End of April Days

 April 14th was Look Up at the Sky Day - Here's looking up at the sky from under a frittilary looks like.

We had a lot going on in and around the house the last part of the month.  The house and garage got power washed and the new furnace was inspected (and passed).  We had already turned on the air-conditioner during the week of the 90° temps but also had the annual check-up scheduled for the next week.  The tall dead elm tree that sat on the property line was taken down (along with two more of the neighbor's trees).  And there were more health-related days with physicals and bloodwork, etc.  I did get to go to lunch with a former coworker that I haven't seen in months, and had tea with two of my good friends. 

They still had their upside-down tree decorated for Easter.

We had bananas on Banana Day (4/19), and celebrated pretzel day (4/16) with soft pretzels from Wawa.  HWNSNBP found Devil Dogs at Quik Check in time for Devil Dog Day (4/27) and an oatmeal cookie from Panera for Oatmeal Cookie Day (4/30).  

Big Word Day was 4/21 and here's one for you - Palimpsest - a manuscript or something written or created over something else that is still visible.  Something you see when an artist does a sketch and then changes it as they've painted without completely erasing or covering the original sketch.  Something also that they can find with scanning old artworks to see what lies beneath.  

Our first Table 7 member turned 70 this month and HWNSNBP suggested a theme for his card that involved his sports officiating.  I was lucky to have black and white striped paper in my stash as well as the football and basketball textured paper.

There were a couple of other birthdays.  I used these tags that I had created a while ago that were in my stash, added somemore embellishments to them and the card base.  Luckily one was hand-delivered and the other went in a box with something else in the mail so those larger flowers didn't get crushed. 

We delivered a raised bed planter to our son and daughter-in-law.  Here is GS1 helping set it up.

And the forget-me-nots are in full bloom both in the garden and everywhere else they've drifted.

May will be a busy month too.  GS3 is on the way, maybe sooner than later.  

Week 8 of The 100 Day Project 2023, Trees, and a Recipe

I'm pretty sure a couple of these are easy to decipher but good luck with 51 and 56.  

A view of the backyard from last weekend.....

And yesterday - saying goodbye to that big dead tree that had us worried.

I found out recently that those beautiful redbud trees are forageable.  The blossoms, leaves, and seed pods are all edible.  This came to my attention when I saw a post somewhere about making redbud jelly with the blossoms.  It was quite timely to see that as our trees burst into blossom last Friday and the procedure wasn't too complicated, I just needed to get Pectin and the right size jars.  

Picking the blossoms off the tree(s) doesn't take long, but I found that you need to pick what looks to be twice the quantity needed to get what's needed for the recipe because they grow in bunches and you need to pinch off the stems.  They say the stems can make them bitter, so I complied and pinched away.  I think that step took the longest time.  I needed a cup of blossoms.

Then I boiled them in 2 cups of water for 3 minutes.  See how the heat takes the color away as soon as they hit the water.

This "tea" is then strained and 3/4 cup of it, together with 3 tsp. pectin, 1 tbsp. lemon juice, and 2 drops of vanilla go back into the pot, stirred, and brought to a boil.  Then add 1 1/2 cups sugar and boil low/medium for 3 minutes.  You then pour the boiled liquid into clean 4 oz. jars, wipe the rims, and seal.  This is a refrigerator version, so it will only keep in the refrigerator for two weeks.  It can be canned for longer storage, but I opted not to do that this time as I didn't know how good it would taste.

Not quite as magenta as the trees, but pretty still.

It tastes a little like cotton candy with citrus and floral notes.  You know it would be sweet with all the sugar, but it really isn't too sweet, and it is flavorful.

I tried mine on an English muffin with a schmeer of cream cheese.  You could use this at a party over a small block of softened cream cheese using mini pretzels to "dip" into if you like that sweet and salty balance.  

They say you should pick the blossoms before they start wilting on the tree for optimum flavor.  After the first step, I still have enough "tea" left that I might freeze for another batch at a later date.

  The redbud has always been a favorite tree for me, not just because of the beautiful magenta blossoms, but the leaves are heart-shaped which I love.  There was a tree like this in the yard where I grew up, planted by my grandparents.  It is also sometimes called the "Judas" tree as it is said that that's the tree that Judas hung himself from when he betrayed Jesus.  They say the blossoms turned from white to red because of that.  We have had these trees for years in our yard and we get lots of small seedlings sprouting up everywhere from the seed pods.  Some of them we've replanted or given away.  I never knew that they had this edible property.

Big and Little April Celebrations So Far

Whew!  Is it already the third full week of April?  Time to catch up with those daily celebrations.

I don't think that there were any April Fool's Day pranks played here this year.  I told our GS1 that I was thinking of sending him a potato on April 1st but didn't get around to it.  Maybe next year.

