I've got my eye on you

This picture just makes me laugh

Happy Friday and farewell to January. February here we come.

Random stuff

Sunday night when I went to let Gibbs out it was snowing pretty hard so I tried to get a picture. This is what I ended up with

The other day I was pulling out product for the next day and I pulled this case of pre-fried cake donuts from the freezer. When I saw Breakfast Donuts I got to wondering if there are lunch donuts or dinner donuts. Yeah, my brain just works that way.

I did another cake at work last Friday. Turns out it wasn't due until this Friday. It was for a Saturday morning and so the deli manager who works bakery on Saturday  said she would do my breakout (a job I hate) if I would do the cake. Neither one of us checked the date just saw Saturday and assumed incorrectly that it was for that week. She ended up putting it in the freezer. If I take it out this Friday and it doesn't look ok I'll redo it and cut this one up to put out.

A Valentines Day reverse canvas

I saw this idea on Pinterest and liked the looks of it so I made one for myself. This one is done on a 5x7 canvas.

Special delivery

I mad a quick and fun Valentine decoration.

I bought a little tin mailbox from Dollar Tree and painted a wood candle stick holder white.

Then I glued the candle stick holder to the bottom of the mailbox and tied some bakers twine around it to make a little bow.

It doesn't get much easier than that.

Birthday party

Yesterday was a pretty long day. I think I woke up at around 2 and couldn't get back to sleep. Then the alarm went off at 4. I went right to Presleys party after work because it's easier on Gibbs if I'm late rather than go home let him out and then leave him again. But that isn't what this post is about. This is about the party.

My phone takes horrible pictures so I stole these from my daughters Facebook page. First the cake that I made for her.

I found the tea set at Walmart for $4.97. You can't really see it too well in the picture but the teapot has steam coming out of it. I made that with some tulle fabric wrapped around a white fuzzy stick (kind of like a pipe cleaner but from the craft department) Then I made a number 2 and covered it with glitten and glued it into the steam.

Then just some random pictures. None with the cowgirl boots on since she took those off about 5 minutes after we got there.

I think she liked the doll that her aunt Amanda got her.

Party day

Today is Presleys birthday party. I'll be doing the cake at work today and then going to her party right after I get out of work. Hopefully I'll get some pictures while I'm there to share with you tomorrow or the next day.

Saturday I stopped at my sons house to pick up the dress Presleys mom bought for her party. She saw one online that had a tea kettel with the word two cut out of it. I told her I could add the decal to a dress or shirt. I tend to doubt my abilities so I was a bit nervous about putting this on since I've never done it on clothes before. I was thrilled that it came out ok.

She also bought her a pair of leggings to go with this and cowgirl boots. I can't wait to see the whole outfit on her.

Reveal

So today I'll show you what I made. At least one of the things I made. I have another Valentines day craft that I'll save for another post.

I started out with some bottles that I recycled from the deli department at work.

These sweet and sour sauce bottles went from looking like this

To looking like this.

The pink and red bottles I brushed on mod podge and then applied tissue paper. I wasn't careful about getting out wrinkles. I wanted the added texture. The white one I tried painting the bottle first but had paint chipping off rather easy. Then I did the mod podge and white tissue paper it will keep any more paint from scraping off but still give it a bit of a chippy look. I finished them off by adding the jute twine around the top. I may or may not add ribbon to them.  The glitter hearts were ones that I bought at the dollar store.

Preview

I've been in the mood for crafting and I started working on some Valentines decorations. Of course I don't have any pictures ready to show off just yet but I'll give you this one that doesn't really reveal much of anything.

Right now my craft room is a bit of a mess and I'm finding it difficult to get myself to clean it up. It also makes it hard to go in there and want to do any crafting.

I just had to

I know some of you have already seen these on Facebook but I just had to post them here too.

The photographer is my sons neighbor. Presleys mom is a hair stylist/make up artist and the two of them exchange services. Presley gets lots of professional photos taken of her.

Oh and I almost forgot. This little lady turned 2 today.

Guess what day it is.

It's Gibbs day.

What? You were expecting a camel to tell you it was hump day?

