Happy Birthday to Me!

Check out what my hubby/aka Mr. Sweetie made me for my birthday. He snagged some broken piece of a candlestand I had picked up off the clearance rack somewhere. He attached a circle of wire and a bunch of fancy threads, and from the threads and wires, he hung cupcake gift cards from Target. They all have $$ on them, and it adds up to $67.00. Why, because I am 67 today...YIKES.



Below the cupcake giftcards, are a bunch of Mentos, the mints I am addicted to.


Of course I can't eat any NOW...since I ate a handful night before last and pulled a crown off. Which resulted in spending 3 hours in the dentist chair yesterday! I thought I'd just run in quick and they'd glue it back on. Well, after he gets me numb, he says, Oh, by the way, this crown really needs to be replaced. And since he'd already drilled the remaining tooth down, the existing crown would no longer fit. I was really angry...I am having less and less faith in my dentist these days. But what could I do, couldn't run screaming out of the place. Hubby was right, I should have just got out the super glue and put my own crown back on! Anyhow, I spent last night not sleeping well because of pain and a sore jaw. No steak dinner for me tonight either.

Hub did take me out early this morning to watch the sunrise, but it rained and was cloudy so no sun in sight. I did get to go with him to his eye exam and help him pick out some new glasses. Then we went to Starbucks for coffee and a pastry. Did a little shopping, then came home. Now I need a nap, if I am going to stay awake while we go out to dinner. Here is me, on my 67th birthday, in a hat I bought at the beginning of summer, and finally wore today.

Drats!! It's Another Birthday

Creeping up on me is another birthday. They have a way of doing that, every year. I rarely get excited about them, nor even dread them. It's just another day, really. Only one day older than the day before. Maybe I will just ignore it, as I prefer the age I am right now. Hubby and I have developed traditons, and we don't make too big a deal out of the Hallmark enforced holidays. But we like our birthdays, and instead of just one day, we call it the birthday month. We try to do extra special things for each other when it's our birthday month. We buy each other gifts throughout the year so there's not much left to get for birthdays that we don't already have. So, it's small little gifts throughout the month. So far he's given me things like a bit of rusty wire, and a bird feather he found in the parking lot, an extra coupon for JoAnn's or Michael's, little things like that. He knows it doesn't take much to please me. I like junk, especially found objects.

Jokingly, I told him I wanted him to build me something more for storage, you know, of my junk and found objects. I showed him these two photos. I'm pretty sure he has the tools for these rustic simple designs. I haven't heard any pounding and sawing noises coming from the workshop/garage though, so I think I am going to have to be content with the photos. I know he is making me something paper related though, he asked me where my beads and wire that he could use were located. He has his own little stash of paper goods.


Love Love Love both of these...but Anthropologie prices are way beyond reasonable.

Days Go By

One day melts into the next. A few days in Dallas again, home and doing only what must be done, while I wish the rest of summer away. A friend stopped by the other morning on the way to work, and standing outside saying goodbye, I looked down and caught my breathe in midsentence.

I was the first to see this, blended into the shrub.

Nice, huh? A beautiful sight, made the morning and the rest of the day feel happy and bright.

Lazy Sunday in the Neverending Summer

Swirly summer skies


I haven't had much to write about. At least nothing eventful. This summer I kind of feel like I have been taking a sabbatical from life. The weeks have flown by, and every day is kind of a busy one, but they have all run together. I guess this might just seem boring, but it has been kind of a joyful relief from the craziness of the spring months. The parents health seems to have leveled, at least to a more manageable stress level. Maintenance, I guess you could say. So I have spent most of the summer just maintaining as well. Out in the early morning to run errands and do what needs to be done. Home as quickly as possible to beat the heat. We are in triple digits now, so I am happy to have an air conditioned house.

Busying myself with sorting, organizing, a bit of artwork now and then. I have a lot of things "in progress", as it seems I am much more capable of starting things than finishing them. I am not hopeful that I can correct this character flaw anytime soon!
Hub says I am like a butterflie, just flitting around from place to place.
I made a cute little card for my Sister's birthday package, and a few other die cut projects. Finished a couple more jewelry projects, but mostly am trying to gather all my jewelry making supplies into one area, or at the very least, one room. This upstairs/downstairs storage is not working.

My Never Ending Quest

I know I am not alone in this constant search for storage organizers to hold my various and sundry "supplies" for all the artistic endeavors I venture into. I do fine for awhile...maybe 6 months or so. Then I go on a tear and start to re-organize "stuff". Well, realizing that if you keep bringing stuff in at a faster rate than you use it up, you are always going to need more storage. Then as soon as you bring said storage home and fill it up, you realize what looked like the perfect solution at the store, isn't quite going to do the job you thought it would. So on and on it goes.

