up even earlier than she usually is. She is my early bird kid.

It was a long wait…even with me making all kinds of noise in the kitchen.

This was my favorite present under the tree…it’s hard to wrap arrows. Mini-me needed a new set for archery season which is just days away.

Marvin had to be a part of the chaos…bows are his favorite.

I suppose the whiskey cake could have been my “beverage” for T stands for Tuesday but instead, I thought I’d share the tiniest cocktail I’ve ever seen. My BIL brought this over. It wasn’t anything I cared for but the can sure was cute.

I’ve been working on purging my rubber stamps. I was so frustrated digging through them trying desperately to find a Happy Anniversary stamp since I had promised my MIL that I’d make her some cards. I had a bunch of bases completed they just needed a sentiment and the also requested “shiny butterflies”. Thankfully I have a very crafty neighbor who is willing to share. Thanks, KW!

The “shiny butterflies” have the big wow factor but are pretty easy to make. I stamped each butterfly on white card stock with black Staz-on ink. I used watercolor paint to colorize each. After completely dry, I fussy cut each and placed on a non-stick surface. I coated each one with Diamond glaze. As they dry a slight curl happens quite naturally giving them an even more “lifelike” appearance.

I have now looked through every single one of my stamps and alas…I never even had a Happy Anniversary stamp. ugh. Well, now I do…I bought a set of sentiments at Michaels. I’m sure you’ll be seeing some cards in the near future with these words.

Today is Mini-me’s 17th birthday. I can hardly believe it. 

I was planning to go out and get her favorite meal… Chipotle…but we are getting a snowstorm. It remains to be seen if we venture out or not.

Speaking of crazy storms and slippery conditions….have you seen this video?

The video was taken a few miles from our house. Mini-me had friends on that bus heading to a girls’ hockey tournament.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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Where I’ve been….

Hello!! I bet you thought I forgot all about blogging. December has been full of highs and lows….none of which had me racing to the keyboard to share. Since my last completed post was December 3rd, we have a great deal of catching up to do.

December 10th I actually had a partial post written for T Tuesday wrapping up November.

T Tuesday: November wrap-up edition

I’m a little slow on the draw lately. I’m finally wrapping up November. Technically, I’m not fully wrapped up since I haven’t completed the #junkjournalnov19 prompts. But just go with me on this.

11/30 Zodiac sign

12/30 Autumn evening

14/30 Dress

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As you can see I never finished the post including missing one of the days. That’s ok…I’m learning to embrace imperfection.

December really was a whirlwind. Lots of activities, snowstorms, J coming home for winter break, shopping, cooking, sewing, shoveling, cleaning, decorating and a little bit of creating.

Everything came to a screeching halt when I threw my back out on December 12th….the morning of Mini-me’s holiday choir concert…also a Thursday. This was really unfortunate because my chiropractor doesn’t work on Thursday! I always seem to break on a Thursday!

The last 2 weeks have been painful and scary at times. I’ve had an urgent care visit, 2 ER visits, 2 injections, 5 medications, an MRI, 7 days of missed work and numerous chiropractor visits…including one today.

In the end, I’m doing much better. Diagnostic tests came back good, the healing process is moving forward. My back still is easily fatigued and a bit fragile but something really positive came out of this. I’m learning to ask for help, let others do, letting go of things I can’t change and embrace the chaos.

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T Tuesday: assembly edition

This week’s post is brought to you by IKEA…well, not officially. It’s just what the past three days and counting were all about. Building new pieces for the kids’ rooms. Truly not the entire time but it certainly felt like it. And I’m still at it!!

My weekend actually started a day early. J was feeling really cruddy and just wanted to come home to rest. He caught the 6:45 am bus from college. I knew he was definitely ill when he voluntarily got up that early. I took the day off so I could meet the bus at MOA.

It was good to see him a few weeks earlier than expected…just a bummer that he was so sick. Nasty virus. I didn’t even hug him until he was leaving….sad but true. He pretty much spent the weekend in bed or in a steaming hot shower trying to clear his congestion.

So I mentioned IKEA…in the above picture if I had panned right 90° right, you’d see IKEA. Of course, at this moment in time, we hadn’t decided to purchase anything new. SO off to home we drove.

The next morning we made the decision to buy two new dressers and a desk from IKEA…back across the city we went.  Mini-me and I started by putting together her new dresser. It went wonderfully. Then we open the desk box….DAMAGED GOODS! UGH!

I was not about to drive back there again on the same day since we’d be heading back on Sunday to drop J off at the bus. When we returned we got a new desk and another storage unit. Yep…4 pieces of furniture to assemble. Oh goodie…

This is the current state of things. I’m on the last piece. Four drawers left to assemble on J’s new dresser. I can tell you one thing…my body doesn’t like me sitting on the floor that long.

I promise I’ll share photos of the new pieces…but for now. My water is empty and I need to shower because it’s picture day at school tomorrow! Remember the stress of picture day? It’s funny…not quite as stressful for me these days. I know for sure no picture I take can be as bad as the ones I took during my middle school years! LOL

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: I ♥ plants edition

Hello and welcome once again to T stands for Tuesday. This week I’m taking a break from sharing my #junkjournaljuly updates to share the wealth of plants around me.

The abundance of rain has yielded huge plants! This morning I picked these beauties.

Fresh produce from the garden is the best. Especially since we aren’t getting a CSA box this year.

As I was trimming the flowers off my herbs, I realized that they are quite pretty and could be used as a base in a bouquet. I wandered around the yard and came up with a sweet little jar of flowers to brighten my kitchen.

When my neighbor saw me picking flowers she offered up her daylilies. 

