Counting to Ten in Swahili

How she remembers this, I have no idea!

"P" Pennant

Here is the second pennant for Lisa's Spring Banner Challenge.

The optional element was to incorporate plaid, checkerboard, or argyle into it.

I knew I wanted to use "plaid" because of the "P" but it kind of threw me for a loop. I had no idea how I was going to connect it to spring. So, I sat at my craft desk and doodled for awhile and realized that the plaid I was drawing looked a bit like a nest. I used scrpas of ribbon and twine to make my nest look plaid.

Swimming

My husband has been bugging me to go up to his job to see his big wood and to take a walk along his skid trails. Since this is winter vacation week I decided to go up this afternoon. The sun was shining and the sky was blue and the temperature was about 40 degrees. Gorgeous!

I made him pose in front of his wood so I could get a picture of him with his long hair and winter beard.

Then I headed off into the woods while he refueled his skidder.


It was so beautiful walking in the fresh pine-scented air. Then I came to a little brook. It didn't look very wide and I could see where the skidder had been going through it so I picked out a log to hop on and jumped....

Well, that log was floating on about a foot of water and down I went getting the whole front of my pants and half my jacket and mittens soaked.

All I could do was laugh!

Valentine's Day

We didn't do anything special for Valentine's Day. Some friends were going to the buffet at the Town and Country Inn but we knew it was going to be crowded so decided to stay home. I did make a somewhat special meal including shrimp cocktail and Gary's grandmother Freda's Oatmeal Cookies.

The Early Childhood Education class at our school was selling carnations. Kids ordered them ahead of time then the flowers were delivered during third block. I was pleased to get one from a student I've taught several times, now, and really like.

I'm awful with stamps. As you can see here, my hand slipped and the "thanks" came out all smeary and doubled. I'll have to keep practicing, that's for sure.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My brother-in-law, Bill, in the top picture on the left, called me about a month ago and asked me to write a song for my mom's birthday. He's a musician and said he'd put it to music and sing it for my mom at her 82nd B-day party.

Unfortunately, they live in Florida, not far from where my mom winters, so I was not able to be there but she called me and said it was just beautiful. At least I have a CD of the song sung by Bill and his neighbor Dianna. John B., Bill's friend, played his guitar to accompany.

They put my mom's picture on the CD. Isn't she beautiful? Her name is Fleurette and that means "Little Flower" in French.

It's Spring! (Well, almost!)

This is the first banner for Lisa's Spring Banner Challenge. The optional element this week was to incorporate some sparkle. Of course, it doesn't show up well in a picture but I added it under "hope."

Paul Bunyan Strikes Again!

My husband took these pictures today of the wood he's been cutting here in northern NH. He put his chainsaw there for perspective; the blade is 20 inches long so the wood is almost twice that!

There aren't too many areas with big wood like this left and soon there really won't be once he's done! This wood lot should have been cut 40 years ago.

A Sunset at Sunset (Well, we would have a sunset if it wasn't snowing!)

Thought I'd post another page from my visual journal.

Having a nice lazy day. Hung sheets outside even though they froze. I just hate to dry them in the dryer. When they come in from outside, they smell so fresh. They almost deied, too, and are draped over the dining room chairs, now, finishing up.

I also made a loaf of whole wheat bread today. It rose like crazy in no time at all. And the aroma...Ah!

Did some crafting for Lisa's Spring Banner Challenge at http://simple-journeys.blogspot.com, and now am watching the golf and Daytona 500 with my husband.

Yikes! 59?

The card on the left was made by my duaghter. She's so creative!

The one on the right is part of the card my son and his girlfriend gave me; they know how much I love the ocean.

Even Kylie had a card for me that had all the different way of saying grandmother on it.

The "Happy Birthday" popped up letters and the stickers are from my friend, Anne.

Pink!

Boy, I really need to take more pictures of up-to-date pages!

As you can see, this was from over a month ago!

I promise this weekend, I'll get to it!

I'm anxiously awaiting winter vacation which begins next Friday at 2:16pm!

Ahhh...Friday Evening

Another week done. Last week was the longest of the year because we got all new students and it's so hard to get used to new classes.

A week makes a big diffference, though. I really enjoy my new groups already, and the days flew by.

My son and his girlfriend, Amie, are on their way up for the weekend and I'm just sitting here playing on the computer and watching the Celtics play against the Timberwolves.

I did this page about a month ago and I can see that there is something about the Patriots on it. Since then they lost the super Bowl, unfortunately.

Accident

Monday morning we got up to this sight. Sometime during the night, this snowmachine hit my husband's truck and ricocheted off it into the side of the porch.

The tracks came from across the street but the guy who lives there claims he had borrowed the machine from a friend and he was in bed but had left the key in it and someone stole it. Likely story! Of course, no one has insurance!

My husband's truck has about $5000 worth of damage. It missed my truck, though.

Letter M and the Whole Shebang

I had a hard time finding a wall to photograph this on! I ended up using duct tape to hold the ends.









The haiku this week reads:

The clock says midnight.
Eyes wide open. How do I
find the key to dreams?

Waves

The background to this page looks more like it should be for the ocean than a sledding picture!

It almost makes me seasick!

It's been so much fun experimenting with different paints and techniques. I like using three colors and just dipping my sponge in and then squiggling it around on the page.