Perched

Mr Gibbs is happy about the fact that I moved the furniture around in the Ann cave. With the couch under the window he has the perfect perch to guard his domain.

September happy mail

September happy mail has gone out and been received by both email and snail mail versions so I can show it here now as well

The inside says

Scarecrows, corn rows,

Pumpkins on the vine.

Leaves curl, wind swirls,

Fall is right on time.

The snail mail version also included an altered paper clip.

Christmas has come to Walmart

I was in Walmart last Sunday and they've got all their Christmas decorations out.

Sorry about the bad picture.  

The trees are up too but no lights turned on yet

I hate seeing it all come out so early. 

Layered shadowbox design

I couldn't resist this shadowbox design by my3dsvg.com. I cut it out Saturday and assembled and framed it on Monday

This was the sneak peek from yesterday.  If I were to do this one again I would choose different colors for some of the layers. I cheated on this and used markers to change the color on one of the layers

Crafting

My last two days off have been spent creating.  I worked on October happy mail on Saturday. 

And I worked on another project too. Here's a sneak peek .

Not enough sleep

According to my fitness tracker  I average 61/2 hours of sleep a night. Saturday night I got less than that thanks to a little fur ball who wanted to whine and bark all night.

I'm writing this post Sunday morning at work while I wait for donuts to be ready. Why? Because I predict there will be lots of snoozing on the couch when I get home.

Mums the word

 I'm rather fond of mums yet I have none in my yard. I've thought about getting some potted ones and sitting them out on my porch but chances are they wouldn't last long. I tend to forget to water things in pots.

I went all the way back to 2016 today and found these pictures of mums in my archives. I'm not really sure where I saw them.

My dad's sister Mary (my favorite aunt) had lots of mums this next color all along the one side of her house.

One of us went to the salon

First off, the answer to yesterdays post was a roll of toilet paper. The twine is wrapped through the cardboard roll and around the outside. 

The other day when I posted the video of Gibbs, Grace said someone needs a trip to the salon. She is so right. He's way over due. He hasn't gone yet but I did. I was over due too.

It's  a little messy here but that will happen when you have your hair in a hat all day long.

Can you guess?

 I made this pumpkin a long time ago. According to One drive memories it was 2012 for the picture. That may be about right. I still have it and still put it out every fall. 

Some of you were with me way back when I made this and may remember what I made it from. Do you have any guesses? Come back tomorrow and I'll tell you

A little dose of cuteness.

I mentioned in an email to Sandra that I was out of blog material. She suggested I play with different settings on my camera taking pictures of Gibbs. Well he was all wound up and was barking so I thought I would try to get a video. Of course when I turned the camera on he got quiet. However, he sat there looking cute and the very end just makes me laugh every time I see it. Hope it gives you a smile too.

oops

Nothing to see here today. I totally forgot to schedule a post last night. Hopefully I'll have a proper post for you tomorrow.  I'm doing this one at work while I wait for my donuts to be ready to fry. 

Another nice day

I had a good day off. I slept in till almost 6 then spent the next 3 hours in my pajamas in front of the computer. I couldn't believe I actually sat there that long.

I finally decided I needed to get moving and did a load of laundry. Normally I do that on Saturday but since I was working I got behind. 

Next I decided that I would move the Ann cave around and clean it. It looks nice and tidy now. I was going to put out fall decorations but dragging the tote down and opening it up was as far as I got.

I made a quick run to Walmart also. That was about the extent of my day. It's back to work again this morning.

it's a good day

Just too many things to be happy about today.  

Yesterday I got this text from Amanda

It melted my heart hearing that she thought of me.

Then at work yesterday my son came in the store with Presley. She had the latest card that I mailed to her. She opened it up there and we read it together. ♥️♥️♥️

Last night I lounged on the couch watching TV with Gibbs

Today I don't know what I'll do but there are so many possibilities.  Does it get any better than this?

Last day

Finally. It's the last day before I get a day off. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow.  

Yesterday morning I got a text from Amanda saying she was going to park in my driveway for the parade. I asked her to get me some pictures. More specifically I asked for pics of Presley since she was marching in the parade with the cheerleaders.

She gave Amanda a nice big wave when she spotted her.

Light at the end of the tunnel

 I think I can finally see a glimmer of the light at the end of the tunnel. I just have to make it through today and tomorrow and I can finally have a day off. Let me tell you, I'm ready for it.

I'll be starting at 4am today and tomorrow both. Today I'll be done at noon and tomorrow at 1:00.

Just a bit of what I've had to do on top of my regular work this past week.

Sunday- 50 croissant rolls and 4 French breads

Tuesday- 2 dozen donuts 32 Italian bread

Wednesday- 2 dozen donuts and 45 Italian bread

Thursday- 45 Italian bread

Friday- 1 bag of pepperoni balls and 50 Italian bread.

Today- 5 different donut order for a total of 91/2 dozen donuts (this could be higher if I get to work this morning and find additional orders that came in after I left on Friday) I also have an order for 200 club rolls. 

I think when this is all over with I should treat myself to some retail therapy. 

sometimes it gets discoraging

This trying to lise weight thing is a real pain in the butt. I'm eating healthier (I think) and I've quit evening snacking. I eat things like this for lunch.

This is spinach, green pepper,  tomato,  cucumber and red onion and a couple croutons thrown on. 

The one day I got on the scale and was a total of 8 pounds down. The next day I was up a pound and the day after up another pound. It gets discouraging. 

A fall craft

A few weeks ago I bought these plain wood pumpkins.

I forgot to take a picture before I painted them white.

