Long day comes to an end

It's been a long day. I pulled a double shift and then went to a graduation party for hubby's niece. The last week I've spent some time reading several of the blogs here in the challenge postings. There are more than a few writers that I think are closet comedians :) Alot have been educational and all of them are interesting. I enjoy reading them all. I tell my daughter about some of them that I think she'd like to read and she shares some with me that she finds. No, we aren't stalkers! We're blog-hoppers :) You know you read someones blog, then click on a link they have on theirs to someone else's and so on...

I did get one of the front flower beds completed yesterday. My plants seem happier already with new dirt to stretch their roots out in :) Its dimensions are about 9x2. I'll begin working with the bed on the other side of the front steps Monday morning and finish it Tuesday or maybe Wednesday, weather permitting. That section is about 20x2 and I'll probably do it over 2 mornings since the plants that need to be uprooted are more established. That will just leave the right side of the house for the following week. I'll post before and after pics when I'm done.
Dirt is good!

Potpourri

I'm still working on the flower bed. I got a little distracted yesterday and only had time to get the edging. The distraction was a good one though. I stopped in to visit Chanel & family. Hubby ended up coming over and we stayed for dinner. It was nice that Bishnu was off last night too. Getting ready to go and do one side of the bed. The other side may have to wait until next week. I'm out of dirt... imagine that... and won't have enough to complete the other side. I've got some Four O'clocks that are getting a good thinning. There's a spot that I'm going to transplant some too and then take some to a friend. I'll have to try and remember to stake them as they tend to really grow and then at the first good rain, tumble over onto the ground. I'm surprised hubby hasn't complained about having to lift them up to mow underneath them lol.

It Friday and that means it's my day to pick Jonah up from daycare :) I look forward to getting my time with him.

Challenge~ Find a quotation that moves you and write it down. Why does it move you?
*I actually have two and they're both from Dr. Seuss. He was one smart cookie :) I think they both help me to keep things in check and on the path that I want to go.

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go.” Dr. Seuss

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” Dr. Seuss

Flower beds

I've got several plans for today, one of which includes redoing the front flower bed. This means a trip to Menards for edging and dirt to raise it. Then lovingly removing the plants, adding the dirt and then replacing them back into their new home. I really haven't done much to the beds other than planting a few things over the years. This year I decided this was the year to revamp what used to be a nice flower area. A local gardening club has an annual sale of plants which are mostly perennials and I thought that would give me a good start.

Challenge~ Share with us something you collect and what got you started collecting these items...
*I collect old postcards from the town that I grew up in (Washington, IN) and the area where I live now (Winslow, IN). I have them in a box for now, but looking for a way to display them better.

Horse races in Petersburg, IN


Searching for bodies after the flood in Washington, IN

It's Wednesday, what can I say

Challenge~ One thing you must accomplish today is...
*I'll be trying to organize part of my scraproom. Tomorrow I have plans on putting up the shelves in the closet for my scrap stuff :) Yay! I'm really tired today and might take a nap also... but not until I have worked on the scrap stuff for a bit and watched my "All My Children". I have 4 hours until I have to leave for work. I hope that I can do it! lol

Sunday Collage

I'm doing a little catching up with this post. I did alot of running around yesterday looking for flowers for some special graves. After all of the miles I drove and stores visited... I had to make do with what was available. The place I used to get them no longer carry that type, which didn't please me at all. I thought wally-world carried everything lol. I did actually look at the challenge for Saturday, just didn't get it posted. I guess my fingers just couldn't find the "publish" button lol. Taking that opportunity now :)

Challenge~ A trip to the Art Museum makes me feel...
*Art museums make me feel inspired. On our trip to Chicago, we went to a few art museums. I felt inspired to be more creative myself. Well, as much as I am capable of :)

Chanel and family are back from Minnesota:) They had a nice visit with Bishnu's dad, stepmom and sister. She's trying to get her blog set up and when she does, I'll link her on here too. She's a picture-taker/scrapper too :) I'm sharing a couple of pics from Bishnu's graduation that took place a few weeks ago. The pic of Chanel and Jonah I had printed in b&w and not sure which I like better, b&w or color.

Bishnu is a happy graduate

Jonah and Bishnu

Chanel and Jonah

I'm working in a few hours and then tomorrow we're having a belated birthday party for Jonah. He actually turned 2 on May 5th. With everything going on... his daddy's graduation... their moving into their new home... it was hard to get time to celebrate. Tomorrow is Jonah's day though :)

Yay it's Friday :)

I'm on a roll... blogging more than once a week. I'm spending today getting caught up on some small projects, one of which is organizing pics on the computer. I've picked up 10 rolls of film in the last week and now going through them to order prints. Here a are few random pics for a random Friday.

