Friday, January 31, 2014

Six Words Friday ~ Eye ~

 "Eye" see natures,
 
 soft...

 natural, beauty!!

Sharing Natures Beauty with
Adrienne at My Memory Art ~ Six Words Friday
Please stop by and share Six Words with my dear friend Adrienne.
Many thanks Adrienne for hosting Six Words Friday,
it's both challenging and fun!   
 

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Making Memories...

Preserving Memories...
 
The hubs and I like to take "little" trips and over night get-a-ways.
We enjoy bike rides, picnics in the park or a walk in the woods.
We both love to take pictures,
and I enjoy making memory books, so we never forget those special moments.
 
Here's a peak at what I have been working on...
 
 An ICE scrapbook, to record all four trips we have taken to the
Gaylord Resort, in the Washington D. C. area,
to see the ICE display.
 
The book is almost done,
I'll share with you a few of my favorite pages.

 The opening page that summarizes what the book is about.

 In 2011 the dispay was Merry Madagascar
 
 Here are some of the images we took at the National Christmas Tree
and the surrounding shopping area.

 I try to include lot's of pictures...

 and a story about our favorite parts of the trip.
Two pages are always side by side and I always coordinate them
 
 2012 was Shrek, I think this was my favorite display...

 I always save the "room keys", shown on the extreme right...

 and all the fun memorabilia and brochures.

 Right now I am working on our most recent trip in December 2013.
I have 29 pages completed and it will probably take
six pages to record our 2013 trip.
 
So what about you guys, do you "scrap"??
I have one follower who is an amazing memory keeper.
What craft is keeping you guys busy this winter?? 
 

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

There's A New Kid In Town...

A Baltimore Oriole...

it's a "she"!!

She's quite the poser and she loves all the attention!!
I can't tell you how excited I am to have a new companion.
Or how beautiful she is in flight.
Once we get to know each other better, I know I will be getting better pictures!
ooohhhh and I got her some oranges!! 

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Who Loves Pottery Barn??

I do!
I primarily love their furniture.
I think their other products are nice and pretty
but a little over priced.
 
 I needed wanted a new desk for the upstairs den
and I just fell in love with this piece from pottery barn.

 It unfolds open into this cute little desk,
for guests or visitors.
I stashed our "extra" laptop inside, with some pretty stationary...
but does anyone write letters anymore??
I use the top hutch to show off some of my pretty "purple" things.
The top shelf holds the boys baby books and some of my "special" plates.
 
I received $ 175.00 in rewards dollars for that purchase.
That equals $ 175.00 in cold cash.

This is what $ 175.00 buys in Pottery Bar.
Two towels, five washcloths, that pretty glass jar
(I have big plans for that)
the card game Table Topics and that big white milk jar.
 
Value, maybe seventy-five bucks...but I must remember,
free for me!!

Now let's move our attention to a real bargain,
one of those "Dollar Store" bargains.

This my friends is a sticker, a super heavy, vinyl sticker,

that I picked up at the Dollar Store for "one" buck-a-roo!!
I think it looks awesome sitting in that plain-jane spot on the back-splash,
between the stove and the microwave!

Talk about on the cheap...I love it!!
 

Monday, January 27, 2014

Song-ography ~ Let It Go ~ Edition 25

 The snow glows white on the mountain tonight...

 Not a footprint to be seen...
A kingdom of isolation, and it looks like I'm the Queen

The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside

Let the storm rage on
My power flurries through the air into the ground
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around

And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I'm never going back, the past is in the past
Let it go, let it go

And I'll rise like the break of dawn
Let it go, let it go
That perfect girl is gone
Here I stand
In the light of day
Let the storm rage on
The cold never bothered me anyway!

Sharing today's Idina Menzel Song with
Kathy at You'll Shoot Your Eye Out
Follow the link, check it out, this is a fun one!!
  

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Saturday Critters ~ 8 ~

The birds have been extremely kind to me this week,
taking every opportunity to stop at the window and say,
thanks for the food and water.

Here are three of my favorite images from this past snow week.
 
Male House Finch

Chickadee, in the exact same spot.

Carolina Wren

I am super excited to be joining in with Eileen over at
for Saturday Critters.

Stop by and consider joining in, any critter will do!!  
 

Friday, January 24, 2014

Six Words Friday ~ Pine ~

 Pines...

 
 in a blanket of snow!

Sharing my snow images,
taken from inside the house on the 22nd with
Please stop by and share Six Words with my dear friend Adrienne.
Many thanks Adrienne for hosting Six Words Friday,
it's both challenging and fun!  
 

Thursday, January 23, 2014

It's A Beautiful Morning...

 It's a beautiful mornin', I think I'll go outside a while
And jus' smile, just take in some clean fresh air!!
 
 It's a beautiful mornin', ain't no sense in stayin' inside...
If the weather's fine an' you got the time.
It's your chance to wake up and plan another brand new day!!
 
January 21st, sunrise turn rainbow!!
 

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Here We Snow Again!!

I have not been outside since all the white stuff fell,
insert sad face. 
It started around 10 a.m. yesterday and fell thru the night.
It looks like we got about 5.5 inches.
That's according to the hubs, the offical snow measurer.
I don't think I will be able to "romp" around outside in the snow.
The temperatures are below zero and I have one of those
energizer bunny colds...it keeps going and going and going.
 
Here's "some" of the images I took from inside the house.
 
 Junior was very happy to find the peanuts I put out for the birds.
He has several in his mouth in this shot.

 Mr. Downy Woodpecker came in this close, with the window open.

 Mr. Male Cardnial, was this close to the window,
no cropping was required.

 And I must say he was very interested in the goings on in the house.

 The Chickadees always pick a branch that has one branch in front of it,
the window was also open for this image.

 This little Titmouse had no problem brushing the snow off of the food dish
to find the peanuts I had put out earlier.

Female Cardinal
Isn't she just beautiful, sitting in the pine tree, waiting for her turn.

 Junior waits for no one,

 I'm confident he thinks all the nuts are for him anyway!

And do you see that tiny little "snow" heart on Mr. Titmouses back??

I'll be sharing that baby heart with
Clytie at Random Hearts
I know she's going to love it!! 
 

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Sauce or Gravy?!

What do you call the red stuff, sauce or gravy??
At my house we call the the red stuff spaghetti sauce,
gravy is brown...don't you agree??

If you follow my blog, you know this winter I have gone back in to the kitchen,
and I have been having lot's of fun!!
 
Inspired by Pinterest and because I have a new found obsession with my slow cooker,
the hubs and I have been eating lot's of comfort food!

A few days back I decided to make stuffed meatballs and sauce.
Surprisingly easy, this was an awesome mid-winter meal.

So lets get to the good stuff, pictures.

First I will get you drooling with the end result...
 
 This was so yummy and I wanted it to look pretty!

 This is how the sauce looked...
those who are interested, you can find the recipe here.
Next time I make this, I will add diced sweet onion.

 Here's a look at the meatballs in progress.
That recipe is here, the only change I would make next time
is that I would add a little grated sweet onion.
I used a combination of ground pork, veal and beef.

Once mixed, I wrapped the meat around a chunk of fresh mozzarella...
 
 Now you say good-bye to that hunk-a-cheese but do not fret,
you will meet again.

 I used a pound and a quarter of meat, it made about 15 meatballs.

 You don't brown or cook them, they cook right in the sauce.

One last shot of the end result .
Not a great picture but that yummy fresh mozzarella is there.
Some soaks in to the meatball
and some is the big surprise you get when you cut in to it!!
 
No salad required as you will not be able to eat all your spagetti.
We had easy Texas Toast with this and it was all that was needed!!