Friday Friendship Card

Playing around with some more October Afternoon paper and an adorable Pooh stamp.  Friendship is on my mind a lot at the moment because of the storms that blew, literally, through the south and were so hard on Alabama this week.  I am very grateful that my friends in Alabama are safe and sound.  It is so hard to watch the reports on this as these are places I have been and been recently.  Friendship is a treasure and certainly does make the world feel like a smaller place doesn't it?

I Understand

This past weekend was Easter and I was blessed to have my family at my home on Sunday.  The house was filled with laughter, love and the favorite...good food. 

I was even spoiled with a lovely lily and this amazing chocolate egg.  The egg is so pretty I almost don't want to eat it.  Notice I said...almost! ;)

My Dad forgot his camera and it has given me a chance to download some photos to my laptop from the last few days of the trip we took together this past fall.  I can now say I get my Mom's comment about having almost half a million photos of me but most of them with my camera in front of my face.  It seems that is how I was captured most.  Looking through these photo on my Dad's camera this photo below sums it up.  Well it sums up at least 25 photos of me.

And amazingly enough there are about 5 like the one below where my face is visible and you can see I am having a great time.

Squared with a matching envelope

Playing around this afternoon with some paper and here is the outcome...

Since it was an odd size, 5X5, I needed to make an envelope for it and so that is got a little extra too.  Love that pattern paper from October Afternoon!

You and Me - Ryan Star

11:59 came out in August. I had his EP before then and I was lucky enough to see Ryan Star live twice in September. Still I haven't had enough of 11:59 or Ryan Star. This song is one of my favorites on 11:59. It is called You and Me. When I saw him perform it live it was Ryan on the guitar and Dallin on the drum. So simple yet amazing! Hope you enjoy.

For A Laugh

Because I am sick, because I found this funny and because I always like a funny on a Sunday...

My first thought after laughing was...Well I have to say I've not seen a "Beware of Lion" sign at my local store before so I guess the "Beware of Dog" was as good as they could do.  My second thought was...Or did they just not think to warn against the lion?!?! Who knows maybe the lion is more friendly. ;)

One Week

I watched this quiet little independent movie last night.  As it begins Ben finds out he has Stage 4 Cancer on a Friday afternoon and he doesn't know how to react.  He is told go now, seek treatment fast.  He is told with treatment he has a 10% chance of recovery.  Ben isn't ready to be sick yet.  You see like many with that dreaded c-word he doesn't feel it.  Ben feels fine however he knows what they intend to do to him to cure him will make him feel very sick.  Instead of beginning treatment the following Monday he heads west through the Canadian countryside looking to have an adventure.  I liked the ending.  No, I adored the ending.  It is wisdom for all of us.  We all need to hear this and we all need to remember the quote on the chalkboard..."To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield."

Whole Lotta Nothing

For days and days the house has been filled with the sounds of coughing and versions of the phrase, "I'm dying."  Seems we have the flu.  Three letters sure do bring a whole lot of yuck into a house.  Fevers, chills, aches, coughing...yuck, yuck and yuck!  So there hasn't been a whole lot of anything going on around here.  I will admit to laying in bed watching episode after episode of this...



Monarch of the Glen from the BBC. The setting is amazing and the story has been humor filled. My husband has shaken his head at me as he doesn't understand how I can love "British humor" so very much. Personally I think its healing me, all the laughter, because I seem to be recovering at a faster pace. ;)

Proper Signage?

This past fall a friend of mine, a very good friend, spent several weekends at my home.  She took to calling the guestroom, her room.  We joked about a sign.  Then out one day we stumbled across pattern paper from Crate Paper that was covered in purses and if you knew my friend you would know this was just...well it is just her!  So that joke became a reality.  Tonight I put it all together and here it is.  The guestroom door can now have it's proper signage!

Matthew Mayfield - Fire Escape

I had the pleasure of hearing him live back in February and he made me an instant fan.  I bought his EPs at the concert and then found that he had a song on a sampler at Amazon put out by TuneCore.  The song was Fire Escape and I loved it.  Now flash forward to April and the release of his new CD.  A better, cleaner version of Fire Escape in on this CD and I am just more in love with the song. It has an energy and an emotion that just touches. 

Submarine

The months between November and April are filled with rain, cold, wind and not a lot of variety on the Staits. The Stait of Juan de Fuca that is and if you want to get from the Pacific to Seattle you have to navigate the Staits. So for months the marine traffic has been cargo ships, container ships and oil tankers until this past weekend when there was an odd blob sitting low in the water. My eyes said it had to be a Naval Sub however my eyes also told me there was too much bulk for it to be one. When the subs move through the Straits you often don't know. Sometimes however it occurs in the daylight and above water so there are Coast Guard Cutters and air support heard flying above. This is the fourth time in almost 5 years that I have seen one. Saturday was rainy with dark skies and so the photos are not wonderful by any means yet still so cool to just have it go by. And the extra bulk I saw turned out to be a barge next to the sub. There were two Coast Guard Cutters escorting this sub as well.

This is cropped to focus in on the sub and barge.  There is also one of the smaller Coast Guard cutters just to the front of the sub however it is difficult to see as it blends in with the water so well.

The Straits are 18 miles wide at this point between the US and Canada's Vancouver Island.  In this photo you can get more of a sense of how far away the sub is from our shore, out in the shipping lane.

Spring

Spring is upon us and what a welcome idea that truly is around here.  March in our part of Washington was full of rain.  Yes I know it is the northwest and it rains here.  So that is the rumor I hear.  Well this past March we had double the normal amount of rain and it had begun to feel like the building of an ark was needed.  Now April has arrived and with it the weather has changed just enough that I am dreaming of this...

And I can almost smell these...

And know that soon blooms like these will be everywhere...

Yes it is that time of year when everything is new again.  Isn't it wonderful?!?!

Live!

Music always seems to be playing around my house.  Some houses its the TV.  Here its music and it could be almost any type of music as the likes are varied.  This song has been a favorite of late.  Its from 2004, the message however is timeless...live.  The title, "Live Like You Were Dying"  The words remind me of so many good things that should take place each and every day.  If you've never heard it, I hope you'll give it a listen.  If you have heard it, I hope you will listen again and remember to treat today as though it were your last.  Make sure to love those around you, forgive quickly and do something no matter how small it might be that adds joy to your life.