Friday Countdown

Ok, I'm guilty! I love love love houseplants! I love bringing home a new one but I am realistic and have my share of artificial plants sitting around as well. These are the ones I find on sale and feel will compliment a certain corner or either complete the balance where a live plant just doesn't work. Houseplants look pretty and fresh plus they help keep the air clean. And the right plant doesn't take much care. Those are the ones I buy. The low maintenance, low light plants (because inside our home doesn't get a lot of natural sunlight). Houseplants are but one of my many loves along with my backyard birds, photography and cheesecake! LOL! Part of the variety that adds spice to life! So now you know. Scrapbooking is not my only passion. There! I said it!

Starting today I will be doing a Friday Countdown at Peek each Friday so it seemed like a good idea to add it to my blog as well! A different topic each Friday and each one with 10 answers.


10 THINGS I DID THIS WEEK

1. Repotted flowers for new container garden
2. Went to the doctor
3. Laundry - of course
4. Cleaned around the bushes in the front yard
5. Went out to eat with Harold
6. Worked on a circle journal
7. Went to see MIL at the nursing home
8. Sat on the deck to enjoy my morning coffee
9. Made a quick grocery store run
10. Fell asleep during a movie on TV

Thursday Thoughts

Very seldom will I do a layout with all the same brands of PP. I just love to mix it up! I love to go through my stash and find older papers that I either forgot about or have become "in style" again! I'm a clean, straight lines scrapper. I'm just not comfortable with it if my design has no flow to it. I want the eye to glide over the finished layout instead of jumping around. Of course, others scrap this way and I just love their results but it just doesn't look as good when I do it! I have recently become hooked on using silhouette borders. They are so simple to make but using one or two in a darker or contrasting color can add so much to the layout!

Michael recently started a new job. Kind of far for him to drive each day but if that's what he wants to do then so be it! Ryan is looking around for a part time job while he still takes classes. Harold has been on his temporary icky schedule at work for almost a week now. Hopefully the remainder of the time left on this will fly by! I am usually able to get a lot of scrapping done when he is working these hours but not this time. Whiner has been driving me nuts! I'm not sure if it's the change in the household schedules or just old age but he will not give me more than 15 minutes of peace and quite before something happens and I have to jump up to take care of the situation! We talk about it being time to have him put down but then he seems to get better so we dismiss the idea and after awhile it all starts up again! But the time will soon come when we can no longer dismiss it or ignore it!

American Idol. My two favorite guys have been bumped off now - Sundance and Chris S. There are a few other good ones left but their style just doesn't really appeal to me that much so I will just concentrate on my favorite gals from here on out. I hate to see good singers knocked out of the loop for others who can't sing worth a toot just because a lot of star struck, giddy 13 year old girls think he's cute! I'm talking about Sanjaya of course. What's sad, is that I think Sanji boy is really starting to believe he's still there because he's good!

The weather is supposed to be cooler the next few days and mixed with occasional rain showers. It will probably feel more like Spring than mid Summer. Just as long as we have no overnight freezing temps, my flowers should enjoy it all.

Chatter

I haven't been getting on my scrapbooking message boards as often as usual. Several reasons. The warmer weather has been a magnet, pulling me to sit or work outdoors and enjoy these perfect days. Harold's schedule at work has kept me busier than usual doing extra things to help him out. Whiner hasn't had very many good days lately and just like a small child, he wants to be held and loved by mommy when he feels bad. I do try to check into my boards once or twice during the day whether I post anything or not.

American Idol is one of the few shows Harold and I watch together so even though we often feel bored with it, we watch it because it is our time to be together. Frankly I just feel sorry for Sanjaya. The little 17 year old boy who seems so overwhelmed and intimidated by the whole thing. Even if he does get voted off, this whole thing will probably leave a big scar on him for a long time! He reminds me of a deer caught in a car's headlights and just can't free himself from the inevitable disaster!

We have looked at some new houses just for fun. Sort of wishful window shopping. It is extremely doubtful that we ever move again but it is still fun to look and dream about a new place with space for things we would like to have but just don't have the room for here.

If you stop by, say hi! I always love to hear from you! And here is a splash of summer color to make you smile!

Hot Days and Bright Flowers

March is an odd month for us, weather wise. It can get extremely cold and even snow one day and the next day it will be a beautiful spring like day in the mid 70's. The past couple of days haven't been cold or even a comfortable like a Spring day. They have been HOT like a summer day in mid July! But the mornings and evenings have been pleasant and those are my favorite times to sit out back on the deck with my camera and cup of coffee while I enjoy the birds. Harold and I decided to take down a lot of older bushes that were starting to die off or getting too out of control. I will replace a few but not all of them. I can't stand the thought of not having another flower garden around the deck so this time around it will be a potted garden. Much easier in the long run because I can skip the awful chore of weeding and just as pretty to enjoy!

With the weather so warm, everyone has started their planting. I honestly think Spring skipped us completely this year! While we were out doing some weekend errands, I just couldn't resist picking up some plants to set out in my new container garden! Red petunias, colorful snap dragons, big yellow pansies, orange and red gerber daisies and of course some tomato plants! I agreed that these were enough to get me started and keep me busy until I go out again next weekend for some more!

Even this Wood Thrush enjoyed splashing around the birdbath today to cool off!

I'mmm Back!

I took a well needed break from blogging as you can see. Not something I like to do because I always guilty for neglecting my "duties" to it but sometimes you just do what you gotta do. One reason I haven't been around lately is that I've been lost in another world! The world of new products over at Peek (http://www.apeekintoyesterday.com/index.html)! So many new and wonderful supplies arriving almost daily! Some delicious new brads by Imaginisce and 7 Gypsies, Basic Grey's awesome new collections, some adorable things from Bam Pop and Rubber Soul plus so much more! Too much to name all at once! It's enough to make a gal feel light headed and woozy!

I recently started in on my spring cleaning routine. It's not Spring yet but who wants to be stuck inside and cleaning when the nice weather does arrive? Not me! The first thing I tackled was my scrapping area. It's more like a scrapping corner but it's amazing how much it was able to hold! As a matter of fact things kept piling up until I just couldn't find anything I wanted or needed. Time to re-organize and I did. It took a while but I am so happy with the results and I can find everything so easily now. My patterned papers are now in page protectors inside binders that sit on the bookshelf! This freed up a lot of space. Now I can thumb through the binders to find the PP I want to use instead of shuffling through stacks of unorganized papers! My rub ons, stickers, brads, stamps punches and more all have their own special "home" now and I can go right to them when needed. I am so happy with the outcome of all my hard work that I have promised myself to keep it neat! After all, it only takes a few minutes to clean up each time compared to hours if I let it go untended!

Plus I've been catching up on other blogs I like to read and the world of online scrapbooking in general. I found it interesting to read about tips for getting published or chosen for a Design Team! No, I'm not out to try and do either one of these. I guess I was amused more than anything. I have no intention of changing my style or scrapping just so it will make others happy. To do this just to gain recognition seems fake. These are my layouts that stay in my albums. I am more than happy to share them online and if they make a few people smile that's good but I will be true to my own style first and foremost! If I haven't been "discovered" by now, it just ain't gonna happen! LOL!