Swan Gourd or Squash?

My friend and her husband went hiking this weekend and they found this gourd or squash (I'm not sure which) that looks just like a swan. I had to share it.

Piano Lessons Continued

I'm into my second month of piano lessons. I am really having alot of fun with it. I have to admit, though, that I've hit a speed bump with learning the 1/8th notes. It's a little confusing, but I'll get the hang of it.

About 3 weeks ago, I thought I was going to have a piano given to me. Our renters (and friends) were moving out of our rental house and had a piano that they needed to find a home for. They were wanting to either sell it or donate it. I didn't have the funds to buy a piano, so I just forgot about it. Our friend said that they had asked their church if they wanted the piano and the church said they didn't need it. He also said that if they couldn't sell it or donate it, that I could have it. Oh joy! I was sure I was getting a real live piano. Well, I should have known better than to count my chickens before they were hatched. The people at the church changed their minds and decided they wanted the piano for their youth group. I kept hoping they would never come and get it, but I knew deep down that they would. And they did. I decided that God had a plan for that piano, and it didn't include me, so I'm fine with that. He knows what's best anyway. Who knows? I may decide playing the piano isn't for me and then I would have been stuck with a piano to do something with. I don't feel that way right now, though, but you never know how things will turn out.

One good thing is that I do have a picture of me playing the piano. It was a beautiful piano.

Barbie Calendar

Today I was in Hobby Lobby and on my way out I saw a pretty Barbie calender for 2010. I love Barbie and especially vintage Barbie. I used to collect Barbie dolls awhile back, but I ran out of room to display them and I stopped. It all started with collecting Hallmark Barbie ornaments. I have several, but I haven't bought any in the last several years. I collected Hallmark ornaments for about 5 years until I ran out of room on my tree. Anyway, I digress. I thought I would share a few of the pictures from the Barbie calendar that I bought today. The best thing about it is that I had a 40% off coupon, so I was not going to pass this up.






One day this week I was going to sit down in my recliner and I saw this:


The little bugger had taken my chair. He was so cute, though, that I had to grab the camera and take a picture.

This week has been a hard one. Earlier in the week, my best friend had to go to the hospital with breathing and heart problems. She was released from the hospital, though, and is resting at home now. Then today I learned that my cousin's wife has kidney cancer, plus she's having to have surgery today to have her gall bladder removed and it's uncertain what they found. I haven't heard anything since the surgery. It just reminds me how we have no guarantees and how thankful we should be for our blessings. How we should enjoy every single day on this earth and especially with our families. It just reminds me how precious life is and how important all the people that we love are. It makes me want to give my husband an extra hug and kiss before he or I goes out the door. It makes me want to really listen to everything he has to say instead of sometimes half listening while I'm doing something else.

Piano Lessons

I just started taking piano lessons this last weekend. My first lesson was Saturday and it went really well. I'm so excited. I have been wanting to do this for a really long time. I don't have a piano (yet), but I do have a keyboard that I bought last year and it's just fine for now.

I can't remember if I told the story of my piano lesson nightmare when I was a child. My aunt (my mother's sister), made up her mind that I was going to learn to play the piano like my cousin Jane. Well, I was only about 7 years old and I had absolutely no desire to be like "Cousin Jane", but for some reason, my aunt had her mind set on it and when she had her mind set, there was no changing it. She even bought a piano for me. I was such an ungrateful child. To add insult to injury, she arranged for me to have my piano lessons on Saturday mornings. Now, what could be worse when you are a child than having piano lessons on Saturday mornings, when what you really want to do is stay home and watch cartoons? So, grudgingly, I went every Saturday morning for my lesson. I hated it. I didn't retain anything and didn't practice so naturally I wasn't going to make any progress. Finally, the piano teacher told my aunt that I was not interested and wasn't making any progress. She told her that she was just throwing her money away, so my aunt stopped taking me. Later on, she sold the piano to her brother, whose wife played. I'm sure my aunt was very disappointed in me. The real tragedy to all this is that later, the piano burned when my uncle's house burned down. Poor piano. Nobody wanted it and it came to a tragic end.

Now that I've grown up and become more mature I realize that I threw away an awesome opportunity to learn something wonderful. If I had just stuck with it I would have learned to play and might even still have that very piano today. But, I didn't stick with it and I don't have that piano. But, that was then and this is now. Now, I truly have a desire to learn to play. I wish my aunt could see the desire that I have and watch me actually taking an interest now, since I disappointed her so long ago. But, I'm not doing this for her, I'm doing it for me. And, who knows, maybe she's looking down from Heaven.

Tales of Beatrix Potter by The Royal Ballet

I love Beatrix Potter books and illustrations and I also love the movie Miss Potter. I found this cute video excerpt of the Tales of Beatrix Potter by the Royal Ballet DVD on Youtube today. I think I'm going to have to get myself a copy for my own mental health. I think if I were down in the dumps, this would cheer me right up.

Beautiful Orchids

I wanted to share a beautiful orchid that is on the desk in the Circulation area of the library where I work.


