Bringing the outside in

Maybe after seeing this you may decide that the title should be "What the heck is that supposed to be".

Any way, I'm late today because I gave up on trying to schedule posts and decided to just wait until I got home from work. The scheduler doesn't work for me any more anyway so why bother.

Yesterday Duke and I were out in the yard enjoying a bit of sunshine. While he was inspecting the ground I started pulling some dead stems out of one of the plants in the flower bed. I had them all bunched up in my hand and was headed to the back of the yard where we throw all that stuff. Suddenly I realized they looked kind of neat and took them inside and put them in a vase with some artificial stuff I have. Being Monday I don't have a picture of it though.

But, I also happened to pick up some branches that were laying on the ground and brought those in the house too.

This is the part where you look at the above picture and say "What the heck is that thing supposed to be"

Well, since I did that picture for Wade's cave the other day I decided to make him a rustic looking easel to put it on.

It didn't work out exactly how I was picturing it but it was close enough and he thought it was kind of cool so it was a win win situation.

Yesterday

Yesterday I was going to read some blogs
Instead I read a book.
I was going to clean the house.
Instead I only swept the floor.
I was going to do some window shopping.
Instead I only went to the grocery store.
I was going to bake something yummy.
Instead I opened a bag of chips.
I was going to take Duke to the groomer
Instead, oh wait, I did that one

much ado about nothing

Another Saturday and I have no plans.
But just as I was settling in to my second, or was it third, cup of coffee for the morning, a little birdie told me

You don't have time to stop and smell the flowers today. You have an important task to accomplish.

"But it's Saturday" I protested. "I should be able to sit back and relax and not worry about anything"
 Just then a shaggy faced Duke appeared and reminded me that today is grooming day.

This is a picture from last year, believe me he looks worse than this. But by later this morning he will be quite handsome again.

Making a pitt stop

It just never fails. We head to the grocery store and someone's gotta make a pitt stop. Now I could just go on ahead and start the shopping without him but since the restrooms are right in front of the floral department I hung out and waited.
I loved the color of these. If I had a green thumb I might have considered taking them home with me. I thought it was best I leave them on the shelf so they could live a much longer life.

Around the corner I spotted these cute little bags. They just sort of shouted "Hello Spring" 

Pitt stops done and so is my post. Happy Friday everyone.

What's cooking

Man (or woman) can not live by bread alone.

I tried a new recipe that I found on Cinnamon spice and everything nice.  Reeni posted a recipe for roasted sausage, potatoes and peppers and when I saw it I knew I had to try it.

My picture doesn't look nearly as good as Reeni's but let me tell you, this is delicious. Even Wade who is a picky eater said that it had good flavor. I will definitely be keeping this on my list of things to make for dinner.
Now hop on over to Reeni's and get her recipe for roasted sausage, potatoes and peppers.

Moose

Yesterday I said I would show you what I did with that moose that's on the wall.

First I took a picture of it

Then I did some playing around with it in photoshop elements.

I printed this out at 4 x 6 and put it in a frame. Now he has another little piece of artwork for the cave.

No more blinds

Down in the man cave, we had mini blinds in the windows and Wade said he wanted curtains. I think his main reason was that the walls are a tan color, the blinds were white and they didn't look so good.
The man wants curtains, I shall give him curtains. Besides curtains aren't hard to make and that gives me an excuse to go to Joann fabric, which by the way is my favorite craft store. I came home with this

and last weekend, I made these

Nothing fancy but they do look much nicer than the blinds. I thought they were a little too short but that's where he wanted them. I was going to make them longer. I also came up with an idea that he's going to do. I suggested he make a valance for over the top using scraps of the wood planking he used for the walls and ceiling.
Still more work to do but it's coming along.

Tomorrow I'll show you what I did with that moose on the wall.

oops

Well last night I ended up falling asleep really early and never got around to doing a post for today. Since today was especially slow at work, I only worked a half day and came home. Now I'm just going to throw in a random picture, say oh crud and try again for tomorrow.