Last week I had a few 50% coupons...Oh how many times have these things gotten us into trouble? Well, I dragged this monstrous thing home to put SOME of my bead and jewelry stuff in, so I could work in different places, then close it all up. I really like more attractive storage solutions, but this looked like it might work.
Well, it may be going back as not only does it not seem like what I need...I don't really like the look of it. I think I may just be getting burned out on the sight of plastic storage boxes.


Now this is more like the kind of things I like for storage. I have used baskets for years for storage everywhere. I think I even still have the first basket someone gave me back in High School. I found this one for 50% over the week-end.


This morning I ran into my Target(where everybody knows my name)Channeling the Cheers crowd...tee hee. The picnic stuff is 75%...Now that's really more like it!
Yes, I know I always buy things in even numbers, but they only had 3 baskets and two trays. I bought them all. One of the gals said "Barbara why do you need 3 picnic baskets". STORAGE my dears, NOT picnics. The trays are kind of cool because they are two levels. I think they might work well for project trays.


Oh and I won't even show the 6 decorative boxes I bought at Michaels over the w/e. So, I am good to go for awhile. Hubby is going out of town for a few days, so I will be hunkered down in the well cooled house, trying to focus on a bit of re-stacking.

Bowls and Eyeballs!

Good News/Bad News.. Broken bowlie makes me sad. Hub thinks he found all the pieces and can glue it back together. At least I can use it for buttons, beads, or storage of something. I think we all have our favorite bowl, coffee cup, etc. At least I do, and it changes over time. However these little polka dot bowls, I have had for at least 10-12 years. Because I have borderline OCD, I always buy things in multiples,even numbers, and would have bought 6, but they only had 4. It is my favorite bowl to eat my morning oatmeal from, as well as soup. It's round and deep, so things don't cool off as fast as they do in some bowls.


So, how did this happen? I have not broken a dish of any kind in years.
Yesterday I had to see the Opthamalogist, for my full exam. Since I have glaucoma, I also have to have field vision every 6 months. I needed some good news health-wise, and it was all good. Pressures good, nerves good, tiny cataract still tiny, no change in glass prescription. Happily, the Dr. was able to give me a sample of my eyedrops, which cost me dearly when I have to refill them. A big problem I have when having my eyes dilated, is that they take forever to return to normal, sometimes even 12 hours. I thought they were doing okay, and I prepared myself a bowl of soup, in of course my favorite bowl. Sat down to eat it and hubby called me to come look at something he was doing on the computer. I left my spoon in the bowl, and when I came back I didn't see it, bumped it and the entire bowl of hot soup came over into my lap. It went everywhere, burned my leg, and my bare feet. Hub came running and was concerned about ME...but I was already shrieking about the broken bowl. Of course he said "It's just a bowl"...which really got me upset, so I ran upstairs crying, tore my clothes off and tossed them in the washing machine. Then I started this entire soliliquy about "special bowls" etc. etc. and he was baffled at my ridiculousness. I finally calmed down for awhile, but then it hit me that even though I still have bowls, I have an uneven number. But, when we glue the broken one back together, I will have an even number again. Geez...

Getting Creative in the Kitchen

First time Quinoa


Well, I do usually paint papers and such on the kitchen island and counter. But this time I actually cooked for a change. Yes, food prep can be a creative endeavor you know. I've loved quinoa since I discovered it only a few years ago. But I've only eaten it in restaurants, or bought it already prepared at Whole Foods. Was a little uneasy about cooking it at home. Seemed too labor intensive to me...soak, rinse, toast, then cook. I don't know what came over me, but I finally bought some to try at home. I researched tons of recipes online, but couldn't come up with one using stuff I already had at home. Also, many of the recipes called for two items my dear hubby dislikes...cucumbers and tomatoes! Anyhow, I cooked some up...thinking that it "doubles" like rice. Well, it Quadruples...So I had tons of it. I dragged out a bunch of ingredients and just played around. I made two different recipes, and both turned out well. I didn't measure or write anything down, so will never be able to make the exact ones again, most likely.

No.1 has Olive oil, lemon juice, celery, onions, garlic, and one of my favorite spices, Sonoma Pepper. It is cracked pepper with lemon and orange rind. This one turned out yummy. Hub liked it and so did a friend. Good thing, as we ate it for several days!

No.2 I wanted to be sweet, so I used olive oil, balsamic vinegar, juice of a whole orange, cinnamon, and a bit of nutmeg. Chopped some dried apricots and added those. Put chopped walnuts on just before serving. It was really good warm for breakfast the next day. Hub liked it too.

I'm happy I finally tried it. I'll be cooking this stuff every week now. I'll still do the one with cucumbers and tomatoes, for myself and friends. I found several recipes the Hub will like...One has yams and chile powder..going to try that next.