Smooth - Photo Challenge and Our Beautiful World Countryside OBW 105

I spent about 5 hours yesterday weeding.  Yes, weeding.  Confession - I am one of those people who likes weeding.  Not so much 5 hours of it, but it is a repetitive and somewhat peaceful activity that gives me time to ponder things and acknowledge things as well.  

First, I say somewhat peaceful because inevitably there's something going on in the neighborhood that will infringe upon the sounds of nature, namely yard equipment.  I don't so much mind the sound of the cars whooshing by, or even the train in the distance, but sometimes the drone of the yard tractor is anything but peaceful.  Luckily yesterday it was well removed from our part of the street.

And as for pondering - well my main purpose for doing this weeding was to eliminate the poison ivy that has taken hold in a little area just outside our backdoor.  And this can be tricky for a number of reasons.  First, you must wear gloves.  I used to weed bare handed and never minded green fingertips and fingernails.  But when you invite birds to your yard with feeders they tend to leave behind their own little presents in their poop - plant seeds like poison ivy and cedar trees, and I could go on.

Second, you must know what you are looking for.  Leaves of Three Let Them Be!  That is the mantra we've been taught to be safe.  However, there are some plants that have leaves of three like the Jack in the Pulpit below.  Oh yes, if you look carefully you can find the poison ivy also in that picture, but the Jack in the Pulpit is almost dead center.

What you see below is poison ivy.  SMOOTH, shiny leaves of three.  (The smooth meaning not fuzzy like some berry vines.)  If you grab them right at the root (being careful with larger plants not to have them touch your exposed arm or any other part of your body for that matter) they are easy enough to wiggle out of the ground.  

How did I do all this with my bad back?  Well, HWNSNBP had bought me, many years ago, a little garden tool box on wheels that you can sit on.  And truthfully, had I been using this last summer, I could probably have saved myself a lot of pain and anguish.  But I've become very adept at scooting along the ground and leaning over just far enough to get the job done.  And I feel so much better for having accomplished this.(Not to mention the fact that this area looks sooooooooooooo much better!)

And speaking of looking good - Here is my countryside photo for Our Beautiful World this week.  

We pass this scenic lavender farm on the weekends we travel to the condo.  This past Sunday we stopped in to their little shop to pick up something I wanted for a gift.  The red barn buildings are just so pretty and well kept.  There's also a horse farm on this property and to the left you can see a couple of the sheds that they have in the fields for the horses to go into for protection from the elements. 

I think I've mentioned this place before in a post more than a year ago but if anything, the place has become more beautiful with time.

Now if you want to see some breathtaking photos of landscapes from around the world, please click here for the Our Beautiful World challenge.  

ICAD 2015 - Week 6 and FRIENDS - Photo Challenge

I'm still playing catch-up but as the prompts this week centered on games, well it sounded like a good seque.  Let's get to it.......

Day 36 - Backgammon

So I guess this is technically 1/4 of a backgammon board, though there is a mistake I think.  The arrows should probably not all be the same, but this is art and my board so I can accept it as a planned mistake.  Background is watercolored, the rest is paper pieced.

Day 37 - Chess or Checkers

The daisy background has nothing whatsoever to do with this prompt.  It's what I had handy being too lazy I guess to create a background.  A new pkg. of doilies, some washi tape, and a bit of recycled gold paper for the crown.

Day 38 - Mahjong (Marbles)

I had an idea for Mahjong tiles.  Then I heard this washi tape calling my name - "play with me, play with me" it said.  So I did. Washi tape and Prismacolors.

Day 39 - Bingo

I picked a few numbers that are significant to me and turned the rest over.  Micron marker.

Day 40 - Yahtzee

Not quite dice, but square with dots on them.  Washi tape and Stabilo marker.

Day 41 - Bridge or Gin Rummy

This one might just beat out the toy telephone from last week as my favorite.  Micron and Stabilo markers.

Day 42 - Scrabble

A repeated pattern of the colored tiles on a Scrabble board.  Stabilo markers.

