My Valentine: Nana

My Nana was a sweet and loving woman. I loved spending time with her. On the weekends, I hung out at her house most of the day. I played by myself a lot. One of my favorite things to do was to make stuff and give it to Nana.

I loved to make things out of cut paper and glue. I had a huge supply of construction paper and paste. I liked paper dolls and I would draw fancy ladies and make little clothes for them from the colored paper. It was my way of being a fashion designer. I used a bunch of different materials in my creations. The basis was always construction paper, but I would add stuff I found around the house or yard. Some things I collected from magazines or ads. I also used bits of ribbon, fabric, pillow or quilt stuffing. I would also incorporate leaves, flowers, feathers and shells, anything I could lay my hands on.

Sometimes, I made cards or 3 dimensional pictures and gave them to Nana for Valentine's Gifts. I also gave them to my folks and my brothers and sister. But Nana especially loved them. Such a Valentine always garnered a prominent spot on the front of Nana's hutch. She would always show them off to anyone who came into the house.

My cousin Lorna routinely presented Nana with a fancy, garish and expensive store bought card. Her gift was always welcomed and placed on the front of the hutch, as well as any from the other grandchildren. But they weren't fawned over by Nana. Mine was.

As a child I was shy and quiet. I didn't get much attention. But Nana noticed I had an eye for certain things and she showed off for me.

Weekend Reflections

My friend Margaret plays this piano at church. She is mostly self-taught and has been told she has an odd way of playing. She doesn't care. She loves this piano and has told me many times that it is one of the happiest times for her each week.
Her music is strewn all over and she always has to scramble to find it. She says she makes a lot of mistakes. No one ever notices the mistakes. What they notice is a wonderful and joyful servant, who shares her music with everyone, with a giving heart, each time.
To me, she is a gift from God and I cherish her.

James at Newtown Area Photo hosts Weekend Reflections
Stop in and take a look...

Silly Haiku Wednesday - Changes

* * *
I don't change my hair
It always stays the same - long...
Never cut or style.

faux spring...

we've been enjoying real nice weather here, last couple days.
for january anyway.
temperatures have been in the high 40's and the sun has not been obscured by clouds.

all this makes me think of camping.

my sister linda, always pines for spring. every year she uses her eagle eye vision to spot the signs as soon as they appear. birds returning, anything resembling green and the ever early crocus, she spots it all before anyone else i know.

at some point, she just can't wait for spring to actually arrive and she starts making camping plans.

for years, our two families always met in new hampshire in late july, around the time of her birthday.

linda had an older airstream that she spent countless hours restoring. i had a series of tents, some good, some real good. but i always envied her camper. she could keep all her camping stuff in one place, the camper. mine was spread out all over the place, the cellar, the shed, in closets, anywhere i could find a spot.

each time we went camping, she knew where all her stuff was, she didn't have to look for anything. i had to search high and low to find all the cookware and outdoor grills and lanterns. and without fail, i would need to replace something i couldn't locate, or in my haste to store it at the end of the summer, i jammed it in somewhere and broke it. worse yet, i often left stuff outside.
when i found it the next year, it had become fodder for the rubbish can.

i always wanted a camper.

Wordless Wednesday

Today's Ruby Tuesday...

In Which Travis Steals a Bed and Sleeps with a Bear.
(Penny was not amused.)

Swing by and visit Mary the Teach to see more Ruby Tuesday!

Weekend Reflections

Saunter over to see James... there's lot's more reflections at his place!

Six Word Saturday

my future:
thousands of coleus cuttings!

go to cate for more six word saturday...

Silly Haiku Wednesday

my supper is hot
thats good, cuz im quite hungry
kids home, now we dine

Ruby Tuesday

Ruby Tuesday is brought to you by Mary the Teach...

i know it's way past Christmas, but i like this snapshot.

Six Word Saturday

Edaville's over, back to the greenhouses!
* * * * * *

This is what I've been doing this week...See all this ivy?
It has grown kinda long and it's time to take cuttings.




You can see the long tendrils I've cut from the trays in the previous picture...
I cut those long parts into little pieces.




I'll take theses cuttings...



and stick them into these 3" pots...



Here's a tray half done...We need 200 trays.
I think that's like 250,000 cuttings or so...




Look - Ivy, Ivy, and more Ivy!

(six more words)

Slink on over to Cate's place to see more of Six Word Saturday!

to quilly and amoeba...

ok

i understand tuesday and wedsnesday
must have been
travel travel travel
then
sleep sleep sleep

but its thursday now

make a peep

Wordless Wednesday

http://www.wordlesswednesday.com/

Extend. Aim. Smile

XShot 2.0 It’s like having your own personal camera man.
It’s great for travelers, families and anyone that loves to take pictures and capture special memories.

The XShot is a lightweight, telescopic camera extender that holds your camera at a distance to capture great pictures and films when no one is around to take your picture.
The XShot extends over 3 feet (37") to capture the subjects and the background or a group shot. It closes to just 9 inches and weighs only 5 oz!
It is built with a durable metal shaft and high quality components.
The XShot is also great for making films and video diaries. Since the camera is pointing at you, you are always in the frame.
Extend, Aim, and Smile!

Links for more info:

http://xshotpix.com/xsho…

Now where did I put my glasses...

ok, i'm admitting it.

i am blind as a bat.

i have an appointment with the eye doctor next week and i want to ask him about Lasik eye surgery. i don't know a whole lot about eyes or glasses or surgery to correct vision problems. this is all very new to me. it's only been in the last couple of years that my eyes have let me down.

Lasik may not actually be for me, but i've looked into it a bit. it isn't painful and you recover in as little as a few hours. Lasik is also the most often performed surgery in the US, and can eliminate the need for contacts or glasses! right now i have "readers" from the drug store and they are ok for reading but not good for looking at t.v.

i'm going down to nyc next month. i think i'll stop in on Stahl Eye Center for a consult. they've been in business for 35 years. the doctors are graduates of top universities like Yale and UCLA and i can take my pick of three locations in ny.

with any luck, i will be seeing clearly in no time, rain or not.

i will have owl-power eyesight.

I get to work from home!

This is the first Saturday in ages, in which I don't have to go somewhere or do something! This also means that one of my jobs has ended for the time being. I am neither happy nor sad about this fact.
Not being required at Edaville opens up my time for other opportunities.
I've lined up a couple of work from home gigs that I am excited about. And I'm hoping to get started doing some greenhouse stuff soon.
With all this free time - I can pay more attention to my blog and all my friends here in cyber world and my friends in the physical world. While other folks are busy moving, I hope you will stop by here and give me a shout!

Cruise on over to Cate's to see more of what folks are up to on Saturdays!