Babysitting assignment completed. (Pshew!!)

Well, we had our first experience at dog sitting over the past week. Despite some unanticipated issues, we managed to return Nelson to his rightful owners fairly intact and unblemished. I did get sick during the week, which reduced my energy and the ability to fully execute my duties in a meaningful and conscientious manner. But all in all, he got good care (oh yeh, and I'm fine too).

The other thing was a little tif between Nelson and Finn. Okay, it was an all out teeth baring row, and SCARY, although it was brief and very typically dog-like. We gave them each a treat (Chew-eez) and Finn finished his first and thought he would be nice and go help Nelson with his. Naturally Nelson wasn't too keen on the idea and he let Finn know how he felt in no uncertain terms.

But they played and they played and they played the whole rest of the time.

Abby's Birthday - July 1

It is my first granddaughter's fifth birthday. Oh my - it is just not fair that they grow up so fast!! But I guess we (or they) wouldn't want it any other way. Please stop over at http://wishingclouds.blogspot.com/ to take a look at all of her birthday pictures.

Here is a picture of Abby at the first grandparents day (she is the one in the navy blue) that I attended this spring for her preschool. Their class did some songs and we listened to a storyteller. We had a treat that her class made especially for their grandparents. Abby was an absolute love!!!

Most importantly, though, is our fun relationship and the opportunity that I have to go to her events. I was not able to have that priviledge and my girls were not able to have their maternal grandma, either. I am loving being a grandma!! It is all fun and no pressure! Happy Birthday little one -- Grandma loves you with all of her heart.

A Peck of Pickled Peppers

I think that produce can be some of the most beautiful natural items in the world. I actually think that in some cases they surpass flowers. Imagine yourself in a beautiful produce department at the grocery store, with all the beautiful colors; or at a farm stand in the fall, with the squashes and pumpkins.

I have loved the stoplight peppers for ever and have been meaning to get a picture, so I finally took the time to do that. Aren't they the most beautiful thing? I absolutely love them!

I snapped another picture when I noticed someone else admiring them too!!!

From snow to beach....

Wow, I guess it has been a while since I blogged. Not sure why, just not much happening. When I opened my blog and saw that the last time I was on was in March with pictures of snow, I couldn't believe it.

Anyhow, now it is nearly summer officially and we are on vacation at St. Simons island in GA. Of course, it is a bit warmer here than in central Ohio, but wanted to share the difference between the last blog and this one.

More personal trivia, quiz style

I found another "who are you?" quiz. It seems that in this technological age of social networking, people keep coming up with all kinds of games, quizzes and other ways to keep us all engaged while online. I am not particularly a games person, unless they are real games played on the kitchen table with a bowl of popcorn; but I do occasionally get pulled into these little questionnaires which sort of 'check in' on your reality and what you are doing and who you are. Just another little way to spend time in cyberspace.

I have been home from work for 2 days with migraine issues, which skews my answers. I will take it again in a week and see the differences. In the meantime, have at it! I am putting some pictures of our neighborhood in the snow from several weeks ago - since it is one of my favorite times.


Time of Day? morning - 6 am
Your Cell Phone? Blackberry

Your Hair? colored

Your Mother? at peace

Your Father? at peace

Your Favorite Food? Pizza

Your Dream Last Night? Headache dreams

Your Favorite Drink? unfortunately, soda

Your Dream/Goal? Create art

What Room Are You In? Living Room

Your Hobby? Crafts

Your Fear? Snakes

Where Do You See Yourself In 6 Years? retired (but on to something new)

Where Were You Last Night? Home

Something That You Aren’t? Dishonest (or thin)

Muffins? Cream Cheese or Cinnamon

Wish List Item? not one thing comes to mind

Where Did You Grow Up? Northern Indiana

Last Thing You Did? Sleep (it is 6am)

What Are You Wearing? Flannel

Your TV? Off

Your Pets? dog and cat

Friends? Loyal

Your Life? Quiet

Your Mood? Still sleepy

Missing Someone? Always

Vehicle? Hundai Sonata

Something You Aren’t Wearing? Shoes

Your Favorite Store? JoAnns

Your Favorite Color? Blue

When Was The Last Time You Laughed? it's been a day or two

Last Time You Cried? Wednesday

Your Best Friend? my sister

One Place You Go To Over And Over Again? grocery store

Facebook? tired of reading about farms

Favorite Place To Eat? Panera - bagels

Oscar Goodies

Everyone is talking about the Oscars this weekend. As I was surfing, I came across these absolutely darling treats and had to share. Aren't they cute?

