Dixie Supler

Tangle Refresher #16

2012-01-15T21:16:00.001-06:00

Here is my ZIA drawing for the tangles used in the Tangle Refresher #16 at the Tangle Patterns website. This had a garden feel to it, as I was drawing.

Tangles: Echo, Lotsadots, Printemps, Wist & Lotus Pods

3.5"x3.5" on Journal Paper

Challenge #53 - Undine

2012-01-14T22:37:00.000-06:00

The challenge on I Am The Diva blog is back for the new year. She posted her own tangle design (Undine - named after her undine love for her hubby) which I drew (see below) along with 3 others that I learned how to draw today from TanglePatterns website.

Tangles: Krli-Q, Undine, Snookums and Yabbut

3.5"x3.5"journal paper

Micron Markers

I have been having such a great time since my hubby's recent retirement. The "Krli-Q" reminds me of the fun atmosphere we have around our house these past couple weeks. It's nice to have my "Snookums" home with me! I'm sure he's saying "Yabbut"....

4 New Tangle Patterns

2012-01-11T09:33:00.003-06:00

I learned how to draw 4 new tangle patterns from the TanglePatterns website. They are Diagonals, Pomegranate, Sundoo and Flez. They were all fun to do. I was especially proud of myself for not drawing them in a perfect 3.5"x3.5" square as I've done in the past. I have a little bit of white space on this one!

"I See Stars"

2012-01-03T19:20:00.002-06:00

I titled this tangle drawing "I See Stars", after our New Year's Day celebration! I can see a couple lines that shouldn't be there, but there are sure a lot less than when I first started. Practicing really does help!

I used Fife, Popsicles & Huggy Bear tangle patterns.

2011 Takes Flight - Away It Goes

2011-12-31T22:53:00.000-06:00

I titled this Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA) "2011 Takes Flight - Away It Goes"! As I was drawing "feathers" it seemed a fitting name for the end of the year tangle. I used Jonqal, Strata and Feathers to draw this in my journal.

Happy New Year!

Refresher #15

2011-12-30T20:26:00.000-06:00

This week on Tangle Patterns, there's a refresher of 5 tangle patterns from the past. I like the different things you can do with the "wavy border". It seems very versatile, whether using it as a border tangle, in the first drawing, or to fill a section in the string, as in the second drawing.

I practiced on the 5.5" x 5.5" size in my journal (above), then drew a 3.5" x 3.5" square, to try that size out (below). Both sizes were fun to do.

Looks like I went a little crazy on the pencil shading! I'll have to remember, less is more.

Let's Tangle!

2011-12-29T20:23:00.002-06:00

Oops...It looks like I've been busy socializing and not tangling! Here are three drawings that I've done in the past couple weeks.

These are new tangles (Jalousie, Retro, Ragz and Wirly Bird) that I learned from Tangle Patterns. The shading really adds dimension and makes them "pop"!

This was for the weekly challenge (#52) on the "I am The Diva" blog. We were challenged to give away a Zentangle. I have this one saved for a special friend who is always encouraging me, in whatever I do!

These are the tangles from the Tangle Refresher #14, that I learned this week from Tangle Patterns. I hadn't drawn for at least a week, so it was good to get back into it. I'm still working on having some white space in my drawings, it's still squares for now!

Thanks for looking!

Learning More Tangles!

2011-12-16T23:24:00.000-06:00

Here are the newest tangles I've tried. They are: Socc, Scallops, Snaylz Trayl and Cockles N Mussels.

They were all fun to draw! I think I was drawing the Socc a little too small, as it was easier to see when I drew it larger. I'm excited that I'm learning how the tangles can look better if I just change a stroke! LOL - One Stroke At A Time, right?

Zentangle Challenge #50

2011-12-02T21:10:00.001-06:00

"This week's challenge is to push your comfort zone and "biggify" your tangles. Don't biggify your canvas, try sticking to the size you generally work on to get the full effect."

It was more challenging to draw bigger tangles, but boy, did it ever go fast! I was done in less than an hour, even with shading and learning some new tangles, that I hadn't used before.

Zentangle Challenge #48

2011-11-19T20:24:00.001-06:00

Here's the link to the Zentangle Challenge #48. We are to create a string, using a circle, square and triangle, along with using tangles that are new to us. The last part was easy...since they are all new to me. I start out thinking it's not going to be very good, but by the time I'm a fourth of the way into these drawings, I'm usually thrilled with the results and keep thinking, "wow, I drew that"!

Tangle Refresher #12

2011-11-14T11:03:00.001-06:00

Here's another tangle I did over the weekend. This one was for the Tangle Refresher #12 on the TanglePatterns website. I just started practicing these tangles about 3 weeks ago, so am very happy to see them do refresher courses, as they are all new to me.

Necklace

2011-11-13T19:10:00.001-06:00

I wanted another neutral long chain necklace, so I popped into good ol' Wal-Mart and bought some chain, along with a pendant I thought I could alter. At first, I thought I could just hang the pendant on the chain. Boy, was that about as blah as you could get! I saw a necklace I liked the look of, on Pinterest, that had added beads to the chain. That's just what I needed. I found these beads in my stash that I bought a few years back.

Here's my finished project.

Here's a close up.

I can't wait to wear it.

Denim Apron

2011-11-12T15:43:00.001-06:00

At the craft show last weekend, I mentioned to my friend Beth that I'd like to make an apron. I thought the mother daughter ones that my friend Jodi made were adorable, but more complicated than I wanted to sew. I came across this one on Pinterest that I thought was just perfect for what I wanted.

Here's the steps I took to make it.

Cut the leg (around the crotch area) away from the belt area. Then cut down the front seam of that detached leg. Mine had a light pressed fold down the front, so I followed that line. To trim the arm holes, I folded the material in half & eyed up what I thought might be enough curve & matched them.

I sewed bias tape (binding) around the edges so the denim fabric wouldn't ravel. I decided not to trim the bottom of the apron, where the original denim hem is frayed. I thought it gave it a little texture. I folded the 2nd package of bias tape in half, then sewed down the middle to make the ties for the neck and sides. (The ties are sewed to the back of the apron, with just enough stitches to firmly hold them in place.)

I used Stitch Witchery to adhere the front jean pocket to the apron. I didn't want to put my sewing machine thru all those layers of seams and denim. So, now there is the actual front pocket to hold things, along with the front pocket being a pocket (I didn't adhere the top, left it open.)

I cut out the D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself) letters (using an iron-on denim patch) on my Cricut machine. Then I had to add glitter somewhere, so the letters are outlined with the "Diamond" Stickles. My hubby thought it was supposed to be my name!???? DIY looks like DIX? Hhmmm.......

The cute finished apron!!

You'll notice the button hole from the jean belt is in the upper corner. That's because I started cutting the fabric down the seam and about 2.5 inches into cutting, realized I wasn't supposed to be cutting there. I needed to cut down the front of the jean instead. So, to hold it together, I adhered this over the top of the "oops" slice. A little mistake just turned into a cute embellishment!

In Honor of Veterans Day

2011-11-10T22:17:00.001-06:00

This week's challenge at the I am the diva - Certified Zentangle Teacher blog is "remembrance". She noted Flanders Field in telling her story. As I was drawing the tangle patterns to represent the words in the poem, I could clearly picture my sister-in-law reading it at the annual Memorial Day American Legion ceremony that my husband, father-in-law and brother-in-law also proudly serve, in their small hometown community.

Thank you to all the past and present service men and women.

Fiskars Party

2011-11-10T09:01:00.000-06:00

Last Friday (Deer Hunting Opener) 25+ of us ladies dressed in orange for the Scrap Trap's "Fiskars" crop & party. (Here's a link to the Scrap Trap's blog: http://scraptrapllc.blogspot.com/.) I dug in my projects box to find something to work on at the crop. I made a cute clipboard, & tried to start on an album but nothing was getting done on it. I spent more time in the store, looking at all the new product Brandi has accumulated for us to purchase. I found something on the shelves that's been there for awhile. It had never appealed to me in the prior months I'd been there, but at that moment, it was the perfect project to work on the rest of the evening. I now have this adorable pressboard purse sitting at my computer. It holds my pens, reading glasses and chapstick! It's just what I needed to organize the messy things I was starting to gather!

We each received a wonderful package of Fiskars products. It was a fun night to catch up with old friends and visit with new ones!

Zentangle

2011-11-09T22:45:00.002-06:00

I joined the "Pinterest" craze about a month ago, with my friend & mentor Beth (http://willowlakestitches.blogspot.com). Pinterest is a great place to go for some artistic inspiration! I thought I was crafty, until I started viewing projects that others had "pinned". If you haven't already joined, you should!

One of the art items that caught my attention, were some fancy doodles. I used to love doodling & coloring back in the 80's. I always had my poster size coloring books near the phone, so I could color while I talked. I've hung on to them for 30+ years, so I guess they're pretty important to me!

1980's

I looked into these new fancy doodles a little further and found that Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts recently began Zentangle. Here is a link to their website and photos of official Zentangles. http://www.zentangle.com/index.php

"What is Zentangle? Zentangle is an easy to learn method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns. It is a fascinating new art form that is fun and relaxing. It increases focus and creativity. Zentangle provides artistic satisfaction and an increased sense of personal well being. Zentangle is enjoyed by a wide range of skills and ages and is used in many fields of interest."~Zentangle website

I tried out a few of the tangle patterns, but didn't know if I'd really get into it, so instead of immediately buying the official kit, I made my own little Zentangle sized notebook and gave it a whirl. I was hooked in no time. I went on Amazon and purchased the Zentangle 2 instruction book, along with a sketch notebook and Micron pen. I was so excited the day these arrived! I have since bought a kit of pencils, charcoal, blending tools, sharpener, eraser, etc. and still need to purchase some official Zentangle blank tiles.

After practicing in my homemade sketch journal for a few days, I bravely (?) set pen to hand and drew on the pages of this beautiful sketch book. Here's my ZIA (Zentangle Inspired Art).

Tangle Patterns: Feathers, Cresent Moon, Cadent, Munchin, Feathers

Currently, there are no CZT's (Certified Zentangle Teacher) in North Dakota. Wouldn't it be fun to be the first?

My Garden Journal

2011-11-08T10:59:00.000-06:00

My 1st project this fall was to alter a hardcover book that my friend Brandi gave me. She used hers for a cute Halloween mini album. As soon as I saw hers, I knew I had to make a garden journal. I'd been cleaning out flower gardens for awhile, and was kinda sad to see it all go away & needed to record all the hard work.

Here's the process I used, after watching a 2 hour video on UStream by Marion Smith. http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13073025

Tear apart the "signatures" with an Exacto knife. Leave the paper snippets intact on the inside, as it will help adhere the new signatures to the spine.

