Why I do photo challenges

You know what I like about participating in an on line photo challenge?  I like the order (after all I am a self professed organizational nut).  I like the prompts (someone demanding something I haven't thought about).  I like art (seeing things differently - or seeing something I would have passed by normally). I like the thought process.  I look at the challenge list almost every day and start thinking what and how I can capture something in a photograph that I am willing to share with the world.  I also like seeing the point of views and interpretations of people all around the globe.  I've even enjoyed learning about their geography and customs. Then the best part is the memories or speculations the process sparks, giving me things I'd like to blog about.  Yes, it's a good thing.

Work buddies

A pleasant surprise for the start of my day.  An old friend and former boss called this morning.  She was in my neighborhood for a dental appointment and invited me to meet for breakfast.  We spent over two hours reminesing old times, old acquaintences and new futures.  I remembered how I enjoyed working for and with her for eight years.  She was a very good school principal with a very sound sight for the children.  We had a great working relationship where I felt valued and utilized for my talents.  I remembered how I used to tease her for being so readable when she was angered about something.  She told me she had shared with her current workers that I would calm her down with my attempt at humor stating "Your head is spinning and any minute you'll be spewing green pea soup."  [this description is from a 1973 horror movie scene in The Exorcist]  It usually worked.  Ahh, the old days. 
 

Do you have a pleasant memory of a work buddy?

Babysitting a toddler chart

With the next room ready to transform I needed to make storage space in the garage available.  So a spot near the door was cleared and the boxes of "sell or give away" started filling up.  We also were successful in filling severl boxes for storage that will go with us in the move.  With the temperature rising over the 100 degree mark before noon, that project was replaced with another cooler, inside one.  Keeping with my goal of cleaning or clearing at least one shelf/closet/drawer or cabinet a day, I tackled the area under the kitchen sink.  With that done I sat down to do some fun planning.

During the month of July I get to baby sit the great grand while everyone else goes to work.  Ahhhh, this is what I retired for!  With my obsessive organization habits in full force, I put together a plan for the first week.  Pinterest and I got real close today.  There are so many talented people out there, I had a blast.  Here is what week 1 plan looks like for the 2 year old:

play time supply bucket

                         

Breakfast	Pancake w/sausage, blueberries, milk	Cereal w/peach slices, milk	Sausage balls w/melon, milk	Egg/potato/bacon medley milk	Oatmeal/apple, milk
AM play	Take a walk Paint blocks	Back yard play Paint rocks	backyard play, sand box, water can	Water painting	Nature designs
Snack	Cheese stick, crackers, flavored water	Deviled egg, flavored water	Pretzels & yogurt, juice	frozen yogurt, water with frozen juice ice	Orange slices, water
Quiet learning play	Finger paint in zip lock bag on window 2. make a book photos	Puzzles, color, draw w/pencil	string art	Build Bird nest supply hanger	High chair Food dough (peanut butter/flour)
Lunch	Turkey/lettuce wraps, carrots, raisins, milk	Ham slider sandwich, green beans/dip, strawberries, milk	Pasta w/meat sauce, broccoli w/butter,  milk	Hot dog, cheese, baked sweet potato fries, milk	Zucchini pizza, milk
Read/Nap
Creative play	String fruit loops Stack/match color blocks	Count rocks Glue on eyes	Make roads, drive cars	Sticker art	Orange rind Bird feeder
Snack	Fruit popsicle, cream cheese/jelly tortilla, water	Celery/peanut butter for gold fish fishing, juice	Peach smoothie, gold fish	Bean dip/tortilla roll, juice	Fruit popsicle, cheese quesadilla
Active play	animal walk	hide/seek	action songs	glow in the dark sword play.	music/dancing

(the high lights are the items I need to shop for)
Here is a jpg. you can open and print or save to your computer.

DIY table refinished

I've had this little side table for a long time.  The finish was overdue some attention.  With the completion of the guest bath [visit the One Year Project page] and my new found color for the cabinetry, I sanded and stained the table to match.  Oh my goodness... it is amazing what a little attention makes!


the before and after

Tools needed: 
 Minwax Poly Shades Stain & Polyurethan 1 step (I bought mine at Home Depot)
2 sheets Sandpaper in a rough grit and a fine grit.
Cotton rags (I used old bath towels)
Good quality paint brush

First the table was sanded with a rough 80 grit sandpaper to remove the little finish that was on it.  Second a finer grit 220 sandpaper was used to give a smooth, fine finish.
Once I was happy with the sanding, which on this little table took about 2 hours, I dusted and wiped it down to ensure no sandy grit was left on the table.
Next I used Minwax Poly Shades Stain & Polyurethane in 1 step to paint on a light even coat.  The color in this project is Espresso Satin.  Wait 6 hours before applying the second coat.  The deep brown finish is perfect with only 2 coats and a second 6 hour drying time wait.  I replaced the silver knob that came with it and moved it indoors. This was not a hard project and I would recommend any ammeture to go with it!  Skill level on a 1-10 scale... about a 3. 