Topsy Turvy

The family was all together this past weekend and a great time was had by all. Lunch out with girls together for girl time, and guys bonding over their Indian food, a little scrabble, some Olympic action, homemade pizza and two adorable little girls. I wanted to share a couple of darling pictures. In the first set, Aunt Lissy was holding Lily and allowing her to bend backward to get an upside down view of the world. Lissy would pull her back up and Lily would immediately flop back down again. Over and over again. Lily eventually got tired of Lissy pulling her back up and well, you can see how she took care of that situation. I took the pictures from the floor under the the coffee table in front of the couch where Aunt Lissy and the little monkey were sitting. Her "anchor" is the underside of the coffee table. Too cute!!!






I was especially taken with the totally wonderful fashion sense of my little Abby and just had to share that as well. I picked up a tutu skirt for her when Carrie and I went to the Carter outlet. Of course, she loved it and had to try it on as soon as we got home. On it went, over the jeans. Then she had to go downstairs to show Papaw and Uncle Chad, so on went the 'Hello Kitty' boots. That's our Abby? Isn't she darling?????

My sweatshirt

I am putting away a sweatshirt today, a very special sweatshirt. It is an ordinary hooded sweatshirt, green and gray in color, with a Bloomingdales logo on it. It is nothing extraordinary – just a common garden-variety sweatshirt. I generally liked it from a sporty warm apparel viewpoint when I bought it, but didn’t realize that it would serve an entirely different purpose as I progressed through life. I have probably had this sweatshirt for easily 20 years or more. It has been with me through the years and it is one that I turn to when I cannot face the world. It is big (oversized) and has a typical muff style pocket and a generous hood. It is the “womb” that I return to when things seem to be more than I can bear. I can pull my arms inside the sweatshirt and pull up the hood and it literally envelopes me. I have been through a tough period lately and the sweatshirt was pulled off the top shelf of the closet, to help me through. It has been my friend, in many ways. I never really thought of it this way, until recently, when I discovered how much I want to wear it when I am feeling down. As I share this in my blog, I am also aware that I would have never written these most personal thoughts even as recently as a year or two ago, but as I grow older it seems pointless to avoid and hide away the struggles that I have in my life.

The fact is that depression is a fact of life for me and when the normal everyday bumps in life hit me, they hit me twice as hard as many people. However, I know that there are many people who are also like me who just don’t have the strength and grit to barrell on ahead in spite of difficult circumstances. Oh how I wish that I had that strength and grit. But I will never stop trying to attain it! I actually think of myself as a survivor in many ways. My life has been a patchwork of dysfunctional relationships and I have worked through all of them and consider myself successful in many ways. I have raised two beautiful young women. I have completed my education and worked steadily for 30 years. I have a husband who loves me. So don’t feel sorry for me – I don’t hesitate to do what I need to do to take care of myself (I’m continuing to learn). But sometimes, I just need to put on that old sweatshirt, tuck in my arms, pull on my hood and get into bed. And that’s okay! I’ll get up again, I promise.

New sewing room

My husband has been working very hard on my new sewing room. It is now complete and I absolutely love it. Now I have to get in there and sew, sew, sew. As you can see, he installed countertops to work on and hand made the two cabinets. In addition, he framed my design board, which is not shown here. I am such a lucky girl!!!!

Oh, and Max likes it too, as you can see. I even have the shelves organized now. Sorry they are such a mess in the picture.

Chai Tea Latte

Nothing, well -almost nothing, makes me happier than a good cup of Chai tea latte. I get one from the coffee house when I really want to spoil myself, or I just really need a lift (or it just sounds good). My fascination and love of Chai tea was not immediate. It took a little while to develop, but oh how I love it now!! Well, it just so happens that I happened upon a recipe for Chai tea concentrate when I was surfing the web, so I decided to make a batch and see how it tasted.

I gathered together the ingredients and started the process, which turned out to be extremely simple. Basically it is just sweetened condensed milk and spices. We buy many of our spices from Penzeys, which I will take a minute to plug. We started getting them by mail back in Indiana and when we got to Columbus ten years ago, lo and behold there is a Penzeys store here. It surely must be considered one of Leon's favorite places to go. He loves trying new spices and I love having them in the house for my use as well. So a couple of the spices I used are from Penzeys. Try them - they are fresher and cheaper per unit than grocery store spices.

