Update on gardening...

Bloom time, height, color, hardiness, light, Do I want a ground cover, cut flowers, do I need them to be deer resistent, fragrant? Heirloom? Should they attract butterflies/hummingbirds? Do I want a green alternative??

Holy crap!!! All I want is a simple and small garden that is pretty from spring to autumn with minimal weeds and work. With all those questions...how the heck do I figure this out??!!!

Petunias are looking better already!! LOL

Spring is in the air!!

Ok - not really...it's like minus freakin holy hell outside!! BUT the Vessey seeds catalogue is out, so I know it's at least coming!! lol

Gardening has been a bit of a white elephant for me. I want to be one of those green thumbed folks who can hear the petals calling her name and knows intuitively what to plant where, who needs what food, what soil to add to what and always has the most breathtaking flower beds that make passers by GASP with envy!

Sadly...I always bite off way more then I can chew - get over run with weeds or out of control clibmy things that I bought on sale without a label - just to see what might grow from the near dead brown thing in the pot for .20 cents! LOL

My problem is that I dont' know where to start, and have nobody to really ask or show me how. So...I google everything, get way too excited...try a million things...most of it fails - but I can never remember where it went wrong or why...so the vicious circle continues. This year, though, I think I have decided to be smart about it all. I checked out the Vessey site and HOLY MOLEY!! Their site is super cool!! You can pick plants from your zone...narrow it down to bloom times etc. so that you'll always have something blooming somewhere and it takes all the guess work out!!! I'll have to start them indoors, but so what! I tried that one year and it wasn't too bad...if I cut back to half of what I did before then it should go ok :) And if I totally fail...I can always fall back on $20. worth of petunias!! LOL I should probably work on getting my scrap room organized before biting off a gardening project but...where the heck is the fun in THAT??! LOL

Color??

Lately I've been preoccupied with the color of my walls…As it stands, my living room is a dusty sage green, my dining room is the color of a tim hortons ice cap…kitchen would be gumball red (If DH would have tinted the primer like I asked then 7 coats should have been enough) and the "stuff room"/landing/entry/stairway is half pretty yellow and half primary yellow. (and not in an intentional way - more of a DAMNIT! YOU MIXED THE PAINT WRONG! Way…) That's tooooo much color and for some reason, I'm suddently finding that stressful!

What do I have in mind?? Cream! 1 color - simple and done!!! A very bright and very pretty cream color through my entire home! I'm not sure why this idea has been bugging me so much lately, but there it is! No matter what color I chose…I'll be painting the kitchen first! LOL Streaky red looks more like something from the set of a low budget horror film!! LOL And there's too many other things in my home that coordinate with that same look so probably best to start there!! LOL

Basketball Cake

Another cake to add to my cake-folio.

This one had a twin and was put in an auction to raise money for a B-Ball tournament. I thought I was being smart this year by actually finding a cake box that would close…last time she got one for the auction, everyone felt the need to poke their fingers in it. I guess they didn't believe it was real cake??!! LOL Anyway, just like last time, they had to cover them again and post a note that said…

"YES! IT'S A REAL CAKE!

DON'T PUT YOUR FINGERS IN IT!!"

I think that's funny! After all...what else could it be - looking like that?? lol

Lesson learned from this cake;

1. The box must be covered with Saran wrap to keep out fingers.

2. Only one batch of frosting is required per cake…anymore will be leftover and will be eaten by my children who will in turn be waaaay too wound up to sleep for 8 days!!

3. Terra Cotta is not the same as "copper" and "copper" is not orange once it's in frosting!

I'm glad they were a hit!

MIA

I've been MIA to everyone and everything for the last week or so...holy moley life can sure get crazy!! I was covering for someone last week, so doing my job AND theirs...wow! I didn't take a single lunch break and ran my feet off all week! In the middle of all of it, I was making a 15 minute slide show for a lady at work - (For her parents 50th wedding anniversary)...starting from scratch...over 120 pics (had to scan them all!) Then, I had to make to poster things for 2 ladies at work who were retiring...I've never met them, but I got voluntold for the project - fun! THEN I had to made to basket ball cakes...and still find time to get the every day stuff done! Today I spent 2 hours cutting matts out of the dogs fur...Every winter she gets them behind her ears - AUGH! And now...I'm off to get laundry done and hopefully be able to put what used to be my house back together!

Well...that was my 5 minutes of "me time" for the day...Chatatcha later.

Me :)

GET ORGANIZED!!!

I have dubbed myself an organized person in a disorganized world. What I mean by that is that my family is totally NOT organized...they have no interest in it and see little value in it...why?? cuz Mom always knows where everything is, and if she doesn't - she has this crazy memory that can locate where she last saw it in seconds...AND she can tidy our crap up in no time so why do WE have to do anything?? Yup - I've created a Monster!

I used to be a Scrappin Mag junkie - true story! I'm embarassed at how much money I have spent on magazines over the last few years...especially since I'ver purchased less then 3 new pieces of clothing for myself in that same time!! (and I don't have a ton of clothing either). Anyway, Memory Makers fell off the grid as a fave a long time ago. Although I like it, there are waaaay too many advertisements and I just felt that they chose their layouts based on who was scrappin with the hottest product, rather then the work. Then there was the issue with my MM cutter...Let's NOT go there m'kay?? I also found that their "special issues" were more about peddling product then actually helping me be a better scrapper...well...this time, I have to take it allllll back!!!

