Anyone for Tic Tac Toad?

To make a really cute bean bag toss game, get yourself 9 kinda flat round baskets, then make 10 of these, 5 each of two different colors, and fill with rice or beans.


Lay your baskets out on the lawn in the tic tac toe formation and toss away!!
Note: Secure bakets to the ground with tent stakes!

Time to archive the quote of the month

"To make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."
~~ Carl Sagan

Word for the day....

Farrago
1. an assortment; a medley.

Last day of June....

Well, I feel the need to post only because it's my last chance to get a word in before the calendar turns over.

I have become obsessed with Pyrex. I search diligently everyday on Ebay and Etsy hoping to find that perfect piece. I've decided that my new favorite pattern is the pink Gooseberry pattern. I don't have pink anywhere in my house except the bathroom, but I am somehow drawn to it. Maybe I should get just a small bowl for the bathroom and keep hair clips in it just so I can have a piece of it. I did decide to keep the Butter Print bowl. It holds all of my sewing thread very nicely. Who says Pyrex is just for the kitchen?? I found two just the other day at Goodwill. Score!! A really nice Horizon Cinderella Handle bowl in perfect shape...


and a smaller Colonial Mist bowl, that has a small chip in the rim, but it's still dang cute.


I have three out of four of the Primary Color set; the big yellow, the green and the little blue. I have been trying and trying to complete the set with the red one, but I keep getting outbid on Ebay. Red is hard to come by, in good shape that is. A lot (most) of them have scratches. Hopefully I'll get lucky soon.

If you're a Pyrex fiend like me, check out Pyrex Love!

Word for the day....

Bumptious
1. crudely, presumptuously, or noisily self-assertive.

What I'm reading..

DELIGHTFUL!

Word for the day....

Apocryphal
1. of doubtful authority or authenticity.

My butterprint bowl...

After much scrubbing with the Magic Eraser to no avail, in desperation I picked up my jar of Wright's Copper Polish. Good grief! All of the yucky black came off lickety split! Here is my shiny clean bowl in all it's glory!!


Isn't the most precious piece of fabric? It came in the mail today from an Etsy purchase. It's feedsack cotton, and to my delight, there is just enough to make a cover for my sewing machine! I'll be sure to post pictures when it's done!!

This little piggy went to the thrift store...

Stopped at the Humane Society Thrift Store again on my way home from work.

There's some old fashioned clothespins, some kind of chopper thingie, a sweet quilted table topper, an embroidered linen napkin (large enough to make a cute little headscarf out of), a little embroidered cotton napkin (another tissue holder?), and this funky little pouch thingie with ziplock bags sewn in.


Perfect for my embroidery floss! It folds up, closes with velcro and has little grosgrain ribbon handles. Cute!


I also found a nice Pyrex Butterprint bowl that I'm trying to get some black marks off with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. This web site says that it should work, but so far I'm not having much luck. Bummer.

On another note, this weekend starts a two week vacation for MDH. Jealous, I am! At least he'll be home in the evenings with me, we can have dinner together for a change (he works nights), and he can help me schlep all of my de-stashed and de-cluttered stuff to the garage, because we're going to do another YARD SALE 4th of July weekend.! Yes, again. Ah, me. Last one, I swear!!

Crafty stuff...

Found the most awesome fabric at Goodwill. It's a super thick and heavy cotton and cute as a button! Almost too heavy for a tablecloth or even curtains, so I don't really know what to do with it. There are 2 1/2 yards of the lovely stuff, so it will go in my stash till it tells me what it wants to be. Or maybe eventually I'll sell it on Etsy if it keeps mum for too long :-)



I've been trying to de-clutter and de-stash my craft room for the past couple of weeks, and when I pulled a tote out of the back of the closet I came upon some pillowcases that I got at Goodwill a LONG time ago. I had forgotten how hilarious they are. PILLOWCASES! Who would put these on their bed?? What should I do with them? I'm thinking bags for grocery shopping because they are a nice heavy cotton, not like regular bed cases at all. Whatcha think?



Was cruisin' around on Etsy today and saw something really cute, so I made one for myself this evening. Used my one and only hankie, but it's a adorable and holds my travel-size tissues.


Speaking of my craft room... in addition to de-junking it, I thought I'd try to pretty it up a bit as well. It's never going to be as cute as Alicia's (not quite my style), but I need it to be cheerier and happier, not to mention ORGANIZED, so I want to actually be in there to get something done!! This is what I've accomplished so far... nearly wore me out! I think I have to go to bed now.

Word for the day....

Defenestrate
1. to throw out of a window.

Exactly what I'm going to do with the pups if they don't quit chasing the cats around the house and barking their fool heads off!!!

This evening's project...

I have this great sunglasses case that I love, however, it is butt ugly. I like it because it's padded really well and has one of those spring loaded, squeezy openings. SO... I decided to pretty it up with a really cute fabric scrap that I've been hoarding. Took 20 whole minutes start to finish. LOVE those faaaast projects! What a feeling of accomplishment!




hmmm.. ya think it needs some rick rack???

Today is...

CELEBRATE!!

Word for the day....