They are lovely on my table. Thank you, neighbor!

My tea even had some plants in it. A little sprig of mint in my Darjeeling tea.

This one takes the cake though…I happened to notice my compost bin had some tall things in it. Since I knew I hadn’t thrown anything in there lately myself I walked down to investigate.

I have 2 tomato plants and 3 zucchini or ?? volunteers in the compost pile. I guess the organic soil is doing pretty well.  This is a better place for this sign. Time will tell as to what I’m growing.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: #junkjournaljuly edition

Hello again! Welcome back to T stands for Tuesday!

Last week was a busy one with the Independence Day Holiday. Lots of activities including a parade, cookout, fireworks but not many photos to document them.

I thought it would be fun to share my #junkjournaljuly challenge pages here as well as Instagram. Here I can get a little more in-depth and frankly it’s easier for me to edit and organize.

Day1: Introductions

  I decided to introduce the journal and project…not myself.

I am using this journal in order even though I’ll have to add a couple of pages before the end.

I have most pages documented before as well as after but I know I did miss at least one set such as this next set…

Day 2: create a collage

This page I almost completely changed for the original.

Day 3: Use a tag

It was kismet that this page already had a tag on it. I added the sunflower paper and lace to fit with my vision. A package of old rub-ons came in handy as well.  I thought this page was the perfect place to document this old, well-loved photo.

Day 4: very vintage

This page is basically completely covered with pieces of a 1968 map of Hawaii.

I honestly loved the original page spread…but it wasn’t going to work.

Day 5: favorite color

You know it had to be pink! With a splash of orange…I do love orange too!

The only little bits of the original page showing through is the math text and the stems of the flowers. I don’t love those tissue flowers but they worked to cover the yellow without once again completely covering the page.

I’ll be posting more sets of these pages as I go along…not sure of the schedule but likely not waiting until T Tuesday either.

I do have to tell you about my garden pests once again…you won’t even believe it!!!! You may remember last week my garden was looking lovely…my green beans were lush and full of leaves…

Not so much any more. UGH!!! I found full grown deer tracks in the garden. Keep in mind this garden is maybe 5′ x 8′ and has a fence almost 6′ high around all but a 2′ wide gap where the gate is.

Well not anymore…it’s not pretty but it is functional. I’m hoping Mr. G will build me a proper full height gate before next growing season but for now, this will have to do.

Today has household chores in store…super exciting I know.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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A second look: summer photography wrap up

I haven’t been using my “big camera” (my DSLR) all that much lately.

Its a shame really since I love photography. Over the past couple weeks when the weather has cooperated, I’ve tried to get in the habit of using it again. I really need to keep up on my skills…I’ll be taking Senior pictures for Mini-me NEXT summer. Geesh…the time certainly flies.

Take a look…

 

9/23/2016

2016 Summertime Photo Scavenger hunt wrap-up

The summer has ended and so has the hunt for photos. I like to wrap things up with a recap of the old and any newly snapped photos. This year I only missed one on the list but got an alternative to takes it’s place. In the past I’ve gotten every single one including the alternates.

1. A “wild heart” – a naturally occurring heart (like the rock above, but it doesn’t have to be a rock)summer photo huntHostas in my backyard

2. A footprint or pawprint

paw-print

Husky paw print

3. A skeleton, bone or x-ray

bones-collageAt the orthopedist

4. A book or magazine read during 2016

books

Lots of books…can’t stop reading…

5. A porch or deck

deck collage

Trex Deck at the MN landscape Arboretum

6. A camper (caravan)

summer photo hunt

Camper trailer

7. A family gatheringsummer photo hunt

Independence day gathering

8. A drawing, art project, artistic photograph, scrapbook page, greeting card, or art journal page created by you.summer photo huntObviously this isn’t my only creation of the summer…if you’d like to see more just browse around the blog. :)

9. Someone playing with, in, or around water.summer photo hunt4th of July waterfight….a tradition

10. A bicyclebikeAt a parking lot next to a state bike trail.

11. Fresh producesummer photo huntBeans from my garden and CSA box

12. A windowwindowThe broken remains of my drivers side window…you can read about it here.

13. The moonsummer photo huntLucky low light shot of the moon over the house.

14. A buffet of foodsummer photo hunt4th of July gather again…

15. A team logoteamsSome of our beloved local teams…current and former.

16. A map showing a trip taken during the time period

map

Mini-me and I traveled to Alexandria over the summer for a girls weekend.

map-2This close-up map has both lakes that we stayed on…if you look closely you can see my reflection.

17. Twinssummer photo huntI took a bit of liberty with this one just because it made me laugh.

18. A supermarket cart, basket or trolley full of groceries cart

Back to school stock up at Target

19. A seasonal cocktail or beveragesummer drinkMoscow Mule…favorite summer drink!!

20. Someone laughing

This is the one I didn’t get mostly because I don’t show faces on my blog if at all possible.

21. A photograph of you with a newspaper or calendar page from the time period covered in the Hunt. Note: you may not use a substitute for this item.

timely-photoI believe this one is self explanatory

Alternatives – if you’re having trouble finding any of the above, you may substitute from this list (but you may not substitute for item #21):
alternative 1: a lighthouse

No lighthouse either

alternative 2: a baby (human or animal)

alt-baby

Can you see the baby? Cute little “O”.

That about wraps it up. I’m not sure what happened to Rinda’s blog as it hasn’t been updated since June but I do know that the Facebook group has been active so I’ll be posting there. I do hope to continue with photo scavenger hunts…they are really fun and a real challenge at times to get creative and think outside the box.

 

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Thanks for stopping by for Second on the 2nd.

Second on the 2nd

 

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