So I put together the sweetened milk and the spices and here is the final result. It took a grand total of 5 miutes. The idea is to add a couple of tablespoons to your hot brewed tea. I use Earl Gray tea almost exclusively, but I think there are other black teas that can be used.
My final opinion is that it is pretty good, but you have to play a bit with the amounts in the recipe and in adding the concentrate to your tea. Here is the recipe....

Chai concentrate
1 - 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 t granulated sugar
1 t ground cardmom
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t ground nutmeg

Mix the ingredients and store in the refrigerator (up to 6 months). Makes enough for about 28 cups of chai.

To use: Brew a cup of strong black teas, such as Assam, then add two heaping teaspoons of concentrate or more to taste. Stir well until concentrate has fully melted.

A great gift idea - pour into small jars with lids and tie with an attractive bow. Attach a tag with instructions to keep the mix refrigerated and how to use it.

It was a great Valentines Day

As Leon and I continue to work on downplaying some of the holidays, it is fun to celebrate anyhow. It is really just the commercialization and having to "keep up" that we are trying to avoid, or at least I am. Anyhow, I did get a very commercial and such fun gift this year anyhow, as you can see. I have been fascinated with the Pandora beads and have bought a couple of knockoffs, just for fun. Well, Leon apparently noticed and got me a real Pandora bracelet and one bead. It is very cool and as you can see, the theme of the bead is "hearts". I had a hard time getting a really good close-up, but think you can get an idea of what it looks like.(plus it is really silver, I don't know why it looks gold) .......Oh what did I get him? a package of Lindt white chocolate truffles, his favorite!!! Didn't want to look like I was trying to keep up!?!?

I do have a responsibility, however, on Valentines Day to make sure that my little ones get a surprise from Grandma. Under normal circumstances, I would/should make them something, but life has been crazy lately. So I quickly dashed to the store and grabbed whatever I could find, stuffed it into an envelope and rushed to the post office to get it to them by Valentines Day. Seems I am always running late on that sort of thing, but made it just in the nick of time. However, I thought that Valentines Day was the 12th when it is really the 14th, so all the rushing, and hurrying was for naught. It is actually my nephews birthday on the 12th. But they got their surprises in plenty of time anyhow and I wished my nephew a very happy birthday actually ON his birthday. So happy Valentines Day, little ones, Grandma loves you!!

Snow Pictures

Yes, we have deep snow, multiple inches. But I wanted to get the view from a different perspective, so I am sharing a couple of other pictures I took. We have a sculpture nailed to a tree in our back yard, of a man with a bird on top of his head. As you can see, the snow has changed the sculpture, from a summer look, to a chilly winter feel. I think he needs a hat.

The other picture is a shot up into the sky through the branches on a very frosty morning. So cool!!!! I love my camera and taking pictures!

Our little one turned ONE

The Big Day is here

yea, presents!!!!

Cute "Hello Kitty" theme with yummy cupcakes

The cleanest first birthday face I have ever seen

Happy Birthday to Lily Noelle. My darling granddaughter has reached her first birthday. We went to celebrate with her and her family. What a darling - she had a great day and so did we. She was on top of her game and dazzled us all with her smile and her little surprises. Big sister Abby was a perfect little hostess. Here is a glimpse of some of our day.

Abby and Aunt Lissy in a serious conversation. Lily just chillin'.

Friday Night Pizza

Friday is often a traditional pizza night for a lot of people. I absolutely love pizza and consider it one of the major food groups, so I have pizza just about every opportunity I get. Anyhow, we decided to get pizza tonight. I have been hearing that Massey's pizza is one of the best pizzas in Columbus. In the 9 1/2 years that we have been in Columbus, we have never had a Masseys pizza. We could never get past Donatos pizza. We love it. Well, we decided to get a Masseys pizza tonight. Since there is not one near us, I had to go pick it up. Now, it was about 6:00 and traffic was still rush hour heavy. The pizza was to be ready in 15 minutes and it took me 5 minutes just to get out of the house and then another 15-20 to get there. Then another 20 minutes back home again. So the pizza wasn't the steamy wonderful smelling pizza that arrives at our front door when we order delivery.
Anyhow, I got it home and we got our pieces and microwaved them and sat down to eat. The verdict was that it was very good pizza, but not really any better than Donatos and I probably wouldn't drive to Westerville to get it anymore. Maybe we'll get one closer to us and then we can split our pizza purchases between Donatos and Masseys.

