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    T Tuesday: three days left edition

    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.

    Its the last Tuesday of the school year for me…. but what are you doing today?
  • Blog - Crafts - Creativity - Photography

    T Tuesday: quick check in edition

    My life in the petri dish of school has continued. Just as I was feeling better, I was hit with the crud again. I missed Thursday of school last week. UGH!! GERMS EVERYWHERE!!  I feel good now with the exception of a residual cough congestion cough. So frustrating.

    I did start a new project on Friday and finished it up over the weekend. I learned how to use a different kind of knitting loom with a completely different stitch thanks to Pinterest and YouTube. I love all the resources we have at our finger tips these days!loom knit cowl

    I followed this blog post to learn the new stitch. The kind of yarn I’m using doesn’t really show any stitches and I think perhaps in part of it I messed up. Thank you forgiving yarn…no one will never notice it.loom knit cowl

    It’s so soft. I wore it to school yesterday as a snugly edition to my outfit.

    loom knit cowl

    Sorry for the poor photos. I took these after dark last night.

    Speaking of photos…I’m nearly done with January. Here are the next six of the challenge.

    24. begins with s…stickers

    25. my morning view….everyday

    26. thank you for….coffee

    27. in the night….Marvin waits for me to top off his bowl before bed each night

    28. text…dictionary pages covering my ancient fridge

    28. magic….just the tip of the iceberg of the cards we’ve been collecting since 1994

    I’ll need to pick my new challenge for February. These photo a day challenges really keep me stretching my creativity even when I can’t create hands-on.

    Work, errands and archery are on the list today…
    What are you doing today?
  • Around home - Blog - Crafts - Creativity - Outdoors

    T Tuesday: snow day edition

    I am super late getting this posted. Yesterday was a scheduled day off for school although it’s highly likely that school would have been released early due to the blizzard that rolled through.  On the bright side…Mini-me took her knowledge test and got her learners permit yesterday. I let her drive a bit in a parking lot on our way home. It was crazy slippery already at 11am.

    (fyi…this will be a photo heavy post)

    Lets back up a bit….last week I was super excited about the Vikings playing for a spot in the Super Bowl. Yep…they lost. By a lot. It was almost as if they didn’t show up. Don’t get me wrong…I’m still a fan. Always a fan but I’m not going to lie it was disappointing.

    Me circa 1976 sporting a Vikings Fan club button.

    The game was so stressful to watch that I kept myself busy knitting Little Hats for Big Hearts

    When I switched to crochet the pattern got away from me. Not really sure what this might end up as…certainly not a hat.

    I’ve continued with the January photo challenge…this month is going really well and a fun challenge to think outside the box at times.

    13) floral

    14) faceless portrait….faceless portrait of a Vikings fan

    15) new….my new Vikings shirt

    16) wall….local tribute to Prince

    17) thoughtful

    18) cool

    19) paper….embarrassed to say only part of my collection

    20) reflection

    21) day off

    22) scenic…out for a drive at the start of the blizzard

    Last night we waited and waited and waited for the plow to go through so we could clear the driveway. The snow just kept coming getting deeper and deeper. Finally we heard it come barreling down the street at about 8:30. The four of us suited up and began to dig out.

    Fast forward to this morning…I get the call that school is delayed by 2 hours! Hooray! In the meantime Mr. G leaves for work.  Then I get an email to district staff telling us that school is now closed for the day. The kids were screaming for joy and passing the news along to their friends since the automated call had not come through yet. The joy was lost a bit when they realized the chore we still had in front of us….moving a ton more snow.

    The drifting sure looks pretty but makes crazy mounds of snow in other places.

    My garden is in the deep snow.

    The kids worked hard shoveling while I pulled the drifted snow off the roof.

    The struggle was real. We got a foot (30 mm) of snow in total that drifted in crazy ways.

    Since we were all tired and hungry I took the kids to breakfast. I had buckwheat pancakes. They were so good!! I was so hungry I almost forgot to snap my photo for T stands for Tuesday!

    What are you doing today?