Quiddity
1. the essence or nature of a thing.

And so it goes...

On June 20th the world lost an amazing lady. I'm sure you all know that Tasha Tudor passed away at the age of 92. She was an inspiration to a lot of people, wrote lovely children's books and owned Corgi's! Her home was even named Corgiville Cottage! She will be greatly missed.

Then today I heard that George Carlin had passed. Man, I loved that guy! Anyone who can make me laugh so hard that I cry is #1 in my book! RIP, George orge orge orge...

Etsy...

Just spent the last hour listing some really nice things at my Etsy Shop. Etsy is a lot of fun, and a great way to make some extra cash! Problem is that I buy more than I sell, LOL!

Word for the day....

Fugacious
1. lasting but a short time.

Yard sale

Went yard-sailing yesterday. Let me introduce you to Thelma and Louise.........

First day of summer...

was yesterday, and still no hummingbirds or goldfinches. Did observe one lonely little Pine Sisken at the thistle feeder on Thursday. Things are not looking good for my backyard bird watching since the killer jay moved to the 'hood.

Word for the day....

Antediluvian
1. extremely old.

Exactly how I'm feeling today.

Can't forget the pups!

Can't resist!!

Word for the day....

Aestival
1. of or belonging to the summer.

Thursday....

Boy Howdy! this has been a long week, and it ain't over yet! It's prep week at school, the calm before the summer session storm, and I'm trying to get caught up with paperwork, filing, etc., not to mention getting everything ready for the girls on Monday. Prep weeks are nice 'cuz I can play cds while I work, loud iffen I want :-) I'm not bothered with phone calls, whiny students or other staff needs. This week just seems to be dragging however. Methinks it's because the weather is phenomonal right now and I would rather be home in the garden.

Speaking of garden, I had inherited some green pvc vinyl trellises when a store I worked for closed down. We used to have them hanging on the side of our ancient, sagging garage for some color, but last week we decided to take them down and put them on fence surrounding the dog yard to pretty it up a tad. The fence was pretty rough as it was just thrown up in a hurry by two guys that really didn't know what they were doing! It was supposed to just be utile, but I couldn't take the sheer ugliness of it any longer. Now it looks like a 'secret garden' because you can't see into the dog yard as easily as you could before. I have great ideas sometimes..really I do!! :-)
Shoes of choice for today...

Word for the day....

Effulgence
1. the state of being bright and radiant.

They came today...

Isn't this darling packaging? They look just like little Christmas Crackers!!! Too cute!!

What came you say? Why, my darling little spools of red and white Baker's Twine!! AND she sent me three of her cute little crow labels! I got them here.

Word for the day....

Pleonasm
1. The use of more words than are necessary to express an idea.
2. A superfluous word or expression.

Laundry basket...

From this...
to this...
in the blink of an eye :-)

Around the place..

I love this bush, unfortunately I don't know what it is. It's about 10 feet wide and about 8 feet tall. Gorgeous!!




The garden is tilled and ready for planting. Now to decide what to plant and find the time to do it! DH and I have decided that with our advancing ages (50's) this place is just getting to be too big for us and too much work. As much as I love gardening and flowers, I'm beginning to regret putting in so many beds. Too much weeding to keep up with. My dream has always been to have a little farm, but I'm not as spry as I used to be. With each year comes a new ailment.

One of my favorite hobbies is bird watching. We have always had tons of nesters and babies, but this year we have a mean ol' scrubjay who has managed to run everyone off. He even went so far as to tear out of a birdhouse all of the nesting materials that a pair of sparrows had worked on for a solid week! They had literally 'feathered' their nest with chicken feathers from the coop. I watched from inside as he deliberately picked out the feathers one by one and let them fall to the ground. The sparrows have not been back. Yet to arrive this year are the goldfinches and the hummers. It seems late, but maybe the jay has scared them off as well.

Word for the day....

Leitmotif
1. In music drama, a marked melodic phrase or short passage which always accompanies the reappearance of a certain person, situation, abstract idea, or allusion in the course of the play; a sort of musical label.
2. A dominant and recurring theme.

Workin workin workin..

in the yarden today. Need to plant up all of my pots. The potting bench area is a total mess from winter ravages. Probably should think about cleaning it up sometime.

Managed to get the petunias into the concrete planter thingie that we found somewhere, don't remember where.

Also got my faves planted..hens and chicks!! Love 'em!


If anyone can tell me what this tree is, I'll give you a brownie button! The flowers look like tiny roses, about 3/4" across.

Word for the day....

Bombinate
1. To buzz; to hum; to drone.

What I'm reading..

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

While I enjoyed the movie immensely, the book is somewhat burdensome to read. I know it was nominated for a Pulitzer, and the author DID win a Pulitzer for another novel, but I find the writing a little flowery, and I find myself having to re-read passages to try to understand what she's trying to say. Once understood, the imagery is quite good, but I just don't want to have to work that hard. I do love words, but the fewer the better. You don't have to take a whole paragraph to convey what could be said in one sentence. I WILL see it through to the end..don't like things left undone..so I can get to this one...





I love Anna Quindlen and I've been wanting to read this for a long time!