Gated community

 I bet you didn't know that I live in a gated community. I have gates everywhere in my house to keep Gibbs from wandering and getting himself in trouble.

First there is the gate that confines him to the part of the basement where he spends his day while I'm at work. He also sleeps here at night because he can't be trusted in my bedroom. This keeps him out of the Ann cave

There is also another gate there to keep him from going over to the other part of the basement. If I let him have access to that part he will lift his leg on every single thing that sits over there.

Next up is the newest gate that keeps him from going all the way into the Ann cave while I'm on my computer. If I'm not paying close enough attention to him, he would lift his leg on things here as well. While I'm busy on the computer he will go over in his section and lay on his bed and be a good boy.

Then there is the gate that keeps him from going upstairs while we are in the Ann cave watching tv. This is mostly needed for those times when I might fall asleep while watching tv and he thinks it would be a good opportunity to explore the upstairs and see what he can lift his leg on.

Are you noticing a pattern here? I know you find it hard to believe that Gibbs would behave so ungentlemanly but it's true. With careful observation he has gotten better but he still can't be trusted.

Out my front window.

 You just never know what you might see when you look out the window.

One day I spotted this truck parked in front of my house. One of the houses across the street was having a birthday party for their daughter. I'm assuming they rented a bounce house or whatever you call those things.

Crazy monkey, go bananas

Sometimes it's wildlife I spot when I look out the window. I opened the blinds in the Ann cave the one day and there sitting near my car was a rabbit. I grabbed the phone real quick in hopes of getting a few pictures. This guy was frozen in place while I snapped.

Week 6 drawings.

Not all my drawings come out so good but I'll show them all here any way. It's not about being good or bad any way. It's all about enjoying the process.

I think I should have left the mustache off of this guy.

This might possibly be worlds ugliest mermaid.

I was very happy with the next two and the cat may be one of my favorites.

More fancy lettering

 On most days I'm doing one page of the fancy lettering right after I do my daily drawing. Here's some more. I don't know if I'm getting any better or not but it's been fun.

These are all practice lessons in the book that I have.

Bringing the outside in

 I don't know why, but I rarely cut and bring flowers inside. The way my hydrangea looked this year though I couldn't help but cutting some. I found the vase at Walmart for 50% off and it was only $3 or $5 to begin with.

These are sitting on the little table near my front door where I set my car keys. I see them every day when I'm leaving and again when I come home. 

Cakes again

 Just a couple more cakes today. I kind of feel like all the cakes I make look the same. It's rare that I get a request for anything that asks for something out of the ordinary.\

First is a 1/4 sheet cake. 

Then my least favorite is a full sheet cake.

Last t-ball game

 T-ball season went by really fast. It seems like I just started going to Presley's games and then it was the last one. I didn't make it to all of them but I did go to one a week. It sure was fun to watch her and her team mates as they learned the game.

At the end of the game the coach had them all line up and he did a trophy presentation for each one of them.

Here's Presley posing with hers for me. 

I'm hoping that she plays again next year too.

Another new hobby

 In addition to the drawing every day, I've added something new. I decided I wanted to learn how to do fancy lettering. I'm still learning and these are pretty rough but it's another enjoyable way to spend an evening. I purchased a book called Hand Lettering for Relaxation. It has blank pages in it for practicing all the lessons. I didn't want to write in the book though and I have quite a few sketch books. I decided I would do the lessons in one of those.

I've since learned to use a ruler instead of relying on my ability to write in a straight line. I don't know if I'm getting any better or not but I've enjoyed doing this.

Week 5 drawings.

 Here's another weeks worth of drawings. I did an extra one during this week. Enlarge to see pictures better.

For this one I had no idea what I wanted to draw. I think I may have googled drawing a blank and it came up with a picture of a pencil drawing a line.

These are actually in the opposite order of when I drew them. Just when I think I've got it figured out how blogger is going to upload pictures, it changes on me.

Early Fall purchases

 The last time I went to Hobby Lobby they had all their fall items 40% off. It seems rather crazy that it wasn't even July 4th yet and they were already reducing their fall items. Crazy or not, I decided to take advantage of the lower price before everything was all picked over. 

I purchased three items and all were rather inexpensive.

The gnome is definitely fall but I figured the squirrels are good for all seasons and can be a nice addition to all the other things I have in the Ann cave

Things you've already seen

 Today is all things I've already posted about but thought I would do a little update.

First is the window clings I made. They are now decorating my kitchen window. Thankfully you can't tell in the picture how dirty my window is.

Next up is the planters that have been placed down the main street in town. These were made by the high school. While I was covering a break the one day I took another picture because now the lilies have bloomed.

I couldn't help taking yet another picture of my hydrangea. They are just so impressive this year. The one day I saw the guy across the street walking down the sidewalk with his little ones. He stopped to point out the flowers on my hydrangea.

And finally, the lilac bush that Amanda gave me is still alive. 

Work doodles

 Here are two more work doodles. I just can't stop.

Book bind explosion card.

 I'll just let the video do all the explanation today.

Out back

I have a spot in the back corner of my yard where the shed used to sit. It's not the most attractive but it's the spot where I end up dumping all yard clippings. Weeds, branches from the forsythia, all get dumped here. The guys who mow avoid that spot I'm guessing because they have no idea what's actually there. I took the push mower out the other day and worked on cutting down some of the overgrown weeds that are growing there. 

But first...

...I took some pictures.