• Blog

    T Tuesday: garden XL edition

    October 20, 2025 - By 

    Hello friends…it’s been a while.

    We’ve still been having some back of the website issues that are hopefully resolved now. That being said, I didn’t have it in me to waste time on posting when I wasn’t sure things were actually going to work.

    With it being Autumn in MN, we either have blistering heat reminiscent of August, crazy winds drying things out or cold and dreary days that make you want to crawl back in bed. Okay, its not actually that dismal…It truly is my favorite season. I guess I’m just cranky about the blistering heat that seemed to linger well past its welcome.

    I am happy for the extended growing season though…

    I think the bees are as well. We caught a few napping in the blooms.

    I did one final harvest before pulling up all my veggie plants from the shed garden. The carrots made me laugh. They weren’t even baby carrots for the most part…they were more like carrot bites.

    However, there was this monster cucumber that was hiding between the shed and the lattice fencing. I laughed all the way into the house to show Mr. G who had to snap a picture of the ridiculous size.

    After pulling up everything I was left with this…

    until yesterday when we expanded the shed garden!

    Obviously it’s not done…I pulled up as much grass as I could muster then covered it with cardboard to kill the rest before bring in some soil, compost etc.

    I’m super excited about the extra growing space this will provide.  Next spring before planting starts we will enclosing it in fencing to keep out the critters. We have no shortage of wildlife that seem to think I am growing food for them.

    Otherwise middle school life continues as usual…water bottle in tow with me class to class.

    I do have some good news as well. I met with my oncologist last week and I am officially two years into remission from my lymphoma. Crazy enough, later that same day I gave a presentation to three separate 7th grade Biology classes about radiation treatments for cancer and brought my mask to show them.

    Being at the front of the classroom is not my strong suit but I was happy to share and answer questions from the students. The best one was “So were you radioactive after the treatments?” I mean, valid question from a 12 yr old.  Nope, no super powers for me.

    I can’t leave you without a picture of Marvin…

    No he does not have a broken leg but from the angle I was sitting, it totally looked that way. I’m also sharing this picture in particular because the next time there is a couch photo of Marvin it will be on new furniture! We’ve had this set for over 20 years and finally purchased new ones this morning to be delivered later this week. We are not sure they will be “Marvin approved” because he loves the large arms of the couch…hence the fur covered blankets just for him. However time marches on and he’ll have to get used to something new. We’ll still provide the fur covered blanket for his enjoyment. HA!

    T stands for Tuesday
    Tuesday has me back to work after a 5 day break!
    What are you doing today?
  • Art - Blog - Creativity

    Keep moving forward

    September 7, 2025 - By 

     

    I decided to play along with Mia’s theme of “make your own background” over on Art Journal Journey this month.

    Truth be told I’ve been wanting to play with paint lately but most of my crafting lately has been done in my sewing room…basically because I’d made my basement craft zone unusable. I’ve been working on sorting and cleaning. Finally made enough room to paint!!

    I had intended this journal to be a writing and keepsake journal but it spoke to me to be used today. Who knows…maybe it will be a bit of everything. There are no rules with creativity.

    I did a bit of finger painting on then put down a stencil and wiped away a bit of the paint leaving some fun circles. After waiting for that to dry…ugh, I hate that part…I used a flourish stamp to add a bit more interest.

    Lastly I layered a couple bits of paper then added a chipboard floral focal point and a Tim Holtz words sticker.

    The layered paper and fabric piece at the bottom of the page was already attached as a tiny pocket before I started. I made it work with the overall design.

  • Art - Blog - Creativity

    AJJ: Red florals

    July 30, 2025 - By 

    I wasn’t sure I’d get another journal page completed for my July theme of Botanicals over at Art Journal Journey.

    I wanted to use another one of my digitals that I had printed ages ago. The aged paper look along with the maroon florals set the color palette.

    I found a couple stickers and a small ephemera piece that complemented each other nicely. I’m not a huge fan of shiny stickers but these worked for me.

    I love the subtle text in the background of the digital. It’s not that noticeable until you take a closer look.

    Since I love texture and textiles so much, I layered up some vintage pieces to frame up my page a bit.

    This will be my last of the Botanical series. I’ve filled my planner journal to capacity.

    It’s been so much fun guest hosting for the 4th time! I thought it was only three but after updating my collaborations page I realized it was my 4th time guest hosting. Thanks for coming along on the journey!