#157 I know, I know...

What's the matter, can't make up your mind about what the banner should be, Ms. Glick?

Yup. That about sums it up.

I've been experimenting, thinking the others I've tried worked better. But you know what? I like this best. It just feels right. And while I thought the logo didn't make sense, I now see that it does because it references both my love of color and my drawings and my design sensiblities.

So there you have it.

For the time being anyway...

#156 Pure Charm...

Dean and I have been so pleased to receive a number of old photographs from his sister, Melissa, as she goes through their mother's things. This is one of our favorites:

Dean looks like he's two or three here, so we figure the photo was taken around 1952. His mom is so pretty, isn't she? I would loved to have known her when she was a young mom. She was so bright and accomplished, yet she loved being a mother more than anything in the world. She raised a wonderful son and I'll be forever grateful for how she welcomed me with open arms when Dean and I married. I miss her so much.

I'm glad we have these pictures of her.

#155 What can I say?

We're having the first inklings of Spring here so typing away on the computer just sort of pales when compared to all that's happening outside my door!

Today I've got to do a bit of garden clean-up and get the corn gluten down before the weeds start to emerge; they're already the first ones to have their heads popping up!

Record breaking temps are predicted for this afternoon, but the cold in the middle of the country will be here next week. I think that bit of cold will be the end of it, and then we can get on with the business of planting flowers and veggies!

I'm sure ready for that part, aren't you?

So...don't give up on me - I'll be back shortly with tales of the garden. In the meantime, I urge you to go to your local library or bookstore and pickup a copy of The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp and give it a read. It's magic!

Too-da-loo!!!

#154 Anticipation...

When the avalanche of snow from the neighboring roof made our path to the garage impassable several weeks ago, Dean had to cut through the branches of the forsythia that had been flattened and extended across the walkway. The melting snow finally revealed the dismembered branches, so I took a few inside to see if they'd bloom, and they did! It's so lovely to see the bright yellow flowers perking up my dining room when I walk through.

I'm becoming optimistic that winter will finally end and am anticipating a beautiful Spring. How about you?

#153 Really????

I mean, REALLY?!?!?!?!?

I saw these the other day at my local Walmart:

I don't even know where to begin.

These are beyond absurd.

I mean, let's infuse the military into the observation of Easter because, why? Because we want to make it extra hard for the wee ones at the Easter Egg Hunt? Because we want to "honor those who serve/d"? Hey, I'm a vet, and I say this AIN'T the way to honor me, thank you very much.

But, hey, there IS a pink one so what am I so upset about???

Sheesh. 

I am soooooo fed up with crapolla like this. Just so fed up.

#152 Remembering...

There's not a day that passes that I don't have some memory about living in Norway as a kid. That period in time, now so long ago, still informs so much of what I do and think. Today, for some reason, I remember how much I loved the birch trees that seemed to be everywhere.  I loved the whiteness of their bark; it seemed to be created of thin layers of crisp white tissue that would peel off in a satisfying way. I loved the horizontal markings and spots that I pretended were secrets written in braille. I loved the gracefulness of their branches and the brilliant yellow of their leaves in fall. It would be lovely to have one in my yard someday, but until that happens:

Hope your day is filled with good memories!

#151 Yearning...

Giant had a buy one/get one good deal on pots of mini daffodils and I couldn't resist. But as I look at them I feel a bit guilty; they are leaning into the sun with such yearning that I wish I could put them outside to enjoy the Spring weather...

Maybe tomorrow I'll set them outside for a bit. It just seems the right thing to do.

#151 Sunny and warm...

The sunshine is different today. It seems to embrace the earth with the promise of things to come. It's warming my heart and my mood, and its color fills the page in front of me:

 

I'm always filled with optimism greeting a day like today. Hope you are, too!

 

#150 Spring is in the air...

It's a lovely day today - just enough warmer to get one's mind spinning with plans for the garden. (Where did I put those seed catalogs???)

As I've been wont to do, I did another sketch last night, another that is in keeping with all the nests and eggs and new leaves that I've been drawn to:

Now it's time to get outside and enjoy the day. Hope you can get outside for a bit, too!

 

#149 "It's enough to make your hair stand on end!"

She continues to be  frustrated/frightened/fed up with the current state of U.S. politics.

She continues to have dreams in which her hair is, somehow, being influenced by the Current Craziness of Congress:

 

She continues to wonder how long all of this will go on.

Sleep deprived and experiencing yet another Bad Hair Day, she drives to Starbucks for coffee so she can, perhaps, function for the rest of the day.

"Sheesh." 

 

#148 More transformations...

Dean and I have both pretty much had it with the ice rink that forms out our back door each winter from the snow/ice melting and falling to the ground there. And in the other seasons, the rain falls in torrents from the corner where the front section of the house meets the back extension. A mess all year 'round.

Solution? I think I've got one!

If we added a bit of roof from the bottom of the balcony, we could get the rain/snow/ice to end up in the garden where it would be of use - and save us breaking our necks and the house from suffering from the wet where it shouldn't be. We could rearrange two downspouts, too and redirect them to the garden. And while we're at it, we could add decking over the really old cement slab, and make a nice porch. A nice BIG porch - I measured and it would be 11'x35.5' - nice for a table and chairs and maybe a couple of rockers. I'd have to move some of the landscaping around, but not a huge bunch; just make a new path in front of the porch to go to the front gate.

So today I took a couple of pictures and worked out my plan in Photoshop. Just rough sketches, but they give the general idea:

 

As it is now (sure looks grim right now with the snow melting)

  

 I think it looks good!

  

 Side view as it is now

   And how I'd like it

Next on the agenda is to get a few estimates. I wonder how much it would cost? I think Dean and I could handle putting in the planks on the deck and do the railing if we could get someone to frame the whole thing and put the roof extension (standing seam metal) on and redirect the downspouts. 

Hmmmmm....

#147 "It's enough to curl your hair"...

...she said. "Sheesh."

She was referring, of course, to the current state of US politics.

That night she dreamed that her straight hair was transformed:

Coincidence? She thinks not.