{ yes it is! }

{ Wishin' and Hopin' }

... for some warmth and color to show up soon!!! I'm so down in the dumps these days!! Last week was a killer! Spent Tues, Wed and Thurs passing a kidney stone. I know! Yikes! My third go-around with those demons and this was the worst!! Went to work Friday and ended up with a migraine. Good grief! Came home Monday and all of our cable was off. Couldn't pay our bill. Got it turned back on yesterday, and now I have a killer head cold!! When will it end????

Took a little walk outside to get some fresh air, and LO! and Behold! Found some greenies!!!

Sweet bulbs peeking out!!

All of my roses are budding out!!

And the pretty little violas, of which I have thousands it seems, are showing their darling little faces! Won't be long now! Can't wait to get my hands dirty!!! How about you????

{ How often do you see this? }

(Click to enlarge)

This little girl brought her pet chicken in to shop with her at the Rite-Aid where I work. It was so cute that I thought I would share. Bock Bock Bock!!!

{ Nothing says SPRING like... }

BUNNIES!!!

Here's a few from around my house....

Spring can't come too soon for me! How about you?

{ Random tips... }

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of Spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream; then beat them.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Heat leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove; set heat to med-low aAnd heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza.

Easy Deviled Eggs :Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal; mash till they are all broken up Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy; squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done - easy clean up.


To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in the microwave next to a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food  moist and help it reheat faster.

To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... Ta DA! ... Static is gone.

Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, Just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.

{ Just checking in... }

Checking in to see how all my blog buddies are doing! My work week is over, so on to some much needed down time. I thought our store would cease being so busy after the holidays, but that hasn't happened yet. Good for business...but not my FEET! LOL! Not much happening on the home front. Laundry and cleaning today so the rest of my days off can be lazy ~grin~.Trying to re-teach myself crochet. My grandmother taught me a LONG time ago, but it's not really like riding a bike! I totally forgot how to do it :-( I really love Granny Squares, but lately I have been enamored by Granny Circles... like this...

 Doesn't look too difficult. I can do that! Once I get my crochet mojo back, I want to do this pattern....

 Aren't these squares to die for??? And the colors! Oh, my! I love it!

I will be sure to show you my progress once I get "hooking" again!!! LOL!

Love to you all,

{ It's the little things... }

Yes, it's always the smallest things that make me the happiest. MDH and I were out doing our Thanksgiving dinner shopping yesterday and I found the sweetest thing! I LOVE Whitman's Sampler tins...the TINY ones... I use them for everything...pins, buttons whatever. They haven't put out a new pattern for a long while...until now.

 The most PERFECT shade of aqua! I am in love!
(wish I could find this design in the BIG one!)

(remember..clicking on my pics will make them bigger!)

{ A sad day in Blogland... }

or at least here at Lori Lynn's Cottage. My beautiful GREEN PUMPKIN is already rotten. ~weeping copious tears~

Rest in peace, oh lovely one. You brought me much joy during your short sweet life  :-(

With tongue firmly in cheek,

{ It's brrrr cold today! }

There's been a drastic turn in our weather. We went from sunny upper to 60's to dreary lower 50's in the blink of an eye...but that is typical for Central Oregon! We even got a skiff of snow last night. I wanted to go out and do a Goodwill run, but decided to cozy down in the house.

I would love to be sitting here............

reading this....

but, instead, I have decided to do this......

You see, all of my doilies and dresser scarves have somehow picked up black kitty hairs from this....

So...time for a little spruce-up!!!

What's on YOUR agenda today???

PS: There's still time to sign up for my GIVEAWAY!!!

{ That old feeling }

Halloween isn't even over yet and I'm already starting to feel that old feeling of sadness that I won't be with my 'kids' for the holidays. It's a tough time of year for me. I have one dear daughter who moved her family to the east coast about 6 years ago. When they left I had three sweet grand-babies. Since they've been there, they have added two more. Two sweet little girls that I have never seen. Pictures just don't replace the feel of their soft little bodies and the smell of their hair and skin. It's difficult to feel attached to one's that you have never had any physical contact with. Our schedules and finances aren't conducive to cross-country visits, and it breaks my heart. 

Well, enough of the 'poor me' drivel. I really just wanted to share the most recent photos of my kids. Taken in May of this year.

Hug your babies if they're near!!

{Can someone help me?}

I am looking for someone who can make me a simple background...and also INSTALL it on my blog. I know exactly what I want, I don't know the first thing about making a background, and even if I did I'm scared to try to install it. I am majorly html challenged. I will love you forever!!!!!

{A Sad Fall Day}

I'm always a little sad when the day comes to wash and put away the hummingbird feeders. 

Farewell little jewels until next year! Safe trip south!

{Beatrix Potter}

It has always been my dream to live in the British countryside, preferably Wales, but the article on Beatrix Potter in the current issue of Victoria, has me longing to visit the Lake District of Northern England. I have never seen anything so lush and green. It is a beautiful article..one to not be missed.

Beatrix Potter has always been a favorite of mine...sweet and timeless. Who doesn't love Peter Rabbit, Miss Tabitha Twitchet and the myriad of other sweet creatures she wrote about?

And I so loved the movie Miss Potter with Renee Zellweger!
A sweet portrayal!

I recently discovered that Susan Albert Wittig, who wrote the China Bayles herbal-based mysteries, also has written a series called The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter. Gads! Where have I been??!! I recently purchased the first one.......

...and with the first few pages, I was smitten :-) Today is my day off from work...the dishes need done, the bedsheets need changing...and all I want to do is sit and read this lovely little book!!!

More anon,

{Can you guess what we're up to???}

 

  

  

Yep, we're moving. I just want to cry. It came upon us kind of suddenly, and I'm a bit overwhelmed. We've lived in this rental for 13 years! When we moved in we were newlyweds. It was just temporary until we decided where we wanted to live. Well, we had such great landlords, and loved the place so much, we just stayed. I thought I would be here forever. To make a long story short, our landlords lost their house to the bank and gave us 30 days notice to vacate as they need to move in here!! When I heard the news I got physically ill. There is 13 years of accumulation, and we're moving to a much smaller home. I won't have a dedicated craft room anymore and I just don't know how to feel about that.

We were not able to find a place quickly here in our hometown, so we're moving to a smaller town about 20 minutes away. Not so bad, 'cuz I'll be nearer to my sister, BUT, we both work here, so there will be a longer drive to work. I don't mind so much, as I only work a couple of days a week, but MDH works 7 days a week for the local newspaper; in the middle of the night no less. He's not looking forward to THAT, but ya do what ya gotta do.

I wish I was younger.

{If all goes as planned.....}

My sister and I will be taking a weekend trip in June. We'll be off to see our dad, AND................. GO HERE!!!!

THE FARM CHICKS SHOW!!!!
(click)

I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself!!!!!

{Pretty}

I just stumbled upon an awesome collage artist while visiting Mary Engelbreit's blog.

Her name is Linda Solovic and her work is so whimsical!

She also has an Etsy store where she sells prints of her work. So sweet and worth the visit!!!

{I only have one thing to say....}

 

http://www.regretsy.com/

Just when I thought...

I had gotten to the bottom of my ironing basket....

...the darn thing filled up again!

Swat's goin' on at my house you ask ??

This was the scene when MDH and I got back from our Thrift Store run.

 

 

 

It's been going on about 2 hours. Apparently there is a hostage situation in a house on our road. Two swat teams and bullhorns... "Come out the front door. No one will get hurt." I can't tell you how uneasy this makes me. I used my zoom lens, so, no, it's not that close to my house, but still too close for comfort.