Photo Meme

These photo memes can be so much fun and now I've been tagged by Leah at South Breeze Farm to do one.

This one is about the sixth picture in the sixth folder. Lemme see, ah yes...that folder will work for me and the topic is the first grandson...then 11 months old and soon to be three years old. The date was December 2, 2006.

So this is the sixth picture as he's being removed from his jacket...


But you didn't think that I could post only that one, did you? I mean the camera/s have been smoking ever since that child's birthdate nearly three years ago. This nonni has hundreds of pictures and if you're a grandmother, too, you are nodding right now. I took 29 pics that day and here is the 29th one...I was getting better at it by then...



Here's a little organizing tip from a photographer that may help some with maintaining photo files. He suggested to name files according to the date first. For example, this one is labeled 2006-12-02 with the year first, the month, then the date. From there you can go on to name it more specifically, but this way all files will come up in a logical progression of order. Now I see that I must get 2006, 2007, and 2008 copied to disks. Ackkkk!!!

I'm supposed to tag six bloggers, but you may play along if you wish. Just let me know so that I can visit and see what you discovered.

Have a happy Saturday and a relaxing weekend!

Little Ideas

Made with My Cool Signs.Net

In a file brilliantly labeled "Ideas," I found a few things gathered that I'd like to share such as this sweet idea for a bit of lace. (Sadly, my file does not say where I have gleaned these photos...much searching has not worked. If anyone knows, I'd welcome knowing. (ETA: And I'm using them anyway. Bite me.)


These shelf brackets are neat if I can get past The Carpenter's misgivings.












Manuela of The Pleasures of Homemaking has a whole bunch of ideas in yesterday's post. I'm working on one this morning and I promise to tack it on to the end of this post before day's end. She's participating in a blog party, but I'm just being a slacker. I adore before and after pictures, but don't have anything exciting to share...yet. ;>

ETA: I'll probably revisit this project in the days to come...
You can see that my recipe notebook was simply lovely; I mean, it even included an obituary. Not exactly the best item for decorating a cookbook! LOL!














Edited to Add Again: Couldn't take that last cover so did something else again. I like it better, but perhaps it'll be revisited or perhaps I'll just accept my imperfection and move on...

That Mary!

Everything is back to some semblance of normal...perhaps.

I did keep out some Christmas things, but I'm now calling them "winter" things. After all, I decorate for every other season, why not winter?



Oh my! It was soooo hard staying away from visiting, too. I've only allowed myself to visit two blogs...they were especially intriguing based solely on the thumbnail pictures showing last night. The first was Judy at My Front Porch because she finally found a skillet to do some rustic baking with...and how! You'll want to check out those Savory Cheddar Scones she whipped up.

Do I need to explain why I rushed off to Mary's? Did you do the same when you saw this thumbprint? I just couldn't make it out...thought I was seeing things...worried about my state of mental health...wondered all sorts of things... You can visit Mary at Little Red House and see what it really is. I roared! Silly, silly me.

I have a postscript to my post about LeapBlog just this past Tuesday. Debbie from Mermaids of the Lake sent me the following email explaining more about the site:

Hi Vee,

Let me introduce myself.... My name is Debbie and I am one of the publishers of Mermaids of the Lake, an inspiring, creative, e-zine for women... We Mermaids are in the process of setting up a blog. It is a whole new world for us, but we should be blogging in the next two weeks. We love any venue to inspire and promote creativity.

Thank you for your inspiration.

Debbie Nania
Publisher
Mermaids of the Lake

Thanks, Debbie, for allowing me to post this email with all the information. Best wishes to you and the girls on your new endeavor of blogging. I'll be eagerly watching for your debut.

Have a happy Thursday, Dear Ones!

It's Time

Source

This room looks so cozy to me that I had to share...my favorite color is featured prominently and that fire warms me just to look at it. I don't have a fireplace, but I'd certainly love to. Maybe. Those who have them sometimes tell me how messy, how awful, how cold. I don't know. They just look so inviting. I want to sit here and chat with you all for hours, but I'm busy taking down the tree, laundering Christmas linens, and packing Christmas away.



Thank you for indulging me as I share one last 2008-2009 Christmas tree picture here. This was how it looked last night as evening descended. I truly have enjoyed sitting by it reading my Christmas novel from Angie and sipping tea with John every evening. The book was finished last night; Epiphany has come and gone; I must face the cold hard facts that it's time. Time. TIME.

Enjoy your day...