I had the best Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich on PBJ Day using a giant jar of Bonne Maman 4 fruit preserves that was nearing expiration date.  And since it's now open, PBJ has been on the lunch menu more often these last weeks.  

Find a Rainbow Day on April 4th was me using my markers to catch up with my 100DayProject.

There was some thought put into the next couple of days but plans didn't work out as we were busy finishing up our projects for GS1's Golden Birthday.  What is a Golden Birthday you might ask (as some of our family and friends around a certain age have)?  It's when you turn the age of the date of your birthday - so in this instance, GS1 turned 7 on the 7th.  I think I promised pictures of the "Dots" project which was part of our birthday gift.  He's REALLY into Legos and our DIL saw something on IG that she thought Papa might be able to make in his workshop - a Lego Sorter.  It consists of series of wooden boxes of incremental height size with holes in each base in incremental hole size nested on top of each other with casters at the bottom.  The premise is to add the mixed up Legos in the top layer and shake the box so they will fall through the holes according to size making it easier to sort them.

This is the picture from the website she saw.  You could buy a finished one (for $199) or print out the free pattern.  You already know what we did about that.   He had to adapt the project to work with the tools that he had because this is made with a CNC machine that works in decimals. This wasn't too bad with the basic box(es).  But the size and spacing of the holes proved to be a little challenging converting those decimals to fractions.  (Guess who got to do that part of it?  Not the person with the degree related to math.)  The pattern had the size of the hole but not how far between each was so I pretty much had to figure that out with a little trial and error.  Thank goodness for a good eraser.  Then he had to find the drill bit that would most closely apply.

The top and bottom pieces.  (Each box is slightly larger than 12" square.) We opted not to put a knob on the top so 1)they could stack something on top of it if need be, and 2)they could add a plate for a build if they wanted (like in the picture).  He put ball casters on the bottom of the box.

And six more levels with the holes.

Including this level with holes that are for the "dust" - 720 of them.

He does have a drill press that he was able to use on the holes with the exception of the center ones that were just out of reach of the press - so he had to use the hand drill for those. I had made a pattern for each of the layers using parchment paper and using the measurements from the plan laid out one quarter of the square.  Since the paper is see-through I then folded the paper in half to mark the other side, then in quarters, until all the holes were marked for him to transfer to the wood.  You see that there are triangles without holes at each inside corner - they are there because the bottom of each level has a triangle of wood that extends from the bottom of that box into the one below so they stay together when shaking.  

It works okay.  DIL took a video of him using it but it was too shaky to use.  It was a learning experience for HWNSNBP - as are most of his first-time woodworking projects.   He considers it a plus when he learns new techniques like most creatives. Here is the card that I made for GS1.

That 7 was done with gold glitter paper and the happy birthday had a gold paper shadow.  Those "Legos" were 4 circle punches layered on top of each other to make them stick out like the real Lego bricks.  

His birthday was on Good Friday and he was off from school and his parents off from work.  They planned an indoor scavenger hunt for him that sent him through the house reading clues that were printed on some Lego scrapbook paper that I had given DIL.  The last clue led him to his suitcase and in it were tickets for a surprise, once in a lifetime, golden birthday trip to the Official Legoland and Kennedy Space Center in Florida over Easter break.  We were invited over for a grandparents brunch the next day and he was so excited about going.  We were celebrating with his choice of pizza and ice cream cake and there was a near meltdown that was avoided by the cake not being melted down when he was allowed to bring the cake in the box from the freezer in the garage to the kitchen and missed the counter.   Had it been a cake cake it would have been a disaster but you've heard of the 10 second rule - it was applied here with some trimming off of the icing before it was sliced up.

This is where they stayed in Florida the first part of the week.  He had a blast.  Actually, they all had a great time.

Following along at a build workshop.

And his very own Golden Birthday Brick. (I think it's on a keychain.)

That Saturday was also "Draw a Bird Day" and I managed to scribble some in my sketchbook when we got home that evening.  Cardinals or bluejays? Cedar waxwings?  Without color we'll never know.

We traveled to Delaware for Easter and got to spend some time with GS2 before SIL's family arrived later in the afternoon.  It's amazing what fun you can have with dinosaur cars, empty plastic Easter eggs, and a lazy Susan.

He got to go to the aquarium with his mom and dad the next day and now he wants "tentacles".

Two more days to share before I end this very long post.  Wednesday, April 12th was Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day and I made us some delicious grilled cheese with bacon and tomato sandwiches.

And Thursday was Scrabble Day.  I remembered that I had just come across some scrapbook paper that was a Scrabble board and one of the tiles, so I made a birthday card for my stash.  (I think it comes to 104 points.)

Thanks for sticking with this so far.  I'll be back with more tomorrow.  