Hope for Haiti

I downloaded the HOPE FOR HAITI telethon performance from I tunes. The telethon was on Sunday night and some of the great talents of the past and present decades performed for the benefit of the people of Haiti, who are undergoing great pain. Their country is ravaged and we can all help. The music is wonderful, but more importantly, it reminds us of our responsibility to 'pay it forward'. We have so much!!! Let's share! It is not too late.

Walking Finn

Finn and I have been walking twice a day every day. Though I find it difficult to get out the door sometimes, I really am enjoying this time and am always glad that I managed to get it done.

First of all, the benefits for Finn are important to our peace of mind. His puppy energy is a force all of it's own and that exercise is absolutely essential to OUR sanity. It gives him a chance to run and jump and sniff and experience. Now I know that I am supposed to train him to walk beside me at a dignified, sedate rate speeding up when I do and slowing down when I do. But I just don't have the heart for that - he spends all day in a crate while we are at work and all night in a crate while we sleep. The poor little guy deserves to get a little exercise on his walks, so I let him run and jump as much as he can on his retractable leash. Maybe in a few months, I will begin some training on our walks.


Secondly , the walks are really good for me too. When I get out in that cool crisp morning air, it just gives me a better start to my day. It gives me a chance to breathe clean fresh air and when there is snow, well that is even better. But the snowy walks are my favorites when they are in the evening. When Finn and I walk at night, it is just a really different feeling. The lights from the houses give a warm feel to the neighborhood and the snow just adds to the ambience. I wanted to try and capture that feeling the other night, so I can in to grab my camera. There was no snow, so it was not quite the total feeling, but it was a start. Using the nighttime setting was my first move, but I still need to work to get better pictures. I intend to continue working on getting that ambience feeling in a photo, so stay tuned (plus, snow is coming), but for now, here is what I have.

Extra.. Extra --- read all about it!!!

It seems that things have been happening at a fast rate in our family, mostly with the girls and their families. So I decided to do a news post just to catch everyone up to what is happening in our family.

Starting with the largest family and oldest daughter, Carrie. It seems that Matt has landed a new job. We are so very proud of him and hope that he truly enjoys it and is very successful. As he ramps up his career, Carrie is taking a break in hers to take care of their two very beautiful little girls. In fact, she has officially broken her last tie with the school system and is now a full time mom with a class of 2. With all that free time (LOL), she has began to sew and has opened an ETSY shop to hopefully sell some of the things that she makes. For those unfamiliar with ETSY, it is probably the largest outlet on the internet for people to sell their handmade items. If you haven't visited there, you really should. I have bought several items and always am happy to patronize the handmade/cottage industry. The name of her shop is CarrieBirdie and you may even see an item made my MOI. Of course, Lily continues to grow and Abby is in preschool, waiting for the big school experience (not so sure about Carrie).

Our newlyweds, Lissy and Chad, are quickly approaching "old married" status. They are past their one year anniversary and heading on toward 2. With that said, they are in the process of moving from Lissy's single little condo to a house with room to grow. They have received an offer on the condo and are very close to putting an offer on a new full sized home. Exciting, but stressful times. They are taking a real hit on the condo, but hopefully will make up for it with the new home in this buyers market. They will likely be staying in Hilliard, so that Chad's commute is slightly more reasonable. He continues to fly in and out of Dayton.

And finally us. I am back at work after a medical leave and attempting to get back up to speed. Also we got a dog, well really a puppy. We have forgotten how much work a puppy can be, but he is a great little guy. He will not be little for long though. We expect him to be big, he is a collie mix.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

I read about this exercise from a blog I follow who got it from here. Try it - the instructions are on the link

FOR TODAY Sunday Night, Jan.17

Outside My Window...Fog gathers in the dark

I am thinking... that's all, just thinking

I am thankful for...my daughters

From the learning rooms...not learning anything today, it's Sunday

From the kitchen... dark and quiet

I am wearing...incrediby soft and warm pajamas

I am creating... ideas for our new Etsy shop

I am going... shopping, tomorrow

I am reading... A Christmas Promise, by Anne Perry

I am hoping...for peace, personally and in the world

I am hearing... a playful puppy

Around the house... tense

One of my favorite things... today, solitude

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Sewing, starting a baby gift, etc.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...(add your picture here)

Frosty is in trouble - the snow is melting

I absolutely loved the snow we have had over the last couple of weeks, however the temperature is rising and the snow is melting. Unfortunately, it will leave a muddy, ucky mess in it's wake. I actually prefer the snow. Finn and I walked in it every day, twice a day, morning and night. He is still full of puppy energy, so I have no choice, but really I loved it and it is good for me. When I got to sidewalks that no one shoveled, I just trudged through and figured it was good for my cardiovascular system. Hey, I'm trying here - it's just hard.

