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    T Tuesday: washi confession edition

    September 10, 2018 - By 

    Last week I learned that having a washi obsession isn’t exactly front page news…and that it might be fun to share our collections.  Ok Eileen…you ready to share too?! 

    Mini-me organized the tapes for me. I love how they look but have no patience to make it happen. Lucky for me she loves to both craft and organize. My paint drawer often gets a makeover as well. 🙂

    This set of blue tapes I love!! A couple of them look like sun prints and one like shibori.

    My black tapes get used a lot. They give that pop on a page or card that just helps me say “DONE”.

    I love this bin as well. Bright yellows, orange. pink and red.

    The polka dots in this bin have gotten a lot of use. I love polka dots! Did you notice the tape with the coffee cup and beans? I’m sure you’ll see that one again in a salute to T stands for Tuesday.

    This last bin is random. Ones that didn’t physically fit or were just too colorful to categorize.

    I guess it wasn’t quite as shameful as I thought. Mini-me likes to use washi in her smash book and also in her notes for school. I use it pretty much anywhere. If fact I’m putting together a new journal. More of a junk journal/smash book type idea. I plan to do more writing on a personal level. I’m not sure how much of it I will share here after I start using it to journal. 

    I’m using random papers from my stash but keeping them in a Fall color scheme. I’m all about Fall right now. It is my favorite season.

    I survived my first week of school. I had very tired feet a couple of days but have since toughened up. As expected I was able to accomplish way more while working than I ever thought I could.  Like starting the above journal. Learning at least 60 kids names and faces in 4 days. Paint and reupholster a vanity bench for Mini-me. Paint 2 shelves and candelabra….also Mini-me(I’ll have to share those projects later). Work 2.5 hours of concessions at a volleyball game after working all day.

    Oh yeah and pull up my gardens.

    after collecting my last harvest of the season.

    Welp…now I’m tired…after recalling all those things.

    T stands for Tuesday

    What are you doing today?

  • Around home - Blog - Kitchen - Outdoors

    T Tuesday: outdoor goodness edition

    July 23, 2018 - By 

    The summer is flying by. I’m so thankful to be enjoying some of it outdoors. My garden is thriving with the abundant rain, heat and humidity.

    This is the first year I’ve had any luck with cucumbers…they are nearly taking over the garden!!  So far I’ve picked only two. I’m hoping there will be many more for all the space the vines are taking up. My green beans are producing like crazy. Unfortunately I bought the wrong seeds. These are the ones with a bit of a texture on the bean..sort of like a peach. Blech….we like to eat our green beans raw from the garden. The texture just doesn’t work for me. I’ll be making these into canned spicy beans.

    My yellow pear tomatoes are big but not producing much. Makes me kind of sad. Hopefully they are just a little slow this year.

    We have been getting our weekly CSA box in addition to our garden. We are really enjoying this again this year. So many fresh veggies. I’ve even done a bit of juicing. Trying to use the veggies in a different way. 

    This was beet, carrot, apple and ginger. It was SO GOOD!!!!!!

    And pretty too! Speaking of pretty…did you spy my freshly stained deck rails? They were so bad…basically down to raw wood. It was a couple labor intensive mornings. I’d have to stop each day when the temp climbed over 90°F.

    The great outdoors has so much to offer us. I’ve heard it said and couldn’t agree more that Minnesotans are all about spending as much time outside as possible. We endure extremes in temperature and several different kinds of weather in one day isn’t uncommon. 

    As you can see by my crazy tan lines…I spend a bit of time walking in my sandals. LOL  Marvin even gets to occasionally visits to the great outdoors under close supervision. And yes, he really is that big…no trick of the lens. FYI—I wear a size US 9 (40 EU).

    T stands for Tuesday

    Tuesday holds a visit to my friend in her “new” house. I’m super excited to see it and her!!

    What are you doing today?

     

  • Around home - Blog - Crafts - Creativity - Outdoors

    T Tuesday: three days left edition

    June 4, 2018 - By 

    Three days…that’s the long and short of it.

    Three days until I’m done with work until late August. But also three days until my oldest is done with high school. Technically he has already graduated since everything is checked off and he has his “card” but he must still attend school until the end. The actual “walk” is on Friday. Yep…getting my tissues ready now.

    For me this last week off school is chaotic which can sway from “easy breezy” to “smack you in the face difficult” to “wait, what just happened?” all in one class period. So needless to say, in that respect, the days are long.

    Outside of school days, I’ve been keeping busy with little mini projects and helping a friend with the monumental task of cleaning out her parents house now that is sold. I know how hard it is and I wish I could lend a greater hand but timing on these things isn’t always the best.

    My first mini project was making a pair of glasses for a co-workers wedding cake topper. She had mentioned that she ordered some Barbie glasses off the internet. I told her I doubted they’d fit and mentioned that I’d made a pair of glasses for a Gnome a couple years back.

    The glasses made the gnome a dead ringer for the neighbor kid…err…adult now. Too funny!


    Long story short…the Barbie glasses were WAY to small for the would be groom so I was given the challenge of creating a suitable pair.

    I think they turned out pretty good. I sent a photo to the bride and she approves.

    Over the weekend, my rows of beans and snow peas popped out of the ground. It’s amazing how quickly that happens. I swear if you had all day you could watch them wiggle their way through the soil and unfurl their leaves in a splendid little dance.

     I made another bunting this time for the deck garden. Since I still need to stain the deck rails I decided to try out something new with the bunting.

    I used some bamboo to act as mini flag poles suspending the bunting at the front of the garden. The hope is that the flutter of the flags might deter the deer from munching on the plants. This wasn’t my original plan so I’ll need to make a little extension so it can reach all the way around.

    Anyone notice my after dinner beer in accordance with the T Stands for Tuesday guidelines?  I’m trying to be a good kid and follow the rules….sometimes it is difficult. 🙂 I forget. It happens.

     

    I’ve worked a bit on some journal spilling. Creating a background then quickly with a very free hand (aka messy) spilling my thoughts of the moment. I may leave things as is or I may use my writing as a part of the background. Not sure, so it sits.

    I brought home a little basket of treasures from my friends house. Mostly spools of thread, a few vintage dress patterns and some double pointed knitting needles. You should have seen me walking home with my little basket under my arm. I felt like Little Red Riding Hood. I even saw a large critter on the way home. Only it wasn’t a wolf…it was its slightly small cousin a coyote. Its crazy! We’ve noticed a big jump in sightings lately. I have seen 4 in the past 2 weeks. But seeing one while out walking only 2.5 blocks from we was a little disconcerting.

    T stands for Tuesday
    Its the last Tuesday of the school year for me…. but what are you doing today?