yellow flowers

Jonah and the wooly worm

fence row

Chanel

The first pic is of a field filled with those pretty yellow flowers, although I don't think farmers like them much. I stopped and shot a few frames while the goats across the road watched with curiosity. I shot them too but think they're on the last roll that I still need to develop. The next three shots are from when we went to Lincoln State Park. They were having a special weekend where more than 4300 girl and boy scouts camped for the weekend. This year is the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincolns birth. He spent several years growing up in southern Indiana. The scouts participated in activities and hike the trails. My daughter and I are both lifetime members of Girl Scouts, so we thought we'd go and hike the trails with Jonah. He had a great time! He found a wooly worm and spent 5 minutes checking it out and talking to it. Then promptly stood up.... and stomped it. Yuk! Poor little wooly worm. The last picture is of my beautiful daughter, Chanel (aka Jonah's mommy). She's such a wonderful, caring person whom I respect greatly.

Now for today's challenge.
Challenge~ Friday makes me...
*Friday makes me want to organize, not that I always do much of it. I'm a procrastinator, but I'm doing better :) I'm bad about not putting things up right away, which makes things worse. Fridays are going to be my days for trying to organize and take a stand against clutter. Wish me luck!

My hands

Challenge~ Look at your hands. Why are you grateful for them?
*My hands show their age... sometimes seeming older than they really are. I'm grateful for them because they helped me to learn about things when I was young by exploring. When I got older, they helped me to play an instrument and to hold books to help expand my mind. As I became a mother, they enabled me to care for my children. Comforting them and holding their hands in mine. As my mom became more ill, they were there to help me take care of her until she left us. They now hold my grandson's little hand as he sees and learns something new every day. I'm grateful that my hands have been able to help me do such wonderful things.

2 Peas Challenge and Jonah

2 Peas Wednesday Challenge:
Challenge~ Why is creativity important?
*I don't think of myself as a very artsy/creative person. Keeping that in mind... I would say that creativity is important to me as it allows me to be someone that I'm normally not. I look at the many talented artists, whatever their medium is, and am astounded by what they can create. To some people, creativity comes naturally. Then there are the rest of us that art takes a bit more thought and time. Creativity is an outlet that we can let ourselves run free and are allowed to "color outside of the lines".

Jonah is 2

Chicago Art Trip

The makings of a beautiful day

I have some of the new perennials in the ground that I bought on Friday. I still need to finish the front flower beds. I'll probably change their arrangements around a bit, but just wanted them to get into the soil until I can do that.

I haven't made the leap to digital except for when taking pics of headstones. I have an inexpensive camera for that. Yes, I know that sounds really strange... taking pics of headstones. I've been doing genealogy for many years and sometimes people e-mail me that don't live around here and ask for a headstone picture. So, that means by not being digital for most of my pictures, I'm slow at posting pics online.

That being said, here are a few pics of my grandson, Jonah. I'm trying to make a slide show and experiencing difficulties. When, and if, I get that figured out, I'll add some pics from Chicago :) The spot on Jonah's forehead is from him meeting the door hinge after running down the hallway in my house. It wasn't a pleasant meeting as you can tell. It took 3 stitches, which his mommy (my dd) said he took like a big boy. The small scar now is in the shape of a "y". Interesting :) It's fading nicely.

Jonah on the move!

Such a serious look :)

The Sunday Blogger challenge at twopeas is as follows...

Challenge~ If you could follow someone around for one day (unseen), who would it be and why?

*I think I would love to follow Jonah around for one day and see things through the eyes of a two year old. Being able to see everything as a toddler does would be a great experience. Imagine seeing things again for the first time and actually understanding them :)

Happy Mothers Day!

Challenge for today~ Share a fond memory about your Mother in honor of Mother's DayMom and me

*My mother worked alot when I was growing up, so time together was some of the fondest memories I had. We didn't take many vacations as money was usually tight, but we'd make small day trips which to me was much more fun. She would find some of the best out of the way places to go to or sometimes it was a picnic on one of her days off. That's probably where I grew to appreciate state parks and spending time outdoors. I guess that sort of spilled over with my kids. When they were young we'd go someplace for the day and take our lunches with us.

It's a beautiful day :)

Good morning everyone! It's such a nice day today so far :) I probably won't be able to enjoy it much though as I have two finals due tomorrow and a graduation to go to. I should have had the finals done already but I AM the Queen of procrastination! I wear my crown proudly but would really like to give it to someone else lol. Looks like a challenge for myself to work on... becoming less of a procrastinator. I'll have to take baby steps :)

Ok... for this weeks Two Peas challenge!

Challenge for today~ Describe a favorite vacation of your married years

*We really haven't taken very many vacations and I've enjoyed each and every one. But if I could only pick one it would have to be when we went to Florida. We visted Disney and Universal while there plus St Augustine. That was hubby's and the kids first trip to the ocean. I so want to go back. The ocean is always so peaceful and I could stay there forever... well maybe :) One place that we'd like to go is Gulf Shores, AL.