Anyhow, when coming back from our walk one morning I had to take a picture of some snow overhanging out stoop. It was several days after all the snow fell, so it may have been even more extreme earlier on, but I just noticed it this one day. I swear it looked to me, exactly like layers of batting spilling over the top of my roof. It was pretty cool!!!!

Back again!!!

Searching for Survivors

I have been on my computer a lot lately, but not blogging so much. A little break, I guess. We all need a break from time to time. But I have found that I miss it. Why would I miss it? - I think because it keeps me more involved in what I am doing, crafts, cooking, etc., if I know I will be taking pictures and blogging about it. It also gives me a chance to air my opinions, without anyone arguing back (or at least no immediate feedback). It also allows me to satisfy the inner author in me, which pops up from time to time. It documents world events, should I choose to talk about them as I am today. I have blogged on several world events over the past couple of years and I think I will continue that and perhaps increase my awareness as well.

Which leads me to the devastating Haitian tragedy that occurred this past week. It is a reminder of how fortunate we are and how quickly our luck can be changed. My heart actually aches for these poor people. Be sure to pray for them and donate as much as you are able. There are so many in need and if we were in the same position, we would hope for help from others. God would have us help one another. We really must!

Introducing Finnegan (Finn for short)

Well, we have finally made the plunge. We got a puppy yesterday. As many of you know, we have been stalking shelters and surfing pet finder for several months. We have considered golden retrievers, labs, collies, mixes and full breeds. We wanted a larger dog (at least Leon did- it seems that he wanted a "real dog" to walk and didn't want to walk a little one- an ego thing, I think). I wanted a female in order to avoid leg hiking on my furniture. To make a really long story short, we finally found a litter of collie mix pups at the Union County Animal Shelter and decided to drive up and take a look.

This was a litter of nine puppies and they all looked pretty different from each other. There were 5 females and 3 males left when we got there. Their story goes something like this. It seems that the mother and the nine puppies were dumped in a roadside ditch. The farmer that discovered them tried to take them home and find homes for them, but it became too much for him. He contacted the shelter, who found a foster home for them until they were old enough to be adopted out. Enter Faye and Leon. The puppies were delivered to the shelter by the foster parents as we waited in the waiting room. There was one other lady there to adopt one of the females. The puppies were all absolutely adorable. They were all running around the waiting room in an absolute riot of activity. The foster father was able to provide a bit of information on each puppy. Leon fell in love with a little male fluffball named Kermit. We were told that he was a fairly docile puppy compared to some of the others. He was very cute and we decided to take him home. Of course, we changed his name and he has already had his doctors appointment and a bath. A couple of little infections can be cleared up with antibiotics. Oh, I almost forgot, he is not housebroken, so we are outside a lot these days. He is doing very well though.

Silent Night, Holy Night

Well, Sorry about the no-show for the past several weeks. To coin a phrase, I lost a bit of my mo-jo and have been feeling a bit under the weather physically and emotionally. I won't get into all of that, but I do have something that I wanted to share. The Christmas season is upon us and as the decorations come out, It is always fun to get new things. We pull out the same old decorations every year, and I really do love them. We did obtain decorations that would become part of our tradition, but it is always nice to have something new to add to the collection. I recently helped out at the Gift Fest at our church and there were probably fifty-ish raffle gifts that were donated by the vendors. Of course, I had to purchase tickets to benefit our child care center and guess what!!!!! I won.

Not only did I win, but I won the very thing that I wanted the most. There was a lady that made miniature nativity sets and I love all things miniature. I so wanted one, so when I won it in the raffle, I was super excited.

Now the next problem.....these teeny little figures are perfect to set on a table or shelf. I wanted to put it on the coffee table, but I have a cat. I just knew that Max would be batting those poor little sheep around the living room floor in no time. So I wracked my brain for a way to display them and came up with this little idea. I think its pretty cute and now I can put it on the coffee table without fear of them disappearing.

It is hand sculpted using low fire clay and painted with underglaze colors, glazed and fired in kiln.