Check out the rest of the bathroom remodel project. http://forwhatitsworth-jeannie.blogspot.com/p/one-year-project.html

Staining the kitchen cabinets

I put the guest bathroom back together, decorated and closed the door.  But I wasn't really happy with the cabinetry and hadn't really decided on the mirror replacement.  My designer daughter in law came to pick up the little grands and encouraged me to go forward with refinishing the cabinetry.  We made a trip to Home Depot, checked out the cabinets and found what I dreamed about a possible project.  We bought the supplies and got down to stripping the old and staining with the new.  All I can say is she definitely guided me the right direction.  I like it so much that after she left I took out the little accent table and took down the wall shelf and they are now sitting on the patio work station with the first coat of stain.  I finally feel room 2 of the One Year Project is done.

The patio work station.  Yes, the "Off" is absolutely necessary!

http://forwhatitsworth-jeannie.blogspot.com/p/one-year-project.html

Rodeo girls

Big Girl Grand participated in a performing color guard all through high school.  The group of girls are close friends that like to do things together, especially the exchange students.  For the past two years she has taken them to a rodeo.  They have so much fun and it is a lot of fun just to watch them. 

The girls are standing on the fence rails watching a calf roper

Hands that builds things

I am married to a talented craftsman.  He designs and builds things.  The things I like most are the beds.  The bed in today's June photo a day challenge is the one he built for us.  There are also two wonderful pencil beds he built for the big grands.  They have outgrown them, so one is in our spare room and one is stored in the garage.  I hope when we move to our retirement house, it has a big shop building so he can get back to his hobby.

favorite photo

Once upon a time our son brought home a sweet vibrant young lady that later became his wife and mother of two of our precious grands.  He made a very good choice.

June photo a day 6/20
One of my favorite photos I've ever taken.

Today in the photo challenge I revealed something about myself not many people know, if any.  I journal and have most of my adult years...which is a lot of years [LOL]  I must have a subconscious desire to be a writer.  I have several bound books that contain everything from my New Year's Resolutions, dreams [literally], memories, gardening notes to medical history.  For fun, I randomly opened one of the older books and here is what I had written.

2/12/1983
I used to believe forever was infinite - like a sunset.  A destination you can not reach.
Now I believe forever is yesterday, today and tomorrow.  A time in my heart and soul that no one can touch but me.

Day of Rest.

I sprained my wrist and thumb early last week carrying out a box and bag at the same time.  That has made the progress I planned to make on the guest bathroom delayed, but I finally finished the moulding around the guest bath ceiling and floors. 

Because hammering and painting is difficult. I decided to make some cookies for hubs father's day.  No brown sugar.  Ugh.  So I decided to turn some of the frozen apricots from my son's tree into jam.  Not enough white sugar.  Dang.  So I looked on Pinterest for a new project.  I needed at least one ingredient for everything.  It's an omen.  Rest.  So I got out an ice pack, laid my wrist on it and started reading.   The Big Girl Grand got me started on Gregory Maguire's series of Wizard of Oz books.  They are a little bizarre, but good too.  So... I'm shutting down the computer to read today.  "Son of a Witch". 

(the title still makes me laugh)

An Ending for the Beginning

The alarm rang, I opened my eyes and smiled.  Nary a curse word passed my thoughts or lips at the intrusive sound bringing me out of sleep.  Excitement filled me and I rose, dressed and had a cup of coffee before joyfully taking the last commute to work. 

The time clock seemed to grin at me when I slid my card to mark the last work day.  The day passed quickly as a few friends called, e-mailed and texted well wishes.  The co workers I would leave behind asked pertinent questions so they can carry on when I'm gone.  I wrote a final farewell message to the faculty I wouldn't see again, gave some bye hugs, got in my car and laughed out loud.  I felt like a freed bird.  

I danced a jig and twirled about when I entered my back door and was greeted by my husband and the big girl grand.  They enjoyed the moment with me.  BG grand and I did a little shopping and spent some time walking by the lake taking fun photo's.  My daughter joined the three of us for dinner at a local restaurant by the lake. The evening breeze on the patio cooled us as we enjoyed the sunset marking my last day before retirement.  It was a good day.

