lunch

new year's eve afternoon, i had lunch with my bff. after a wonderful salad, taco pizza and good conversation on the way out i thought i'd take a shot of this guy. he was not very friendly, when i walked up to the glass, he charged the glass as if i was bait!

auld lang syne

i figures out how to do it, yahhhhhhhh, now if i can remember how to do it the next time. HAPPY 2011

productive week

christmas week was a productive one for me. more interior painting done, figured out how to schedule my post on my blog (i've been at this for 2 years and just figured that out) and learned how to upload my movies to youtube. i took several of the kids opening christmas presents and well as several when i was on vacation so once i figure out how to post them on my blog i will.

celebrity

this young guy won this year's Survivor program. come to find out he goes to the same ymca that i go to when he is in town visiting family. i ran into to him today at the y and was impressed with what a nice young man he was; we chatted briefly as i was gettiing ready to leave for home. he won a million dollars on the program

red tail hawk

i spotted this guy on my way home from lunch a few days ago. he is oblivious of the highway 70 traffic speeding about 5 feet from him, he was really intent on his dinner somewhere in the ditch

i've seen these hawks all over recently and have never been in a safe place to stop and photograph them. i wasn't the only person who stopped evidently i'm not the only one who carries their camera with them all the time

home reno 3

final coat of sealer, hard to see the difference in this photo you can see the gloss on this one. the blotch of paint on the wall is a sample of what i might use to paint the walls. now i have to leave this cure for a few days and i'm ready to go. i think it turned out pretty good. the product used was giani granite paint. this company also makes a brushed steel paint that i might try using on my appliances. (i've not been compensated by giani in any way)

christmas afternoon with the little kids

christmas morning

brother patiently waiting to start the opening sissy got a pony (it moves its tail and its head side to side and whinnies, so life like its a little scary; butterscotch is its name) brother got a remote control tarantula ( and he proceeded to scare sissy with it)

sissy's mean look

Merry Christmas

merry guinea pig

one of my favorite postcrossings postcards, this is just too cute not to share

the christmas ornament

my tree skirt is a red and white quilt made by my great great and great aunts in law over 60 or 70 years ago.

the story of the my Christmas ornament. I was given this frame ornament by a friend at a Christmas exchange. It was the year that my mom died and i decided to put the photo of my mom and dad in the frame and hang it on my tree. After i finished decorating the tree i sat down with a cuppa to reflect on the past year and heard a crack like a glass had broken. after searching the house for broken glass i glanced at the tree and was amazed to see the the glass in the frame had broken right down the middle and separated my mom and dad in the picture, just as death had separated them. there was no other reason the glass broke it had been hanging on the tree at least an hour and the temperture had not changed. strange but comforting. i try to give any friends an ornament when they have someone pass in their family

home reno 2

first color or two all colors on

a little bit of tweaking. final gloss coat will be done on the weekend. I still have to paint the walls, decide wether to get a almond or white dishwasher since my stove is white, fridge almond. put down new floor tile and maybe painting the cabinets and maybe a new sink as well as purging some of my junk

Christmas dinner with friends

outside of the "mother in laws" restaurant where i had dinner with some girl friends the other night. these girls and i worked together for 5 years, then i left the company and we decided to have dinner together once a month to keep in touch. we have been doing dinner since 2000. we go to the mother in laws each december for our Christmas celebration. the gingered carrots and handmade chocolate are wonderful. this restaurant is reported to have a ghost that dines with people. the building was built in 1866. the builder and his wife lived in one side and her mother lived in the other side.

the girls

home reno 1

original counter top counter after primer. I had to pull out the oven as well as the fridge. you can also see the vinyl floor i painted. the floor was done about 6 or 7 years ago and held up pretty good. i'll be replacing that as well and i'm thinking about painting the cabinets too. that scares me because i just hate to paint wood. to me the more distressed it looks the better. i like things to look like they have some history. the dish washer will also be replaced. it hasn't work for at least 5 years. most of the time i like to do dishes by hand, i find it soothing finished priming. i am going to faux finish the counters in a chocolate granite look. my daughter did her counters and they turned out wonderful , i hope i have the same luck

weekend travels 3

a few weeks ago, the temps were in the 70's AGAIN!!!! this doesn't happen too often in Missouri in November, so i took my self to this park full of art. these are a few of my favorites these are buoys

the knot

can't remember what this one is called, black giant egg????

i love the eye. i think it is my favorite

pumpkin muffins

couldn't resist tasting one before i gave them to family

art night

my aunt is a artist and asked me to take her to a artist guild demo. the building the demo was to take place was locked so we ended up at the mexican restaurant across the street. it does kind of look like we are in mexico with the view over his shoulder since i can't draw a straight line with a ruler, i was facinated with how easy the artist made all of this look, he can even draw up side down! putting details on his sketch

the finished piece