Measure book height & width. I subtracted 1/4" for the scrapbook paper, so that the pages would fit in the altered book nicely. Fold paper in half using bone folder.

I then cut smaller papers to use for journal tags. These are also folded in half. Arrange all your papers so that none of the pattern papers are repeated, next to each other. No more than 4-5 per signature. Hold the papers together with clips, then sew down the center of each signature.

Glue (I used tape adhesive) the last page of the 1st signature, to the 1st page of the 2nd signature, etc until they are all together. Then use glue to adhere the last page to the back cover and the 1st page to the front cover.

I chose to leave the hardcover book as is, but you could paint it any color you like, before you adhere the book with scrapbook paper.

Now the real fun begins....add photos, embellishments, journal notes, etc. to your altered book!

The finished altered book! I used some garden theme paper & matching embellishments, that I bought awhile back at The Scrap Trap. It was perfect for my garden journal.

It's huge! It took a long time to make it, but I love all the memories that it's going to bring back this winter, when we're dealing with 10 feet of snow in our backyard!

I'm Back!

2011-11-01T16:06:00.000-05:00

I might just be back to keeping my blog up-to-date! Over the past couple months I've heard about "Pinterest" and have since become a member. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed this website. You create boards, then pin items that you've seen on blogs, websites, etc that you like, onto these boards (for classification purposes). You can also repin what others (that you're following) have already posted. The main thing I like is the craft inspirations, but the do-it-yourself projects, organizing tips, yummy food recipes, photography, etc keep me coming back for more, more, more. I told a friend, "Pinterest is everything I love, and some stuff I didn't even know I loved"! I've made a couple recipes, been inspired by fitness posters, laughed over funny quotes, and began my renewed journey into doodling, which is now copyrighted & called "Zentangles". So, I'm back.....and hopefully, I'll have some artistic crafts to post in the future.

Lunch & Shopping

2010-04-02T08:36:00.006-05:00

I met Mom and Linda at Another Time for lunch. I picked up some cute garden ornaments for them at Gifts from the Heart, which they even showed off to others in the restraurant! From there we went to Bong's Bootery. I ordered a pair of blue denim Merrell sandels, so get to go back to VC next week to pick them up!

Didn't find anything at the old lady store (RJ Fashions). It looked even more picked over than when Lynne & I were there last fall. There's a new jewelry store next door, (in the old bank) but she was closed, due to her allergies. We wondered upstairs and there was a guy there working on other rooms/offices, etc. He bought the building 10 years ago and is fixing it up, room by room. There were also tons of paintings adorning the upstairs wall. Will be very cool when it gets going.

We walked across the street to Foss Drug. I bought a cool indoor/outdoor painting that I might have to talk Bill into letting me hang on our siding. Might have to get an easel instead!

We stopped in at Eagle's Nest new/used book store. Oh, I would love to own a place like that. It also had Pride of Dakota products, along with other artist's consignment pieces. Fun place! Bought a Xmas gift for Mac and a book (The Other Queen by Phillipa Gregory) for myself. Can't believe I didn't know about the book store all these years!

From our downtown shopping excursion we went out to see Linda's new sunroom. It's nice and big and very pretty, even if there wasn't any sun! It was chilly & windy but we went for a quick garden tour, stopped to warm up in the greenhouse, visited with Chuck and took a few "flood" photos.

12/7/09 - Monday House Cleaning

2009-12-12T22:00:00.002-06:00

I almost made it to work today! Ha - almost!! But, after doing several loads of laundry and picking up stuff around the house, I decided to stay home and make some homemade soup, Tastefully Simple beer bread and Ugly Cake for supper. It was all delicious!

12/6/09 - Couch Day

2009-12-12T21:54:00.003-06:00

Pam spent the night but she was long gone by the time I got up. I awoke to Bill and Bryan throwing coolers of deer meat into the hallway. They wrapped as many rings of sausage as they could, as I was too busy making that ONE bow yesterday to go to Wal-mart for more Food Saver bags. Oops! They got all of Bryan's deer sausage wrapped, so after he went home to Fargo, Bill and I made a trip to Wal-Mart. Talked him into going thru the new McDonald's drive-up to get me some food to soak up some of that left over alcohol in my body.

I passed on going to the Christmas Open House tours with the girls too. Just didn't feel well enough to walk around all afternoon! Layed on the couch and played on the computer instead.

12/5/09 - Clown for A Night

2009-12-12T21:45:00.003-06:00

While Bill was slaving away making deer sausage to feed our family for the next year, I was partying it up with the Shriner's and some of my book club girls at the Civic Center. Beth, Pam, Debbie, Laurel, Carrie and myself had a great girls night out. Reister's served ham & turkey for dinner. Jay Walker was the comedienne. Our thoughts were that he came right out of the 70's and hadn't updated any of his jokes since then! (We called him the Creepy PeePee Guy!) The band, Joe Friday played one set, then the Shriner's put on a skit, roasting the city council members. Then it was back to dancing the night away with the girls to 70's music. (Think disco - Stayin' Alive!)

12/5/09 - Deer Sausage Making Day

2009-12-12T21:20:00.003-06:00

Bill went up to Kensal to their 29th Annual Deer Sausage Making Day. Yes, all caps because it is a big event! They start early in the morning and go all day and night. They make the sausage at his brother Clete's. Most of the Lipetzky/Johnson/Bredahl families are in attendance. So cool to see the younger generation there with their children! I have a feeling the tradition will continue for several years. There's already talk of a big celebration for next years 30th anniversary. But, as Herman Kulla said to Bill's sister Kathy...."I thought those guys celebrated every year?" Here's my favorite photo of the day. It's is Bill with his nephew Jeff standing by all those rings of sausage that need to be smoked.

Bows

2009-12-05T11:39:00.004-06:00

I usually post late at night, at the end of the day, but I just have to share this with you now. Look at the cute bow I made this morning!

Here's a link to the Two Crazy Crafters blog. She has an easy tutorial. Anyone can make these!!!! So fun!

Christmas Party Goodies

2009-12-04T23:05:00.003-06:00

I'm still decorating our home for Christmas. I wonder how many totes I've carried in and out of the garage in the last couple days? I put up a mini golf tree in my hubbies bedroom and of course a Wizard of Oz tree in my bedroom. I'm hoping to get a big tree put up on Saturday. Just haven't decided which ornaments to use.

We had a lovely Christmas employee party with the people I work for tonight. It was held at the Buffalo City Grille. There were about 70 people there, so the side room was packed. We had a delicious prime rib dinner. There was a Christmas message from Paster Darrel Losing and Tracy Seitz received a gold coin for her 30 years of dedication. Afterwards, Curt gave away door prizes, we played several games of bingo for cash and Jeff was in charge of the gift bags which contained $25 of gift certificates of food or retail from various places. Each employee was also given a $50 bill. We sat with Jeff, his parents (Jon & Fern), along with the farm employees Paul, Todd Sjostrom & his wife Jolene. Fun group of people!!!

Deck the Halls - Thursday, December 3rd

2009-12-04T22:53:00.004-06:00

I decorated the bathroom, put the Christmas stockings on the fireplace mantle, took out all my Christmas quilts, photo frames and books. The halls are decked! It was fun taking everything out as I didn't put anything up last year, as Bill had knee surgery & I was helping him with his recovery.

I stopped in at the office for a couple hours in the afternoon and ordered W2's & 1099's from Quickbook. We had a delicious walleye supper. I'm using up some old freezer food since I've missed our Schwan's man the last couple weeks.

Wednesday - December 2nd

2009-12-04T22:45:00.002-06:00

It's finally snowing in Jamestown, ND! Not that I'm excited about cold weather, icy roads & sidewalks to shovel, because I'm NOT. But, the snowflakes did get me to change my mini flag, drag out my wreath & snowman for the porch. The rest of the morning was spent doing load after load of laundry and a couple sink fulls of dishes to wash & dishes to put away in the dishwasher. Love all our modern conveniences! I spent the afternoon at my part-time J*O*B and had a nice quiet evening at home by myself.

Yummy Leftovers

2009-12-01T22:16:00.007-06:00

Have you tried the Bear Creek soups? This is the tortilla one and it is so good. I throw some Schwan's diced chicken in while it's simmering and top with sour cream, cheese and crushed chips before I serve. It was just as good today, for leftovers at lunch, as it was last night for supper.

I had a few things to get at Wal-Mart today before heading in to work this afternoon. Started gathering info on 1099's and W2's. Yes, it's that time of year again. End of year and I plan a big vacation right in the middle of January!

Dropped off a library book, "A Friend of the Family" by Lauren Grodstein. I highly recommend it. I keep wondering what I would have done, had I been in the main characters position. Check it out!

Speaking of books, my big news for the day is that I went ahead and ordered the Sony eReader that I've wanted for quite some time. The price didn't seem to drop and I finally had enough $$$$ in my checking account to pay for one. I'm so excited. Can't wait to show it to all my book club friends! It should be here early next week. Here's what it looks like. I can store about 350 eBooks on it! Hopefully some will even be FREE! ;)

Had a few projects for Bill when he got home from work (cleaning out the freezer, replacing florescent bulbs in the kitchen, and new batteries in my car remote) while I made supper.

Busy Monday

2009-11-30T22:51:00.002-06:00

I met 5 of my girlfriends (Kim, Roberta, Brandi, Sheree, & Lisa) for lunch at Pizza Ranch today. We had a great time, even though everyone talks at once! I ran into my Uncle Bob Krause while I was getting my 2nd plate refilled, but we just had time to say hello as we were with big groups of friends & were concentrating on filling our tummies!

From lunch I went right to work, as I had payroll to do. Mac was in to sign checks and everything seemed to go smoothly! I'll check in tomorrow and see if I missed anything, as the employees don't hesitate to call if I made an error.

I was done working by 4pm so beat the 5 o'clock rush at the grocery store. I made homemade tacos & tortilla soup for supper. Hadn't made those in ages.

Tonight, I tried to beat Brandi's score in the Facebook game of Bejeweled Blitz, but after playing for over an hour, I've decided to give it up and go read for awhile.

Cricut Vinyl Words

2009-11-29T20:40:00.011-06:00

I bought some brown vinyl at Wal-Mart and thought it would make a nice project for Mom and I to do this weekend. I used my SCAL software program with my Cricut die cutting machine to cut the vinyl.

Then put transfer tape on the words, and stuck/rubbed it on to the wall. They went on kinda like rub-ons do when I use them for scrapbooking. Mom got in on the fun too!

I watched a couple YouTube videos by "Cricut Dan" who made it look easier than it was for me. I had to make several adjustments to the settings that he suggested but by the time I got to the last word, I was an expert!

