A New Camera for Pink Saturday 2/28/09

The camera is another Canon PowerShot but it's an SD990 IS (which means image stabilizer and that helps it not be blurry if my hand shakes a bit. And ya never know with these old hands! Hah). It's a 14 mpx which is twice as many pixels as the old one, but it is astounding in its clarity. I love it. And I never had to change the settings at all on any of the pictures on this post!! Astounding!! I am just like a kid in a candy shop with new cameras. I am such a techie chick!

I was almost nose to nose with the rose in this picture - very close up and a bit blurry, but it was my first picture with this camera.

Backed off a little bit in this one.

Got in a bit closer and it worked well here. I cropped in closer to achieve the nearness of it but I was still further away than in the first one.

Very close in but turned out good. Plus I cropped in very closely on this picture.

Backed off a bit here and looks wonderful!

Not too tight a shot.

But got in very tight on this one. Cropped this picture a lot also.

Little too close here and a tad blurry but................

Backed off a bit here and it looks much better. Again, cropped closely here.

Now, for an astonishing bit of news here. I didn't change one setting while taking any and all of the above pictures! I didn't turn out the lights, adjust the nearness or the lighting at all. Isn't this amazing?!?!

Oooooh, and the other fact, none - not ONE, of these roses are real, but you would never ever know it by looking at them. They are all different types of roses and purchased at 3 different stores through the years but they defy anyone who sees them to think they are not real. They are gorgeous!
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A Little Whine With My Eggs and Hershey Kisses!

I don't know about you but I love Hershey kisses. Do you know how many Hershey kisses you can get in a small mouth at one time? I'm still working on it! I'm determined to find the answer but scientific tests take time, ya know?!?!! I'm up to 7 now and still finding room. I'll be sure to let you know though........Back to the experiment.

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It's getting close to easter and I love it because of the religious significance and the resurrection of our Savior.

But isn't this little easter egg card gorgeous?! It's probably the prettiest card I've ever seen. And you know what they say about pictures? They are never done the justice that the real thing can do. I attest to that today. Yep, true!!!!

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Okay, most of you have read this blog about my whining with a computer company and receiving a new $2800.00 computer free! Well, I did it again, chicks!!! Squeeeeeeeeeal...

We went out to dinner at a mexican restaurant the other day and the car wash we really like and use was right across the parking lot so I thought I'd give it a try. I walked over there with Love Bunny and told them I'm a regular customer and wanted some free car washes and didn't have a coupon. As it would happen the manager and his family were just pulling away (I didn't realize who he was until he told me) and asked if I needed help and I explained it and he said to just go inside and tell the young man that J*** said I could have 5 free car washes with the purchase of 10 regular car washes. I did and got them - 15 for the price of 10 so that's quite a savings and I'll never use another car wash with service like that. Try it, chicks, because you just never know how it will turn out. I am soooooo blessed!!!!!
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Cottages and Roses Paintings #2

More Barbara Mock paintings for you to view.
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How luscious are these roses of hers on this old sideboard? Beautiful!

Or this one of a mother and her child in the garden by a lake.

A summer afternoon on the porch entertaining special friends.

Ooooh, the magic of vintage carousels in the park and times of yesteryear.

A beautiful teacup awaiting that special blend of herb tea to make the evening delightful.

A morning in the potting shed arranging bouquets for dinner.

An evening stroll through this garden path to meet with a beau.

A table set for a rendezvous for two perhaps. Aaaah, the delight of it.

Of course, you know I can't resist the birdhouses, poppies and bird nests.

A hummingbird wreath of roses and ribbons.

Why I Blog

I bought a new camera today and practiced with it and wanted to show you some eye candy before my "monologue" so here it is first. Now on with the original purpose of this blog post.

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For the past couple of weeks I've read some blogs where women are giving up blogging. I wondered why. Oh, I can understand wanting or needing to take a break and I'm the same way. But for me, it's a creative outlet. One doesn't have too many "creative outlets" in a smallish town in southwestern Idaho! Trust me. It's a different world from the California life style we were used to. Don't get me wrong; I love Idaho and wouldn't move from it but it's a wee bit behind what we're used to. I truly DO love it here.

But I need a creative outlet - always did and always will. Blogging is my creative outlet. It hones my writing skills and my photography skills. I was the worst photographer before digital cameras were invented but they are improving dramatically! I love being in touch with the rest of the world and I do that with blogging. I love looking at arts and crafts and beautiful rooms and eye candy. I love creating beautiful things. I never buy anything that isn't useful or beautiful for my home - NEVER! If it gives me pleasure and makes me smile and/or is lovely, then it's mine.