I have tried growing orchids in the past, but after blooming once they seem to curl up and die. I even had one once that got root rot. I've since figured out that I was probably watering them too much or keeping the soil too wet. I talked to a coworker of mine who is an expert in raising orchids and I think I may have figured out how to keep one living. I might decide to try another one soon. I'll have to give that some thought. In the meantime, I saw this beautiful one (below) online and thought I would share it. I sure wish I had one like this. The red against the white is so dramatic and breathtaking.

Bunny Rabbit

Here is a picture of a bunny rabbit that a good friend of mine has. This bunny is so cute. He loves to be held and petted and I'm happy to hold him and pet him.

Elegant Parchment Flowers

I went to Etsy today and saw that they are down for a brief time for maintenance. They provided some videos to watch while they are down, and one of them was this great video for making elegant parchment flowers. This looks like lots of fun and I can't wait to try it.

Spring Creek Retreat

We just got back on Sunday from another amazing weekend at Spring Creek Retreat. It was a wonderfully relaxing, restorative trip. We had lots of fun frolicking in the creek. I have some pictures to share. The first picture is of an amazing nature made creek that is in the caretaker's front yard. I can't believe how beautiful this creek is. I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to come home to this every day after a long day at work and unwind. The sound was amazing too. The next time we go, I'm going to see if I can borrow a video camera and film it so that I can get the sound. This picture doesn't even do the creek justice. You just have to see in person.


This next picture is of a really odd looking, but beautiful mushroom that we saw on the grounds of the creek house.


Here is a yellow mushroom that we found when we were walking on one of the trails.


As we were walking on the trail we went through this amazing covering that was so cool looking. Eddie said it looked like a rainforest.


I also took a picture of algae that was growing in the creek. This picture was taken during one of our trail walks. I can't believe how beautiful the algae is and how well it shows up through the water.


The house that we stayed in had a forest theme with forest wallpaper border and in the laundry room there was this cute little wooden birdhouse. I took a picture of it because I want to try to make one of my own.


We always have a wonderful time at Spring Creek. In my mind, I'm still there and I want to go back really soon.

St. Petersburg Stitch

This weekend I've been learning the St. Petersburg stitch that is featured in the June issue of Bead and Button magazine. I love this stitch. I'm really proud of the bracelet that I made this weekend. This has just whetted my appetite to make another one. I also want to try some earrings and a necklace at some point.


Since I'm still learning, I used 6/0 size seed beads and just a regular sewing needle to stitch the bracelet. I used a standard beading thread that I bought at Hobby Lobby. The thread is sort of stiff and it worked beautifully on this bracelet.

Bunny Rabbits, Chickadees, and Hens and Chicks

My post today is all about wildlife and plants. I love seeing unexpected wildlife in my yard and actually having my camera handy so I can get good shots. Yesterday when I got home from work, I was getting out of my car and I noticed that Mr. Bunny Rabbit came back for another visit.


I couldn't get my computer at home to work so that I could crop and get a closer view, but he was posing for me again and I was able to get fairly close this time before he scampered off.

At about the same time I saw him, I looked up into a pine tree that we have and I saw 2 little Chickadees. Darn it, they were hopping through the tree so fast that I didn't have time to get a picture of them, so I found one on the Internet. You might think this is really odd, but never in all of my 56 years have I ever seen a Chickadee in real life. I've seen lots and lots of pictures, but had never, ever actually seen one until yesterday. I just wanted to keep watching and keep watching. They are some of the prettiest birds I've ever seen with the Cardinal (or Redbird) being the exception. We see lots and lots of Redbirds in our yard. And our yard is always full of rabbits running around playing and chasing each other. I love it!




I've been meaning to take some pictures of my Hens and Chicks because this year they are doing really well. I guess we've had so much rain this Spring that they are just flourishing.

Bunny Rabbit

One evening this week I was outside doing some stuff and I happened to look over and saw this.


It was a really cute Peter Cottontail Bunny Rabbit. He was just sitting looking at me. It looked like he was posing, so I ran in and grabbed my camera and took this picture. I don't know why, but I couldn't steady my hand enough to get a really clear picture, but I still thought it wasn't too bad. It's enough that I could paint him in watercolor maybe, if I want to. I might do that.

A good friend of mine has a new pet that's a cute little white rabbit. As soon as I can remember to take my camera to his house, I'm going to take a picture of him too. Or her. We don't know yet.

Pansy Doily and Fresh Cut Flowers

This week I finished crocheting my first pansy doily. My mother-in-law made some similar to these back when she was a young married woman with 3 young children. Eddie said he remembers the doilies from when he was a little boy. She gave me 2 of the pansy doilies that she made and I have them on a corner cabinet with my teapots. I plan to paint this corner cabinet white very soon. I'll be sure to post before and after pictures of it.


Her doilies were my inspiration for trying one myself. I found a great free pattern for this doily. I will say there is a very slight mistake in this pattern. In the Doily Center pattern on Round 7, the pattern should read:

Ch 3, dc in same place, *dc in next dc, ch 1, skip next dc, (dc in next ch-1 sp, ch 1) twice, skip next dc, dc in next dc, 2 dc in next dc, ch 2, 2 dc in next dc, rep from * around, end last rep with ch 2, join with sl st in top of beg ch-3. (64 dc).