Now, I may get in trouble for posting this picture, and honestly, I did not take it, but today's photo prompt is FRIENDS and this picture of our Table 7 gang is all about lifelong friendship so how could I not share it.  Love you guys!

Toy? - Photo Challenge

Someone wasn't happy that it was raining today and they couldn't play with their toys.  Ooooh, that is a stretch for the TOY prompt, but I really wanted to use this picture today because as sad as it looks it made me smile.  

Part of my daily vitamin regimen.  Two B2's twice a day and two D3's once each day.  

Funny story - I recently switched over to these B2 capsules that contain the vitamin in powder form. I had been taking regular hard pills but when I ran out, this is what I found.  No problem really, unless you don't drink enough water to wash them down.  How do I know this?  Sunday morning I took two capsules after I ate my breakfast with a swig of tea.  Several minutes later I burped only I didn't realize what had happened.  I thought something was burning.  Something near me, like my computer, or the table lamp, because I saw what I thought was smoke and it definitely had an odor. Took me a frantic minute or two to realize that nothing was burning and the smoke that I saw was actually the vitamin powder being expelled out my nose. This was confirmed by blowing my nose and seeing the bright yellow on the tissue.

The gel capsule must have gotten stuck somewhere in the back of my throat and dissolved a little, but not enough, and when I burped (with my mouth closed I must add) the force of the air pushed the powder back up through my nose.  Not a very pleasant experience. Don't try this at home.

And you would think that I learned my lesson with that.  No, it happened again the next night.  So now I have to remind myself not only to drink plenty of water when I take these but also to remember not to burp afterwards.

Jingle SILVER Belles

As you might have guessed from the title the challenge this time is to use silver or bells or both silver and bells.  I have silver and bells.  No stamping whatsoever on this baby.  Just a pine branch die, the jingle bell die, paper, washi tape, stick on jewels, and a nice red ribbon.  HWNSNBP seems to think that I will have requests for this card. 

So sorry for the less than stellar picture.  I really should have changed that background, but I was trying to show the reflection of the light on the silver. 

Won't you please join me over at the Jingle Belles blog to see the other Silvery/Bell cards that have been created. 

Fresh and Time - Photo Challenge

The potted periwinkle fresh with raindrops after an afternoon rainstorm.

And below - Time - The clock that I bought at a flea market for about $3.  Needed a new battery today and luckily I had the right size.  

Deep & Tiny - Photo Challenge

Since I forgot to post this yesterday I decided that it does fit into yesterday and today's prompts. There is a creature from the DEEP in this TINY scene that I created for HWNSNBP. 

Back story - he was with me on a recent trip to Michael's and whilst I was perusing the aisles he was on his merry way perusing also and came upon these terrarium jars which reminded him of the scenes that I had put together for our Christmas display.  He wondered, out loud to me, if it was possible to make a beach scene in one of them?  And since I had not yet decided what to use my 50% off coupon (yes, sometimes I don't have anything particular in mind when I get these coupons, but darned if they don't compel me to go and find something to use it on) and the jars were the most expensive thing we would be purchasing at that time I took on the challenge.

Of course, they didn't have the sand I wanted there so we had to make a trip to A.C. Moore for that (with a percentage off purchase coupon the next week).  And a trip to the Great Swamp Nursery where we both remembered them having the "ingredients" (little figures) for such a scene.  Oh, and he volunteered to go into Pier 1 (I know this was meant to keep me out of there in the event of me finding something else to spend money on) for the "Fairy Lights" which you can't see in the picture but I used clear packing tape to strap them to the lid to look like the stars in the sky when it's dark, battery operated.  

Yes, I think that crab is a bit out of proportion for the whole scene but he likes it.

SOC 2015 - Week 5 and OBW 104 - Pathway

This week's colors - 2 greens and 1 pink.  I had a plethora of thoughts about this and then I thought that I remembered that we had rolls of bulletin board paper in two greens and one pink.  Aha!  Into the supply room I wandered and tore off the scraggly ends of the rolls.  Just a wee bit was needed for my wee journal.  A torn paper collage - flowers in the field.

