Simple yet elegant! I like that. Thank you Patti for the thank you card. I love the hand work and the bow from netting. Such a sweet lady for taking the time making that lovely card. Rain, rain go away. I want to go out to play. Come again some other day. The good news is Montana has removed many of it's counties from the drought list. The bad news is they are still expecting a long hot summer and fire season. Oh well, I'll have to see what mischeif I can get into indoors! I did start working on a new book. The cover includes these big, green leaves the I saved from a few years ago. I have varnished them because I thought they would probably fall apart. We'll have to see. Awhile back I received a strip of paper with an adorable blonde girl in vintage clothing from Artsy Mama. She is gracing the cover. This weekend, I'll give you a peak at the cover. I had a visitor who left some comments yesterday, so I visited his site. He has wonderful pictures pertaining to birds. It's worth checking out!

Well I hope everyone had a good weekend. I love longweekends until I walk into my office. Inevitably, long weekends are hard on our residents. Having that third unstructured day often leads to problems and boredom, which it did. I believe they'll eventually work their way through things if it is a priority to improve. Time will tell. The real problem was my desk top! I had my "piles" all organized. I knew what it was even if no one else did. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, we have a good cleaning crew. While dusting my desk, they put all my piles in random order in the middle of my desk :( Now it really is chaos. It doesn't make sense even to me. Count to ten.....count to twenty.......ACK! This weekend was great. The ground was finally dry enough my brother-in-law rototilled part of my yard. Good thing, it's been raining off and on since. It will be a long summer at this rate. While I'm planning lots of perenials, my husband is taking advantage and planted some corn and a row of beets for me. That's right beets. Even as a kid, I loved beets. They're also fun to play with, after all have you noticed the stains they leave on white shirts? Since I'm going to plant in stages, he might as well plant in some of it. We use to grow large gardens until I started my college career. I put in two tomato plants. Nothing beats tomatoes from the garden. Anyway I need to figure out plants I want in back that have various bloom times. Also this weekend we had a bar-b-que at the in-laws. My husband's mother had her sister and husband there and his niece and husband, nephew and wife and respective children. They live in a small patio home. Lots of noise and competition for attention. It was fun.
Today we had cedar waxwings in our cedar tree. They are alot of fun to watch. They fly together from one tree to another to another. They are very nice looking birds. They like to eat the berries in the tree. We must be on their migration route as they stop every year in our neighborhood. Gorgeous birds. So that was my weekend. I didn't really get to play with glue or paper and it might be abit as Dennis is going to help my build a cabinet for some of my paper. I have an old sewing desk that has the narrow set of drawers on each side. Since it's in sad shape, I took it apart. I'm going to put the drawer units together and use it as a base. Then I'm going to add sides and a back. I have the wire cubes from target and will use them as individual shelves. In my mind it looks wonderful. So we'll see in reality how close to wonderful it comes. Wish me luck. By the way have a good evening and I hope you wake up with a smile in your heart.

Memorial Day
By Eula Gladys Lincoln
In distant field of sunny France


Where strangers come and go,


Amid the farms of Flanders, where


The fragrant breezes blow,


Our solder-dead in quiet sleep


Neath crosses row on row.
Here shrapnel shells once shrieked and burst
And took their toll of death;The very wind, itself a foe,
Bore poison on its breath.
Above their graves the birds now sing

As round that home of yore,
When, care-free boys, they romped and played;
Those childhood days soon o'er,
The boys to brave and strong men grown,
They romped and played no more.
They put aside their childish toys,
A man's work each must do,
And when their country called for them,
To her they answered true.
"We must protect our native land:
She shall not suffer wrongFor she has reared and nurtured us, My son-in-law Austin
We're men and we are strong.
We'll bid good-by to those we love;
It will not be for long."
With aching hearts and tear-dimmed eyes
We watched them go away.
Some have returned but many sleep
In foreign lands to-day.
Where English roses bloom and fade,
In France where lilies grow,
Among the fields of Flanders, where
The scarlet poppies blow,
Our soldier-dead are not forgot
Though strangers come and go.

For all those families who have loved ones in places of danger, may God keep them safe and out of harms way. For those who have been lost may there be comfort and support. We are fortunate to have Austin state side now. However, there were some very scary moments.

My notes for a meeting. If I don't doodle my mind starts to drift and I'm no longer in the meeting. It seems to keep my mind in the room. I don't always doodle but usually. It's suppose to keep raining here for three days :( I'm beginning to think I'm not suppose to dig up my yard. I just keep telling myself patience. If nothing else I can get the beds laid out and do fall planting. It's all good. Well, it's getting late and I think I'll go practice some relaxation under some nice warm blankets and listen to the rain.

