This 'n That

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Death and Taxes

"but in the world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes."

Ben Franklin

Monday, March 11, 2013

A March Snow

We had a pretty March snow last week.

I ventured outside to take some photos before it melted.

I love how the snow magnified the features on this little garden statue.

The backyard swing looks totally different in the snow.

The railing on the front porch took on a magical look.

I kept getting closer ...

and closer.

Luckily this birdhouse is not inhabited yet. It looks cold in there!

The pickets on the fence almost look like gravestones, don't they?

A Good Goodwill Find!

I have a new charming little Belleek vase. This is the front.

This is the back.

You will never guess where I found it! Yes! At Goodwill! I saw it sitting on the shelf, thought it looked cute, so picked it up to inspect. I had no idea it was Belleek. I noticed immediately that it was extremely light, and then I took a peek at the bottom. I could just barely see the Belleek trademark peeking out.

But there it was! I was so excited I nearly jumped up and down!

Belleek is made in Ireland and usually has a shamrock pattern. This one has sweet pansies, a pattern I have never seen before.

From Wikipedia: Belleek Pottery Ltd is a porcelain company that began trading in 1884 as the Belleek Pottery Works Company Ltdin Belleek, County Fermanagh, in what was to become Northern Ireland. The factory produces porcelain that is characterised by its thinness, slightly iridescent surface and that the body is formulated with a significant proportion of frit. ^{[1]
Anyway ...

I have a nice collection of Belleek in my china cabinet that I will share with you another day.}

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Sam's Birthday

March 4th is Sam's birthday. We all gathered at their house for chili and birthday cake.

Here I am getting the birthday cake ready.

Great shot of the candles! Thanks, Nate.

Avery was entranced by the candles.

And here we go ...

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday, dear Sam

Happy birthday to you!

He is so proud that he blew out all the candles!

I knitted him a warm scarf to wear at the firehouse.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Photoshoot with Nolan

Photoshoot with Nolan!
Photos by Nathan.

I like Nolan's peaceful expression in this one, and our hands.

Nolan is 10 months old now.

So many expressions!

Hi there! Do you know I have four teeth now?

Okay, what are we gonna do now?

Drugstore Valentines

Now that the hoopla over Valentine's Day is over, I thought I'd write about one of my memories of the holiday. When I was in high school I worked at my Grandad's drugstore. I remember walking in the store after school to work my evening shift and finding a big display table had been set up. In my 15 year old eyes, it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. There was a table with a bright red tablecloth, and atop the table were piles of beautiful heart-shaped boxes of candy. I thought that we would never sell all that candy, but we always did.

I searched the internet for a picture of a drugstore Valentine display in the '60's, and this was the best I could find. There is a display on the far right hand side of the picture. It does not do the Valentine display in my memory justice!

These two pictures are typical of the ads for Valentine candy back in the day.

And these are what the boxes looked like that were stacked on the table.

They were beautifully appropriate for the confections held inside.

I especially love this one.

I usually held on to the box long after Valentine's Day, if I was so lucky to receive one.

I thought this was a sweet Valentine, however it predates my youth by a century or so!

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Plumber I'm Not

Today I decided to fix a leaky faucet in the bathroom. I bought new gaskets or whatever they are and got out some tools. I watched several YouTube videos. I knew to shut off the water under the sink. I tried and tried but the valve wouldn't budge. I decided to go ahead anyway. How bad could it be?

I unscrewed the screw and pulled off the handle and - BOOM!! Water shot out of the faucet, hit the light above, the light exploded, glass splintering everywhere. I tried putting the faucet back in, but it was the hot water and it was too hot. The sink filled up right away and overflowed. Water was shooting up everywhere. I tried again to shut off the water valve under the sink. Still wouldn't budge. I ran to the basement and looked frantically for the main shut off valve. Couldn't remember where it was. Water was coming down through the floorboards.

I grabbed my phone and called Sam. Joe answered, said Sam was under his car fixing something, couldn't come to the phone, that I had to figure out how to turn off the water. I finally found a valve over the hot water heater in the basement and was able to turn it off and the water slowed to a trickle.

I decided to call Dad since Sam wasn't able to come to my rescue. The phone rang and rang, and I got the answering machine. I left a frantic message and started cleaning up the water. Seven rolls of toilet paper ruined. Every towel I had was soaked. I was soaked.

Then, I was standing in front of the sink looking at the faucet, and suddenly the very large, heavy mirror fell off the wall! Luckily it did not break, but the screw that was holding it up pulled out of the wet plaster.

Meanwhile, Dad showed up at my front door. They had been to the eye doctor and as soon as he heard my message, he came over. He put my faucet back together. He didn't want to work on the other faucet, though. He said, "Don't fix what's not broken," and he left.

I guess my next career will not be plumbing. But at least I tried.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Instagrams

I love editing my photos. Since I have upgraded to a Smart Phone and an iPad, I have discovered an app called Instagram. You simply upload a photo, click on various settings until you find one you like, then you save it. It gives a photo you might not have looked at twice a very unique look.