Food for Thought

I was tagged by OldBagNewTricks to look in my 6th folder and post the 6th picture. I did this before but it was the 5th folder and the 5th picture. I was hoping again for a summery garden picture but my 6th folder is all Jerzie. I guess you can't get more summery than this. Children need models more than they need critics.
If you'd like to play along leave a comment to let me know.

Show and Tell

Even though I'm really sick of snow, I'm still lovin' my snowpeople! The glass front cupboard in the kitchen holds some snowman dishes. The picture in my topper is also my kitchen. This shelf is over my double kitchen windows. This shelf is over the sink. Before I remodeled there was a window here that would now look into my shower. It's fun to decorate the shelf with some of my favorite things. Click on the picture to enlarge and see the cute bell tree on the right.
I switched out the Santas for snowmen in the boxes I made for table decorations.
I have candy canes and snowmen in my tiny bathroom. This very prim snowman just happened to have a red and white striped scarf on.I like different little trees and they mix well with the snowpeople. A couple of these are vintage candles. My daughter gave me the candy canes on the wall for Christmas. It was funny because I'd never really used candy canes before and she gave me a couple. They worked right into my plan.

I bought this several years ago from one of our favorite craft sale vendors. Notice the barbwire.

I hate putting this little girl away in the spring but I probably enjoy her more when I only see her part of the year.

Even this little snowperson we made has candy canes!

For more Show and Tell posts go over to Kelli's House.
Thanks for stopping by!

What a deal!

I got this neat bird picture at an outlet store (Ollies) when Laurie and I were in Erie. Of course, I loved it because it was birds. It's a little over 2 feet square.I think the detail on the frame adds a lot of interest. It looks great on my living room wall. Because I like change, I don't like to spend too much on this type of item.
I probably would have paid more than the $7.99 they asked for it but I sure wasn't going to tell them that!

Times...they are a changing!

First of all, I would like to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers about my job. Your thoughtfulness means a lot to me. I started my new job last night and I think I made the right store choice. I really like my immediate boss, we clicked right away and I already know we have the same opinion about several issues. The 20(?) year old that trained me in the service desk/office was a very pleasant surprise. She called everyone over to introduce me and was great at explaining the way they do things. I expected every store was the same but there are several differences in procedure. Tonight I have my first night on register.

Those of you that have read my blog for awhile know that this is the time of year that I need a change in decor. I have been thinking about changing this entry for awhile. It is very small and has doors leading to the outside, the kitchen and my tiny bathroom. It also has a wall ironing board and a coat closet. I will be changing from this cutsie country to...

...You didn't actually believe I was going to tell you already did you? All I'm saying is that this is my inspiration.
Since we got about 5 inches of snow overnight and are expecting 6 more today and 3 more tonight, the shop is very slow today. I have started priming the walls. I stripped the wallpaper border but not the walls. I don't usually paint over paper but the paper is still very tight and the only thing over wallboard, so I decided to try it. I'll keep you posted.

It's Bloomin' Tuesday!

Welcome!

Today I'm showing your birdhouses and blooms from the garden tour I went on this past summer.

Now check out this 'Flower Show' from all over the US!

Thanks for stopping by on Bloomin' Tuesday! We would love to see your blooms even if they aren't bloomin' right now! If you'd like to join our tour just add your name and permalink to Mr Linky.

Jerzie-isms

I'm not big on black clothes for a little girl but I couldn't resist this darling jumper. When I want a picture, Jerzie goes and stands by the frig because when she makes something we stick it on the frig to take a picture.I loved this cute winter scene made of beads and sequins. Not too much bling for Mommy but a little for Jerzie!
I also found black shoes on sale. Mommy has wanted a pair for awhile now.
I want to write down a few Jerzie-isms to show her when she gets older.
1. Every ones favorite was when she had a bug bite. She would put bug and itch together. "Gramma, I got a bitch!"
2.If she doesn't want to try something she says "I can't like that!"

3. She would also say "I can't want that".

4.She had a fake tattoo on her arm the other day and we were discussing it. She told me Mommy and Daddy each had a tattoo so I should have one too! I'm not quite ready for that yet!

Snowy Sunday!

It's not hard to take snowy pictures around here again this week. We've bypassed last years snowfall already and have had about 140 inches which translates into 12 feet!
What the heck made these tracks under my bird feeder? Any ideas?
Burning bush.
Click to see the red berries still on the branches.
Entry window.
I found these at an antique store and had one added on each side of my windowless entry several years ago.

For more Snowy Sunday posts go visit Chris and Laurie.
Update: I got a job in the first store on my list with the manager from my original store. I requested this store because he knows I do well in the service desk/night office, which is what I prefer to do. I start on Tuesday. Several full time employees were demoted to part time with pay cuts and benefit cuts. Several long time employees came back at closing for a party and were still there when I left at 8:15.

New Hobby!

