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    T Tuesday: returning edition

    June 26, 2017 - By 

    Hello!! I am still here. It’s been a while.

    Gosh, that sounds like the beginning to a song… I’m awful with names of songs/singers/authors/actors/movies/etc…so if it is one…sorry, I’m just not going to be able to commit any brain cells to that information. I have WAY too much other pointless trivia floating around in there.

    So I took a bit of a blog hiatus after mom’s passing and funeral. I just wasn’t able to “find my voice” for the blog. I think my bout of laryngitis is over now.

    During my break we traveled to north to do another college visit. This one was University of Minnesota Duluth. I completely forgot to take any photos on campus likely because our tour remained inside all but one brief walk outside as a shortcut. The awesome thing about UMD is that all the buildings are connected by tunnels and concourses. You literally don’t have to step outside if you don’t want to all winter long. I’d be blissfully happy if that’s where either kid decided to go to school.

    Mini-me and I did our traditional sea glass hunting. The view is lovely…

    and we always manage to find treasures.

    The kids and I walked down to Grandma’s (host of Grandma’s marathon that had been run just the day or two before we got there)

    Both times we’ve eaten there, we’ve been seated right by this sign. Too funny! I didn’t take the obligatory beverage photo but rest assured it was there and it was of the adult variety. Why not…we were walking!

    Back at home I’ve been keeping busy with gardening, driving back and forth to the high school for volleyball and some volunteer work I picked up. The choir director put out a call for anyone with sewing skills to mend the robes before they are dry cleaned to save the program some money. So far I’ve mended 20 robes. 

    It’s mostly split sleeves but there have been some zippers and collars as well.

    It’s all hand stitching and the stitches need to be hidden. Thank you Mrs. Wilwerding for teaching me how to sew in the 8th grade. My kid’s high school also thanks you for indirectly saving them lots of money. I’m hoping when I drop off this latest batch of 6 robes that at least some will have been taken by the others to mend.

    I have been a little creative as well. Here’s a little sneak…

    What are you doing today?

    T stands for Tuesday
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    Back at it…finally

    June 22, 2017 - By 

    It has been a while girls and boys. Every time I sat down to write a post, I just couldn’t. I was stuck…blocked by emotion. Not sure how to move on with my blog while still dealing with the grief of losing my mom. Somehow it felt wrong. I know that is crazy talk but it took a while to move beyond that thought. So here I am…back at it.

    I’ve been busy with a number of things…

    such as this wreath. It came together quite nicely from some clearance items. I’m thinking about hanging it under the eaves on our deck. I haven’t actually taken it out there to see if there is enough wall space but I think it would be a lovely addition to the space.

    I’ve experimented with some acrylic pours that I’ll share in another post.

    The sun is finally out today…we’ve had rain, rain, rain today. I found this cute little nest laying in the yard after a recent storm.

    Today was also the first CSA drop off date. They were supposed to start last week but there had been a terrible hail storm that had taken out a lot of the crops. I have to say that I am very pleasantly surprised at the high quality and quantity of produce I got today.

    Those carrots are so good!!!!! They taste just like I remember as a kid…only not so gritty. I used to pull them out of the ground, swish them in the rain barrel and eat them.

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    T Tuesday: highs and lows edition

    April 4, 2017 - By 

    This week has been filled with a roller coaster ride of emotions and events…frankly, I’m exhausted. I wasn’t even sure I was going to play along with T stands for Tuesday but I’m here and will share the highs and lows with you.

    Let’s just get the low over with so we can move on to brighter things. My mom has Stage 4 Melanoma so her time left with us is limited. Exactly how limited, we don’t know. Now my absences from blogland both in posting and visiting make a bit more sense. Anyway…mom is determined to live what life she has left on her own terms which I highly praise her for.

    She has a good friend in her building that has taken a big sister role in her life. She is such a sweet lady and I am so grateful for their friendship. I wanted to show some appreciation to her and put my nervous energy to a creative use.

    (Note the wine glass as my beverage for T stands for Tuesday)

     I think it turned out pretty well and when I delivered it to her apartment I learned that yellow is her favorite color! I love it when things work out that way.

    I also got my plants started…well some of them. I still want to start a few more.

    I used old kid cups that were just going to hit the recycle bin as my planters. I literally had them in hand over the bin when I realized they could be used for my seedlings. I just drilled a couple holes in the bottom for drainage and ta-da…mini pots.

    You may also notice the markers in each pot. I cut down container lids and wrote on them with sharpie marker. Since it’s April (Earth month) I thought I’d point out those little recycling tips.

    Now just about a week later I have this! 

    Do not adjust your screens….that is the full spectrum UV light you see in action. The different color LED’s all combine to cast a pinkish purple light and obviously the plants love it!

    On Thursday last week the kids and I drove to Fargo, ND. We spent the night in a hotel before taking a tour of NDSU in the next morning. J said he thought it was a little too big for his taste but is still planning to apply since they have really good guaranteed scholarships for students with high GPA and ACT scores. Fingers crossed that he does well on the ACT this month. Mini-me said she didn’t like NDSU at all. Ok…check that one off the list for potential schools for her.  I, myself, spent a brief time at NDSU as a freshman. The campus has certainly changed since then.

    I also did some work on this painting.

    I am letting it sit for a few days to decide if its done or not. I’m thinking it is…what do you think?

    Today has a repairman coming out for my stove. Luckily I called in just days before the warranty was to expire. Also lots of phone calls and emails to take care of since I pretty much took yesterday off. I really needed a breather day after last week.

    What are you doing today?

    T stands for Tuesday