play time

For all of you hunkering down for another snow storm ("the worst so far this winter" according to the local paper) here is a site where you can doodle (and waste time) while you are waiting for warmer temperatures & safer streets. Just use your mouse to start drawing. This is my attempt at drawing leaves. You can then save your masterpiece. Have fun!

DeLaina Mae

Betty & Ron are grandparents again. Their daughter, Lola, delivered a beautiful baby girl yesterday. Eight pounds, six or seven ounces and twenty inches long. I visited mom & baby this evening. Got a few photographs before the sun disappeared completely. She's a keeper . . .

neck scarf

I've been working on this neck scarf for the past year or so. I just like having something on my needles I can pick up when the mood strikes. The mood has been hitting me lately to work on this scarf. You know, while watching the NFL playoffs. During American Idol. I love the colors in the yarn. Bright yellow, turquoise, red, green, purple. I've been knitting it in garter stitch. Knit every row. Mindless knitting. I tried a lacy pattern that required K2tog (knit two stitches together) & I was wrestling with it every time. Became impatient. Just wanted something easy. Garter stitch it is.







A bit of Photoshop fun.











I posted on this same yarn in 2009. Didn't like that pattern either.

more of winter at Holmes Lake

winter's simplicity

tracks in the snow . . .

. . . at Holmes Lake.

ginger cookies

These cold snowy days are perfect for baking cookies. And eating cookies with a cup of hot tea. This recipe makes a spicy & chewy cookie.





I made my cookies smaller than the recipe instructs though. I rolled the dough into walnut sized balls. Baking time was ten minutes with another minute on the cookie sheet after coming out of the oven. This recipe made 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

Austin Healey

My brother, Don, bought a used car over the holidays. An Austin Healey. Apparently he's been watching eBay for awhile hoping to find one. He had one of these when he was in college. He lived in a basement apartment on Charleston street in the North Bottoms neighborhood. One weekend he gave me a ride in his Austin Healey. I must have been about twelve years old. We cruised through downtown & made a sweep around the capitol. Neil Diamond singing "Sweet Caroline" on the radio. Anyway that's how I remember it. One of those old memories that's gotten rewritten over time. That was a great car. I don't blame him for wanting another. If he ever gets to Lincoln with it, I want another spin around the capitol . . .











My niece, Angie, supplied the photos. She has a great self portrait in the final photo.

Norma

I visited my aunt, Norma, yesterday while she was volunteering at the information desk at the Capitol. Today is her birthday. Ninety-one years old. Doesn't look it or act like it. She was listing her childrens' health problems then said "sometimes I think they're older than I am". I enjoyed our visit.

Happy Birthday, Cheryl!

My sister-in-law, Cheryl, turned 60 on Sunday. My brother, Don, sprung for some flowers! The next day she spent time as a kangaroo in the MLK day parade in Tulsa! Sounds like a fun thing to do to turn back the clock . . .

fabric scraps

Sewing all those Lola bags left me with a pile of fabric scraps. I looked forward to deciding what to do with them. A quilt (or two or three) seemed like a good idea. So I've been cutting the scraps into six and four inch squares. I already have one quilt pieced & in the hands of Doris to quilt on her machine. (Doris made the labels for the bags.) It still requires buying more fabric for the backing & binding but spending time in a fabric store is almost as good as spending time in a bookstore. These aren't bed sized quilts. Just something to keep warm under on the couch on a winter day. Nancy is working on her scraps too.

baby, it's cold outside

I attended a wedding shower on Sumday. The event was hosted at the bride's new home. It was a warm & inviting small house. Snow fell as guests arrived. Sara, the bride, had a wreath on her front door which caught my attention & a glimpse of the wintry scene outside.

Jean's clothespins

Our thermometer says it is below zero this morning. The schools are closed another day. Too cold to even walk the dogs. As a distraction here are some photos I took out on the farm in July when it was so nice outside. I had forgotten about them but ran across them again the other day when looking for other photos. When I first took them I didn't care much for them. Thought I'd made my depth of field too shallow. But as is often the case when I look at a photo for the second or third time I like it a bit more. Think warm thoughts today & maybe these will help.

for Dad

This sounds like polka music. Dad's favorite kind. I think he'd like this.

it is finished

I have all the photos I've been pestering family members for so now I'm ready to burn the final product to dvds. Nancy's made it in the mail today. She's been trying to get the song out of me but I've kept mum. I got photos of everyone! My siblings & their spouses. Nieces & nephews. Great nieces & nephews. It is a long list. Amber, my niece, sent these photos of herself with her husband, Marc, and her parents, Gene & Jean. I was impressed with the color & sharpness of the photos. And the photographer too. Amber says it's an Olympus FE-330 8 megapixel camera. A point & shoot. Auto mode. My point is that it's not a fancy camera. The only reason I own an SLR is that I enjoy having control over aperture, shutter speed & some other features. People sometimes ask me for my opinion on what camera to buy. There's so many good ones out there I think it is hard to go wrong. And practice!

photo fun

With the help of a new photographer friend I finally figured out how to blend photos together for a fun effect. When I photographed Ellie back in August I set this up using my tripod. She knew what I was trying to do & was a good sport. I used Photoshop Elements 8.0. Some days I wish I could be in four places at one time too.

Happy New Year!

We have a small kaleidoscope that was a gift from a Japanese teenage boy who stayed with us this past summer. I've always loved them. Fascinated by the changing patterns made by the turn of the kaleidoscope. So these photos seemed an appropriate way to bring the new year in with a burst of color!