The girls at work were talking about a new way to knit that they were enjoying. They were making hats with a loom. When Laurie and I were in Erie I used a 50% off coupon to get a set.My set has 4 different sizes. The tiny blue one makes infant hats. The red, youth hats. It is really fun, mindless work. I made this infant hat that night. It only takes a couple hours. Just loop the yarn and lift the bottom loop over the top loop and off the peg. I'm having a great time!
Jerzie wanted one too so I made her one while she was napping and watching a movie she brought over. She loved it and I had to make her take it off to eat lunch!
I'm working on another infant hat so I got 3 hats from one skein of yarn. There are directions on line for other items, scarves, purses, shawls, etc. I'm anxious to try making some different items. I got a Joann's gift card for Christmas and I'll be using it to buy more yarn.
Have you tried this? Do you have any patterns? This is so easy anyone can do it and it's very rewarding.

Update: Still no word on where I'll be working. I go in from 3 to 9 tonight but the store closes ar 6. Certainly should find out tonight!

I'm Back!!!!!

It has been a very frustrating week around here! As most of you know we were told that the grocery store I work in is closing Jan. 31st. Since we have a union, we are able to bump employees in other local stores to keep our jobs. We were finally supposed to be told on Wed. where we were to be placed. When I got to work there were signs all over stating that we would close the 24th instead, this Sat., tomorrow! The union and company reps had placed 4 employees that day and then left! Only 58 to go! I am going to work tonight and still don't know where or if I will work on Sun, the first day of our week. Needless to say I'm very stressed and upset with the way we are being treated. I need to work for this company because they provide all my health insurance.

I never realized how much reading blogs and keeping in touch with you all helped me relax. I can't believe how a few years ago I insisted I wasn't interested in having a computer. Then my son moved home and brought his with him. Next Laurie introduced me to e-mail and as they say, the rest is history. I have missed you all and will never take you for granted again! The good thing was that I had my sweet Jerzie to make me laugh!

I'll bet she made you laugh too! When asked what she was doing she said "just playing!"

It will take me all weekend to check up on all of you but I'll visit as soon as possible!

No Bloomin' Tuesday Today!

Mom is having problems getting hooked up to her new Internet Provider so she isn't going to be able to do "Bloomin' Tuesday" this week.

Hopefully she will be back online soon.

O my, a meme!

I've been tagged by Laurie and Chris. Here are the "rules" for this fun meme:

Open a document or photo folder and choose the fifth folder and then the fifth photo in that folder. Next, post the photo with a description about it and then tag 5 friends to do the same.

I was hoping for a beautiful sunny garden picture to brighten my day but this is the picture that fit the description!Just what I needed to see...more snow! We have had about 130 inches of snow so far this winter and there is a snow advisory for up to 2 more FEET in the next couple days. We only had 138 inches all winter last year. This picture was taken of my house ready for Christmas at least 3 years ago. There is a nativity that I painted on the far right. It is actually a cut out piece of plywood that I screwed to the house. That is in the spot that I now have my 'window box' so I no longer have a place for the nativity.

I'm going to tag:

http://justanotherhangup.blogspot.com/
http://familyandflowers.blogspot.com/
http://caregivingisnotforwimps.blogspot.com/
http://robbinsnestdownunder.blogspot.com/

http://rosieswhimsy.wordpress.com/

I may be gone for a few days so I can't come and check up on you guys. My internet server went out of business and I haven't been hooked up to the new server yet. Not quite sure how I can survive the very cold (single digits), snowy weekend without internet but I may have to find a good book to read.
Stay warm and safe!

Surprise!

Gramma had done some shopping for the new baby that is due in only 4weeks! We don't know if it is a boy or a girl but since Jerzie was born in July they don't have any warm tiny clothes. Jerzie and I wrapped all the clothes and made a card from her for Mommy and Daddy.This 'blanket' was the first purchase and I had to get some jammies to match.

I got a ducky set with footies, a bib, a onsy, a hat

and jammies.

A set of onsies with one that says Gramma loves me, of course,

and a bear set. Daddy gor a kick out of the tiny footies. Jerzie loved them all and so did Mommy and Daddy!

We're all getting really excited about this soon to come arrival!

It's Bloomin' Tuesday!

Welcome!
The last couple years I've started to get into Coleus. Of course, I love the burgundy color and they are great for pots.
Seems like every year they have some new color combinations and different patterns.

I'm loving this bright green!

This is a new one I found this year. I can't wait to see what's different this summer.
To join the fun just add your name and Permalink to Mr Linky. Don't forget to add a link to this post so everyone can enjoy this "winter" garden tour!

What's Cooking?

Jerzie and I are cooking up some 'warm and fuzzy' food and a surprise for Mommy and Daddy. (We can't tell the surprise because Mommy and Daddy read the blog to see what we are doing on Jerzie day).We call comfort food 'warm and fuzzy' food. Click 'warm and fuzzy' under labels on my side bar to see what is comfort food for us.
Today we are making boiled dinner and eclair cake.

Jerzie likes the filling for the cake!
These are both family favorites.What is comfort food for your family? Maybe we should have a "Warm and Fuzzy Day" when we all share a comfort food recipe. What do you think? We will show you what our surprise is tomorrow!