We did pretty good considering this was done after hours & hours of shopping on Saturday. Bill left early in the morning to go farming & spent the night in Kensal. I made breakfast for Mom & Ed, then Mom & I went to the Scrap Trap, Christopher & Banks, Maurice's and K-Mart! (I was tired & hungover from the night before and my feet were killing me, as I didn't wear sensible shopping shoes. I'll know better next time!) I made homemade turkey noodle soup, with Mom's leftovers that she brought out, for our supper.

Holiday Parade

2009-11-29T20:17:00.003-06:00

Mom came out in time for lunch on Friday afternoon. We visited, then both took short little naps, before getting ready for dinner at Brenda's. She had a lovely dinner party before the parade. Brenda invited Mom, Bill & me, Roy, Gannon & Brandi, Nate & his girlfriend Nancy whom we hadn't met yet. The food was delicious. She served chicken cordon bleu, rice, greenbeans & salad. Can't wait to get the recipe, as Mom wants to make it for Christmas Eve dinner.

We made it to the parade just in time! There were about 50 entries. I took a photo of just about every float, until my batteries died and my camera got too cold, so I missed the final float with Santa!!!!

We spent the rest of the evening warming up at Shady's. The place was packed. So many people that we knew. Fun night. Mom's friend Ed came down for the night too!

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T23:02:00.003-06:00

We went to Mom's on Wednesday night so that we'd be there to help with all the food preparation on Thanksgiving. Mom's friend Ed joined us on Wednesday night and my brother Jim stopped over too.

Jim, his wife Tammy & his son Cody came over to Mom's on Thanksgiving. We all helped prepare the food, set the table, and clean up in some form or another. The traditional turkey day food was delicious. We all stuffed ourselves. My brothers plate had to be 4 inches high of food (he didn't want to have to to take 2nds!). Afterwards we looked thru the retail ads and dreamed up Christmas wish lists. Tammy was very excited about shopping on Black Friday so she could purchase a Cricut Expression. We also posed for a Supler family photo before having Mom's homemade raisin cream pie! Mom also had pumpkin pie, Cody said he wanted a piece of each "but just because I'm having both doesn't necessarily mean you have to make them small". He's so funny!!!!!!

We went over to Bryan's (Bill's son) before we headed home to Jamestown. Tara's parents, her Aunt Maureen & Uncle Carroll, their son Jim, his wife Cherish and their 7 month old baby, Avery, were all still there so we got in a little visiting with them. Paige was really wound up with all the attention she was getting from everyone. Brady woke up for us shortly before we left. What a good baby! Tara went back to work on Monday. She said she went to their daycare to check on him during her lunch hour because she missed him being around her all day!!!

Earth Love

2009-11-26T22:10:00.003-06:00

Just a few days ago, I entered a comment on the Scrap Review website. They drew my name from the comments and I won this Cosmo Cricket Earth Love crafting kit. It's beautiful. I'm so appreciative. Love their paper. Can't wait to create something with it!

No Doe Photos!?!

2009-11-23T21:40:00.004-06:00

I posted the pic of our granddaughter yesterday with her nice buck. My husband didn't take any pics of the deer he shot, out in the field, because in his words it was "just" a doe! So tonight when he was slicing up the deer meat into smaller pieces to freeze (just until they make sausage in December), I finally got a pic of his doe!!! I think I can still use some of my deer hunting scrapbook paper on this photo, even if it's not the photo I thought I'd get to use.

I had a busy day today. Talked to my brother, got groceries, went to the thrift store (dropped off a load of stuff and only bought scrapbook ribbon for $1.24), and then to my J*O*B in the afternoon. Bill came home at 5pm with his deer, Doug's and Sarah's. They had a local guy skin and cut up their deers for $55 each. I would encourage them to even pay double as I hate the smell and all that blood in the house.

I made a shrimp stir-fry for supper and we each had one shrimp, in memory of Ebony, before I made the stir-fry. Talked to my brother again and my Mom. Bill called his parents. They are having Turkey Day with a neighbor and are excited that their daughter Kathy (Bill's sister) is coming to visit over the Christmas holiday.

Deer Slayers

2009-11-22T20:35:00.003-06:00

This is our oldest grandchild, Danielle with her 9 pt buck that she shot today. She lives in Wisconsin with her sister, dad & grandparents. We don't get to see them very often so I'm especially thankful for digital photos and Facebook so we can keep in contact. Haven't heard if Shelby got her deer today or not.

Bill and Bryan were deer hunting in Kensal this weekend. Bill got his doe this morning, but Bryan missed his buck. That means that we'll be sharing a deer between the two families again. We've done that the last couple years and it's just enough deer meat for all of us. We've got 2-3 links left that we're giving to Mom when we go there for Turkey Day.

Made swiss steak for supper tonight. That's all I got done today, along with playing a million games of Bejeweled Blitz. Bill finished up the laundry, cleaned up the kitchen for me, washed the outside of the windows on the house and made banana bread while I talked on the phone to my Mom for 2 1/2 hours.

Out The Door They Go

2009-11-20T22:26:00.003-06:00

It was clean up day at the house today. I was tired of looking at these unhealthy plants, so out the door they went while I was watering the healthier ones. The rest of the morning was spent doing several loads of laundry, vacuuming, etc. It was a beautiful day so I walked to work. I can't believe our temps are in the 50's and it's the end of November!

Revealing My Kitchen!

2009-11-19T22:30:00.005-06:00

Ta Da! Here's what I've been working on all week. My arm, hand and legs are killing me. Way more physical work than this princess is used to! Anyway, here's the view of our newly painted kitchen. I wanted tan, but got brown. Way too many browns competing here, but we'll just take it as it is!

Here's the south side of the kitchen. I think I have more apples up now than I did before. I needed some color to pop with all this brown! Notice the 2 tan towels (fridge & stove), that's the color I wanted but the scanner must've picked up the darker shades!

Here's the north side of the kitchen. The sign above the sink says "The Secret To Having It All, Is Believing That You Do" was purchased over a year ago. I brought the sign home, tore down the apple wallpaper border and thought I was going to get around to painting. Well, a year later I finally got the sign up!!!

Photo Shoot

2009-11-18T22:08:00.003-06:00

I finished painting the first coat on my kitchen walls today. The second wall went so much faster, as I taped it last night. Tomorrow I'm going to tackle the second coat in hopes that I'll like the color much better. I'm really NOT liking it right now. I thought I could cheat and get by with just a few dabs of paint behind the appliances, but the white still shows through. Can't have that! So, Bill will need to pull the stove & fridge out tomorrow. I'd do it myself, but if the flooring gets scratched, I'd rather have him take the blame!!!!

After work this afternoon, I went over to Les & Lynne's for their annual Christmas photo shoot. This year, there are 4 of them to get "just right" for a photo. The dogs sat still but the parents weren't cooperating with me! I thought this would have been a cute pose, but none of them wanted to look at me by this time. Oh well!

Lynne took Les & I out for supper at The Fort afterwards. Fluff joined us for a beer while we ate our food. It was good catching up with him too. He told us that The Elk's & The Bistro are closing. A company out of Fargo has purchased the two buildings and plan to make it into one big restaurant, with a little remodeling.

Brown? I Wanted Tan!!!

2009-11-17T21:44:00.004-06:00

I was buying kitchen towels, to match our new rugs, when I got this great idea to take the towel over to the paint department and get a quart of paint. Well, I really thought I was getting tan, but this is pretty brown! I painted one wall without taping but you have to be so careful & wipe up each little spot. Tonight I decided to tape the other wall, as it goes so much faster. Then I can get the second coat on both walls tomorrow and we'll see what I have to do from there.

Fall Yard Clean Up

2009-11-17T12:20:00.003-06:00

Bill came home Saturday night after deer hunting with his family. Still no deer, but they have a couple more weekends left. Sunday morning Bill fixed breakfast & cleaned up!! The neighborlady's trees and ours have finally dumped all their leaves, so it was time for a little yard clean up. Threw away those frozen, moldy pumpkins too. We piled most of the leaves on my flower beds, but we still had a pickup load to take to the city compost pile. Beautiful weather for the middle of November!

Veteran's Supper

2009-11-14T00:14:00.004-06:00

I had a really nice visit with Lena today (Friday the 13th!) as she did my nails. We talked about her Mom, who's 76 years old, worrying about Lena's youngest sister, when her Mom passes away. Lena's sister is mentally disabled and lives with her Mom in Vietnam. After my nails were dry I decided to go to work instead of shopping. I know - what a surprise it was for me too!

I picked up Jodi Bredahl and we drove up to the Kensal Legion Veteran's supper. The food was so good. We ate very tender roast beef, mashed potatoes & gravy, corn and the best coleslaw I've ever had! They followed it up with cake that had whip cream and cherries on it. Delicious!

Commander Dale Bredahl brought the meeting to order, my husband, Chaplain Bill, read the prayer before we ate, Ione Sompson thanked the John Florhaug Legion for inviting the Women's Auxillary to the supper, after we ate. Chaplain Bill read a final prayer. The guys all went over to the bar to play poker. I gave Jill & Jodi a ride home. Nice night but we saw several deer! Thankfully, we didn't hit any of them!!!!

SCAL Files

2009-11-12T23:00:00.003-06:00

I have so many .svg (Scalable Vector Graphics) files that I needed to do something with them, instead of having one big folder. I use these .svg files with my Cricut die cutting machine. It was taking forever to search thru and find my turkeys for Thanksgiving! (See the card from the previous posting that I made my Mom.)

I now have folders organized inside my SVG folder such as ANIMALS, HOLIDAYS, SPORTS, etc. In doing this project, I noticed I've been slacking and downloading the free files from various websites, but not unzipping them. So, that is my morning project for the next few days, until I get them all unzipped and put into their appropriate folders.

It was a pretty nice day here even though it was cloudy, the temp was in the 50's! Can't beat that for November. Lots of friends and family complain to me about the gloomy days when it clouds up, but I've come to enjoy them and think of them as my "slow down" days. A chance to regroup, clean, organize, or be creative inside my home...who cares what the weather's like then! A chance to slow down with my busy social life (ha) and do things at home for me.

I'm Back!

2009-11-10T23:02:00.010-06:00

Well, it's been a long month and a half, but I'm back. Our beloved 15 year old cat passed away on October 8th. It's sure taking some getting use to, not having him around me all day & night. I'm finding little advantages though, such as walking around the house barefoot. It seemed like I could scrub or vacuum a floor and 2 seconds later there would be kitty litter tracked through the house. To occupy my grieving time, I've been in a scrapbooking mode. I'm whipping out projects daily. I'll explain each one in a little detail below.

I made the base of this card with my Cricut machine. I'd made one at stamp club a few weeks ago and had to cut & score it by hand. I knew I'd seen the .svg file on a blog somewhere. I eventually found it and whipped one up for my Mom! She said she's taking it to work to show it off! Thanks Mom! (She's my biggest fan!)

