Life Goes On

We got a dog!!

2012-02-14T03:33:00.001-08:00

4 yrs, 70 lbs of love, full of heartworms and other infections.

I think the vet is having an addition put on his house! Not really, everyone at the office seems incredibly nice and generous.

Today's activities

2011-08-19T14:40:00.000-07:00

So I bought a mirror to put on the lower part of the porch. I'm just afraid you really can't see the black against the dark wood.

Maybe red/purple? shiny silver? What to do, what to do.

In exciting news- our crepe myrtle has bloomed.

Current state of the flowers

2011-08-10T06:17:00.001-07:00

When last we met the morning glories were mere little bits of greenery poking up from their peat pots. Now 3 months later- here are 4 of those plants.

Incredible no?! 2 around the sign post and 2 more by the postbox. For some reason only the ones around the sign are flowering. The 2 around the front of the mailbox- very green but no flowers. Here are a few of the flowers. The only trick is you really do have to go out in the morning to see them. By noon they have all closed up.

In the backyard we planted some sunflower seeds. They are coming up, just a bit slowly.

Down the road a ways there is a field full of sunflowers. Hopefully the backyard will look like this some day.

For lo the winter has past

2011-04-27T05:32:00.001-07:00

When they were first starting:

and now! These morning glories are just about ready to leap out of the pots.

Something that just came up on its own- wild raspberries.

Forgotten snow post

2011-03-12T04:02:00.000-08:00

We had 4 days of heavy snow/ice. It shut us down pretty much, but not the camera.

Beauty in winter

2011-01-26T13:00:00.000-08:00

My friend takes beautiful pictures. She very generously allowed me to make some copies of a few. Here is a beautiful hillside in Maine.

These were some shots of an amaryllis she grew.

Sometimes you just need a bit of spring in the midst of winter. I bought these as bulbs in the supermarket.

Upstairs

2010-11-22T08:04:00.000-08:00

Ok, so this is standing on the landing looking up the hallway
to the master bedroom.

If you actually go to the top of the stairs, the room to the right, the study:

To the left is a bathroom (not very exciting)- but here's the art we have in there:

This is the room I painted and added a new fixture.

Seen outside of a law office

2010-10-21T03:37:00.000-07:00

No wonder I had so much trouble finding a job. I should have been driving around looking for help wanted ads.

Outside of the house

2010-10-20T13:15:00.001-07:00

Forgot the most important image! The front of the house.

We moved the pumpkin outside .

And here's the back view- the left side is the living room.

House as of today

2010-10-17T06:18:00.000-07:00

I thought you might want to see some of the house from the inside. First is the living room. The above picture is looking towards the backyard/porch. The furniture is all oddly placed because I have been painting. The left side is the original color (green/khaki)- the right side is the new color more of a gold/brown (Sherwin Williams 6123 Baguette). The trim is 6119 (antique white) and the ceiling (not painted yet- will be 6121 whole wheat)

Turning around you can see the front of the house. The blue paper on the wall is a congratulations card Hillary and Isabella made for us. The shiny bit is an image of a ring.

To the right side you can just see the window on the left side of the door. We'll just walk up the stairs and look down on the front door.

I've been learning how to patch drywall. The poster is... well I don't know what to say about the poster to be honest. :) To the right of the entryway you see the door to the dining room.

We got the pumpkin a bit early. It's been fun to have it lit up, but I'm not really sure it's going to last until Halloween. On the table are some lovely candlesticks that we received as well as some lovely pottery and things. Turning to the back of the room is the entrance to the kitchen.

To the right of that counter is the hallway to the living room and we've covered the whole downstairs.

Well, except for the garage- we very proudly hung a peg board yesterday. It's right beside the door into the kitchen (bit difficult to see)

There is still a bit to go on organizing the garage. But this lets you see a bit of the front yard/driveway.

So that covers the downstairs.

Next we'll do the upstairs.

Pillow- sewing again

2010-06-21T02:43:00.001-07:00

I've been trying to work on some more projects. I found this wheel of fabric (jellies? they were called maybe?) So thought it looked like a nice project. The official estimated time was 3 hrs. I blew past that hours ago. There are 32 individual pieces of fabric in that center panel. Just need to stuff and close opening.

and the back side.