Every little things gonna be alright.

Sunday was this years first monthly family dinner. I got home from work and popped dinner in the oven. The weather was horrible but it was still on. Then my daughter said she wasn't going to be able to make it. Later my son texted to say Presley had just fell asleep and they would be over when she woke up. I told him I knew it was crappy out and I would understand if they didn't want to come out. Then the next thing I knew my daughter was able to come over after all. We ate and were sitting around and then quite late for dinner my son and his family showed up. Hey that's what microwaves are for. The evening ended with the perfect moment. Presleys mom said give grandma a hug and she came running to me with a huge smile. Then she said give her a kiss and she walked back and turned her head so I could kiss her cheek. No pictures from the eveing since I chose to just enjoy the company

Monday the storm had passed, the sun was shining and I headed over to Walmart to buy a new shower head since mine had broken. The thermometer in my car read 12 degress but it looked beautiful out. I think some of those clouds are actually dirty spots on my car window.

Coming down my road I see a truck pulling in my driveway. A friend of Wades was there to plow for me.
After I had some lunch I installed the new shower head turned on the water to see if all was well and the faucet was leaking like crazy. I quick call to my son and he came over to fix it.

So every little thing really is going to be alright

Winter blast

I shouldn't complain because so far, we've been really lucky with the weather this winter. It's been quite mild and the snow has been next to nothing. Just because I shouldn't doesn't mean I won't. I can't help it. We had a blast of winter yesterday. It snowed all day long.

I'm just glad that I don't have to go to work today. I can guarantee that this is one day off that I won't be going anywhere.

Believe it or not

The weather turned rather wintry here. Friday we had a little snow and Saturday morning when I looked out my kitchen window I saw this.

That is not an edited picture. That is a layer of ice on my window. The sliding glass door wasn't as covered as the window but still lots of ice.

I wasn't thrilled about having to go out in that but I had an appointment at H&R Block to get my taxes done. Thankfully they are only a 1/2 mile down the road. That was my second shock for the day. I had my taxes done there last year because with Wade being deceased I didn't want to miss anything and screw it up. I decided just to go ahead and get them done there again this year. When she was finished filling out my return she informed me that their fee had gone up this year and it now cost $148. WHAT? Are you kidding me? It was bad enough that my refund is less than half of what Wade and I used to get together but then that fee on top of it. Next year I won't be going back there.

Rob and Jaysen

I don't know who they are but they're having a birthday. Not only that but the person who ordered the cake only asked for blue and white so I liked them.

Smile

I'll go first and then you follow along.

“Use your smile to change the world; don’t let the world change your smile.”– Chinese Proverb
“Always find opportunities to make someone smile, and to offer random acts of kindness in everyday life.”– Roy T. Bennett
“Everyone smiles in the same language.”– George Carlin

Cheating

Today I'm cheating and posting a couple things I've posted on Facebook. I hope they make you laugh like they did me.

Change is gonna do you good.

I have lived in my house for 32 years. In that entire time there has never been curtains on my kitchen window.  A couple weeks ago I was trying to do dishes and the sun was blinding me. I grabbed a tension rod I had and some fabric and made a makeshift curtain while I washed dishes. I decided I liked it and wanted real curtains.

While looking at the ones in the store I really couldn't decide and ended up getting some plain white ones. They were a 3 piece set with 2 panels and 1 valance. I didn't use the valance because the panels were large enough that they went from the top of the window to the bottom.

Since I may not always want them closed I pushed them open and didn't really like the way they looked. I thought tie backs, that's what they need. I think I'll make some. But with what? That's the nice thing about having a craft stash. There is always something you can use. I grabbed some burlap & lace ribbon and some jute twine.

The jute was used to bind the ends of the ribbon and make a loop to attach to the hooks I put on the wall.

They aren't fancy but then neither am I. The other thing is, in the entire 32 years that I've lived here this is the first time that it's entirely my decision what happens in this house. I can actually make it ALL mine without having to consider someone elses thoughts or likes and dislikes. Slowly, as I can afford it I intend to create a space that suits my taste.

I get by with a little help from my friend.

And we all know that my BFF is this guy.