Like I said, it's a very minor mistake, but if you are like me and read crochet and knitting patterns word for word, this could be a real problem for a beginning crocheter. This is a very easy crochet pattern, and it went very quickly too. Here are some pictures of my finished pansy doily.



I love fresh cut flowers. There is something about them that just gives me a lift. At my last job, there was a lady who worked in the office with me and she told me that every week when she went to the grocery store, she bought a bouquet of fresh flowers to put in a vase on her desk. She said she just felt like this was one thing she could do for herself and it always made her feel better and gave her something pretty to look at while she was working. I love that idea. At the time I didn't do it, but where I work now I have my own office and I've made it my own. I figured that since I spend probably more time here than at home, I might as well make it as homey and uplifting as possible. So, now I've adopted the habit of getting fresh cut flowers every week at the grocery store too. These are the flowers I bought this week.

Take It Easy

In my last post, I talked about driving my husband's truck, bad to the bone kind of thing, listening to music really loudly. One of my favorite songs to listen to while driving and singing it horribly offkey is Take It Easy by the Eagles.

Plum Crazy

There is something that alot of people don't know about me. It's that I have a little bid of a wild side that comes out every now and then. Now, your definition of wild and my definition of wild could possibly be two entirely different things. I don't drink and party or get wild in that way. What I do is every now and then I like to listen to music, really loudly, especially when driving. This morning I drove Eddie's truck because he's taking my car to get the oil changed. There is something about driving a truck that just makes me feel different somehow. I don't know what it is. I can't put my finger on it. I love several things about his truck, but one in particular is that it has a CD player. I know that most cars and trucks these days have one that came as standard equipment, and that's really nothing new, but my car doesn't have one. Anyway, this morning when I got in the truck to drive to work, I put in my favorite Eric Clapton CD, put on my Plum Crazy hat, turned the volume up really loud, and drove in. Ok, that's about as wild as I get. But, it's fun, and I love to drive a cool vehicle and listen to music.

I have a secret desire to get a fun car, maybe a red convertible, put the top down and drive down the road, hair flying in the wind listening to some music that I love. Maybe "Born to Be Wild?" I don't know, something like that. It makes me feel free somehow. And rebellious. Yeah, that's it. Rebellious.

Aprons, Goblets, and Fresh Vegetables

I wanted to post pictures of some more aprons that I've made in the last couple of weeks. I seem to be addicted to these. They are so easy and so much fun to make. I love the fabrics and the coordinating rick rack.



One day this weekend I was sorting through some stuff in our shed and I found a box that had some drinking goblets in it that I had painted a couple of years ago. Joy! I knew I had these somewhere, but I couldn't remember where I had put them. I discovered that I have 6 of them, so I made room for them in the kitchen and now these will be well used from now on. I guess we must have been doing some cleaning at some point and they got boxed up and put into the shed. I've posted a picture of one of them. It is not a really good picture, but I hope you can see it. I used the Donna Dewberry method of painting on glass to make these. It's really easy. If I can do it, anybody can do it.


And, finally, we just had our first meal (or "mess" as we call it in the South) of Silver Queen Corn this past week. It was so pretty after I had shucked and cleaned it that I just had to take a picture. I had been craving fresh vegetables for a few weeks and this just hit the spot.

Evening Shadow

One night this week right before dark, I noticed the evening sun shining through my kitchen curtains and reflecting the design back onto my kitchen cabinets. I grabbed my digital camera and took several quick shots and this was the best one. I thought it was kind of cool looking.

Aprons

I'm not feeling well this evening. Could be something I ate, but it's some kind of stomach issue. Anyway, I did want to show you what I've been working on this weekend.

Lately, I've become nolstalgic watching old movies and old TV shows. I love the fashions and styles from the 1940's, 50's and 60's. I remember when women used to wear aprons. I don't think too many of them do anymore. I know my grandmother used to and I've seen aprons on women in ads from that era and also on the old favorite TV shows like Donna Reed, Father Knows Best, and Leave it to Beaver. Also, Andy Griffith. Aunt Bea always wore an apron when she was at home doing her housework and cooking.


Maybe it's the times now, being so different from back then. Back then alot of women did not work outside the home. But, they did work at home, and I think alot of them wore aprons. I actually briefly wore aprons back in the 80's. Recently I've been seeing a few pictures and websites where women have sewn aprons for sale or just for their own use. I've never tried to make one before, but I thought that even with my limited sewing skills, surely I can manage to crank one out. So, I found a pattern that I really like and this weekend I tried it. It was so much fun, in fact, that I decided to make two. Now, I'm working on a third one. And I may make more depending on how it goes and whether or not I get tired of this project. Eddie says I'm on a new kick. We'll he's right. I'm on this kick until I get tired of it and then I'll go to another "kick".

Keeping Up Appearances Outtakes (or bloopers)

Keeping Up Appearances is my favorite British comedy. I found a funny video on Youtube of the bloopers.

Super Freak

I don't know why, but I really like this commercial. It reminds me of myself when I'm listening to a song and singing it horribly offkey.