Some blended Prismacolor pencils in the background and a tiny bit of green glitter glue for the splotch-punched flower centers.  My computer is not being kind to these shades - they are much more vibrant IRL.  You'll want to check out more green and pink creations at the Twinkle, Twinkle blog - click here.

Green and pink was very evident on our bike ride this morning down the Barnegat Branch Trail.  The trail is built on the site of the now defunct Barnegat Branch Division of the Central Railroad of New Jersey.  It is a wonderful cinder pathway through the woods that eventually will be 15.6 miles long. We did a 2 mile section of it today making the round trip of about 4.25 miles.  Contrary to what you see in the picture below, there were many riders and walkers along the trail today.  And it's fun to greet everyone with a "good morning".

Speaking of pathways - I recently was pointed in the direction of another photo challenge called Our Beautiful World and this week's theme is Pathway's.  There are pathways from all over the world being shared - click here to see more. 

HWNSNBP took us down one of the "historical" sidepaths on the trail and spotted this little guy.  By the time we turned around and came back he was gone.  Don't you just love the look in his eyes?

Sour - Photo Challenge

On their own lemons are the epitome of sour.  But added to something else they enhance and brighten the flavor.  I like to buy organic lemons, cut them up, squeeze the juice out of them, and make ice cubes.  Makes it easy for me in the morning to pop one lemon ice cube into my tea and I'm on my way.  

And of other yellow things...........Kirby flopped off his cage the other day and when I picked him up I placed him on the table in front of me (it's next to his cage).  He had to check everything out.  See that look on his face....... "You're so behind on your tangles Lorraine.  What have you been doing?"

Okay, okay!  I'll get to them ASAP!

Rough - Work - Photo Challenge

The rough ends of some drawer pulls that I spray painted last week.  They're going on a dresser that we got at IKEA and HWNSNBP recently stained.  I used hammered metal spray paint and they didn't quite come out like metal because the wood was so rough and grainy.  They'll do though.  I was giving them some time to cure before putting them on the drawers so we didn't have that lovely spray-paint aroma permeating our bedroom.  

Fessing up - the picture below is of work but it was taken last week on my first day back from my staycation.  The view is from me standing in the hallway behind my work station/desk.  I was feeling so refreshed after 10 days off and within 15 mins. it was quite the opposite.  Behind that wall of plastic they were breaking through the wall in the far right corner.  Noise, dust, noise.  The A/C was not working and it was hot and as you can see, my whole work station was covered in plastic.  Not a pretty sight.  The most annoying thing about it all was that there was no one in our office for 10 days and they were supposed to start this job on the first Monday.  But it was my luck to have to come back on July 1 to this.  

The wall of plastic is down and you saw the picture from a couple of days ago of the door frame being worked on.  Now that opening is closed up with a piece of plywood.  We were told that this project would take 5 weeks and I'm beginning to think that they were thinking they would need 25 days which would equal 5 weeks of workdays only they're not stringing them together.  The head of maintenance told us that they ARE on schedule to be finished with it by the time school starts.......in September!

In Between - Photo Challenge

So here's the scoop..... I know that the last two days' prompts were hot and cold leading to today's in-between might have led you down the path to another temperature reference photo.  And I was probably going to go there myself until this opportunity arose.  

We're having some construction done in our office at school this summer.  They've broken through a wall to the outside and are going to install a new security set of doors.  So as they were doing some brick work this morning (oh yes, we worked in the same room while they worked) I asked the mason if we could put something in that space before they bricked it up and he said "of course".

Knowing that I have a little stash of these solar flying pigs at home, I decided that this one should be "time-capsuled away" in-between the bricks for posterity.

And a little confession - it was my phone that took the picture, but I was not the photographer.  The mason was on a small scaffold structure to get up that high and I was not going to climb and since he offered to take the picture I was grateful that he did.