Illustrating a Point

LeapBlog: A game (I created) where one leaps off to a blog listed on her own sidebar and then jumps to a blog unknown to her continuing for 10x. Then, on that tenth blog, the blogger must find her own blog listed in that tenth blog's sidebar in order to win. Winning isn't everything! I rarely win LeapBlog in this way, but I do find a lot of new and wonderful blogs.

1. I begin with the first blog showing on my blogroll, which at this moment happens to be Warm Pie, Happy Home (loaded with inspirations)

2. to Backyard Candle (where you can find some great initial mugs to purchase)

3. to Bushel and a Peck (super post on silhouettes 12/29/08)

4. to The Farm Chicks (cheerful, colorful, bright)

5. to Mermaids of the Lake (interesting, but a dead end for leap blog so must back up)[ETA: Debbie from Mermaids of the Lake describes the site this way: My name is Debbie and I am one of the publishers of Mermaids of the Lake, an inspiring, creative, e-zine for women... We Mermaids are in the process of setting up a blog. It is a whole new world for us, but we should be blogging in the next two weeks. We love any venue to inspire and promote creativity. So now we know! I'm going back to check this site out more carefully soon.]

5. to Simply This That and the Other where I discover a ♥Vintage Valentine Swap♥ was going on at Foxgloves, Fabric, and Folly. Sign-up ended last Saturday, though...shoot! Since FFF has not yet been added to STTATO so I must back up again and leap from the sidebar

6. to Jane's Apron where I found what sounds like a fantastic (and easy) brownie recipe on December 14 and December 17, 2008.

7. Now on to visit Itty Bitty Birdy (great family friendly blog with lots of fun pics)

8. to Creative Breathing where I find sweet ideas and now, realizing that I need to find my own blog on the tenth leap to win, I carefully look at her blogroll and, crossing my fingers, I select

9. Lallee's Cottage a delicious blog where Scotties are prominently featured.

10. Yay! Today, I win for Lallee has Kari and Kijsa on her blogroll and I am on theirs, I think. :D

And you know, whether I win or lose, I feel great. What a great bouquet of blogs I've discovered for today!

Now, if you find a moment to spare, go play LeapBlog.

ETA: No, I don't usually leave a comment. Oh-oh-oh, I forgot to mention the wonderful story of a marriage on the rocks after 30 years right back there at Creative Breathing...don't worry, very happy ending... Check out January 3, 2009 for the story.

Wax Paper Tip

Today I am sharing a little technique that I've not seen anywhere else, but probably does exist since there's nothing new under the sun. This was a journal created for my darling daughter. (Thanks to Dawn's wonderful tutorial on journal making, I created a number of journals as Christmas gifts.)

First of all, I found this great source of material for the inside covers of the journals. Here's the one that I wanted to use for my daughter's.



I know that I have shared this with a few of you because it was so funny at the time. Especially funny was the look on John's face as he swallowed hard trying to hide his shock. My daughter was visiting discussing some challenges she was facing at the office when she said, "I don't suffer fools like you, Mom." Now the thing is that she didn't say "fools." Substitute your own word, but suffice it to say that it deserved John's expression. Course I knew that it was a grammatical nightmare so didn't respond with anything more than laughter.

Anyway, that's just the background for wanting to use that song title. But, that lady on the cover...saucy? Really?

Using wax paper, I traced around the original picture and, using that tracing, cut the appropriate replacement over one of my daughter's baby pictures... one where she was looking particularly impertinent. :D



I see that I need to be more careful with my gluing since the paper is puckered. Perhaps it'll come with practice. (Yup, still in love with alliteration.)

Have a wonderful Monday!

More Praise Music

(Imagine a pristine winter forest after a snowfall.)


I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Ezekiel 36:25–27

This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds. Hebrews 10:16


Becky at Hospitality Lane has a great playlist...Hope that you'll enjoy it as much as I have this past week. Allow me to especially commend "I Can Trust Jesus" by The Collingsworth Family.

I Can Trust Jesus
Gerald Crabb/Christian Taylor

God picked up a sparrow that could no longer fly
He brushed off its wounds and then watched it soar into the sky
If He’s mindful of creation, on this I can depend
I am His child and I can place all my trust in Him

I can trust Jesus, I can trust Jesus
He never once has failed to meet my needs
He is my strong tower, the strength in my weakest hour
I can trust Jesus, He takes care of me

I have prayed some prayers and felt they never were heard
But I held to God’s hand and kept right on trusting in His word
My wants and God’s desires don’t always agree
But I lean on His will for He always knows what’s best for me.

Source: Name That Hymn

Enjoy this first Sunday of 2009; only 51 more!