I finally finished my album of my stepson's wedding. They had a colorful Tiki theme, so this bright album I bought years ago with the matching paper was perfect!! They've been married for over a year and have had a baby since then...all in the same time it took me to do this wedding album! After that big project, I made myself a Tinkerbelle album of our granddaughter Paige's 4th birthday party in April. I followed some SEI sketches for designing my pages. That makes scrapbooking so much easier. I highly recommend sketches.

Every once in awhile when I order stuff online, I'll get a "freebie". I could not figure out what this was supposed to be no matter how I folded it! So, I set it aside and kept going thru my "box of things to make" and sure enough, ran across another one just like it. Only this time, there were instructions included in the kit. It's a pocket with two cute pullout chipboard tags. I'll have to find a couple pics to put on them and give them away to someone. They'd make a cute little gift. They could certainly go on a scrapbook page too.

I made this cute little mini album to give to our granddaughter Paige. It also has pics in it from her 4th birthday party. Can't wait to give it to her.

I thought I'd make some seasonal decoration to frame. I came up with this and decided to hang it from ribbon instead of buying a frame for it. It's so cute, I'd like to make more for other seasons or holidays. Quick and easy. The program I used for the text is called Wordle and it's FREE.

Here's another quick and easy project. I bought a Basic Gray greeting card set from my LSS (local scrapbook store), The Scrap Trap. Now I'll have some cards on hand if a need arises! It comes with all the die cuts, embellies, paper & envelopes. There's detailed instructions on how to assemble each of them which I kept, so I can use them as a template in the future.

This project took me two nights to complete. It was a Close To My Heart workshop that I was unable to attend. It's a flip book with lots of "flips" to it. I haven't decided what photos I want in it yet, although sepia tint will probably look the best.

That's it! Thanks for looking.

Mini Albums!

2009-09-24T22:53:00.004-05:00

Here's a Happy Birthday mini album that I did this morning. It's gray, gold & black. I'm getting a little faster at them. I can whip one out in about 4 hours! And to think I sell them for only $12!

I went to work this afternoon. I was the only one there, so got a lot of work done by the time it was 5pm. I headed home and had a couple beers with Bill out on our porch. I made Schwan's steak & shrimp skewers for supper. Yummy! We're winding down on "summer foods". It's almost crock pot & soup time of year.

I laid down on the couch to try and get some more read of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". I'm only half way done and book club is on Tuesday! Well, I kinda fell asleep but suddenly awoke when I could hear Ebony peeing! Yep, on our living room carpet. He's been missing his liter box the last couple weeks. Luckily for us, he does get there most of the time. We'll be getting our carpets cleaned soon after he passes away. Poor kitty, I'm sure he can't help it! He's not walking very good anymore either. Kinda clumsy and he pauses much longer now days. He's skin and bones, although he eats all the time.

This evening, I made one more mini album. It's another fall one. I like the cute little buttons I used for leaves. I think I need to add a few more little details to the two I made today, but basically, they're ready to sell!

Me & Ebony

2009-09-23T23:08:00.003-05:00

Brandi & I had lunch at Pizza Ranch to celebrate my upcoming birthday. We had lots to catch up on, as we hadn't seen each other in quite some time. We had a great time and the food was delicious!

I made a Wal-mart run this afternoon. I also tried to figure out why our caller ID names all of a sudden (on the 12th) quit showing up. I unplugged & reset all the phones. I bought a new phone and still the same problem. Called Qwest, they said the lines are working fine, since their QWest id name came up when they called me back. Mostly, I think it's the Alltel cell phones in which the names no longer show up. Strange! Don't even know where to go from here!

Played with Ebony the rest of the day as we probably don't have many weeks left with him. Love this photo of the two of us!

1st Day of Fall

2009-09-22T22:27:00.004-05:00

This morning a friend had a hysterectomy, Jen & Jeremy had a baby girl and yet another friend has surgery to remove his kidney due to cancer tomorrow. My thoughts are with all of them and their families.

I went to work today to check in with Mac and see how much work was piled on my desk. It actually wasn't too bad. The office building in which we work is up for sale. L&L Management rents a room in the back, from the building owners. We're wondering what will happen to us? More than likely, they'll move us to Liechty Homes. We have it so nice there, with no other co-workers. It'll be hard to move. But, the place hasn't sold, so no worrying about it yet! Mac and I had several good laughs today about both of us traveling in Valley City last week.

After work I let Ebony outside to enjoy our cooler fall weather. It was a little too windy and noisy for him, so he spent a lot of time going in and out. I managed to bring in my herb plants. I'm going to try and see if they'll grow indoors. This is my favorite smelling one....it's a chocolate mint. Aunt Linda said to rub the leaves in the morning and I'll feel invigorated! She's right!

Rainy Day

2009-09-21T22:57:00.006-05:00

The morning was dreary and the afternoon turned rainy and dreary! It was nice not having to water plants today. The rain will sure make for easy weed pulling. It's going to cool off now after this front came through, so I think I'll get the yard ready for winter sometime this week! I threw a pheasant in the crock pot, did a load of laundry and then worked on a couple mini albums for the rest of the day. Here's the FOOTBALL one that I made to sell. (I made another one, but it's a gift, so I better not put it on here!)

Bill and I think that we can see a little improvement in Ebony's labored breathing. The pills have given us a few more days with him, which we appreciate immensely. He sure gobbled up the pheasant we had for supper tonight!

I Couldn't Breathe!!!

2009-09-20T22:21:00.006-05:00

Bill went golfing with his buddies this morning and I slept in! I finally got out of bed to have coffee and play on the computer about 9am. I also made another fall mini album. This one is titled "Autumn Splendor". It doesn't have any titles, but it does have blank spots with fall leaves, where you can put your own title. Brandi will be happy to get some new ones in at her store to sell for me.

Linda gave me a bunch of tomatoes and some okra yesterday. I thought I'd try making a batch of shrimp & sausage gumbo served on a bed of rice. I found an easy recipe and whipped it up in no time. As we were eating dinner, we got on the subject of people drinking everyday. Bill said he didn't drink everyday, as he didn't have one on Monday night when he got home because we went to the concert. I laughed and said "Nope! You had TWO when you got home from the concert"...which left me hysterically laughing...with food in my mouth. Yep, you guessed it. I choked. Couldn't breathe or catch my breath or cough the food out. It was stuck in real tight! I motioned to Bill as I stood up and he could see I was seriously in distress. He did the Heimlich Maneuver on me, but it didn't work the first time. He pushed too softly. Then he gave it his all and low and behold I could breath again! How scary. Later this evening, he was watching TV and I laid down on the couch. He said "what's wrong, you look so tired"? I replied "well jeez Bill, I almost died tonight. It took a lot out of me!" So, we laughed about that, but I'm guessing I'll owe him for the rest of my life...no pun intended!!!!

Party at Linda's

2009-09-19T23:35:00.004-05:00

My Great Uncle Al was in New York for the summer. He's on his way back to Arizona and stopped to see his ND family. Al also spent 2 weeks in Italy recently. He brought his slide show for us to view. He wants to go back to Italy next year, in September. Linda is talking about going too. I just have to talk Mom into going and paying for both of us! She needs to spend my inheritance - with me along. Wouldn't that be a great 50th birthday gift?!

Aunt Linda had us all out to her place so we could visit with Al. We also celebrated Great Aunt Carol and Aunt Margaret's birthdays. Linda made pulled pork and we all brought a dish to pass. The weather was perfect. MaryBeth and Ron came too. They hadn't been to Linda's before so that was fun going on the tour of the house, studio & gardens with her. I took lots of photos of the gardens. Not so many of the people!

The majority of the guests left after we cooled off with some DQ ice cream cake. Mom was going to leave too, but I said "let's stay until they kick us out"! She agreed, so I did dishes while Linda picked some tomatoes to give us. We went out to the studio to check up on Bill, Chuck and Mark. We had a few drinks, tried Mark's chokecherry wine and before we knew it, it was 7:45pm!

What a great day!

The Weekend Begins!

2009-09-18T23:55:00.005-05:00

It was errand day today. I returned a long overdue library book, stopped at the bank and returned the title to the bank for the Pathfinder. Long story and boy did I let them know I wasn't too happy about a 3rd trip to the bank (regarding the loan & title), along with having problems every step of the way to purchase this vehicle. From Gateway, to Nissan, to the Motor Vehicle Dept to FCCU....every place screwed up something along the way! From there I went grocery shopping. We were out of everything!

I got my plants watered, washed out all the pots I'm returning to Linda tomorrow, and cleaned off the chairs on the porch so we could watch the cars go by after work. It was shortly after we saw our friend Ashley drive by, without her Pizza Hut logo on her car, that her Mom, Brenda, stopped by with a few beers. She was 'sposed to be cleaning out the garage with Wyatt and Nate. Ended up that Nate saw us out there and he stopped in too for a couple beers & to show us his new PT Cruiser. Fun night and beautiful weather for beers on the porch.

Ebony and I brought a houseplant in from outside. I'm going to slowly bring them in before it freezes. That means I hope Bill doesn't notice that come the first frost, there's a dozen extra plants in his living room! Ebony and I played with a palm tree leaf...just like the old days. Well, he was a little slower and didn't jump as high, but he still enjoys chasing leaves!

I made BLT's for supper. Nate told me to mix the Tastefully Simple Pesto mix with my mayo. Oh wow...was that ever delicious. Can't wait to use that on everything!

Linda's Gardens

2009-09-17T22:58:00.004-05:00

Since I was in Valley City for the funeral this morning, I decided I'd stop in to visit with Aunt Linda. She made a taco pizza with fresh tomatoes from her garden for lunch. I stopped and picked up a delicious ice cream cake from the DQ.

We exchanged kitty stories, got caught up with what we'd each been doing lately, then went out to view her beautiful gardens. Afterwards, we went thru seed catalogs, visited some more out on the porch and before we knew, it was 4 o'clock and her & Chuck needed to get ready to go to Lisbon for supper with Great Uncle Al.

To my surprise, our friend Fluff stopped by to visit with Ebony this afternoon. He took a pic of Ebony and put it on Facebook, saying that "all these years and we're still pals". What a sweat heart!

Eat, Drink & Be Merry

2009-09-17T22:40:00.003-05:00

This morning I went to the funeral for Frances Loberg. She was my friend & co-worker's Mom. It was a very nice service with Father Schommer talking about a headstone he'd seen that said "Eat, Drink & Be Merry". At first he thought that he'd NEVER have something like that on his headstone. Then he thought about it, and realized that Jesus had a big last supper with all his disciples before he died. It was a gathering for fellowship! This seemed appropriate to me, as Jean & her Mom had a standing lunch date every week, even if they'd seen each other just the day before!

