A golden glow

The other day I looked out the front window and noticed the way the sun was shining on the tree in my front yard gave the leaves a golden glow.

It made the leaves look like they had already changed colors

When they are still very much green with a lot of brown spots on them.

Starfish wishes

I came home from work to find a nice surprise in my mailbox yesterday. Diane from Lavender Dreams sent me lovely package
I just love the saying on that card. The colors in the fabric ribbon are beautiful and that teacup coaster is just the sweetest.

She even included a little package of beach treasures.

Thanks so much Diane. I loved it all.

An even dozen

Last Saturday I brought the total on the Christmas cards to an even dozen.

Sending birthday wishes

Today would have been Wade's 61st birthday. I found this picture in some of his things. I didn't know him back then but I'm guessing this may have been his senior portrait

This was from 2007 at one of his family reunions. I believe that is one of his cousins. I only saw her a handful of times so I can't even rememer her name.

Please excuse Ann for being absent

Friday when I got home from work I was totally out of steam. I plopped on the couch and didn't move much until it was bed time. To make up for not being here yesterday I have some cake for you today.

I'm sure Wendy won't mind if I cut up her birthday cake for my blog pals.

The first six

I told you the other day that I'm working on making my Christmas cards for this year. I have six done so far. These are a pretty simple card, nothing overly fancy. They are all the same with one small exception. The words Merry Christmas was stamped in green on half of the cards and red on the other half.

I have enough of the patterned paper to do six more just like these. Then I may do some additional ones that require a little more effort, maybe a pop up type card.

Reflection

Another picture from the park. I did some adjustments to this one.

Below is the before and after. The top is the straight off the camera shot and the below is after my adjustments. Sometimes I wonder if I go too far. I know the answer to that is yes, sometimes I do. This time I think I did ok though.

A stroll in the park

Oddly enough I came home from work yesterday not feeling the least bit tired. Since Gibbs has been longly looking at his poor neglected leash I thought I would take him for a little walk in the park. We drove to the park so the car ride was an added bonus.
While he sniffed all the new things I took pictures.

All in a day off

It was mostly a very lazy day off yesterday. I took my good old sweet time lounging in my pajamas drinking coffee and reading blogs.

Once I got myself dressed I did some playing in the craft room. I know it sounds pretty early for this but I decided that I wanted to make my Christmas cards this year. I got some supplies together and had some fun.

When I was done with that I layed down on the couch and took a nap. That was followed by a trip to Walmart for dog food and a few groceries.

I think every road leading in/out of the small town I live in is currently under construction. There's no escaping it.

Do over

Sometimes in life you do get to have a do over. A second chance to get things right or make different choices.

I showed you this charger a while back that I had painted. My plan was to put a quote on it in black vinyl but the more I looked at it the more I just didn't like it.

With the help of a can of spray paint I got a do over. After spraying two coats of this tan color and letting it dry, I sanded off the edges and over the little bumps around the edge.

Then I cut my vinyl and applied it to the charger

After setting the charger in a small easel I simply laid the fall picks in front of it. They aren't permanently attached that way I can change it with the seasons.

Now if I could only get a do over on my days off. I could use a few more of them.

A whole lot of nothing

Yesterday after a slow start I headed out the door to get my glasses fixed. A week or so ago one of the leses fell out and I couldn't find the screw anywhere. The only reason it took me so long to go get them fixed is because it's a bit of a drive and I just haven't felt like going.

If I'm going to take the 30 minute drive I may as well make it worth the trip and I stop at Michaels, AC Moore, Hobby Lobby and a couple other stores I only go to when I'm over that way. A.C. Moore is inside the mall and while I was in there it started pouring. Rather than go out in the rain I figured I would walk through the mall until it let up.

With all the stores I went to I came home with only 1 thing.

Best of all I didn't even pay for it. This was absolutely free. While I was browsing through Yankee Candle the clerk told me to make sure to get my free car jar before I left. They were giving them out to everyone, no purchase required.

What a pig

A while back Sandra tagged me in a post on Facebook. It was a picture of a cake and when I saw it I knew I had to try and make it for my sons fiance. Her birthday was yesterday so I took this over to her.

Mine isn't exactly like the picture Sandra posted on Facebook but it's close enough. The one I copied was a taller cake and it had a bow on top of it. This was my first attempt at using fondant. We don't use it at the store so I had to go buy some to use for this. Too bad you can't see his curly little tail on the back side. I wasn't completely happy with the eyes, I wished I would have used a smaller tip but they are what they are.

On the way home.

I almost forgot about the picture I took on my way home from the park on Monday. Instead of going back the way I went I set google maps for home and let her tell me which way to go. I ended up on some roads that I've never traveled before. I liked the view of this field so I pulled over and took a picture.