Being a little crafty

2010-05-23T03:59:00.000-07:00

I love fabric. I walk through the fabric store and think how wonderful it would be if I could figure out what to do with all this fabric (I'm not much of a sewer). I also have a number of pins that I don't really wear anymore (the 90's and the suits in my life have ended). Martha Stewart has this fabric covered bulletin board she does so I thought I could try that. The item on the left is an emtpy picture frame. The one on the right is cork over canvas.

Tree Trimming

2010-05-22T13:09:00.001-07:00

Trimming has started, the arborist is wearing a green shirt. :

Shredding

Last one- still not 100% changed

Found objects

2010-04-27T04:59:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to figure out what I'm doing. Am I staying here, leaving? I have these boxes that have moved with me. Some are from 4 places ago, some just from Jan of 2007. I decided that I have to unpack them (even if I'm just going to pack them up again). So I found these little things my mother made for me when I was a kid.

The top left hand- is Sunshine. She was the chocolate poodle I got when I was about 8 years old.
The bottom right- I didn't have a duck. It's just something my mom made for me.

The frames were gold and chipping- I painted it with silver paint. The tiles are from a potter in Shelbourne Falls.

Spring in Boston

2010-04-09T16:25:00.000-07:00

There is nothing prettier than new england as the bulbs start to come out.

This is on a walk to Beacon Ave.

Course today it's back to 50 degrees and raining, but it was still a wonderful day.

Trip to Halibut Point

2010-04-06T06:03:00.001-07:00

In contrast to all that bad weather, this past weekend was gorgeous! A friend who recently got a new camera recommended a bit of walking to try it out. Given my concerns of flooding we skipped a few places and instead headed to Halibut Point. Its named not after the fish, but actually because of the sailors saying, "Haul About"

So here's a few shots of the walk:
First a view of the quarry

It looks like a lighthouse, but to be honest, I'm not sure if it is or isn't.

The edge of the Atlantic (straight across you could see Maine)

Effects of all the rain

2010-04-06T05:30:00.000-07:00

It's been all over the news how much rain we've gotten. I was laughing it off since right around me I haven't seen much. Then I went to go for my usual walk around Jamaica Pond. Boy was I surprised. The path I walk on was completely under water.

\

To the left there wasn't quite so much water, but it still came up on the walkway.

This is a photo of the dock. It should be flat, not going up at a 45 degree angle. The first half of it is actually pushed up over the 2nd half. That big white whale to the right is actually a boat wrapped up for winter.

I won!!

2010-03-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it!?!

The Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts.
Wow.
Life is good.

http://thecraftsdept.marthastewart.com/2010/03/congratulations-to-tuesdays-winners.html

What did my old office look like?

2010-03-05T04:15:00.000-08:00

My previous position at the hosopital. In 3 years I actually had 3 separate offices. One had a beautiful window that allowed me to grow plants with ease*. But I shared it with 6 other people (and my boss right around the corner). The second was a 2 person office that had no sun, but a lot of privacy (and the boss way down the hall). The last place was in a file room that had been converted to a 5 person office. That pink wall- that's the back of my desk. Along the floor- the files actually rolled out so that was a track system that everybody tripped over. It was about an inch tall.

Moving into the room, to the right is the side of my desk (my cartoon- doesn't every cubicle cry out for cartoons?) and the 2 people who sat behind me.

And finally, my desk. I had brought my laptop in, that's why I have 2 computers. Not very glamorous.

*Picture of orchid grown with ease

Snow in Georgia

2010-02-28T12:53:00.001-08:00

The weekend of Valentine's I went to GA to visit DrF. The best thing about going down south from Boston in Feb- escape the bad weather of course. So you can imagine my surprise at being faced with this. The nice thing about not being home - I wasn't responsible for shoveling! (Course pretty much nobody is, as it all melted by the next afternoon, still I was happy not to be shoveling.)

First image- I was inside the kitchen trying to photograph. Given the light reflecting, I realized that I would have to open the door so the other pictures are much better.

New gutters!

2010-02-27T06:47:00.000-08:00

I know, too exciting isn't it? Well, if you knew the leaking problems I had last winter you would better understand my enthusiasm for the new gutters. So I won't keep you in suspense any longer...

The copper just doesn't pop in that one though, does it? So let's try that again.

Beautiful things (<-go on, click it)

2010-02-26T05:27:00.000-08:00

I wish that I could make beautiful things. Unfortunately it appears that at this point in my life, the only thing I can do is appreciate the beauty that other people create.
Take a look at the link. Her items are stunning. So stunning, I purchased 2 things.