Yesterday, I picked up "Memory Makers GET ORGANIZED!" It's a special issue, dedicated specifically to organization! It has a TON of fantastic ideas and tutorials on HOW to do it...AND although it does show you products out there (for sale of course) that are big ticket and way beyond what is reasonable for my empty wallet, most of it are terrific ideas that I CAN afford...or could make my own copy cat easily with things that I likely have already, or could find at my local Walmart!!!

Anyway, I haven't even finished looking through it yet, but I'm super juiced about the idea of finally - once and for all - getting my scrapping space "figured out"...it's the one space in the house that has been my enemy for far too long!! I figure that between my blog, and Skrapnchat I can get a bunch of Scrappers to join hands and all get our scrap spaces in order.

I'm kinda starting from scratch. My room is trashed again (big shock) but since the guinea pigs moved in, they take up a huge chunk of my space...but I'm also switching rooms too! (and not taking the pigs with me - he he) My new scrap room will - ideally - be a room that is warm and relaxing and hugely inspiring...that allows me to scrap effectively and efficiently with minimal hunting and pecking...that tidies up with ease and is beautiful when in order...and when not in use as a scrap room can doube as a spare bedroom. Maybe I'm wishing for too much from this space, but one thing is for sure...I need to figure it out!

So...if you wanna tag along, I'll be posting my steps to this journey here...as well as in the forum. Hope you join me cuz this journey should not be traveled alone. :)

Off Season

I'm a little annoyed this morning. Yesterday, we got a notice that all grade 3,4 & 5 students in District 18 will be participating in a 5 week learn to swim program. Don't get me wrong, I think swimming will be fun. My problem is...

a) It's January...and kiddo needs a new bathing suit...where the heck do I find one of those for less then $100. THIS time of year??

b) We got the notice on January 5th...it starts on the 12th!! oh yeah baby...I've got less then a week to find a flipping suit in the off season!!

c) She already knows how to swim very well!

d) There's no permission slip, because appearantly it's mandatory...they are, however, giving consideration for religious reasons or if you have a disease...gee - that's swell ofem!

Oh well...I guess the silver lining is that I'll have her summer suit a full 5 months early this year. That is, assuming she doesn't outgrow it before summer!! lol

On a shinier note, I made rice crispie squares last night and didn't even eat the whole pan!! lol

First Few Pics...

I've only had Audrey since New Years Eve...but I must say that for the learning curve being super steep, I've managed to take some pretty great pics...ok - sorry - a VERY few great pics!! LOL

Here are a few of my latest captures ;)

so - I'm definately not qualified to start charging by the pose...but I'm liking the results better then my old point & shoot (which consequently is still a pretty good camera). here's hoping I can figure it out a little better though (ahem) without having to read the huge manuel! "( LOL

Rock tumbler

For those of you who have seen this mystifical creation on the shelves of Michaels or other such stores, take heed...there are 2 things you must know before venturing forward with this marvelous creation.

1. Said marvelous creation takes approx' 1 week to properly tumble stones...and at some point during said week, there are 3 steps to be followed...each requiring the addition of a baggie of rock dust and water...as well as the scrubbing or rocks - fun fun fun...NOT! AND you can NOT get any rock dust into the rim of the bucket...or it ruins the seal, which is bad...again I say fun fun fun...NOT!

2. IT'S REEEELY FREEEEKIN LOUD!!!! And it has to run for 24hrs a day!

S0...that's all I have to say about that...maybe some day soon, we'll have perfectly polished Amethysts...but by then - I really won't give a damn! I WILL, however, get to take some screamin hot pics of the resented stones!! That you can be sure of!! lol

SHE'S HERE!! SHE'S HERE!!

My new baby arrived on New Years Eve as promised by Canada Post!! I picked her up - totally excited. The only bummer was that she doesn't take batteries like other cameras...she has a chargeable battery pack. I'd been warned that you must completely charge them before using it for the first time...bummer...that can take over 12 hours in come cases...so even though I had her...I wouldn't get to use her. The good news is that when I read over the instructions, her battery ONLY TOOK 2 HOURS TO CHARGE!!!!! How amazing is THAT??!!! I plugged it all in right away and in 2 hours she was ready to go!! I have named her Audrey. I'm not sure if it's weird to name your camera, but I've totally named mine :) Now I just have to figure out how she works! I haven't even loaded any of my pics onto the computer yet...mainly because I have to sort through all my pictures first - *sigh* - but in the mean time, I'm super pleased with a bunch of my pictures and how they seem to be turning out :) I wish the zoom was a little better, but so what! I'll just have to get closer to my subjects ;)

On another cool note, I realized I didn't have a memory card for her. I went into the Futureshop to get one (they had an 8G card on sale for $9.99) Anyway, I asked the guy for help...he pointed but that was it. I think he actually thought the heavily made up lady that was fondeling the lense at the counter would actually buy it...oh well. He told me the sale ones were gone but others were on another rack. I found one that I was hoping was cheaper and went back to ask the price...he said $69.99! I was shocked and kindof hum-hawd a bit...then - tossed it on the back counter and walked away. I was a little annoyed...then he pulled something out from under the register and said "I'll sell you mine". ??!!!!! He had a 16GB memory card on hold for himself that was only $19.99!!!!!!!!! I just about freaked out!! What a nice guy!!!! I totally need to write a thank you note to him or something cuz that was totally sweet of him! (with my luck, though - I'll wind up getting him fired for setting it aside for himself in the first place!! lol)

New years eve, I was a photo taking fool! I've added almost 200 pics to her so far...some of them are actually pretty cute! It would have been awsome to have her on Christmas morning, but oh well...there's always next year :) In the mean time, I'm trying not to drive hubby crazy cuz I want to take her with me everywhere I go!!! LOL

Here's to good times and great pics in 2009!