Well it's been awhile since I posted. I was a bit busy this week. I've been working late so I can take half of Friday off from work. I'm going to the memorial service for my friend's mother. I understand she's hanging in there. Her family and friends have been very supportive.

It's raining again. The ground was just beginning to dry out. I am trying to be patient and remember this is spring. Speaking of spring we have so many gophers running around at work. There is an open field were there seems to be a little town of them. I know they are rodents and carry fleas and are destructive little beings but they're cute to watch. We also have a couple resident rabbits and a pair of ducks. There's always something to watch at break time.

I made this mini accordian file with business envelopes. It turned out really adorable. Unfortunately I don't have a digital camera so I need to ask my father in law to take a picture so I can post it. That's why only part of my scrapbook page is posted, my scanner isn't real big. I was thinking of picking up an inexpensive camera at Walmart until I learn what I'm doing. I usually get all excited about something, get it, don't know how to work it, get discouraged, and give up. I figure if I start simple, I'll be more successful.

I don't know about anyone else but I've been following American Idol almost religiously. I thought Jordan Sparks would win and she did. There were so many good people I couldn't decide who I liked the most. But she seems so sweet and genuine.

I still do not have my yard dug up. There's been a glitch in the rototiller isn't quite available. That's alright as it gives me more time to think about an over all layout. These have been some ideas I started collecting. I really like the yard. I love pictures of yards overplanted but when I think about doing that I get nervous. In some respects I'm a bit of a neat freak although somedays you can't tell. I like things organized and when I saw this in Better Homes and Garden mag I really liked it. The rose is called Wild Blue Yonder. It is an old-fashioned type rose and is suppose to be fragrant. I hope by next spring to be planting it. this is the first year I don't have graduations. So many parents and families do. It isn't just a time of passage for the graduates but for the families. It's a new phase in which another journey starts. I know it's been said often life is a journey but it really is. I love a book by Sue Bender called Plain and Simple. At the end she talks about the process (the daily happenings) being more important than the end point. It's appreciating that process and the journey on the way that we really learn how to appreciate life. By living in the present, we create the future of our dreams. I'm really trying to take that to heart. Off subject, my process of becoming less "fluffy" has hit a few bumps but I'm sticking with it. I'm just not going to get upset if I hit a few bumps in the process.

It's so neat to get surprises in the mail. This wonderful paperdoll came in the mail today compliments of Mica of Garboodles. Isn't she wonderful and she came with a tag carrying case! How creative. Notice she even has my first initial, what attention to detail. Thank you Mica, I just love it!! I can't wait to show her off at my office.

My copy of Home Companion came today. I always find inspiration here. I love this photo or the bedroom. It seems so cozy with the pictures and the books. I could spend a rainy day there! I think that's what sanctuaries are about - rainy days, peace, serenity, time out..... Somedays we may not need to go there, just knowing we have them is enough. I wish that for everyone whether it's a room, a yard, a friend or family.

Out of Season

I know this is out of season but I need to do some "spring" cleaning so to speak and I ran across this picture. I had thought about using it for a Christmas card one year but forgot about it. I like the sense of humor of the piece. I've been toying around with the idea of turning some of my art pieces into greeting cards. I almost went into shock when I found out what printing costs were. Then they explained the quality of color photo copies on cardstock is a good option when you don't expect to be printing 500 copies which is about what it would take to justify printing costs if you farm it out. I don't know 500 hundred people nor would I want to spend the 3 or 4 dollars per card. Oh well, it was a thought. I guess I bring it up because each summer I tell myself in addition to the thousand and one other things I have to do, I'm going to start getting ready for Christmas. Guess what? It doesn't happen. The best laid plans of mice and men.... oh wait, I don't fit in that category :D I'm still fooling myself. I do get a little better each year. Well the yard mess didn't happen, my brother-in-law wasn't able to come after all. So next weekend. In the mean time, I've gathered some good ideas for layouts. My soil isn't the best, but a local nursery can help there. As for the spring cleaning, I swear things multiple when my back is turned! I need to do like the programs, box everything up, take it out of the room and sort it out. Then bring it back in after the organization has been set up. I love Clean Sweep on HGTV. I wish I could get them to do my house.

I hope Mother's Day was good for you. It turned out to be a rather ironic day. One woman I know hadn't had her children for awhile. Their father died and she was traveling on Mother's Day to gather them up. How hard that's going to be for her. She loves her children dearly but do to circumstances of their divorce she hadn't really been in their lives for a long time. Not only will she have to deal with their loss but their anger that she hadn't been in their lives. I have another dear friend whose mother died Saturday. Her mother had been seriously ill for a long time so in some small way it was a relief for the pain and suffering to have stopped, but how sad to lose her right before Mother's Day. My heart goes out to both of these women. It reminds me how lucky I am for each and everyday that I have with my mother.