Happy Anniversary

Six years ago today Wade and I were saying I do. Some days it seems like it was only yesterday.

We don't have any big plans for the day. Maybe out for breakfast in the morning and that's about it.

Change

I'm not a huge fan of change. I will admit that a little change is good now and then but I'm talking things like a haircut, trading in your car, or even changing what you have sitting on your mantel.

What I don't like is when you get a heap of change dumped on you and your have to figure out what to do with it.

I didn't do well when I opened up my blogger dashboard yesterday and saw how different it looked. I liked it the way it was. It was friendly and familiar. I knew where everything was. Ok so it had it's quirks. I didn't always publish my posts when I asked it to but still it was my friend. This new dashboard is not my friend. It sits on my computer screen and laughs at me. Maybe it will grown on me but so far, not.  Maybe, just maybe if it sent me a gift I would change my mind. Yeah, I don't see that happening either.

A fun guy for Friday

It's Friday, and what better way to kick off the weekend than by bringing you a fun guy.

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of a fun guy to show you so I'll substitute with a fungi

Oh wait, look, there's my fun guy in the back yard

Don't tell him I caught him in the picture while he was out there burning some stuff.
The yellow line? You want to know what it is? Well I put that there to show the property line around my house. I seriously hate how wide open my yard is but not much I can do about it right now. Looking at the picture I don't really think the line was necessary because you really can tell where my yard ends and my neighbors begins. Just look for the end of the dandelions. I bet they really hate us.

The last two days I have had post scheduled for first thing in the morning. The last two days I have come home from work and there they sit still saying scheduled. I'm going to try this again and hope that it's posted when it's supposed to.

Have a wonderful weekend.

a sea of grape

Repeat of yesterday and this didn't post this morning like it was supposed to. 
The flower bed, or rather weed bed that's in the front of my house is a sea of grape right now

Grape hyacinth that is. I've never seen as much of it in there as I do this year.

Origami Grape Hyacinth - The best free videos are right here

escape plan

Not sure what happened. This was supposed to publish this morning. Oh well, better late than never.


That does it, I'm out of here

I've perfected my escape route and if mom doesn't put in a call to the groomer soon I'm bolting.

Make up your mind already

I really wish the weather would make up it's mind. First it's unseasonably warm then it's cold. We've had sunshine,, rain and snow all within the last couple weeks. Temperatures have been as low as the 30's and as high as the 80's.
Sunday after the rain I stepped outside with my camera.

The water drops were what caught my attention first and the lady bug was a bonus.

Here we go again

The start of yet another work week and I don't plan on it being a fun one. A large order for the state correctional institute (a.k.a. the big house) has my regular work schedule all messed up. I'm already dreaming about Friday.

Good thing I have Duke to come home to every day. Now if I could only teach him to fetch my slippers when I walk in the door.

I've posted this picture of him before but I was playing with it in Pic Monkey the other day. It's kind of fun to play around there.

I have focus

On more than one occasion, I have been accused of lacking focus. Well no more. I now have focus and it's parked in my driveway.

Yesterday morning we went car shopping. My car was down to it's last 3 payments and as much as I liked the car it was time to trade it in. The inside door handle on the drivers side had broken and it was getting to be a real pain in the butt. I had to roll the window down, reach out and open the door from the outside, roll the window back up and then I could shut the car off (power windows).

The funny thing is I have never liked the Ford Focus. I didn't like the looks of them and once when I had one as a rental while my car was getting repairs I hated driving it. I don't know what it is about the new body style on them but I just like it. Now I just need to figure out what all those little buttons inside of it do. I think I"ll go for a drive today.

Meet Molly

Today's post is another archive dive. I would like to introduce you to Molly

Molly was the dog I had right before Duke. She spent most of her years with another chocolate lab named Winston. Molly was the sweetest, gentlest dog I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. She would back off of a bowl of food if another dog or even cat showed an interest in it and let them get their fill before she would eat. I rarely heard her bark. Winston was much like Duke, he barked at anything that moved so Molly never felt the need to I suppose. When Wiston crossed the bridge Molly found her voice. I think in her mind she felt it was her obligation to take over the roll of watch dog.

