The First Friday In April

I'm glad it's here. Friday, and especially this Friday.

Next week is my spring break! Hurrah!!!

I have my huge graduate school project (rough draft) due this upcoming Monday, so that will again be my main focus for the next few days. I'll need to mail it off on Monday, so I have a lot of work and a lot of trips to the copy store this weekend.

On a spring note, please check out this bluejay that was in our backyard:


And finally, here are some fun pansies that are near our porch. I've always loved how a pansy's petals look like velvet cloth. Our son-in-law planted these in December, and they're still looking pretty good:



Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for your comments. Enjoy your day!

Cropped for Viewing

The above photo is one I cropped of a piece I stitched and finished quite some time ago. I like how it looks cropped! I will have to get that piece framed soon. The pattern is from an old For the Love of Cross Stitch magazine, and it's designed by Sam Hawkins. It's stitched on 18 count Aida as I began it long ago, before I decided to pretty much stitch everything on evenweave fabric.

I finally stitched some more on my House and Garden Sampler on Thursday evening, and I even started my next square on that project. I will share a photo here soon.


Here's a few more photos. My husband took them of some pansies in our yard. I love pansies!

Take care and thanks for all your comments. I really appreciate hearing from you, it's very encouraging to know that people read this little blog!

Stitcher W/Sue~ I promise to have my niece's Baked Spaghetti recipe here sometime soon.

Do You Ever Wish You Were There?

Maybe it's just me, but there are times I wish I could go through space and time to a different place. I'm not talking about journeying off to another country or century, I am just talking about going to a different season.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that it's finally cooling down a bit around here. Yesterday it finally stayed below seventy degrees. I love wearing sweaters and warm clothing, and I love fall. It's actually probably my favorite season.

On the other hand, the sun didn't shine at all yesterday. That is rather odd to me, and I don't think I could stand to live without the sun for days on end. I guess a person gets used to clouds all the time, but it would sure be an adjustment.

I took the photo above on a bright morning this past August in our front yard. It was only a few months ago, but it seems light years away. (Now I see that we definitely need to repaint our house, but I'm still in my 'not complaining' mode.) I'm focusing on the roses' brilliance and the greens of the foliage. In my mind I like to go back to that day when the sun was bright, and the roses were in a state of bright, blooming bliss. They're still blooming now, but it's a different sort of feel and tone all together in the air now. On top of that, I was off work when I took the photo. My mind was carefree and relaxed so maybe more than anything, that's what I'm longing for at this point. I'm longing for that "summer vacation" state of mind.

Thankfully, it is Friday, and my stressful week is almost done. So far it's actually gone very well, so I'm grateful for that. Today should be a breeze compared to yesterday. This weekend will be filled with working on a huge project for the class I'm taking. I'm glad to finally have the chance to get to it!

Wherever you are, I hope you enjoy today and the beauty it brings even if it's cloudy outside! And tell me, do you ever like to transport yourself back in time (or ahead) to another season?

Saturday Wanderings

I was able to buy this magazine:


Sometimes it's hard to find one, but I found it. Hurrah!

The store I found it in was in a quaint little shopping village, and if I had more time it would have been fun to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee while there. Unfortunately, home duties called me back in this direction.

Weekends seem to fly by so quickly. It's downright amazing, isn't it?

Heading Back to Work, etc.

Thanks for your kind comments on my previous entry all about our trip to Kauai. I appreciate it a lot! This was our first trip ever to Hawaii, and we're both closing in on fifty. Our vacations have always been spent visiting family or driving locally for a few hours, so this was quite a big change for us. We saw many families while in Hawaii, but that's not something we were ever able to do while our children were living at home. My husband gets to travel a lot with his job, but I don't go along on those jaunts. Why am I telling you all this? I'm explaining my complete enthusiasm for our trip from which we just returned.

On to life in the real world! Above is a picture of Eddie doing a 'trick'with our daughter. She's the official trainer and handler of our 80 pound wonder. We took some photos of our canine companion per a request from a greyhound rescue organization. It's for their website since he won first prize back in June as "Trickiest Greyhound" at the retired racers' reunion picnic. Truly, greyhounds aren't known for their trickiness, so keep that in mind.

Happy Blog Anniversary to me! I have had this blog for just over a year now, and I do admit I haven't said much here. I try to keep it light and fluffy, as you may have noticed. In one year I have just under 40 posts, and I think that perhaps 1/3 of them are from this summer. (I'm too lazy to look back and figure it out, and who cares anyway?)I know that a lot of people must like reading blogs, and I know that I do. If you read this one once in awhile, thanks so much!