On a happier note, while I did not have hundreds of responses to my give away, it still was lots of fun. Those that left comments were kind and I met some new people :D which for me is really what it was about. I had a blast. I'll be doing it again sometime. Thank you to everyone.

Happy Sunday! (Mother's Day) The sun is shining, the birds are singing and hopefully my yard will be a mess soon. My brother-in-law is coming over to dig up areas of my yard. We've lived in this house for 14 years and have never done anything with the yard. Now that I'm getting old and feeble :D I've decided I want to tackle landscaping. Am I nuts or what, another project! And this one I can't hide in the closet if it doesn't turn out or I don't finish. Sound familiar? Well I figure it is time. Besides I can do lots of reading and there are some wonderful sites in blog land I can haunt. I hope they won't mind some questions, I have lots to learn. There are so many neat sites and wonderful pictures. It is absolutely amazing the talent that is out there and the inspiration! Can't tell I'm excited, can you. I have met so many neat ladies and discovered a wealth of talent and inspiration. I just love it!!! Of course my husband is a little scared because he knows it will involve him too. His idea of a weekend project is his flyrod and a stream in the mountains. Boy do I have plans for him, I'll have to reward him generously too. One fly fishing weekend coming up. Speaking of inspirational sites, I found a new one to me for scrapbooking. Erica from SkEtcH it! has imaginative layouts well presented. So if you're looking for some new ideas, I highly recommend her.

Boy yesterday, I was like a one woman wrecking crew. I was putting tea in the refrigerator, as ice tea is a favorite of mine, and I knocked over a pitcher of cranberry juice! Oh well, it did need cleaning. But then I knocked something off the counter and broke my poodle's (Endo) food dish. So I decided I just needed to sit down. I went to adjust the pillows on the couch, got the fringe stuck on a button on my jeans pocket. In the process of getting untangled, I somehow knocked the lamp of the end table and broke the light bulb. I was beginning to feel like I was living out a Three Stooges film! Even for me that is very ungraceful, really it is.

Well time for announcing the winners of the tag give away and they are, sorry no drum roll, I'd probably break a window :( Karla of Karla's Cottage and Tammy Gilley. I drew a third name as it's hard to stop when I had such nice responses. Patti from Treasure Barn will receive my little blue bird tag. So if you'll email me your particulars, I'll send them out. Congratulations.

Well, I think I'll test the waters and see if I can walk through the house and leave it standing.

Happy Mother's Day!

There's just something about the love of a mother that is nourishing. No matter how old we are we seem to want it. Not everyone has been so blessed but I pray they may be able to have found it somewhere. Whether some mothers chose us or they were ours right from the very beginning, mothers are precious. So not only to my own mother, but to my daughter, mother-in-law, and all mothers may this and everyday be precious.

Just a little reminder, you can still sign up for the tag give away if you're so inclined. It ends tonight.

I've had so much fun with this give-away. So many people have stopped by and left some very nice comments for this newbie! I've been visiting some new sites and they are gorgeous. I need to go back and add some new links to my site. I'll be going back to visit. I love exploring, especially since there is so much inspiration out there.

Well I've been taggeby Treasure Barn Blog and Love Conquers All. So here are my seven random facts/habits in no particular order:

1. When I was growing up, our 2nd bathroom was an old
fashioned out house.
2. I burn some of my popcorn on purpose, the old
fashioned way. Hey there's a pattern, no that's my age
showing :D
3. I use spoons for my kitchen cabinet handles.
4. I was the first girl to take drafting in my high school. I
had the highest grade :D out of a class of males.
5. I usually have more of my project on me then where it
belongs, especially when it comes to ink and paint.
6. I love violets, they remind me of my grandma.
7. People ask me if I want something before they throw it out.

So these are the rules:
1.List seven random facts/habits about yourself
2.Choose another seven bloggers to tag and list their names in your blog
3.Leave your seven tagged bloggers comments to notify them of their tagging and to direct them to your blog for tag instructions.

So here are my seven because I'd like to know more about these talented ladies!!

Todays Creative Blog
Art Tea Life
What Should We Make Today
Artsy Mama
Pam Garrison
Rebecca Sower
Boxwood Cottage

Be sure to visit as they have wonderful sites!! They are treats for the eyes and the mind.

I'm sorry!!

Some how my site went back to the default setting of restricting comments. I have it changed now so you should be able to post comments now. I hope those who have already stopped by will do so again. I'm still new at this so the glitch was probably mine :( Any way thank you for all the emails letting me know.