I like meeting new people and sharing ideas. That is so easily done on the internet. AND as my daughter puts it so succinctly "virtual friends relationships" are much easier to maintain. She's absolutely correct in that! While I love lunch with the girls once in a while I do get that with a group of women from my church every month or so and that's great. (Feed me and I'll follow you anywhere!). But they might not meet a certain need that others on the internet can provide. That's why I love blogging with so many different kinds of people who share a kindred spirit with me. Plus I love encouraging and uplifting people and I think I do it well on my blog as others have emailed me and relayed their feelings about this.

I see blogs that blog about one thing, and one thing only, but that's not me. Ooooh, I love those blogs and visit them frequently but I have too much in this brain to blog about that to only blog about one thing isn't going to "do it" for me. I want to "get it all out" I guess. I want to uplift and encourage, share my random thoughts and musings (that may be redundant, not sure!), share my home that is very special to me, share my creations, share my town, share my life (limits, of course) and share our zaniness, humor and wit with all who can stand it. So I'm of the "don't subscribe to just one thing" type of blog. Frankly, there is so much to blog about I doubt if I'll live long enough to do it all! And yessssss, I live my life in "exclamation points"! I even talk that way, chicks. I'm just an intense and lively energetic person.

I don't want to change the world; I just want to be happy and to help others be happy with what they DO have and not lust for things that are of no importance in the scheme of things. Simply put, I blog because it gives me pleasure and makes me happy and to think it makes others happy just puts icing on my cupcakes!
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A rose in one of my bouquets in my home. Enjoy. ;-)

Finishing Up With Creating My Office Space

Okay, I usually only post every 2 days and I'm prescheduled until the middle of March but I couldn't keep all of you in suspense with what I did today.

I dragged the old wooden slatted bench from the front porch into this office. It is bright red flaking paint but I have extra covers to throw over it. I'm so glad I bought this Rachel Ashwell duvet a couple of years ago since she is closing her stores now. I took this duvet apart to have 2 large pieces of fabric. That's a LOT of fabric but I use each side for throws over furniture or tables I want to change from time to time. I like the way the bench looks now here in my office. And I still have another side of the duvet to use also.
Of course, I always have a plethora of fabric lying around so I took this thrice used fabric, which was at one time a curtain, and tore it in half to make a cover for the front of my desk. The little shelf on the right is now behind my desk chair and I plan on covering it with fabric and starch soon, but I need to do other things and my daughter and granddaughter are coming wednesday.

I then sewed the 2 pieces together to make it wider and then ruffled it in my ruffler. I then sewed on a piece of embroidered ribbon on the front and used my pinking shears to the top of the fabric to stop it from fraying. Then I took some sticky velcro and cut little pieces about 1/2" in length and glued the "fluffy" side to the desk and the other "plain" side to the fabric. Voilà, the cover up for the cords. I am soooooo into easy ways of doing things and this was easy! I haven't hemmed it but just folded it under a bit but I may use tiny straight pins or even tiny safety pins to secure it. I do this because so many things in my home have been repurposed for other uses rather than the original intended use. I've given you 2 views to see it. It only goes across the front area.

It is "serving its purpose" here very well, don't you think?

Creating My Own Space

As most of my regular readers know I have changed my office and my sewing and craft room around several times in the 3 1/2 years we've lived in this house. AND I'm fortunate enough to have 4 bedrooms in this house for only 2 people. I also chose not to have a room for guests because it's a waste of space for us. (More on that later.) This office is on its 3rd change because a few months ago I was looking at other people's creative spaces and thought mine would "look better" if I took most of the "extra" stuff out and put it in the craft and sewing room, and it DID look a lot better with so much stuff out of there. I put my huge white cottage desk up against the wall. I thought that gave it more room in the center of this smallish room. Well, I've come to some serious conclusions about that!

One: Hubs said moving furniture is tough on the hands. Nuuuuuuuu, it's tough on the feet, or more specifically, the toes! Ouch!!