I went downstairs for the reception and lunch to find Jean surrounded by her family. Jean and I hugged and cried, then hugged and cried some more before I greeted Leah, Mike, Amber, Troy and of course Curt. Frances was Jean's best friend. She will be so missed!

Ebony

2009-09-17T22:29:00.003-05:00

Here's where Eb and I sit most of the day...playing on Facebook!

Took Ebony back to Prairie Veterinary Hospital on Wednesday afternoon. Dr Pearson shaved a patch of Ebony's beautiful black fur in order to drain some fluid from his chest cavity. Unfortunately, I could hear my little kitty crying in pain while he was getting the sample! Man, did that ever break my heart. I almost ran in and got him out of there, but Jolene came out with him and said they got as much as they could before he wouldn't let them do any more!

Dr Pearson brought out the 3 oz sample and showed it to me. There was a yellowish tint to it, indicating liver problems. He did some slide tests, then came back out and sat down to talk with me. He said that it looks like a lymphatic tumor. He gave Ebony a diuretic pill that I'll give him twice a day. This may help reduce the fluid a little bit around his heart, so that we have some more time with him. I asked how long, as in months or weeks. Dr Pearson said weeks and maybe a month or two would be nice. As I was getting ready to leave, I asked Dr Pearson "what do I do if the end comes and I...." and he quickly replied "just call us anytime". Then when I paid Ebony's bill for the last two days, Katrina said "now keep us posted" and her eyes were all glossy too! They are so kind, caring and gentle with Ebony and me!

New Lily Garden

2009-09-15T22:31:00.003-05:00

Ebony helped me trim the lilac bushes down this morning. He's been such a good companion! I went to work for a little while, then came home & watched a little of Oprah's 24th season premiere.

Ebony had an appointment at the Vet late this afternoon. I thought as long as he was getting annual shots, I'd mention his labored breathing. Dr Pearson took a couple x-rays and found that there is a large amount of fluid built up in Ebony's chest cavity. It may be due to a tumor, or it could be something else. Ebony is down to 8.3 lbs. He said that Ebony wouldn't have much time left. He went on to explain that he could drain some fluid and get some test results as to what the fluid is. He said there may be several options, such as we could put him on diuretics, preform surgery, etc. So, we're going to go back tomorrow and drain some fluid. Dr Pearson will know more about what we're dealing with and we can go from there. At least Ebony didn't have to have any shots today. He was happy about that! As a special treat (it is still his birthday week) and knowing we won't get to spoil him much longer, Bill and he shared a package of jumbo shrimp for supper tonight! I'd lost my appetite!

The Noteables

2009-09-14T23:10:00.003-05:00

Bill and I went to listen to the US Air Force, Heartland of America Band, The Noteables tonight. Lynne and her friend Delores met us there. The concert tickets were free, but it would have been well worth any $ amount they would have charged. They played lots of jazzy big band songs. And of course they did a tribute to the Veteran's and asked them all to stand. The tears were already starting to come down my cheeks, as I'm so proud of my husband & fellow veteran's, then they started playing "America The Beautiful". The Noteables played at the auditorium in the "new" Jamestown High School. I hadn't been there to watch anything and was amazed at what a great place it was. Can't wait to go back!

Fall is in the air. It's also in my bathroom. I took down the golf decor that had been up way too long. I think I'll do a mini album using this color theme. Look for it on sale soon!

Happy 15th Birthday Ebony

2009-09-13T18:52:00.002-05:00

My furry kiddy turned 15 today. He's a little arthritic but doing just great otherwise. Hope he's around for many more years. He's been a great companion for me. (Our beautiful cat Ivory passed away in August '07.) As a special birthday treat, Ebony got a roast beef sandwich from Arby's!

I went to breakfast/brunch at Perkin's with Brenda. I don't think that was something we'd ever done before! Our omelets were wonderful and it was fun catching up with what her and the kids are up to.

What a beautiful fall day we had. The temps were around 80 again. I weeded the garden under the apple trees and cut down the lilies. I even managed to dig up some of the annual flowers that were in the star flower garden & weeded that out too. The weather is supposed to be nice all week, so should get the lily garden tackled.

Back To Scrapbooking!

2009-09-11T21:48:00.005-05:00

I not only took a couple months off from updating my blog, I seemed to have quit scrapbooking during that time also. For the last couple days, I've been cleaning off my desk, putting away paper & stickers that my friend Sheree gave me, cleaning up the house and doing laundry so I can have the whole weekend to scrapbook and work on my new lily garden. We'll see how much I actually get done.

I thought I'd "whip up" a baby boy mini album to get me back in the swing of things. It took me 3 hours & I still need to do something with the cover! What a deal you're getting when you buy them from me for only $12.00!

I spent another day at home so had supper waiting for Bill when he got done with work. Tonight's menu was Chokecherry Wine from the Casselton Winery, (not as good as I was hoping!) and creamy white chili with Frito's, which was delicious. Mom's supposed to drop in tomorrow so I'll serve the leftovers for lunch.

Garden Tilling

2009-09-10T21:04:00.007-05:00

I'm back! As usual, July strawberry picking comes around and our summer gets really busy and I don't slow down til mid September. I won't bore you with the details, but I had a blast again this summer. I'm ready for fall and it arrived in full summer force today. The outside temp hit above 80 today.

I stopped in at Jamestown Travel today and paid our final installment towards our NCL Pearl cruise. I'm so excited about traveling in the Caribbean during January. We had a tough winter with cold temps & lots of snow. To top that off, we didn't get to go anywhere due to Bill's double knee replacement surgery. We'll sure enjoy this cruise!

Bill mowed the lawn this evening, then tilled a spot next to the lilac trees so that I can transfer my lilies. They are currently in my flower garden under our apple trees and overtaking the garden. My Aunt Linda gave me several variaties of lilies this past weekend, so they should be very pretty all together!

I got to pick out all the grass, rake and level the garden. It looks great. Can't wait to start planting lilies!

Stutsman County Fair

2009-07-13T09:14:00.005-05:00

We headed out to the Stutsman County Fair tonight (July 9th). Our first stop is always the 4H exhibits. Each year there are more entries to look at. What talented people live in our County. It was great to see there were more photo entries than ever before, especially since I enjoy photography and scrapbooking!

Johnny Holmes band took the stage at 7:30pm. By the time we left at 11:30, the place was packed with people starting at the beer gardens all the way to the stage. There wasn't much room to move around. New to the area this year was the concrete floor in front of the stage. I no longer have to go home with mud caked on my feet & flip flops after dancing! The beer gardens were full too, along with the Midway. What a great turn out. We saw so many friends and had such a great time catching up with them. The weather was perfect and there weren't any mosquitoes!

Brenda and I walked out to the Midway to check up on her kids and take our annual photo in front of the merry go round. Luckily, Wanda's son Dillon just happened to be standing there with a large group of his friends. We asked him to take our picture, after he posed us and waited for the fair goers to quit walking in front of us, he took our photo. He turned around to leave and all his friends were gone! We felt terrible! I said as he walked away "but you got a great photo of us" he turned and smiled at us. His Mom's our fellow scrapper so he knows all about "great shots". Thanks again Dillon!!!!

Strawberries

2009-07-08T22:03:00.002-05:00

We made a quick trip to Fargo this morning. Bill needed to get finger printed for his DOT license renewal. We also signed the papers to purchase our '06 Pathfinder! After all that, it was still morning, so we invited Mom to breakfast at Denny's. We were home by noon.

Brenda & I made our annual trek out to J&T Strawberries tonight. We finally figure out how to get there, after all these years, only to find out that Jane will be retiring from the strawberry business after this year. Jane's just joined our book club and she informed us that strawberries have about a 10 year life span. With each year the berries get smaller and smaller! I came home and started making my 9 jars of jam right away. The project kinda got in the way of supper, so Bill helped me with cutting off the stems. He even managed to throw some chicken nuggets in the oven and take the left over salad out of the fridge for our supper! Woot Woot! I think I can train him in the kitchen yet. The house still smells like strawberries this evening. Yummy!

America!!

2009-07-05T18:18:00.004-05:00

Nothing says "America" like a Fourth of July Parade and babies dressed in red, white and blue clothing! Beth's grandson, Paris, led the Kiddie Bike Parade. I talked Brandi & Sutton into walking to the end of their block and watching the parade with us. Gannon even joined us. It was the shortest parade I've ever seen! There were lots of kids on bikes...they were just all bunched up and in a big hurry to get to McElroy park for their free root beer float! They were peddling as fast as their little legs could go! (So it was over in no time.) Several were dressed in Uncle Sam and Betsy Ross costumes.

Lynne picked me up and we went to lunch at Paradiso. We had our usual Seafood Grandes with frozen margaritas. From there, we drove out to the Country Club to meet the guys. Chris, Roy & Greg were also there. It was a beautiful day so we sat outside.

At dusk, Bill and I drove out to the reservoir area and watched the fireworks display held at the race track. (I had to wake him up from his nap, but I'm glad I did. Usually it's just me driving out to see the fireworks!) As always, the professional pyro techs really put on a great show. We enjoyed a treat from the DQ on our way home.

It Only Takes A Moment

2009-06-30T22:28:00.002-05:00

It was our monthly book club meeting tonight. Our group, Read N Feed" had a couple drinks and burger baskets at The Frontier Fort tonight. We discussed the book "It Only Takes A Moment" by Mary Jane Clark. Most of us thought it was very good, yet light reading. Others thought it was boring and still some didn't even bother to read the book!! Which, I just don't get. Why be in a book club? Why not join an "eating out & drinking club" instead? It was a beautiful night to sit out on the deck and enjoy the summer night.

Oh, and on that note, we got our new central air conditioner installed today! No more muggy days for us. I'll miss sleeping with the windows open, but now that the fireworks have started, it kind of deadens the noise a little bit to have the windows shut and the a/c running! Kinda. I'm so sick of fire works. Can't wait for all of them to be outlawed some day!

Lunch with Girlfriends!

2009-06-27T10:29:00.002-05:00

Recently, Rita (aka Loretta) & I reconnected thru FACEBOOK! We decided to not let any more time go by without getting together. We met for an extended lunch hour at Qdoba's in Moorhead on Friday. We got Jan, her kids and my Mom to join us too. (Jan & Rita were roommates during their college days.)It was so good to briefly catch up. I hope there are more get togethers in our future!

Honk! Jr

2009-06-27T10:24:00.001-05:00

Thursday night (6/25) Trollwood's Next Generation put on a new adaptation of The Ugly Duckling. My friend Wyatt was in the play called "Honk!Jr". He's the 1st one on the left of the 3 (bluebird)reporters. What a wonderful play. There were 60 kids from 5th - 8th grade. Fantastic costumes. So simple, yet we knew exactly what they were supposed to be.