The ceramic platter and small dish AND a little plate.
Just gorgeous. Now if only my blog was actually viewed by anyone she would get the attention she so obviously deserves.

New job

2010-02-02T04:54:00.000-08:00

In December I left my job at the hospital to join a new company. It's very small (only 4 of us) and we're housed in a larger space. First picture is the entrance when you come off the elevator.

Pretty impressive, no? The picture is at night so you can't see that the conference room (through those circle doors) has this gorgeous view across the water towards Boston.

As we go into our actual office space it's not quite as glamorous. If you look to the right- you see our "conference room"

looking to your left you can see my colleague and his constant companion when a deadline is due: Coke (2L to the left, 20 oz. to the right)

And continuing to your left, you see my desk (with the pictures above) and the other 2 desks.

North Falmouth- away from the ocean

2009-09-08T03:37:00.000-07:00

Around the back side of the house:

Looking along the path:

High Tide:

North Falmouth- Towards the ocean

2009-09-07T11:23:00.001-07:00

View from the front porch:

Walking towards the ocean:

End of the road, here is the beach:

2nd morning-bit more color in the sky:

Western Mass

2009-08-03T04:27:00.001-07:00

------------

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We went to Western Mass to rake blueberries (wild blueberries are low to the ground and small so better picked by using a rake rather than your hands).

Sailing in Newport

2009-06-17T04:39:00.000-07:00

View of other boats:

Rose in bloom

2009-06-08T18:06:00.000-07:00

This is last year after I trimmed the hedges and had to drop the clippings somewhere.

This is this year after planting a few flowers. Be sure to notice the pink flowers under the hostas.

This is how it looked about 2 weeks ago when May was cold and gray.

And this is how it looks now that we've had some really nice warm weather. Just beautiful.

Last block

2009-04-27T04:41:00.001-07:00

Quilt Block 3

2009-04-14T04:40:00.001-07:00

Still have to put them together, but it's coming along.

Nightime on Tremont St

2009-04-07T18:10:00.000-07:00

Needlepoint

2009-03-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

I stitched about 4 stitches, then put it in my workbag and promptly forgot all about it. 've been carting this around since before I left California (so that's over 2 yrs). So nice to have it finished. But now, what to do with it?

Quilting

2009-03-20T06:35:00.000-07:00

My love for crafting knows no bounds. I signed up for another class. Here's how it's going so far.

The next is a modified log cabin- with darks on one side and lights on the other.

What you don't expect to see

2009-02-01T19:39:00.000-08:00

In my town of Jamaica Plain, MA.
Stretch limo with Bull horns on the top. Not sure what's going on with my camera.

Redecorating

2009-01-23T04:25:00.000-08:00

New Rug

Ok, so I've started moving furniture around. Any opinions?

Spontaneous purchase

2009-01-18T06:49:00.000-08:00

Ok so this isn't a spontaneous purchase, it's more of a suprise injury. I slammed my foot into the leg of a chair and managed to break my toe. 2nd from the end- the purple-y one. Yeah it's got me a bit down (well that and the weather). So I was going to go to drive around for a bit. When I hit Roslindale Sq and saw a parking spot I thought, hey maybe I should just wander around the square.

So I walked into Birch St Home and Garden store and found these.

31" H x 39"W

38" H x 18" W

For less than $100 combined!

Now where to hang them?

Knitting

2008-12-28T15:25:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I knit a few children's sweaters. They turned out ok, nothing impressive. I tried to tackle some projects that had more complicated stitches and nothing seemed to progress so...I gave up. Last year I thought I would try again and bought some red yarn to make a scarf- I started it about 6 times and would drop a stitch (I still don't know how to pick up a dropped stitch) or get mixed up on the pattern so... I gave up. Last week a friend told this very sad story about how she wanted a felted hedgehog so I thought I would try again. Success! It only took 2 days to knit and felt. Here's what it looks like:

I'm so pleased, I pulled out the red yarn (scarf above) and am trying again. I have restarted 3 times, but I feel like I finally understand what I was doing wrong all along. Amazing. It's going to be a basketweave

XXXXOOOOXXXXOOOO
XXXXOOOOXXXXOOOO
XXXXOOOOXXXXOOOO
XXXXOOOOXXXXOOOO
OOOOXXXXOOOOXXXX
OOOOXXXXOOOOXXXX
OOOOXXXXOOOOXXXX
OOOOXXXXOOOOXXXX
XXXXOOOOXXXXOOOO
XXXXOOOOXXXXOOOO
XXXXOOOOXXXXOOOO
XXXXOOOOXXXXOOOO
Ironically, I just mistyped the above so had to fix that too.
Wish me luck.