Two: It did give a little more room to the center but to what end? It didn't make any difference in what I could do with the center of the room. But the greatest "epiphany" was that it didn't work for me; it didn't "flow" well for ME. I've been around the internet visiting with other people's offices and creative spaces and thought to myself that some of them are wonderful and why can't I have "THAT" kind of room. But I had to come to that decision on my own. I couldn't file any papers with just swiveling my chair around to the filing cabinet. I faced a boring wall instead of having the window seat in front of me and wasn't able to take in the view. My paper shredder, which I use frequently, was in front of the printer stand and I couldn't get into the doors very easily at all. Now, I have never gotten ahold of a copy of a book titled Where Women Create so I have no clue how they do it but I'm sure the rooms are fantastic. I do hope to find a copy at a reasonable price on Amazon soon though so I can just look at it for the eye candy, but truly this works for me - Connie. While I'd love to have my space be gorgeous enough to be able to show in a magazine, that isn't ever going to happen. It's a humble little room - all pink and froufrou-y (and that is the correct way to spell froufrou). I love it and it makes me happy. It simply didn't work for me the other way but I had to try it out. (And trust me, this is a huge and heavy desk for Love Bunny and me to turn around, let alone MOVE!) I won't ever have a huge room with huge floor to ceiling windows with lots of light. I won't ever have the "beautiful shelving" or the vintage stuff that makes a place even more wonderful - for me at least. I won't ever have people in here oooohing and aaaaahing either. I have a "nicer" room than some people and a "not-so-nice" room to some other people. Get over it! This is a "home center" for this family - a "working" place for me. I do all of my business in this room and blog and webcam with our kids and grandkids. It needs to be "functional" more than anything and "form follows function" and so it is with me and this room. While it is lovely to me, it is functional and that's its main purpose.

And about the guest room: we don't need a room to sit empty unless our kids come to visit which averages about twice a year because we go back to California to see them once or twice a year at least. So why keep a "guest" room that isn't used? So that room is now hubby's office. We can each have our own space to do whatever business we need to conduct AND each have our own computers to read or whatever. It just didn't make sense to us to waste that space.

BEFORE TODAY:
So this is what it was the 2nd time I redid the room but just before it is now. And if you think you're confused please don't forget hubs! He's wonky at this point, chicks.

This was my view across the room or - at that point - behind my back.

AFTER TODAY:
This is how it is now from the above pictures. In the picture below you can see the power cords. There is no way I can get rid of any of those cords. It hooks up a lot of extra stuff I have for my computer. They are what they are and nothing can change that for me except to maybe try and camouflage them a bit and I have a "plan" for that coming up soon. But I do like it with less stuff on the walls - especially since the walls are now pink.

This side still needs to be redone and I need to tidy it up but that's coming soon.

I have a red wooden bench on my front porch that I plan on bringing in to this room. It's in need of a paint job and that will happen later but I think this room needs it more than the front porch and it's "wispy" enough that it won't take up much visual space as much as a cabinet full of books would.

My printer is now easily accessible as are the doors beneath it that holds paper, ink cartridges and extra disks for recording.

And another important thing is my view and this clock. My kids gave me this clock for our 40th anniversary 8 years ago and I love it. I took it down and told hubs to use it in his room. He's never put it up and I've missed it tremendously. I used to look up and see the time (yes, I have a clock on my computer monitor but the hanging clock is one I'm used to; it's a gift from my kids and I wanted it in there). It's nice to have an "old friend" back! Yep, that place needs to be tidied up also.

I think the gist of this story is that you need to do what works for you even if it isn't the the "decorator book" look that's what you'd like or love. I've seen miniscule craft rooms and miniscule sewing rooms here on blogs and they're gorgeous and/or lovely while its occupant lusts - like me - for the "perfect" space or room. It's a painful realization sometimes but you'll get over it. Excuse me while I go have my "melt down" or my own little "depression"; I'll be right back, sweet cherubs..........

Spring at Greenhurst Nursery

It was a sunny and cold day..........sounds like the opening of an Edgar Allen Poe novel, huh? Well, let me tell you it was definitely cold here in southwestern Idaho today but the sun shined brightly. Sooooo I decided to "doll up", go downtown to an antique store, lunch out and go to Greenhurst nursery.

They were transitioning into the spring decor so there wasn't much to show but it was a pleasure going there anyway.

Isn't this bouquet lovely. It is bright red and truly spring looking.

Green was sprouting all over and here's one little tablescape. I loved the color of green, too.

These little verdigris bird container was on my list to buy but I forgot to get it before leaving. I think that means I need to go back.

This was in the greenhouse and is an orchid. I love the beauty of orchids.

This amaryllis was stunning - white with pale pink tips.

Pretty red plant.

I showed this to friend and she chuckled. She still has 2 teenagers at home.

This is a little mirror with another spot reflected in the mirror. I thought it was cute but had no idea where I would put it in this house.

This was a comfy shoe but I'm trying to get back into "regular" shoes so passed them up. Very attractive on the foot though and comfy.

I looooooved this little purse but I like zippers and not foldovers so passed on it, but it's bright white and bright red and white polka dots.

Sasquatch foot!!! I think I need to clean my car carpet though.

Crafting Again

I've been crafting again and came up with this little cutie. It will be for sale on my other blog - La Maison Rose. I don't sell these very much as I like keeping them or giving them in swaps so if you want it go there. Roses and feathers make it a shabby romantic cottage birdhouse. Oh, and of course, the lovely rose fabric. ;-)