Applebee's With Mom

2009-06-27T10:23:00.001-05:00

Went to Fargo on Thursday. Mom & I had a late lunch (with the mile high dessert) at Applebee's.

Father's Day

2009-06-27T09:14:00.008-05:00

Father's Day! Here's a 3 generation photo of Bill with his Dad, Bill Sr, and his son Bryan on Sunday.We also celebrated Bill's parents 62 wedding anniversary.

1 Week of Shopping!

2009-06-20T14:23:00.006-05:00

Wow! What a week of scrapbook shopping! Look at all these goodies...

I bought those cute little stamps, on the right side of the table, at Bargain Pack for only $.63 each. Then since I was ordering & already paying for shipping. I found some $.25 paper that I didn't have yet!

Naturally, I found some things at Wal-Mart too, like pretty ribbon and buttons on sale for $.50!

Kim, my Close To My Heart consultant, dropped off my order of acrylic stamps. It was our final club meeting this month, so I bought several sets that I just had to have for my collection!

My big spending purchases came from my local scrapbook store in Jamestown. At the Scrap Trap I found a couple kits to make greeting cards. (Sure, it's cheaper to make my own from scraps or to just go to the dollar store, but these are really cute!) There were rub-ons to buy, flowers & brads for decorating my scrapbook pages, rhinestones, pearls, paper pads, glitter and Smooches to purchase. Oh My!!!

There's a beautiful azure blue sky today with just the slightest breeze. Perfect weather this morning for me to grab my lawn chair, the book "Slumdog Millionaire" and a cold glass of raspberry ice tea and work on my suntan. This afternoon I'm in the house, cooling down. I'm taking some time to put the Basic Gray card kit together, otherwise it'll sit, unfinished for who knows how long!

Maybe I'll even get a Father's Day card made for my hubby's dad!

Party At Deb's

2009-06-17T23:05:00.003-05:00

Deb C invited us girls out to her house this evening for dinner, drinks & a garden tour. I picked Lynne up as I hadn't been out to Deb's home in years and needed directions on how to get there. We were joined by Deb K. for our little party. We had burgers stuffed with cheese & bacon, along with a delicious pasta salad. I hope that Deb shares the recipe with us! She also served a delicious fruit pizza on a chocolate chip crust. Yum-O.

When Deb took us on her garden tour, we found out that Deb's husband, Brian, has built his own golf hole on their farm. They also have fainting goats. Lynne tried to scare them, but they wouldn't faint for us! We visited outside for awhile longer, then Deb K had to leave. Lynne, Deb & I sat in her screened in porch and talked until we realized it was after 10pm - time for those 2 working girls to get to bed!

Here's a photo of Lynne, Deb C, Deb K and me, in Deb's front yard.

2009-06-16T10:46:00.014-05:00

Check out this blog! http://papercraftpleasures.blogspot.com/ One lucky person (maybe me!) will receive a "Zutter Bind-it All" (blue) and three (6 packs) of 1/2" O-wires! The O-Wires are in silver, antique gold, and baby blue. I've dreamed of having one since they came out, but couldn't justify it when I have so many premade mini albums, just waiting for paper and embellies to be added to them. Sure would be nice to win one!

We rec'd some much needed rain yesterday. It's nice not having to water plants everyday! Spent Monday cleaning house. Only went outside long enough to put "Ant Be Gone" powder on the front sidewalk before I ran out of powder. Finished the rest of the pathways this morning. Bill brought some home with him last night. He's on a anti-ant crusade this spring!

I'm working on a cute little mini scrapbook of the 2009 Oakes Greenhouse Tour.

I had the booklet printed on Wal-Mart's photo website, then took it apart and printed 3x5 pics at home to put on back of the printed photo page, as the Kodak logo showed and I didn't like that! It's fun decorating a flower album instead of working on Wedding albums for a change!

A Week In Photos!

2009-06-14T16:30:00.014-05:00

Fore! The Sun is Shining! Letting My Plants Dry Out

Finished Wedding Scrapbook for Client

June 11th - Lilies I bought at Prairie Petals Are In Bloom.

Beautiful Weather For Breakfast on Patio & Beers On the Porsche in the Evening with Brandi, Sutton, Moose, Roy & Rooster - 6/12

June 13th - Youth For Christ Golf Tourney - We Got 3rd Place

Flag Burning Ceremony June 14th at 1pm.

Kite Fest Sunday Afternoon, June 14th

A Little Sunshine On This Cold Day.....

2009-06-06T23:14:00.003-05:00

It's unseasonably cold here today. I even turned the furnace back on since it's in the mid 40's outside & raining! I spent most of the day inside, scrapbooking, although I left for a little while to take a Ford Escape for a test drive.

This evening we took Bill's son & family out to supper at The Fort. Paige was our little ray of sunshine on this cold day!

Fun Day

2009-06-04T22:53:00.006-05:00

I picked Linda up in Valley City and we went to Mom's. I dropped off the 25 wedding mini albums I made for Alecia. She loved them!!! Mom Linda & I went to Santa Lucia's for lunch. Wow, was that delicious. Mom and I both had the 4 cheese ravioli & greek salad, while Linda had the seafood lasagna.

We drove out to Sabin and found Levi Runions greenhouse pretty easily. Hadn't been out there in a long time. They've got more greenhouses and less retail. We had so much fun looking at all the different flowers. It sure was hot in the greenhouses! Linda & I bought gloves that are sposed to be like not wearing gloves. We're going to test them out. Mom's sticking with her surgeon gloves!

Our next stop was to Baker's Garden & Gifts in Fargo. Linda had an allergic reaction to a bug bite, so sat in the vehicle to cool off while Mom and I finished shopping. I finally found a silver gazing ball for $15.99! Here's a pic of Mom & Linda at Baker's. We love to take photos of all the beautiful flowers. They'll make great screensavers this winter!

Headed over to Mom's and stayed until Linda felt a little better. By the time I dropped her off in VC, I had a headache. I picked up a Big Mac, fries and a Coke, but even that didn't do the trick, so I'm off to bed!

Mom's Here!

2009-06-03T22:47:00.007-05:00

Mom came out here Tuesday afternoon and we met Brandi for lunch at Meeting Grounds.

We came back to my house and cleaned out our garage. Boy was it a mess after throwing stuff in there all winter. It's too cold to stand in there long enough to put anything away, so we just keep piling the stuff up instead! It took us several hours but what great results. There's room to walk along the "garden center" and even an empty space in the rafters. Kind of anyway.

Today we had breakfast out on the patio. Mom knows I love to do that, as Bill won't eat outside with me! We hauled a couple boxes to the ARC Thrift Store then waited outside the Salvation Army Thrift Store while Mom went in to check for patio pillows. Our next stop was to the Wal-Mart Greenhouse, then back to the Goodwill Thrift Store. We both found several cute t-shirts which were on sale for $1.50 each! We dropped off our plant purchases then headed to Hong Kong Buffet for a late lunch. Another stop in Wal-Mart to look for shoes and I found a pretty red rug for my patio. On our way home we stopped at the White Drug and Prairie Petals greenhouses.

Mom left around 4pm. This evening, I finished planting all the flowers that were going into pots!!! Brandi, Sutton and Lucy stopped over for a little visit this evening.

New Scrapbook Tool!

2009-06-01T23:32:00.004-05:00

I bought the cutest little scrapbook tools at The Scrap Trap today. It's by Cutter Bee. It's a paper piercer. One is single, the other double. You can use it to pierce holes in your paper, then hand stitch. Another neat trick is to just draw lines in between the holes to make it look like you sewed. Yes, sewing on the page is faster, but these were so cute and much more portable than my sewing machine.

I spent some time working on a couple pages of a wedding album. Here's another 2 page spread. Not sure what it needs yet, it's kinda basic still. I rec'd the frames on the right page as is, so I used my Cricut & SCAL software to create the frame for my title on the left page. Not a perfect match, but it's pretty close!

The Hammock's Ready!

2009-05-31T21:18:00.005-05:00

I was so excited to get the hammock put up today that I took a nap in it right away! LOL - it still works!

Our neighbors, Tony & Erv came over for coffee this morning. We had a nice visit then we all had to get back to our gardens. Naturally, I ran out of the Miracle Grow potting soil, so had to make a trip to White Drug greenhouse where I also bought a few plants. Since they didn't have all the "fillers" that I needed to add to those that Aunt Linda gave me, a trip to Prairie Petals was in order. They really have a lot of plants too!

The rest of the afternoon was spent potting flowers and helping Bill put up the hammock when he got home from golfing. He napped inside while he watched the Twins baseball game, golfing and NASCAR. I tried out the hammock. Woke up just before Donna & Buster brought over some homemade peach kuchen. It was hot, right out of the oven. Delicious!!!

Tonight I'm working on another 12x12 wedding album. This one is for a customer who needs it for an anniversary gift on June 18th. Not many pics so should be able to get it accomplished without rushing.

Beautiful Saturday

2009-05-30T20:55:00.005-05:00

I got up and had coffee out on the patio and read the paper. It was gorgeous all day! Started weeding the flower bed by the fence. I'll try finish it up tomorrow morning as I have some flowers to plant again. I made a trip to my favorite greenhouse in Valley....Aunt Linda's! I was so happy to see how many of her plants have come up in the week and a half since I was there last. I was so excited about looking at all her plants that I forgot to take pics of her gardens before I left. Next time....

On the way home from Valley, I called Bill. He was just finishing up his 2nd round of golf (that's 36 holes!) and we decided to go to The Fort for supper & drinks with some friends. We had a great time with Les & Lynne and Buster & Donna. Bill took a pic of us girls.

Another Great Day

2009-05-29T22:00:00.002-05:00

Perfect weather again today! Bill invited me to lunch at the Truck Stop. Remind me to stick with the hot beef sandwich or the shrimp burger and not try anything new!!! At least I didn't have to cook, so I was very happy about that.

I had payroll to do at my J*O*B today. Lani stopped in briefly along with Lu and Mac, so got to do a little visiting too.

Bill and I had a great night out on the back patio, looking at all my yard work that I've done and what's left to do!

Beautiful Day - 'Til 5pm!

2009-05-28T22:34:00.006-05:00

Wow, it was gorgeous here again today. It was about 75 degrees with 3mph winds. Perfect for gardening and running errands. While I was at the grocery store, I ran into our plumber. Literally, as he banged his cart into mine so we could visit. He's one of the unfortunate that have been layed off and only working 2 days a week at his full time J*O*B at Dura-Tech. From the grocery store parking lot I spotted the White Drug greenhouse. I just had to check it out...again.

