Journal Page

These two journal pages face each other  and let me say right off that the one with the

little birds are actually part of a calendar page that I loved.  I just

cut it to fit my journal.  The other one I did except I found the image on

(art-e-ology) and I want to thank her for it.  I love this little butterfly girl and I think she really likes sitting in the
tree with the birds.                        Diane

Dear Track

As I walked today I was struck by this little deer track.  Of all the tracks I've seen, and they all look so delicate and pretty, this one was so heart shaped.  No wonder we call them deer.            Diane

Oops!

When my granddaughters were little I just adored all the cute little things they wore.  I was going to make a quilt for Hannah who was 4 or 5 at the time.  Cathy and I decided that it would be great to put a few little snippets of some of her old clothes into it.  It seemed like a wonderful idea.  So I put a little piece of her old pajamas, some buttons off of a cute little dress, some lace from something, and made the letters of her name out of different pieces of clothing and appliqued them on.  When Hannah saw it, though, she let out a howl.  It wasn't appreciation, it was shock.  She couldn't believe that her clothes were somewhere else besides on her.  I suppose today now that she's older she understands but she sure didn't
then.                                            Diane

Happy Birthday Cathy

Fifty years ago today Catherine Darlene was born to me.  She's grown into a beautiful and wise woman who's a blessing to all who know her.  I couldn't be prouder of her.  I wish her every joy on earth and hope that she has a wonderful birthday.                                   

Here she is with her husband Perry.  Love you, Cathy

Champion

Remember when I've posted about our neighbor Noah and his love of basketball?  Actually he told me he loves all sports.  If you want you can type in Noah on the browser and get the two posts I had on him.   Last Saturday he won the Elks Free Throw Hoop Shoot in the boys 10-11 year old division in Casper.  He will now go on to Denver and compete in the Regional Shoot.  He's already a winner in our book.                                                  Diane

Love Birds

Our yard was full of birds today - nuthatches, juncos, chickadees, flickers - and in the middle of all the noise and feeding frenzy, these two sat right above the feeders oblivious to anything but each other. 

Later they flew up into the tree behind the garage where they spend a lot

of time.  They're inseparable, it's heartbreakingly beautiful.

Diane

Tag Tuesday - Postcard

Postcards were the subject in Tag Tuesday on KardKrazy today.  This one kind of tells a little story I think.  I used an old postcard and mounted it on an old map.  Just for fun I reminded the happy couple to not take any wooden nickles.          Diane

Just Thinking

Whenever I spend half of the day vacuuming the house (like today) I remember a friend of mine saying with disdain "Vacuum sweepers were invented by men.  If women designed them it would be a lot different.  These are just instruments of torture!". 

I was remembering that to Leonard today.  I told him if a woman designed a vacuum it would work for one thing!  Next it would look nice and be a pleasing color, and it would be fun to use, and wouldn't grab ahold of the curtains or the dust ruffles until you lose your mind, it would be easy to empty and not require replaceable cartridges or bags, and it would be powerful but quiet.  In many ways it would almost be the same if we designed a man!!!                       Diane

I Spoke Too Soon

Remember the post a couple days ago about the pansies, well, we have had almost constant snow since I posted it.  Things were melting, ground was showing through and now it's back to 0 degrees as I write this.  I think I shouldn't have said anything. 

Not all bad though, I'm loving the time I have to create.  I hope you have had a peaceful and restful Sunday.  Blessings, Diane

Best Friend

Rascal and I love our walks together.  It's hard telling which one of us look forward to it the most. 

The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too.
                                                        Samuel Butler, Notebooks, 1912
If you get to thinking you're a person of influence, try ordering somebody else's dog around. - Will Rogers

Brave Little Flower

The snow and ice has just started to go off of the new flower bed I made last year.  I was startled today to see these little pansies, not only green, but with little buds on them.  They have to be the bravest little flowers!

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

It is well with my soul,
it is well, it is well with my soul.

I hope that this beautiful rose and the words from the beautiful hymn bring peace to your soul right now.     Diane

Cathy

We went to Billings today and got to spend a little time with Cathy

for her upcoming birthday.  Here she is with her little grandson (my great).  Cathy

received some money and Tatum saw the president on it and said "papa!" Very observant little guy.