ICAD 2015 - Week 5

This week proved to be a wee bit of a challenge.  Only because I got hung up on one prompt and didn't want to move forward with the rest until I finished that one.  Sometimes stubbornness is not in my best interest because it lets things pile up unnecessarily.  But anyway, on with the show......

Day 29 - Ice Cream Cone

What?  You don't see an ice cream cone?  Of course you don't see the cone because there's just so much ice cream I could fit on an index card.  One scoop of coffee ice cream with rainbow sprinkles please.  (HWNSNBP refused to think of my washi strips as sprinkles because they were not rounded on the corners!  Pish tosh!

Day 30 - Telephone

Who remembers this Fisher-Price toy phone?  I am too old to have had one, but I know that my kids did.  And so I drew it on a page from an old cell phone manual that was framed on either side by some telephone book paper.  This might be my favorite ICAD so far.

Day 31 - Trivia

I think, no, I know that this is where I got hung up.  There is so much trivia in my head - you know I'm known as a KOOK (keeper of odd knowledge) - that I just couldn't figure out how to express it.  Aha!  A little birdie told me..................    My blue jay is an endeavor using some new art supplies - Zig Clean Color Brush Markers that came all the way from Japan.  I don't think it turned out too bad on the index card.  Now I need to try them out on some watercolor paper.

Day 32 - Weather

I feel I almost cheated with this as I used a stamp set (Think Happy by Stampin Up), but stamps were part of the suggested media theme for this week so I came away okay with it.

Day 33 - Mad Men or I Love Lucy

Hmmm..............  Pencil, Micron Marker and Zig again.  Loved working on those eyes.

Day 34 - Flag/Independence Day

HWNSNBP forgot his phone charger and his spare cord was broken so we had to get a new one.  Luckily, Big Lots was open on July 4th.  This little Travelocity gnome was on the package and since he was bedecked in red, white and blue I felt he belonged on my 4th of July washi-tape flag.

Day 35 - Portrait

A pencil selfie of a selfie which, honestly, I had done last week fooling around and was going to use for my cover page for my ICAD's, but then when I saw the prompt for a portrait figured it belonged here.  I think I got the hair and eyebrows right.  Oh, and the dimples.  Not sure about the rest although HWNSNBP did respond correctly when I asked him who this looked like.  But he did respond in question form.

I do really love making these little projects.  It gives my mind exercise in the planning and is definitely helping me to try new things and not be afraid to share them.  

Cold - Photo Challenge

It may look like it, but Kirby was not interested in eating this cold popsicle.  It was more of "get away from me or I'll bite you!".

Breakfast of ..... Bike Riders and Some Little Paper Stars

If you're not from New Jersey I'm told you might not know of this sandwich - pork roll, egg and cheese on a hard roll.  Yes, pork roll born in Central Jersey says!  Not Taylor ham as it's referred to in the northern part of our state.  After a bike ride on the beautiful morning we had last Monday near the lighthouse, we stopped at the Inlet Deli and got breakfast and then scooted over to eat it at the picnic tables along the bay.  A cool breeze, no crowds, and no sea gulls.   Quite a memorable morning. 

Back at the condo, the flowers in the barrel are blooming nicely.  Even though we're here mostly only on weekends, Mother Nature has been watering them with frequent rain showers for now.

Back home again there was one more thing I wanted to try.  These cute folded stars.  They are a little easier than Moravian stars and will make cute ornaments.  I just want to find some two-sided paper before I give them another try.  Here's the link.

In case you can't translate from the link above I used 3 pieces of 1/2 X 12 inch paper folded in half and then you can follow along with the pictures there.

Here they are with the tails cut off. 

And to give some reference to the size, next to a pencil.

If I put my mind to it, I just might have found the perfect thing for the staff mailboxes this Christmas.

Hot - Photo Challenge

88º on the driveway.  Hot enough to melt an ice cube in a couple of minutes.