Made a trip to the clinic to pick up a written prescription for Bill. We have to go thru a mail order pharmacy unless we want to pay full price for medications. Yikes...who can afford that now days?

I popped into my J*O*B for awhile then headed home. I planted the remaining few plants and started sweeping off the patio close to 5pm. All of a sudden the temp dropped, the wind started gusting to 20mph and it rained! What an ending to an otherwise perfect weather day.

Bill stayed home from golfing tonight, so we got a few little projects done around the yard. Still more to do, but it's a start! We can't water our lawn due to the water going into the drains and sewer system, so at least the rain we got was welcome in our yard!

After supper "we" had ice cream. Neopolitan in case there's a flavor one of us doesn't like. Ebony likes them all!!!! I think I'll keep the bucket...never know when it might come in handy. Hopefully this flood will be over in a couple weeks!

Brenda stopped in for a couple beers and while we were visiting, Brandi & Sutton stopped in too! Brandi got Brenda some rhubarb to make bars, cakes, etc.

Planting Time

2009-05-27T22:30:00.003-05:00

I was up and outside by 9am this morning. I spent the first hour watering all my flowers. From then until supper time, I planted these flowers into pots.

I didn't even get them all done. I put a really good dent in the project though. During one of my breaks, I made it over to Krenz' Prairie Petals greenhouse. (That makes #12 for this season.) I took an afternoon break and went to White Drug for potting soil and a huge hosta. I picked up more potting soil at Wal-Mart and also picked up some of the $4 solar lights. They were all out of the pretty brown ones, but I figured the silver ones would work too.

Free Water!

2009-05-26T22:30:00.003-05:00

I ran a bunch of errands today. My first stop was to the library to drop off some books and donate $1 for late fees.

I waited in line at the city parking lot to pick up 2 cases of free canned water. 2400 cases were generously donated to the residents of Jamestown by Valley Sales in Valley City. I'm hoping we don't have to use them, but if the water & sewer get shut off for an extended amount of time, we should have everything covered. We're prepared, unlike some citizens in town!!! Photo taken from "the Replay Channel" YouTube video.

From there, I went to a plant sale at Atonement Church today and got a flat of marigolds along with a cactus looking plant. I just can't get enough plants. I even stopped at White Drug yesterday and bought some on the way home from the Memorial Day Ceremony in Kensal. I still have a few flower beds to work on, then I can start planting the potted flowers.

I spent a couple hours at work today before going out to Spiritwood Resort for book club. We briefly discussed "Sail" by James Patterson. There were no reading guide questions and too many of us (14) to actually get everyone's attention at one time to discuss the book. The food was delicious. I had the baked spaghetti. I hope I get out there again soon. It was a nice place to relax and have good food. It looks out onto Spiritwood Lake so the view was beautiful.

Another great day!!! And it's an "even" shower, laundry & dish washing day to top it off!

Congrats to the Grads!

2009-05-25T21:01:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to Ashley and Rhiana who are 2009 Jamestown High School graduates. We had so much fun at both their graduation parties. Ashley's was on Saturday and Rhiana's on Sunday. We're really close friends with both sets of parents. It's been fun watching them grow into young women.

Flags

2009-05-23T12:02:00.007-05:00

My husband belongs to the Kensal, ND American Legion. For about the past 15 years, I've helped him put up flags on the headstones of our local veterans. Yesterday (Friday the 22nd) our 1st stop was in Courtney, ND. I actually got Bill out of the car to pose for a photo! His Legion Club helped pay for the memorial.

The weather was typical. Nice when we left town, cloudy & a few sprinkles by the time we arrived at the Courtney, ND cemeteries. It was about the same in Kensal at the public cemetery. Earlier in the day, I met a new "friend" who's a Wal-Mart employee. He asked me what I was doing for Memorial Day weekend. I told him about putting up flags in Kensal. He said he was out there the night before and forgot to water the 3 planters he had out there and jokingly asked if I'd water them. Well, I told him I would and I did. They were very easy to find, with his directions.

We finished putting up the flags at the Catholic cemetery just as the procession (well, Carl & Andrea anyway!) came for Uncle Paul's burial. We planned our trip to Kensal so we could be there for the family.

Bill's parents invited us and Bill's sister Kathy to the Wolf Den after the burial. We had some good laughs, a couple drinks and pizza! Our friend Lynn Spitzer stopped in on her way to graduation. She's having knee surgery next week so had to check in with Bill about the progress on his knees.

We also made a quick trip out west on Highway 9 to see all the flood waters at the James River. Amazing how much water is still overflowing the river banks. When we came home, there was an announcement on TV that Jamestown residents should start stock piling bottled water (1 gallon per day per person) and get our 5 gallon buckets in order....just in case. There's 10 million gallons of water still flowing thru the sanitary sewer system. It's normally 1-2 million per day. There's also the threat of 2 inches of heavy rain on Sunday and Monday! This could get nasty!

6 More Greenhouses

2009-05-21T22:58:00.004-05:00

I went to 6 greenhouses in Valley City today. My first stop was to my Aunt Linda's greenhouse. Which was amazing to think that the flood waters reached the roof just a few weeks ago. Her plants are beautiful. This is a photo showing a small portion of the inside of her greenhouse.

She has some work to do to get her gardens back in shape, but with patience on her part, a lot of them should come back.

We had lunch at Another Time. Salmon quiche, potato soup & a tossed salad. We couldn't get away from there without having a shared slice of strawberry cream pie. Everything is made from scratch.

Our next stop was to Bettin's. They had nice Coleus plants, so I picked up a few. I found out that the owner was one of the 1st responders to help pull Sara Gullickson from her car, out of Hobart Lake 3 weeks ago. Miraculously she survived after being in the freezing cold water for 30 minutes. She was on her way home from the hospital today and stopped in to thank the 1st responders that saved her. Having followed the news story in the papers and online, it was cool talking to him about the incident.

This was my first visit to Riverside Greenhouse. I was very surprised since it was a pretty big place. They had 4 very nice greenhouses along the river. There was an original earthen dike for the flood on one side of their buildings and the contingency dike on the other. Both were well over our heads. I thought it was creepy being inside the greenhouses and only able to see a dirt wall thru the openings. They said it was really creepy when the water was much higher and the bulldozers were driving along the top of the dikes, beside the greenhouses! I bought lots of plants here.

My fourth greenhouse tour of the day was the Cenex Greenhouse. Linda said this was the one that she use to work at. They don't grow their own flowers like the other two places do, so they only get in one or two flats of each kind of flower. Very nice with 2 greenhouses.

Our fifth greenhouse of the day was to Pine Country Nursery. They didn't have any annuals this year. Mostly perennials and lots of trees. Well, yeah, they are a "Nursery"!

I dropped Linda off at her place and she graciously gave me several plants to take home. We had Land O Lakes Blueberry Pie ice cream as we were hot & parched from the sun. Man, if you like blueberries you have to try that ice cream! I got to see my cousins, Mark & David as they were helping Uncle Chuck with flood related clean up projects.

My final (6th)greenhouse was at Pamida! I had to stop in and get some extra outdoor patio pillows to match the one I purchased from there recently.

Angels & Demons

2009-05-19T23:22:00.007-05:00

The Read N Feed book club went to the movie "Angels & Demons" tonight. We were impressed that the movie stuck pretty close to the book. Of course we all like the book better because there was more depth & detail in it but this version was pretty good. I imagine that will be my one movie of the year that I go to with Brenda & Brandi! It's been a year since the last one....Mamma Mia!

I had a productive day. Finally got thru my piles of spring/summer clothes, moved some extra scrapbook supplies out to the garage for storage, cleaned the house, got groceries, visited the White Drug greenhouse and dropped off some of Bill's clothes at the ARC Treasureland thrift store. I only bought 2 books on the way out, so didn't spend a lot more than I donated!

Today would have been my step-daughter Michelle's 39th birthday. I didn't hear back from her oldest daughter, Danielle. She's busy with school, friends, sports and a job so doesn't get a lot of computer time. Shelby wasn't having a good day, as she had her cell phone service cancelled and has had a tough month with her family & friends. Bill was just having a bad day in general. We all miss Michelle, especially on birthdays and holidays....and all the regular days in between!

Weeding!

2009-05-17T21:41:00.004-05:00

It finally warmed up enough for me to get outside and do some yard work. It took me all afternoon to weed my star flower garden. My fingers ache from pulling all the weeds (dandelions & lots and lots of grass). I'm sure the rest of my body will start aching during the night. We washed windows and screens on our house today too. It was nice having Bill help me with them. I don't remember him doing them with me before, but he insists he has!

The City of Jamestown is now on voluntary water usage due to ground infiltration in our sewer system during the flood. We're an "even" house number so we can do a load of laundry, a small sink full of dishes and take a 3 minute shower (other than at peak 4-7pm times) on "even" numbered days. The reservoir has gone down about a foot from the glory hole and the road on the dam is open again! There's still lots of water that they have to drain out of the reservoir and it sounds like it will take at least another month or so.

Greenhouse Tradition

2009-05-14T22:07:00.004-05:00

Today we did our traditional spring greenhouse shopping. Our destination this year was Oakes, ND. My Aunt Linda, my Mom, my cousin Nancy and myself had such a fun time spending the afternoon together.

I picked up Mom & Linda in Verona. We had a quick stop on the way out of Verona, as I had a floral spray for Dad's headstone at the cemetery. We then headed to Oakes to pick up Nancy from work.

We had a delicious lunch at Sweets & Stories. They had several sandwiches & salads to choose from, along with ice cream and fudge! They also had decorative gift items and lots and lots of books. It was my kind of place. Nancy & Linda knew I'd just love it and I did!!!! Our next stop was the quilt store and the new "used" furniture store. We had lots of shopping to do before we went greenhouse shopping.

Our first and longest stop was at B&B Greenhouse. They have several greenhouses for us to shop in. We also took a bunch of photos of each other and the pretty flowers. Our final stop was at Gaffre's Greenhouse. Their attached home & store was lost to a fire this past fall/winter, but they saved the greenhouse. It was nice and warm in there today. The prices were very reasonable. On the way out of town, we had to stop at Alco and check out their little greenhouse too.

We're already talking about going to the 4 greenhouses in Valley City one day next week. Hopefully Nancy's sister, Beth will be able to join us. Beth's been in the hospital with their youngest daughter since Tuesday. Hope you're better soon Zannika!!!

CTMH Stamping Club

2009-05-13T08:37:00.005-05:00

We made these cute little notepads and a flower pot card at Kim's CTMH Stamping Club last night. It's always fun to see how creative we can get, correcting our mistakes that we make along the way, on these projects. I like helping others with their projects when they're getting stressed out. We only have one more month left of club.