Jingle Belles - Peace on EARTH Day (Part 2) Trash to Treasure

I'm back with another card for the Jingle Belles Earth Day challenge.  And I'm using yet another tissue box piece along with that sentiment that was saved from a card that we received and the squirrel which was fussy cut from some wrapping paper samples that I had taken out of the fund raising booklets when I was working at the school.   I put her on a black glittered tag from a set I got at IKEA years ago.  The tissue box panel is framed by a slice of brushed silver metallic paper which isn't showing up as shiny as it is in the picture. 

When I was checking out the other cards yesterday I saw that one of the participants said that she was using some of the scraps that she had "squirreled" away and I thought that that reference was so apropros for this challenge and for my crafting space(s).  I see the squirrels in the fall scampering around and hiding their acorns here and there and I know that there are some that they forget about which become seedlings in and around our property. (One might wonder if they are forgotten or are purposely placed around so they can make sure that they leave a food source for their descendants.)  Well, I certainly don't scamper around here much anymore but it's always interesting when I do get involved in cleaning or reorganizing and I find those "acorns" that have been squirreled away for some sort of craft project.  I know that when it comes time for someone else to clean up what I have left behind that they'll be thinking "what the heck was she saving that for?".  

This is one of the rare times that I know exactly who will be getting this card.  We were with our DIL's parents at GS1's birthday brunch recently and they were telling us about the squirrel that comes to their deck looking for peanuts and will take them right out of their hands.  Our DIL thinks it's only a matter of time before he/she ends up in the house.  I just have to remember to find out again what they told us they call him/her.  

If you haven't checked out the Jingle Belles blog yet you can by clicking here.  

PS - If you check out derrickdowneyjr on IG you can meet his squirrel friends Richard and Maxine.  He is known as the Squirrel Whisperer and is pretty funny.

Jingle Belles - Peace on EARTH DAY (Part 1)

Time to scour the stamp cave for all those bits and bobs that I've been saving relevant to Christmas card making for the annual Jingle Belles Earth Day challenge.  I did a disappearing act from my "downstairs" life yesterday and got busy making up for lost time.  Three cards were finished for this challenge along with 3 birthday cards and a thank you - all which will be posted soon.  But let me start first with these 2.

Both of these use parts of a Puffs tissue box that I had saved.  And both also include backgrounds from wrapping paper that was saved from the trash.  I also found red half pearls in with what was left from a card kit a few years back that fit perfectly over the printed berries on the trees.  I don't mind having to add a layer of cardstock over cards that have these kind of embelishments when mailing them so that they don't get crushed and lessen the chance of the canceling machine tearing them up.  So you'll see that the first one also has some wooden silver snowflakes with white pearls also.

The sentiment for this one was trimmed from a Christmas card that we received.  Who could resist using something that was already embossed perfectly.  The tinsel ribbon covers up a crease in the wrapping paper that I couldn't get rid of but I think it blends well with the other silver accents.  And you'll notice that both cards have a snowflake in the bottom left corner.  I'll let you in on a little secret.......they're there to cover up the part of the Puffs logo that I didn't trim off.  Squaring off the panels from the tissue box was also a bit challenging because of the angles of those trees.

There have been a couple of "technical" challenges lately too.  I've been so frustrated with trying to upload the pictures from my phone to my computer.  Unfortunately the software that's involved doesn't just download the most recent photos from the phone, it takes them all and then you have to pick the ones that you want to add to your albums.  It doesn't help that I have a few thousand pictures on my phone....which are backed up to the "Cloud" which I would take off the phone but it tells me that if you delete it from the phone it also deletes it from the Cloud.  I thought the Cloud was there so you didn't have to keep all those photos on your phone?  Does this make sense?  

It also doesn't make sense to me that even though I edit my pictures on my phone, when I go to download them to my computer, it shows me the original and the edited version.  And, should someone take a picture in "Live" mode, there are multiple pictures and a movie for each one.  I tried turning off the "Live" function when I edit the picture, but it still downloads those multiples which seems to be hanging up the download time.  It shouldn't take more time than e-mailing myself the pictures and downloading them that way but it does.  

Sorry for the rant, it'll all shake out in the end I'm sure, but technology sure can be challenging.  And let me get back to this challenge by visiting the Jingle Belles to see see what other bits of Christmas ephemera have been given new life.  You can join me by clicking here.

Week 7 of The 100 Day Project 2023 and Some Eggs

 

These eggs are made from dies that I recently got.  They are about 2" x 1 1/2" and I decided to cut them from the heavyweight kraft cardstock that I have and color them with my Prismacolor pencils.  I cut and layered four on top of each other to make them look like they were cut from wood and so I could add thread to them to hang.  I hadn't gotten finished with them before Easter so I'm going to be putting them away with the Easter decorations until next year.  

A good glue pen came in very handy for gluing these together.  They kind of remind me of the Dresden paper ornaments that used to be popular around the holidays.