Then I took some napkins that I bought at Hobby Lobby

And I decoupage them onto the pumpkins

I wrapped the stem with jute twine. I still need to add some leaves and maybe some Spanish moss or raffia.

Get off your high horse.

 How many of you had one of these when you were little?

Not only did I have one but my children had one too. 

I used to get all dolled up and ride my trusty steed to places that only existed in my imagination. Don't believe me? I have proof.

Yes, that is so me. It was a zillion years ago but it was me. I think I was maybe 4. 

Laugh a little

 Even if it's at a corny joke like this one.

How much space should you give fungi?

As mushroom as possible.

 

( image found on clipart-library.com )

I can do this.

 So this week I'm going to be feeling a little snarly and a lot tired. This is fair week and if you've been with me for a while you know how I feel about that. The baking isn't nearly as heavy as it used to be years ago but it's still a hectic week.

This year is a little different. The girl who normally works my days off is taking Saturday as a vacation day. That means I have to work. That means I miss the fair parade that goes right by my house. That means that I have to get up extra early and deal with the massive amounts of donut orders. People tend to like our donuts for watching the parade. I kind of knew that I would end up working Saturday but I figured he would give me another day off during the week. No such luck. I am working  6 days this week for a total of 46 hours. That doesn't sound like a lot of hours but being 61 years old and just worn out it's seems humongous to me.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow and I'll get extra rest to gear up for the week because there won't be another day off until the following Monday.

Hyperlapse

I decided to test the hyperlapse setting on my phones camera. I used Gibbs for my subject. Turns out it takes a little video and makes it move super fast.

I don't know how often I'll use something like this but it might be fun to play with now and then.

Sweet sixteen cake

Can you remember back to when you were sweet sixteen? That seems like a lifetime ago. I do remember being that young though.

I recently decorated a cake at work for a sweet sixteen party

Can you guess what I was watching

There's very little new tv that I enjoy. I often watch old shows. Sometimes I don't even watch. I just have the tv on for background noise. 

From the pictures below, can you guess what old show I watching? 

Did you guess Adam 12? If you did you were absolutely correct.

Why I whine

There is a job that I have to do every single day that I absolutely detest doing. It's called the breakout. What it consists of, is pulling out a very large cart from the freezer with lots of boxes of frozen product. I need to go through every single box to find what I need to pull to bake the next day. These boxes weigh up to thirty five pounds. To conserve space, I often combine boxes which makes them even heavier. 

This is my cart.

The cart itself is a bit of a beast. It's heavy and awkward and isn't always easy to move even though it's on wheels. By the Time I'm done doing this job my back is always hurting. I complain all the time about how I'm getting too old for this. 

Happy mail

Recently I asked if anyone was interested in joining my happy mail list. I had a few people who were interested in getting my hand made cards and a few others. that said they would like an email version. Both versions have been sent and received. So now I'll show you the card that I made.

Nothing fancy, just some scrapbook paper cut on angles. Inside is a handwritten message.

Just a hint of color

I'm Showing my hydrangea bushes again. I started out with just the big one in the center My dad planted that for me many years ago when I first moved in. He got this off of one of the plants he had in front of his house. Last summer when they did the landscaping in front of my house he told me that he had separated a part of the bush and made a second one. Both look very healthy.

There is still only one bloom but now it has a hint of color.

Weight

Over the years, my weight has been up and down and everywhere in between.  Currently I would say I am at an all time high. 

Somewhere around the 20th of August, for some unknown reason, I decided to step on the scale. I was horrified to discover that my weight was even more than I thought it was.

I decided I needed to make a change and although I've done this in the past, I'm going for it one more time. 

First change was to start taking a lunch to work with me. I'm sort of hit or miss with packing a lunch and if I don't I buy something at the store. My choices are not always good ones. So I purchased these divided containers and fill them with healthier choices. The first week it was turkey lunch meat (no bread), a few pickles, some cheese and either cottage cheese or some kind of veggie. I've been careful to keep things at serving size instead of just throwing things in the box.

After one week, I lost 3 pounds. I know it's a small amount, but it's a start and it got me a little bit motivated to keep going. I have totally stopped eating any sweets. For me sweets are like an addictive drug. I eat just one cookie and it leads to more and more. I find myself craving food even when I'm not hungry. Since I've started this I've noticed that I don't have my usual evening cravings. I just hope I can keep this up. This is definitely something I need not only for health reasons but for my own self esteem as well. I feel much better about myself when I'm at a healthy weight.

Spellbinders clubs

About a year ago I joined a stamp and small die club of the month on Spellbinders.com. After a year of getting them and using very few, I decided that maybe I should try a different club. I Switched to the small die of the month club and got my first delivery a week or so ago. This wasn't to use on a card, it was just a practice run to see how it all went together. 

You could use this for any season just by changing the colors you use for the dress and the flowers. There are also flower and leave dies included but I didn't make any of those.  I kind of liked it however the pieces are rather small so can be a bit fidgety for older hands like mine. I think I'll try this club for a while. and if I discover that once again, I'm not using them, I'll stop and give it up. Or maybe I won't considering the fact that craft supplies seem to be my weakness. 

Cake

Holy smokes! Welcome to September. I just can't get over how fast time if flying by. 

Now on to today's subject. 

Here's a picture of the latest cake I did at work.

Another one with balloons. The last time I posted a picture of a cake with balloons Donna had a suggestion on how to do them. Well I did give that a try before I made this cake. I did a few practice balloons on my table but they weren't coming out too good. Usually it's the strings on the balloons that end up looking terrible but they didn't come out too bad on this one.