Bring it on

I don't care if it is the 13th

Besides I'm pretty sure that my run of bad luck is over with now. I'm not afraid, so bring it on.

Spelunking

Since mom and dad are working today and I'm just sitting here by myself I wondered if you would like to do a little spelunking with me.

Work on the man cave still isn't complete but dad sure has gotten a lot done around here. He's pretty proud of his tv/entertainment wall. The bottom part of the wall is built around his tv stand that holds all his stereo equipment. It has an electric fireplace in it too.

This is just looking down in to the cave from the top of the steps. I hope you don't get dizzy looking all the way down there.

Dad says he doesn't like the stuff where it is on the wall so he's moving it but it's still there for now.

This is the corner where dad's desk is. He does all kinds of important things here like taking care of email correspondence and  winning badges on pogo.

We still have some cabinet doors to make, the stairs to finish, some trim work and the floor but it's come a long way since last year.
You can see previous post about it here and here and there may be others but I just don't have time to search for them.
Thanks for spending time with me today.

How did I miss that?

The pictures below are of a house that sits across the street from my side yard. There used to be a little old man living there but his health had been declining and he went in to a nursing home then passed away shortly there after. The house was put up for sale and we were suspecting that the church behind it had purchased the property because they were using the garage to store their lawn mowers. Last week they had closed off the big garage door and moved it to the opposite side.

The other day I get home from work and Wade says they are tearing down the house across the street. I think I looked at him like he was losing his mind and said "What? I just drove right by there, they are not" Of course not being able to take his word for it I stuck my head out the back door.
"What? How did I miss that?"

It was an old house but I didn't think it was in that bad of shape although I had never seen the inside of it. It's really kinds of sad and it looks so strange without it there. Come to think of it this may have something to do with the post I did a while back asking neighbors to remove their homes so I could have an unobstructed view of the sunset. What do you think? It could happen couldn't it?

Returning

Last year I purchased a lilac bush for my back yard. I've always wanted one and could never get one to grow. This one was larger than most I had planted and looked to be quite healthy. Of course when I bought it, it had already finished blooming for the year. Being so hot and dry last summer it took a bit of a beating. Even though I frequently watered it I wondered if it would make it.
I'm happy to say that the other day I went out to check on it and saw plenty of buds

This was a different kind of lilac than others I had tried and I can't recall exactly what kind it was but I'm glad that it survived. Now I'm just waiting to see if the hibiscus is going to show any signs of life.

Getting the right balance

Balance is important in so many things. I've had difficulty finding it in a lot of ways lately. Most recently though it was white balance that was an issue for me. When I use my camera in the house on the manual setting I normally change the white balance for incandescent light. That isn't a problem until I go outside and start snapping pictures without remembering to change it to daylight. Now if you think that's not a big deal wait till you see the difference.
The first picture here was taken outside with the white balance set for incandescent light

Realizing what I did I changed the setting and took this one

Both of these pictures are straight off the camera and taken within a few minutes of each other. I don't know why I can never remember BEFORE I start shooting to check those settings.

Happy Easter

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled
Let not your soul be sad
Easter is a time of joy
When all hearts should be glad.


Glad to know that Jesus Christ
Made it possible for men
To have their sins forgiven
And, like Him, to live again.


So at this joyous season
May the wondrous Easter Story
Renew our Faith so we may be
Partakers of "His Glory!"

by Helen Steiner Rice

Have a ducky day everyone

Need a break

As much as I hate to do this, I really need a break. I'm beginning to let things weigh me down so I'm going to take the next week to refresh myself. I'm hoping that some time away from the computer will help me to put things in to perspective and put myself back on track.
I'll see you all next Monday.

Something different

In honor of the lazy day I'm going to have I'm doing a lazy post and just giving you a video.