Diane

Thaw

Last week at one point it was -15 degrees.  This week +65 today.  The old, rotten ice on the creek is beginning to die and give up it's bitter hold.  The creek has already cut a channel through the ice, there are big cracks coming from the bank.  It won't be long. People are coming out of their houses and chopping ice, digging out their barbecue grills.  Winter is losing it's icy grip.  We will have cold.  We will have bitter cold. But winter is dying.                                   Diane

All Dressed Up for Valentine's Day

This is just for fun.

About 4 years ago I saw a dress in Victoria magazine that I wanted and it was only $3,000.00 - for the skirt!  Still, I loved it, I kept going back and looking at that picture.  I decided it was mine.  So what occured was my first altered art project. 

And now it's mine!!!  

For those of you who asked - yes, I did paint the rose valentine and it is yours.  You can save it to your computer if you would like.   Hope you've had a great day.  Diane

For You

Here's a Valentine for you.  I hope you have a wonderful day.           Diane

An Early Greeting

It's too bad we only have one day for Valentine's Day.  I decided to do something about that.  Here's an early wish for you from my collection of postcards.  If you're like me it's never too early or too late for beautiful thoughts.    Diane

Treasures

This photo is from a while back but I like the interesting conglomeration of objects.  We went to a lady's home in the mountains and she had all kinds of interesting treasures in little spots here and there.  I was totally fascinated.  I think you can see amethyst in the center, an elk or bear tooth, and Indian scraper, glass, quartz and it even looks like some turquoise.  This lady was so interesting!      Diane

Followers

70 followers.  When I made that first tentative step into the land of blogs I didn't think anybody would even read my words.  And now I have 70 followers.  I thank each and every one of you for looking in on me and believing that I have something to say.  I'm so grateful.                             Diane

Come In and Sit Down

Come on in and sit down.  I finally got my art room arranged so I like it.  It's quite little, about 9 x 12 so every inch counts.  But I love this little bench and it has to be in here.  This summer I'm going to paint it black and distress it a little.  Have a seat........ there...... now we can talk.      Diane

Tag Tuesday- A Tag on a Tag

I chose clocks as my contribution to Kard Krazy's Tag Tuesday.  The larger clocks are from Tim Holtz Ideaology papers and the smaller one is from Creative Scraps.  Well, it's TIME for me to go.  Diane

Today

GRATITUDE'S

a warm house

something to do

a good crock pot and an easy supper

a good book

computer that works

good friends on the computer

plenty of materials to create with

my cell phone

gentle snow falling

peace

Diane

A Little Different

For a project on my photoblog I visited King's Saddlery and took some pictures of some of their beautiful things. You might be interested in looking at their page.  It's an amazing place.           Diane

Well!!!

No pictures tonight!  Google says I'm out of space for pictures, I need to buy more!  Has this happened to you?  Where do they store the old pictures?                     Diane

Cottage

It's hard to believe that in a few months the grass will be green and the door will be standing open to the cottage.  Bees will be buzzing around the new flowers and birds will be building their nests. Mowing to be done, flower beds to weed, furniture to be refreshed in the sanctuary, endless trips to the garden center. 

Now........everything waits under snowbanks and slush and ice. 

Inside I play with my papers.

All is well.                                     Diane

Grand Opening 1995

I'm working on a secret project that involves family pictures

and I ran across these from the first day we opened our store. 

Back row - me, Leonard,  my daughter Cathy,

front row - my brother, Mike, granddaughters,

Lindsay and Hannah



Perry (Cathy's husband)on the ladder, and
Leonard hanging the sign.   

                                                                                                           Diane

San Francisco

This is my granddaughter, Hannah, and my middle daughter, Brenda in San Francisco.  Hannah's been there visiting Brenda and I thought this was a great picture of both of them.  Brenda is Senior Portfolio Manager for Evans Properties on the West Coast.  I think they were having a good time this day.  Brenda was giving Hannah a tour of San Francisco.  Diane

Willing Subject

I didn't have to look far for a picture today.  As I filled the bird feeder I realized that this little Downy Woodpecker was creeping around in the tree looking for bugs right above my head.  I had my camera in my coat pocket (wonder of wonders!) and it continued to creep around on the branches as I shot pictures.  I hardly even had to zoom in on it.  If you blow it up, you can see that even around the eye is checkered.                     Diane

Tag Tuesday - Circles

For http://kardkrazy.blogspot.com/ Tag Tuesday today the theme is circles.  I decided to interpret one of the meanings to me of a circle.   Diane