He's never said for sure but I think I'm his best friend too. Even so he likes hanging out with these guys too.

Numbers

Here we go again. The magic number is 6. The customer who ordered that awful combination of yellow, pink, purple, blue and orange ordered another cake. Again, the awful color combination.

I was told by the person who took the order that those are apparently the favorite colors of each of the granchildren.

It's seems to me since it's Papas birthday, the cake should be HIS favorite color.

Ducks

These ducks have absolutely nothing to do with the topic of this post. But then again I'm not quite sure what the topic of this post is so maybe they do.

I could say that these ducks are a lot like me because they get up at the quack of dawn. Maybe you'll even quack up when read this post.

I'm going to duck out of here now and wish you all a good day.

Time to make the donuts

The other day Ginny left this comment on my post.
Such cute snowman! But wait...you get up at 4:20??? Yikes! Or maybe that was just to let Gibbs out, I hope so.

Well  the answer is yes. I do get up at 4:20 almost every day. I start work at 6 because that's when it's time to make the donuts.

I actually get to work a half hour early so I can put the donuts in what's called a proof box. That is a box that uses a combination of heat and humidity to help the dough rise. Once I put the donuts in there then I go sit and read until it's time to punch in. Some people might think I'm crazy for doing that but if I don't then I'm standing around waiting for the donuts to be ready to fry. It just makes my life easier.

Getting up at 4:20 gives me plenty of time to get dressed and then sit and drink my coffee while I read blogs. On Sunday mornings however, I start work at 5:00 instead of 6:00. Sundays I get up at 4:00 and while that's plenty of time to get dressed and ready to go it doesn't give me time for coffee and blog reading.

Most stores with a bakery no longer fry their donuts. They are using a thaw and finish donut. They simply pull already fried donuts from a freezer and when they are thawed they finish them with glaze or frosting. While it's less work for the baker, the end product isn't nearly as good.

You are powerless.

With the help of my trusty lazer beams, I will render you powerless. It is useless to attempt to resist.

Listen carefully. You will send me endless amounts of treats. I repeat. Endless amounts of treats.

snow day

Yesterday was a cold and blustery day. I woke up somewhere between 2 and 3 in the morning and heard thunder. When I got up at 4:20 I thought I was going to have to stand by the door and wait for Gibbs while he did his business because I thought it was raining. When I opened the door I was surprised by the snow that was covering the ground. The temp by the time I left work for the day was 27 with a real feel of 12.

It may have been cold outside...

...but these snowmen in my house were nice and cozy warm.

I wonder what that is.

Part of my job includes doing what is called a breakout. This is pulling the various frozen dough products to be baked the next day. For over 20 years I've been doing this. Yesterday I saw something I have never noticed before. I had just pulled a new case of pumpernickel bread from the freezer. The box looks the same as it always has except what are those markings? I've never seen those before.

Not only have I never seen them before but what the heck are they supposed to mean.?

First one of the year

I've talked before about the annoying cake order I've gotten at work. This is the first one for 2020

It started with a deli girl taking a phone order. She comes to me saying the customer wants to know if I can do Batman. I say I don't have anything Batman to put on a cake and I can't draw anything because of copyright infringement. She goes back to the phone finishes the order and then comes and tells me she wants a cake for two people. One side is for a boy and she wants a soccer ball, the other side is for a girl and she wants unicorns.

A couple days later there is a note hanging when I get to work. It says customer called back, wants one side of the cake to have a ninja playing soccer and the other side unicorns and ballet slippers..
Now I need to make a call. I tell the lady I do flowers and I can handle a ball or something simple but I don't do ninjas or unicorns or ballet slippers.  I say I can do the soccer ball and pink and purple flowers on the girls side.

My order form now looks like this.

Even after talking to her myself I still wasn't sure what she wanted on the girls side. I suggested flowers and then she said something about a basketball. Oh and lets not forget that I hate doing tons of colors. Would you like to count the number of different colors on this cake with me? That's 7 different colors.

Did she like it? I have no idea. It said that she would be there 10am at the earliest to pick it up but when I left at 2:30 she still hadn't picked it up.