August 14, 2015

 I bought this plant back in 2012 for $1.00.

That's 3-years ago! It is currently my oldest living plant. I repotted it last July and I don't think it liked it very much because it is a lot smaller than it used to be. In fact, I just looked back to find an original photo of it and it's actually quite a lot smaller and wimpier than when I originally brought it home.

That's okay, it's still a cool plant and I love how the leaves are not smooth but full of crinkles and ridges. They collect cat hair like crazy though and they are very hard to keep clean. But, I can live with that because it still looks cool.

August Break 2015: Day 14

August 13, 2015

August Skies

August Break 2015: Day 13

August 12, 2015

Just as I was about to dump it out, this happened.

I don't think it will ever be back to its former glory, but at least I haven't killed it yet.

August Break 2015: Day 12

August 11, 2015

I drove home during a huge storm and got stuck waiting for a train. The lightning was amazing!

August Break 2015: Day 11

August 10, 2015

It's still alive!!!

August 9, 2015

August Break 2015: Day 9

August 8, 2015

I had planned to take photos of an oncoming storm. But then I got caught right in the middle of said storm and ended up with no photos to show for it. Storm clouds from a distance look amazing, but not so much up close when rain and hail end up blocking the view.

So, kitty photo it is!

August 7, 2015

I pulled out an old crochet project that I haven't worked on since the beginning of 2014 and now I cannot remember all the important pattern details. I can't remember what patterned I modified and I didn't make a note of any of it on the project's Ravelry page either. I mean, isn't that what Ravelry is for? 

August 6, 2015

August Sunset

August 5, 2015

The Prickly Pear.

August 4, 2015

August Break 2015: Day 4

August 3, 2015

I think this one may be my favorite. I sure do hope that I can keep this one alive.

August 2, 2015

I bought a new table. One that I actually had a hand in picking out.

I have owned a total of 3 tables during my adult life. First, there was the table that the husband, then boyfriend, picked out. It was metal and glass and the screws kept falling out of the bottom of the chairs, so you took a big chance of ending up on the floor every time you sat on one.

Table #2 was a hand-me-down from the In-laws. A wooden table with Southwest chairs. The wood was light and the chairs not my style, but the table was wood and that was all that mattered. I loved having a wood table but always dreamed that one day I would own a table that was more me.

That brings us to table #3. I love this table! It makes the house look so homey. It's a nice dark gorgeous wood and I love how warm it looks when it's touched by the setting sun. To me the warmth of the setting sun makes it even more beautiful. 

August 1, 2015

She's an only kitty now. I think she is lonely, but I also think that she doesn't want to have to share us with another.

icad 2015 :: Index card Nos. 3 and 4 and 5

It's been over a month since I last turned on the computer.

June and July are over and the Index card-a-day challenge has come and gone.

I wasn't very good at creating every day this year. I blame myself and whatever mood I happened to be in, but I have to also blame the weather. It was frustrating working on the challenge this year because nothing dried. I still have damp cards from the beginning of June! I come across this problem every year. I really wanted to be more creative this year and not have to use only markers and crayons. I wanted to do something different that I have never tried before, but I don't know of any other dry medium that I could have used.

I took these photos back in June, but since I never turned on the computer, I never shared them. It also doesn't help that my computer hard drive is so full that I end up spending more time trying to delete things to free up space than doing creative things. In other words, it took me all night just to edit 3 photos and write this post.

I do have a couple more completed index cards that I don't yet have photos for. Even though July is over, I still plan to photograph and share those too.

index card no. 3

index card no. 4

index card no. 5

Nature's beauty

The amazing thing is that no editing was needed. 
These flowers are fluorescent pink all on their own.

Hello, 21st century!

I must admit, I have been slacking on the index card-a-day challenge. You see, there's this thing called vacation. And to be honest, I don't even really know what day of the week it is. 

The husband and I took last week off from work. We had big plans to finish the DIY project that we started in the bathroom. Well, he went back to work Sunday (I went back Monday) and we never even once opened the bathroom door to see what needed to be done. 

Every day this past week (except for Saturday, I refused to even step foot outside the door on Saturday) we drove around town in the 109+ daily record-breaking heatwave. Every day in a car with no Air Conditioning. Arriving home drained and without the energy to do more than just veg in front of the television. 

Although, we had to deal with the high temps, the destinations made it all worth it. Why is that, you ask? Well let me tell you. 

The husband and I have finally joined the 21st century! We went to the store for one thing and came home with iPhones. Not only are these phones "smart" but they can text too! Up to now I have only had a dumb phone and the husband had none so texting each other is a completely new concept for us.

We also went to see Jurassic World. It's been way too long since I have seen a movie in an actual theatre. I liked it. I was surprised at how few people were there to watch it though. There were probably less than 30 people there. I remember when we saw the first Jurassic Park in the theatre many many years ago. The theatre was so packed that we couldn't all sit together and the husband and I ended up sitting in the very front row. It really was a much different time back then. 

icad 2015 :: Index card No. 2

I finally got some time to photograph my latest index cards. I told myself that this year I was going to share ALL of the index cards that I create and not just some of them as I have in previous years. If I am going to make that goal, I guess I had better get busy sharing those cards.

For my second index card I did a quick wonky doodle. It makes me cross-eyed just looking at it. It's neat how just a few stripes can make such a trippy pattern. For supplies I just used a black pen. Pentel EnerGel liquid gel pen to be exact.

Please pardon my dust

I have been wanting to update my blog template for quite awhile now, years actually, but I haven't had the time to devote to it. Tonight, I quickly wanted to check to see how a custom template would look so I did a quick backup of my blog template. 

I usually copy and save the blog HTML and use that as my backup, but this time I made the mistake of using the Full Template Backup that Blogger provides. Big. Mistake. I lost it all! All my widgets and special coding. Ugh! I have no idea all that I have lost because I have been adding and updating the same template for years!

So, you may end up seeing weird things happening on the blog over the next few days. 

Note to self: NEVER EVER use Bloggers full template backup!

icad 2015 :: Index card No. 1

I am really getting a late start on sharing my index cards for this year's Index card-a-day challenge.

I don't usually follow the ICAD prompts so I really hadn't paid any attention to them this year. Last week, when I was looking through the ICAD Facebook group I started to see a lot of owls. My first card this year has owls. Apparently, I end up following the prompts without even trying or I just have way too many owl stamps. I even did an owl card during my first Index card-a-day challenge back in 2012.

For this index card I used rubber stamps, stencils, Distress ink, Stickles and Modge Podge. I find that my stamped images are never dark enough whenever I use black ink so I usually have to use an ink pen over any stamped images that I do.

What I learned: The new pen that I bought during last year's ICAD smears when using Modge Podge. At first, I was a bit disappointed but now when I look at it, I kind of like the effect.