I'm listening to Jerzie read to her doggie and she just counted to seven with no help. When we ask her to do it she pretends she can't!

Snowy Sunday

It would be impossible to take an outdoor picture without snow here in western New York! Since our ice storm on Wednesday we have had almost constant snow. My last customer left about 6 Thursday night and this is what I found Friday morning!
It was snowing an inch an hour for at least 15 hours! This is the ramp stairway on the side of the house leading to the beauty shop in back.
I shoveled out the car but had to shovel again after I cleaned the car of.
Even with all the work, it is impossible not to notice the beauty of it all.

Standing in the end of my driveway.

These large, old maples are in front of my house.

They are art all by themselves.

For more Snowy Sunday posts grab your cross country skis and take a short trip to visit Chris and Laurie!

Food for Thought

Use the talents you possess - for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best.-

Henry Van Dyke

Show and Tell

The Christmas decorations are all packed away but I leave my snowmen up until spring (or I get sick of winter, which ever comes first!) Today I'm showing you some of the snowmen pictrures I've painted over the years.This one had the Santa in for Christmas.

You can click on the pictures to enlarge and see the details.

For more Show and Tell posts go over to Kelli's House.

Stop...Look...Listen!

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theatre in Boston and the seats average $100.This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Click here to see one of my favorite Christmas presents and here to see a darling video of Jerzie and Daddy playing air hockey.

Icy Images

Our schools are closed today because of ice. I had to go out and salt in case any customers decided to try to make it so of course I took the camera. Can you guess what any of these icy images are?1.
2.
3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.
Leave a comment and let me know how many you guessed right!

1. See the red lines in this pic? That's the back window of my PT Cruiser.

2. This one is real difficult. It is a galvanized bucket on it's side in my garden. You can also see the ground behind it.

3. This is the wooden railing on the steps leading to my beauty shop at the back of the house.

4. The roof of my shed with moss growing between the spaces in the shingles.

5. A stone walkway. The green you can see is creeping thyme growing between the rocks.

6. This is a crevice in a rock in my garden.

7. As some of you know I live on a brick street. I took this pic at 10:15 this am. It is starting to break a little because it is raining and warming up. I'm sure you could have ice skated on it earlier.

8. A close up of the bricks.

Return of Bloomin' Tuesday...

.... and I have something incredible to show you! I was sorry I decided to take a break after I discovered this wonderful new hydrangea at my grocery store. They were selling them as indoor Christmas plants but had to mark some down for lack of water. I went to transplant it and it was in a 4 inch pot! The root was about 4 inches longer than the pot. Okay, I know, enough talk!

This is a "Shooting Star (Hydrangea macrophylla-Lace Cap). Shooting Star is by far the longest lasting of all Lace Cap varieties that is best in zones 7-9.


It will tolerate 20 to 90 degrees but prefers 55-75 degrees with morning sun and afternoon shade.

When I first brought it home it was almost pure white with a soft blue center. Now most of the plant is a beautiful blue hue.

Even the stars are having babies now!

Some even twins!

I will have to keep this as an indoor and deck plant, I'm afraid. I've told you how bad I am at indoor plants but I do LOVE this hydrangea! I didn't completely check this out but the label says you can get them at http://www.hanabayflowers.com/. I know some of you are coveting my beautiful hydrangea and others went to the link even before they finished reading this!
Welcome back to Bloomin' Tuesday!
I join the fun put your name and permalink on Mr Linky and add a link on your post to this post. Now sit back and enjoy a warm, sunny garden tour!

New Years Morning

Jerzie spent New Years Eve with me after we all had dinner together. In the morning I let her watch TV while I drank coffee and read the paper. Some of you know that she has loved monkeys ever since she went to the zoo. She's laying on her bed watching Curious George.Before she laid down she was playing with her blocks on her bed. Don't you wish you could just lay down and relax with a mess in bed with you? As you can tell it sure didn't bother Jerzie!
Look who's on her new jammies from Santa!

I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing to start the new year!

Snowy Sunday

Winter thyme.
Snowy shakes.
'Cold' seat!

North 'pole'.

For more Snowy Sunday posts or to join the fun go visit Chris and Laurie.

Show and Tell

I had seen a couple wreaths in blogland that were made with vintage bulbs. I especially liked the look of one that had greenery in between the bulbs plus it wouldn't take as many bulbs. I didn't have a wreath the right size to try but I did have a swag.I decided that it would be the perfect time to try it because my tree was still decorated and I could just use the extra bulbs. I just grabbed a cool temp glue gun and the bulbs. I'd lay a couple on each side and if I liked it I'd glue it in place.

I put some of every color that I had because I love color. Most of the one of a kind ones I put in the middle.

I started with larger bulbs and worked my way down to the smallest. If a piece of greenery was too long I just cut it off.

All together it probably took about an hour and I'm very pleased with the finished project. Too bad it's time to take it down but I'll probably forget about it and be totally surprised when I find it next year!

For more Show and Tell go over to Kelli's House.