Today was a good day at work, but it also means it was a tough day. We had very good discussions about issues and the past. There was such good recognition about how are actions affect people and the ripple affect. The one that's always the hardest is the affect on children. Often times they ask why or how could I? They don't understand any more than the people around them. It scares them to think about the damage and how they will repair it. I tell them patience, consistency, honesty, and persistence. Sometimes, even in a parent/child relationship, there can be a point of no return. Eventually though, children want their parents unless the damage is a result of something dreadful. Parents give us roots and a sense of belonging. We all want to be loved. That's what makes it a hard day, to listen to the stories and how are they going to resolve the past so they can move on. But when these women have an a ha moment, it can be very gratifying to see the progress. It's important to appreciate those little victories, that's what motivates me and them. That is what gives them the courage to go on. I always encourage them to find an outlet to help them with their sanity and serenity. Of course, my favorite outlet is my art projects, my painting and drawing, and some days even the mess I create in my room. It's fixable. It reminds me no matter what, it's fixable. Life may not be as easily fixable, but many times it is. We just have to remember it isn't always on our time table. After all, think about how long it took us to get where we are. It would be pretty arrogant to think by our own will we can change it instantly. Things take time, patience, and at least for me prayers. I'm sorry if this is a little depressing, it really isn't meant to be. I really like my job at the treatment center. It's just sometimes, I want to talk about it. As hard as my husband tries, he really doesn't understand what women go through when they have to put their lives back together. So I figure once in awhile, I can journal about it here, but I promise to keep it to a minimum.


On a brighter note, this is the second tag I completed. I just love it and the first one. They turned out better than I expected. I feel like I want to keep them all to myself because I really have very few things I do. I have a tendency to give things away because I love to share also. Usually the need to share is strong than the need to hold on for me.



So I'm thinking about giving my two tags away. I'm not sure if many people really stop by, but if you do, leave a comment. I believe next Sunday is May 13th, I don't have a calendar handy. I will draw two names to send the tags to on Saturday after 6pm my time, which is mountain standard time. I'll post Sunday the recipients. Think of it as a reward for reading my ramblings! Which I so appreciate.

From one extreme to another. Yesterday it was so warm and today it's so cold!! That's spring surprises and changes.That's part of the charm. I love that the doves are more visible. Their cooing is so soothing. When it warms up enough, a very yellow finch will show up. They must lay eggs somewhere near because we always seem to have a pair. It's neat to watch them in our cedar tree. They flit around and sound so pretty. I think the most unusual sight though is when the cedar wax wings come. They come in this big flock. They fly from tree to tree as a group eating. They usually stay maybe for an hour. It must be a migration pattern. One spring we had a pair of ducks that spent a few weeks eating corn that fell from the bird feeder. We loved it. Unfortunately we have some speed demons in our neighborhood. Someone hit the female duck and killed it. It took the longest time for the male to leave. I was so worried he was going to get hit also. Well last night I went to scrapbooking. Time goes by so fast, before I knew it, it was after 11pm. I have quite a bit done on the album I'm doing for my husband. It still needs some journaling and embellishments though. For me the layout is hard. I'm somewhat new to this. I am improving though I still have a ways to go. It's fun getting and giving opinions. I have to get some pictures printed of my son-in-law. I want to do an army scrapbook for his military career. He has sent some pictures but I think I'll need a few more. Then I plan on completing some layouts Austin and Jennifer can add later. I did the tag this afternoon. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. Some of the clip art is from the bonus papers from Somerset Studio. I love that magazine!! The label is from a jar of jam. It was a treat to empty the jar so I could use the label. We had six women graduate on Friday from treatment. One loves Robert Frost's poem "The Road Less Traveled", me too. I hope it gives her courage to choose her own path.

I know it's almost the end of the day but I wanted to wish everyone a Happy May Day. I love the photos of all the flowers so many people have been posting! I only have my crab apple tree flowering at the moment and it's already losing those pretty pink petals :( On the way home from work there is this corral where they sometimes have miniature horses. They are just adorable. There happens to be a ditch running through the middle. One of the younger horses was standing in it. At first all I could see was his little head until until I was up closer. The funny thing is, he was standing up, that's how little he was! That's one of the things I love about spring, babies and new life. I hope to start my own flower beds. I plan to start watching the free ads and check with people to see if they are thinning any plants out that I might be interested in. I have a limited budget so if I can get donations, then maybe I can afford to buy some special plants or even some nice roses! I really want some English roses with the heavenly scents. To me it's important to have flowers with scents. I'd also like to plant some grasses as they have such nice form and are interesting in the winter. If you are interested in seeing some very nice pictures of flowers, I suggest you visit the Cottage Nest. She has some gorgeous pictures of her flowers. I also love her studio place, it looks so pretty and cheerful.