Today I woke to the sound of thunder and gentle rain instead of an alarm clock.  Again, I smiled.  After a leisurely cup of coffee I drove to a spot with an Eastern view over the lake.  The rain and clouds parted long enough to give me the sunrise view I have planned to witness on the first day of my retirement.  It symbolizes for me the beginning of the best part of my life.  It was glorious.

Little Grand self portrait

PicMonkey is a free photo editing program on the Internet that I enjoy playing with.  These are photos taken through my kitchen window of the little grand drawing her self portrait with window chalk.  She was drawing a self portrait, I was washing dishes in the sink right in front of her.  She got this far and I said, wait - picked up a camera - and asked her to hold her real arms out for the finished portrait.  [Sigh, smile].  I loved it and am so grateful it was captured before the rain mixed the colors together a few days later.

From a low angle

From a low angle.
Pun not intended.

I had lunch today with 3 work buddies for the last time.  I'm not sad about retiring or leaving my job but I felt a little seperation anxiety when my carpool buddy finished her last day for the summer today and left.  We've been riding together for 5 years.  I've enjoyed hashing over our daily lives each morning and afternoon and that...I will miss.

The best bits

The weather was wonderful, caught up on rest, made big strides remodeling guest bath, home cooking by hubs, created a great peach pocket pie and marked off a few more days toward retirement - this coming Friday!  The best bit of this weekend is the joy of being alive to experience it.

Opened the blinds to a glorious morning.

Worked on the one year project.

Created a peach pocket pie out of pantry items (+ a tube of refrigerated croissants)

http://forwhatitsworth-jeannie.blogspot.com/p/photoadayapril.html

 Peach Pocket Pie

• 1/2 can peach pie filling
• 1 tube refrigerated croissants
• 1 package artificial sweetener
• sprinkling of cinnamon
• powdered sugar icing

Pre heat oven 350 F 
Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.
Separate the croissant triangles.  Mash them out a bit -about 5" at the widest part of the triangle.
Spoon on 4 or 5 peach slices along with  little of the filling from the can onto 4 of the dough triangles.  Careful to leave a 1/2" border free of filling.
Lay another dough triangle over and crimp the edges with your fingers.
Sprinkle a little cinnamon over the tops.
Sprinkle a little artificial sweetener (or real sugar) over the tops.
Bake 15 minutes. 
Make a 1/4 cup of icing with 1/2 C powdered sugar and a tablespoon or two of water.
We like to eat them hot, so I added a little powdered sugar drizzle and sat down with hubs to savor the deliciousness together.

The left over peach pie filling will be great on pancakes at breakfast tomorrow...

Water, a precious commodity

Water, how precious!  My drink of choice.  I definitely believe in water conservation being from the drought area of Texas.  My home town gets it's drinking water from the Greenbelt.  As of this week it is down to 17 percent full.  The lake that supplies it is dry.  The water table is dropping and many home drilled wells are dry. 

Drink it, love it, don't wast it.

The Stetson

One of my dad's winter felt cowboy hats (a Stetson) hangs on a bedroom wall along with a collection of straw and felt hats my son wore through his growing up years.  His hero's were always cowboys, especially his grandad.  Those cowboy hats symbolize an era almost gone.  Men who worked from daylight till dark in the grueling sun. 

Dad loved taking the grand kids to the local western store right before summer rodeo to buy new hats and boots.  It is some of their favorite memories (and mine).  I still like going in that store because part of the decor is a tin roof that juts out from the back wall where the farmers "retired" their sweat stained worn out hats by tossing them on top of that tin roof.  I don't know which ones belonged to my dad - but just knowing they are there gives me comfort.

Polka dot party

It's graduation time and that means party time!  The big girl grand graduated from High School this year so her mom put together a fun polka dot themed party.  She included her chocolate covered mortar board hats that are like a delicious s'more cookie.  Take a look and sign the guest book... lol.

Polka dot table cloth is a flat sheet, napkins are another sheet cut in squares and hemmed.

Strawberries dipped in white and milk chocolate with colored sprinkles.

A variety of candies that simulate "dots"

Mortar Board hats are chocolate dipped graham cracker on chocolate dipped marshmallows with icing tassels piped on.

Pretzel sticks dipped in white and milk chocolate, rolled in colored sprinkles.

The cake is a confetti cake mix (Betty Crocker) with butter cream icing.  The trifle is made from the cake top trimmings layered between cherry pie filling (more dots) and whipped cream.

Close up

I was posting a close up photo from the big grand's graduation party when I got photo advice from the little grand.  Little grand showed me what happens when you hold a flower "close up" to your nose!