Thursday, May 19, 2016

Throwback Thursday: Keep the Weeds

I've been easily distracted by the windows in my office lately.  Sunshine, radiant blue skies, and budding trees.  And today, a fluttering Red Admiral on a bright yellow dandelion.  Spring.  She sure is lovely.

Seeing the butterfly today reminded me of a post from May 2012 that's been sitting in my drafts folder here on the blog.  I'm not sure why I never published the post but I thought today would be a good day to do it.


Keep the Weeds

While trying to study for my last final yesterday I let the window distract me again; I'm so glad I did.

Dandelions are running rampant here this spring and our yard is no exception.  I've always thought the yellow weed was too cute and cheerful to be disliked and yesterday it gave me another pretty reason to enjoy them.  While looking out at the yard, I noticed a butterfly fluttering about and landing on the bright orbs.


Of course I dropped what I was doing, grabbed my camera, and ran outside.  It felt wonderful to be out in the warm sun, breathing the spring-scented air, watching this Red Admiral hop from one dandelion to the next.


At one point I even had two of these lovely insects flying around me.  Apparently I'm not the only one who appreciates the "pesky" perennial.  If this is what weeds bring to our yard, I say we keep them!

Monday, May 16, 2016

April in Review

Here I am again, writing a summary post because I didn't get my butt in gear and write during the month of April.  One of these months I'll stay on top of things.  Okay, we all know that's not true but it never hurts to dream, right?  So, here are some tidbits from April.

1.  My coworkers and I have tried every special flavor of Oreos that we've been able to get our hands on.  The latest flavor was Strawberry Shortcake: quite tasty!



2.  My dad gave my mom this library puzzle for Christmas and after seeing it completed, I thought it would look great hanging on the wall in my library.  I wanted to complete the puzzle myself, though, so I could take credit it for it (who doesn't want puzzle bragging rights?) and because I did have to admit it looked a little fun.  It took me a little less than two weeks and I was right - it was fun.  I know I said after doing my last puzzle that they aren't for me but I think I may have to retract that statement.  I think I may have enough patience to do one puzzle every winter.


When I start a puzzle, I always wonder which piece will be the last one; being the nerd that I am, I had to document it.  And since I knew you'd be wondering what piece it was, I figured I better share the photo here.  You're welcome.

Puzzle glue has been purchased and hopefully one of these days soon the gluing gets done and a frame purchased.  Then it will be on to hanging this and all the wonderful book prints I've purchased; it will be so much fun to have my library one step closer to being complete (and not quite the mess it currently is!).



3.  I have several vases and other containers like the one below that needed some filler so I took the plunge and joined the "I'm an old lady and decorate with fake flowers" club.  I'm not going to lie, I love my fake flowers and the pop of happiness they add to my spring decor.


We had quite a few dreary, rainy days in April but things remained cheerful inside thanks to these beauties.



4.  Occasionally you run across some true gems while thrifting but can't justify buying them.  This vintage lamp was certainly one of those gems.  It was so ridiculously pretty but for $50 (I suspect it was worth quite more based on age and condition) and no real good idea of where to put it, I had to take a photo and move on.  I do suspect it went to a good home.



5.  My coworkers and I got to talking one day about losing the ability to write with our dominant hand.  The discussion then turned into a little "write with your non-dominant hand" activity.  I'm in big trouble if there is ever a point when I can't use my right hand; this left-handed business isn't pretty.



6.  I know it's only mid May but The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin has the potential to be the best book I read this year.  I would venture to say it may even be one of the best books I've ever read.  I can't recommend this one enough.  Also, the cover is simply gorgeous!



7.  For our April gathering, my girlfriends and I decided to try out a new "attraction" here in town, a real-life room escape game.  You're taken into a room with your team, the door is locked behind you, and you have an hour to find clues and solve puzzles that will help you escape the room.  We chose Pirate Cove:

"The media has been in a frenzy lately, reporting on the latest antics from America's self-made billionaire, prankster, and eccentric philanthropist, John Buckingham.  Buckingham, who has been known to share his wealth in outrageous publicity stunts (like the time he rented the Goodyear Blimp and dropped millions of dollars over neighborhoods of Los Angeles), has lately taken to dressing, acting, and talking like a pirate.  In a press release, Buckingham claims to have hidden "possibly the most valuable treasure ever," in an old clipper ship that he has permanently docked near his ocean side mansion.  Residents have flocked to take a turn at discovering Buckingham's Billions, but so far, none have succeeded.  Today, you and your crew are going to have 60 minutes to search for the elusive treasure."

This scavenger hunt puzzle was quite challenging but a lot of fun.  It was pretty cool once you could see the clues coming together and leading other places.  I wish we'd had a little more time in the room, though, because it took a bit of time just to get oriented and figure out how to get started.  Unfortunately, we ran out of time and didn't escape the room but we were close and the game master explained the remainder of the puzzle we had left which was nice.  I'm glad we got to see how it all played out.

There is another version of this game available - a blackmailing boss! - and I think it would be fun to try it now that we have some experience with this type of activity.



8.  And because it's hard not to share photos of Crickett, here are a couple from April that just crack me up.  Our little girl is such a character.


Sunday, May 1, 2016

Sunday Smile

Happy first day of May!