Afterwards, to celebrate Brandi's birthday (which was awhile back) we went to the Bistro. Kari, Wanda, Brenda, Brandi and myself were there. After a few beers, we were laughing & talking loudly, but since we were the only ones in the bar...it didn't really matter! It was a night of good laughter!!!

Graduation Mini Albums

2009-05-11T22:28:00.003-05:00

It's that time of year. After a very long winter with the kids missing school due to the many blizzards and a spring flood, it seems that school should go on a little longer this year...but then, I'm not in school. I'm sure I'd feel otherwise if I was! Today I'm making some graduation mini albums. A few for clients and a few for myself to give as gifts in the next week or so.

The city of Jamestown is still conserving water. I did my 1 load of laundry today and am going to set the dishwasher to run during the middle of the night during non-peak hours. I really like using paper plates, dishes & cups!

I walked to work this afternoon and since it was sprinkling around 5pm, Bill called and asked if I wanted a ride home. I wasn't going to pass that up, even though it was done raining by the time he came to get me! It was nice enough this evening that we grilled our steaks outside, instead of on the broiler.

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T22:01:00.005-05:00

Brandi & Sutton got an email from Ebony yesterday, asking them to help get me a gift. They brought over an adorable carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting in a terra cotta pot. It was adorable. Thanks Brandi!!

Today, we took my Mom and Bill's parents out for brunch at The Depot. The food was delicious. The meat so tender you could cut all of it with a fork! Afterwards, we did what all old people do...went for a drive around town. I think this was the first time we had a photo taken with our parents! And look, we'll all match when I go to scrapbook the photo.

Greenhouse Browsing

2009-05-09T17:07:00.004-05:00

On Thursday, I went to lunch with Mom at Spitfire in Fargo. From there, we went across the street to Lowe's greenhouse. Their flowers were beautiful, but there was just such a chill in the air from the wind, that it wasn't much fun looking at them. (I should have dressed warmer!) I took a couple pics, then was going to have Mom take a pic of me by the flowers but I thought the batteries in my camera had died, so didn't get to take any more photos. (I realized later I was clicking the shutter button instead of the power button! Some photographer!!!!) Here's a pretty one I did manage to get though:

We also made a quick trip to Jo-Ann's to get some scrapbook supplies. I picked up mostly wedding and graduation papers, as they were on sale. I had a phone call this morning for another wedding album order. This one's going to be 12x12 and needs to be done by mid June!

My orthopedic appointment at the clinic didn't take too long. I had another anti-inflammatory injection for my "trigger finger". (Yes, they go in the palm of my hand and the needle goes up into my middle finger.1st shot to deaden it the 2nd was the steroid. Only this time, I got 2 shots before the steroid cuz I complained that I felt the steroid one last time!)Ouch!!!! It's swollen, stiff and numb.

I made a stop at the Dollar Store and Hobby Lobby before I met my brother at his place. My sister-in-law was there too, doing a little spring cleaning in her kitchen, so got to visit with her.

On my way back to Jamestown, I decided to drive thru VC and stop at Pamida to see what they had in stock. I found a very cute pair of brown sandals. Can't wait to wear them!

Quiet Zone

2009-05-05T22:23:00.003-05:00

Jamestown had a special voting session today. We voted (again!) on a railroad "Quiet Zone". It passed with 1259 YES and 1057 NO votes. Much closer than I thought it would be. The railroad now has to approve it, along with some other committees. We'll still be hearing whistles for some time down the road! It's a start though.

Today I made Schwans's chocolate chip cookies, did some laundry, ran the dishwasher, made lunch for my hubby, washed some dishes by hand, went to work and picked up some groceries. We had the grilled Schwan's shrimp skewers for supper. MMMMM they were delicious! I love Schwan's food!!!!

Monday - Eating Out Day

2009-05-05T22:18:00.003-05:00

I did really well not eating out much this winter. Lately, I've been picking up speed again! Our "Snitch N Bitch" lunch group met for Brandi & Roberta's birthday celebrations at Grizzly's on Monday. It was a nice 2 hour lunch! For supper, Bill and I joined our friends Les & Lynne at the KC's. The Kiawana's put on a $6.00 pancake & sausage feed. The place was packed, the lines moved fast and the food was great!

National Scrapbook Day

2009-05-02T11:07:00.003-05:00

It's National Scrapbook Day and I'll be gluing and pasting up a storm today. I'd really like to get the majority of these 25 wedding themed mini albums finished today. Here's a photo of the piles of paper I'm working with.

Oops...A Week Just Flew By!

2009-05-01T19:02:00.005-05:00

Sunday: Scrapbooked, read, relaxed, watched Brothers & Sisters

Monday: Computer down about 4pm, more reading!

Tuesday: New Modem, Elks for 1st time for Book Club - Angels & Demons

Wednesday: Computer Fixed, Brandi stopped over

Thursday: Vet's Club for supper, Play at Reiland Art Center w/Lynne

Friday: 1st Green House of the season! Wal-Mart for new lawn chairs!

Flood Waters Spreading Out

2009-04-25T23:04:00.006-05:00

Yes, yet another flood photo! I thought I'd have more craft/scrapbooking posts, but ND has been going thru some major flooding for over a month now. It's what everyone is talking & thinking about - especially me! I went for a walk this morning at McElroy Park and basically, all the roads were underwater due to the James River flooding. There's lots of hills and valleys in the park and that's where the river is spreading to.

I worked on my 25 wedding themed mini albums this morning while my hubby finally got out golfing. Only 13 of the holes were open, but it sounded like he had a good time with the 6 other guys. I was happy to hear that his new knees made it through his 1st round of golf.

While we cleaned out the garage on "Bill's" side, later in the afternoon, the Blackhawk helicopter dropped 1 ton sandbags onto a couple storm sewer manhole covers near the townhouses by the river. They placed at least 6-8 of them to prevent river water from entering the sanitary sewer system.

We went out for supper at The Fort tonight with The Johnson Family. Tara & her parents were in town for Brianna's Grand March at Prom. Brianna's other grandparents were there too, along with Darlene's sister & husband. It was lots of fun and of course there were lots of other friends there to visit with on the way out.

Jamestown Country Club

2009-04-24T20:47:00.006-05:00

My in-laws recently returned from Arizona, after wintering there for 6 months. We met at Applebee's for lunch today to welcome them home. They look great. Amazing what sunshine, golf and warm weather will do for a person. I'm sure we look pastey white and a little heavier after the long winter we had here in North Dakota! (It actually snowed here this morning - just for them!)

After lunch at Applebee's, I went over to Grizzly's and had lunch with my Aunt Linda. The flood waters in her yard have gone down about 3.5 feet. She said there is still about 1.5 feet to go before she can get in her green house & start gardening. (Yes, I got to have lunch twice today - how lucky!)

This evening, Bill was going out to the Jamestown Country Club to get his golf cart ready for the 2009 season. I rode with and took photos of the flood waters. The Club House opened up on Wednesday, but there are several holes that aren't currently playable and probably won't be for some time.

This is looking down hole #10. As you can see, it is completely covered with water, along with 11, 12 and 13. Holes 7, 8 & 9 were pretty wet too! Although they are playing #9, making it a par 3 instead of a par 5. I say that like I know what I'm talking about, but really, I just overheard Bill talking to someone!!!!

Jamestown Glory Hole & Spillway at Dam

2009-04-23T22:48:00.011-05:00

Photo copied from the Stutsman County website.

The waves are so high today, due to the 46 mph winds, that it's pushing the water into the glory hole at the dam. The other video shows the water coming out the controlled spillway and meeting up with the water coming in from the glory hole (uncontrolled). The flood waters are now supposed to crest around May 2nd. Yet another week for the dams & dikes to hold back all this water!

Check out these two videos. They're amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx3k7lgOeco

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOJa0eguk00

Choppers Everywhere!

2009-04-21T22:33:00.012-05:00

I wrote the following on my Facebook Wall earlier today:

There is a steady noise of "choppers" in our area today.....helicopters in the air and motorcycles in the street.

After work tonight, I heard one of the Blackhawks going overhead. (They are here due to the flood.) I quick snapped a photo of the helicopter and while I was doing that 4 bikers pulled in across the street from me. (It's a nice Spring day!) How ironic that I'd get a photo opportunity for both today, when I'd posted that comment earlier in the day on Facebook.

It was a busy day today. I worked on the wedding mini albums, went to my J*O*B, stopped at the bank, went for a walk, visited with Mom, made supper & got back to work on my wedding mini albums. Snuck in a load of laundry during the day too. We're conserving water in Jamestown, due to the flood, so I'm only doing 1 load every 3 days. I'll get caught up when the river gets back to normal. Almost time to take the spring clothes out any way. I'll have lots more to wear!

This evening, my hubby worked on the pickup - battery cables needed replacing!

Is It Already Sunday Night?

2009-04-19T20:09:00.012-05:00

Friday afternoon I dropped off a quilt themed mini album for my friend Beth at (Willow Lake Stitches ) to use as a donation at a quilt retreat. I was in awe seeing her quilt shop! She has as many fabrics to work on as I do paper for scrapbooking. Check Beth's blog out at www.willowlakestiches.blogspot.com.

Friday evening I went out for supper with my friend Lynne. We had burgers and beers for $10 each at The Fort. You can't beat that....obviously, as the place was packed! I hadn't been out on a Friday night for some time, so it was fun visiting with everyone.

Saturday I spent the day & night in my scrapbook room. I tried to concentrate on making 25 mini albums for a June wedding. (I was seriously distracted by my computer several times.) I cut all the paper for the base of the album and am folding and tying them up tonight. But, as you can tell, I've found something to do on the computer as a distraction yet again!!!

This morning, Bill made me a late brunch & helped with dishes before we went for a walk. We checked out the river at McElroy Park. The flooded river is now over the road, as you can see in this photo.

It's become our Sunday night ritual to watch Lawrence Welk. Bill laughed at me cuz I'm always making fun of him watching that show. Tonight...he caught me singing along to several of the songs! I'll never hear the end of that!

It's an exciting night around here. My hubby had to go to bed early tonight, as he goes back on his sales route tomorrow. (He had knee surgery in December.) Things are slowly getting back to normal. What a long winter!!! LOL - have I said that before?

Confluence

2009-04-16T10:25:00.004-05:00

This is the confluence for the James River and the Pipestem River in Jamestown. I didn't realize until our "DQ treat drive" around town last night, how these two rivers wind in and around our town. I wanted to show my hubby how high the river was at the park (SE part of town) where I walk, but the road was closed. We stopped at my co-workers (SW part of town) and there is an earthen dike going up in her neighborhood. The river is now up to the actual spillway on the Jamestown Dam. We were surprised to see that there were very few sandbag dikes around the homes on the rivers.