Celebrate - Photo Challenge

Happy Birthday America!

Red - Photo Challenge

Most people love red, red cherries.  I love yellow, Ranier cherries with a tinge of red and I found some today at Costco.  They are more expensive than the Bing cherries and they definitely have a shorter season of availability.  But I love them and always treat myself.

Growing up there was a cherry tree in our backyard with these delicious yellow cherries.  And there was nothing like putting a warm, juicy, ripe cherry in your mouth.  Or cold, halved cherries in a bowl sprinkled with sugar as my grandfather liked them.  

We lived above my grandparents.  There was an addition to their part of the house downstairs for their kitchen and bedroom and we (my sisters and brothers) used to sneak out our bedroom window onto the hot shingled roof and scooch right to the edge to grab the branches with the biggest, fattest, juiciest cherries that came close enough to the house.  Inevitably, we would be heard by someone downstairs and were scolded back into the house. How none of us ever fell off the roof reaching was a miracle!  

As I picked up the carton of cherries today I could hear my grandmother in my head exclaiming at the price of the cherries I was buying.  "They're so dear." she would say of anything that was expensive. And to them, my grandparents, it would be a hard decision whether to spend that extra money for something dear.  

I wondered if it will come to that as we get older.  Will we have to choose not to treat ourselves to something we love because it is too dear?  I hope not.  What would life be without red-tinged, yellow cherries in July?

On My Street - July Photo Challenge

This is actually right across the street from our condo.  As you can see it rained today before I got here.  I was hoping for a nice sundown picture looking up the street but the clouds hung around way too long.  So the right angles of this sign alongside the vertical telephone pole seemed to coexist nicely enough for a picture tonight.

Then again, there is the sign in front of our units - well, at least the swan portion (and a little fuzzy I think, or was it the mist in the air?).  Actually, minus that pole in the background I think I have a little inspiration for a card in the near future.

ICAD 2015 - Week 4

Sheesh, how did I get so far behind on posting these?  It must have been me trying to get so much done during my week "staycation"...... and I did get to tackle a few things that have been needing my attention.  But on to the ICAD's with the theme of using ink or markers.

Day 22 - Psychedelic

Periodically I get visual migraines and this is what I see - or similar to what I see and don't see.  It starts out as a little wavy line and grows and pulsates in somewhat psychedelic fashion and in the center where I've colored it black is where I lose my vision as the line expands.  When it fully expands I get my full vision back, but as it's happening it's a little disconcerting to, let's say, look directly at someone who is talking and not be able to see their face.  Or to try to read something and not be able to see any words where you're looking but only those all around.  Done in highlighters and watercolor markers.

Day 23 - Romantic

Using a new gel pen, I did a tangle with a heart theme.  

Day 24 - Geometric

Another gel pen tangle.

Day 25 - Botanic or Organic

Another gel pen tangle and I'm not liking this at all.

Day 26 - Exotic

Micron pen palm leaves (yes, that's what they were intended to be, not feathers) and watercolor marker pixilation.

Day 27 - Academic

This is supposed to be the brain inside the skull thinking and sending out impulses.  

Day 28 - Dramatic

Highlighters and watercolor markers.  The rainbow colors against the black background are meant to be dramatic, however, given the latest Supreme Court ruling on Marriage Rights, there's another little bit of drama included in there.

Sometimes these prompts are easy and sometimes I really have to give it a lot of thought (as I'm currently finding out this week).  But I keep reminding myself that this is an art exercise meant to stretch my creativity and though it may appear kind of elementary at times, it's a fun learning experience ...... even if I don't like the outcome.  

Sparkle - July Photo Challenge

I wish I had been home a little earlier so you could actually see the sparkle this makes in my kitchen when the sun shines on it.  This is a crystal ball suspended in that curved glass but when you make it spin, it appears as though the ball goes up and down even though it can't.

I've decided to do a photo-a-day challenge for the month of July and this is the prompt for July 1st.  Here's the rest of the list for the month from the Idea Room.