That about wraps it up for what I have from Monday. I guess tomorrow I need to find a new subject.

Flowers in the park

Along with breathtaking views there were also lots of flowers to be seen in the park.

I was drawn to this one that had lost all its petals.

In several places there were little gardens that were filled with a variety of flowers.

I loved the color of this lily.

More from the park.

Back again today to show you some more pictures from that beautiful park. While I was there I did see one trail and started to walk it but it was a pretty big incline and I didn't think I was up to it. I'll have to go back another day and see if there are other trails.

As I was walking along I noticed this tree root and a little tunnel underneath it. I wonder what little creature uses this or maybe it leads to a magical fairy land.

From where I was standing to take this next picture, you can see what a drop off that is if you get too close to the edge. Some spots will allow you to get up as close as that tree you see there. In other spots there are trees marked much further back warning to not go any closer.

I just liked this picture for some reason.

Tomorrow I'll have flowers that I spotted in the park.

A day off with a view

I decided to spend part of my day off doing something that I don't normally do. I took a little drive and visited a park that is not too far from my house. It's about a 20 minute drive. 

This park is located right along Lake Erie. There are no beaches that I saw but the views are breathtaking. I parked and walked up towards a very nice picnic pavilion.

There were a few cars there but not many. It was peaceful and totally beautiful.

I would have to say I love this park

You are high above the lake and in most places you can't get a good look down but this spot allowed me to get rather close. There are places marked all along the bluff warning you not to get closer to the edge.

I took lots of pictures while I was there so this will be a 3 part post. More coming tomorrow.

Just one

Every year I take pictures of my hydrangea bush. I've had a few years where it hasn't bloomed at all and plenty where it's been loaded. This year I have exactly one flower on the whole bush.

My dad planted this for me either the first or second spring that we were in this house. It came from one of the bushes he had in his yard. For that reason alone, it's my favorite thing in my yard.

Down

Most days I feel happy and love life. Yesterday was not one of those days. I'm not looking for sympathy, it's just that this is what I have to write about. It was one of those days where I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. I'm irritated that I can't even find someone to hire to make some necessary repairs. Add to that the feeling of being totally alone in the world. I have friends at work but we don't socialize outside of work. I really have no family any more other than 2 children who have no time or desire to even call me. I've called them hoping it would jump start communication but after so many attempts and being ignored in between I've had enough.

Tomorrow the sun will rise and I will be past this but for today I will just let it be. I took a little stroll through Pinterest to find encouraging words.

In case you were wondering.

A while back I had mentioned that I had a project lined up using a charger plate. Well I kind of stalled out on that one.
I took a gold Dollar Tree charger plate and spray painted it black then dry brushed it with some off white. I can't decide if I like the look or I want to paint over it.

In the meantime I took a silver Dollar Tree platter and painted it as well. This one I started with black then off white and added some gold metallic. Again, can't decide if I like it or not. It's supposed to look aged and I think I accomplished that.

Even though I didn't know if I liked the look of the silver platter I found a quote I liked and was going to cut it from vinyl and put it on this tray. I cut it twice and messed it up twice. I got frustrated and decided to walk away.



So now I have these two waiting for me to do something with them.

If that wasn't enough I painted a 5x7 Dollar Tree stretched canvas for another project I have in mind. I may need to repaint this because the paint job looks horrible. Of course it could be the paint I used. It's a bit on the old side.

So that's what I have waiting for me to work on. I may decide to finish these or I may start an entirely new project.

Another card

I have yet another card that I made on my long weekend. I had a really hard time with this one. Not so much the assembly part but with picking out papers to use. Matching colors and patterns has always been a struggle for me. Sometimes more than others and this one really gave me trouble. In the end I was pleased with what I chose.

When you see the inside, you'll notice that I used a different paper for the top of the cupcake. I was going to use that same paper on the front of the card but I didn't like it. I considered using it and covering it some glitter but then I remembered that I had some glitter foam so I used that to cut the top of the cupcake. I liked the look.

Now for the inside. This is another pop up. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the little swirly things. I don't care for where I put them but it'll do.

I was going to do 2 small cupcakes along with the big one but ended up just doing what you see here. I spent way too much time making this one. Maybe the more I make them the less time it will take me.
This is just another view of the inside.

Yikes

Last weekend I was out on the deck and happened to look up at the vent from the stove hood.

It actually doesn't serve any purpose anymore because the hood was replaced with a over the stove microwave and that fan isn't vented outside. Any way, it didn't look quite right and I took a closer look.

Holy smokes!!! How long has that thing been building? I made a trip to Walmart for some wasp and hornet spray. I am not about to share my home with these guys.