Covering a fuse box

2008-12-27T13:05:00.000-08:00

I have a very unattractive fuse box that you are forced to look at immediately on entering my home. Now I could hang a picture, but there are electric wires coming right out of the top, and it's in a funny spot so I always thought I was stuck just having to have it there.

But I saw someone that used magnets to attach something to a fuse box and Voila! My problem is solved. I used some fancy papers decoupaged to a very light board and now I have a very attractive wall with no sign of a fuse box.

And close up:

Pictures hung

2008-12-09T05:05:00.000-08:00

Blinds!

2008-12-05T11:12:00.000-08:00

After 15 months of newsprint taped up over my windows...

Glorious!

2nd upholstery project

2008-12-03T21:12:00.000-08:00

Ok, did this one on my own.

Upholstery project completed

2008-12-02T04:35:00.001-08:00

Halloween in San francisco

2008-11-13T03:01:00.000-08:00

I miss my family in San Francisco terribly so thought the weekend of Halloween was the perfect time to address this lacking in my life. The weather in Boston was terrible- cold and rainy. So I was really looking forward to SF were the weather would be warm and rainy. Luckily good company more than makes up for bad weather.

First stop- the Halloween parade at the grade school.
It rained before the parade and after, but during... all clear.

But of course who was the star of the parade?

My niece. Almost 6.

Outside of their front door.

Nature areas in MA

2008-10-20T18:10:00.001-07:00

Ok, so the day started with me extolling the virtues of my GPS. How it opened up my world, how it made it so easy to go anywhere. Can we see where this is going? Of course, my GPS totally led us into a cul de sac with the park nowhere to be found. Luckily Carol had an alternative way of finding the place and before we could get too frustrated we had found the park. Well worth the effort. Although it was chilly (mid-50 degrees F) the sun was shining.

After wandering around the park we went to Cape Ann to see the beach.

Hard to believe all of this is less than an hour away from the city.

Trip to Pasco Airport

2008-10-10T04:26:00.000-07:00

Just to give you a feel for the ride from Walla Walla to Pasco

Windmills on the hillside

How I spent one day in Walla Walla

2008-10-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

1. Nephew needed new shoes delivered to school- Flip flop trauma

2. Wandered around Jo-ann Fabrics and found
Peacock Wreath (earlier at the local park we had seen the saddest Peacock ever. It had no feathers in its tail. It was a bit ironic that here I was possibly seeing where the poor things feathers had gone)

Metal corn (really does someone need stalks of "corn" in their garden?)

The House

2008-10-09T04:47:00.001-07:00

The house in Walla Walla is really lovely. I took just a few pictures to give you a feel for the place.
Here's the newly renovated kitchen:

The other side of the kitchen is the eating/computer area:

The lower level has the Den and the kids rooms- here is the door to the bedroom:

The Den:

The Great Triathlon in Walla Walla

2008-10-08T04:22:00.000-07:00

We decided to host our own triathlon. It would consist of scootering (like a Razor scooter), biking, and then running. Starting line is just there were the driveway begins to narrow (at the end of the tree shadow) and the turnaround is at the telephone pole. So you scooter out and back, then bike out and back, then run around the house

What? It might be easier if the picture was marked up?

Run continues around the back of the house

and up this walkway to the original starting line.

Then we added Archery in as a bonus- the target is at the end of the fence line (on the right)

This is just a picture of the front of the house where everyone slowly walked back in to get sustenance after the events.

It's tough competing against your siblings. My niece was complaining that her older sister was always better than her. I told her that some things never change and her mom was still faster than me! She'd just have to find other things that she excelled at.

RV Shopping in Pasco

2008-10-08T04:06:00.001-07:00

On our way back from the airport we stopped by the local mall. While teen and preteen girls may enjoy shopping younger boys aren't quite so thrilled. So my nephew and I went to puruse the RV's for sale in the parking lot. Now, I thought this would be a way to pass the time, but wasn't too excited about what I would see. What a mistake! Look at these things!

They have bunk beds- with personal dvd players.

Driver's seats that are more luxurious than anything I have seen before, full size fridge freezer on the right, dining area on the left-

and I'm sure it was so subtle you didn't notice the sleep away nook above, but sometimes you'd rather a bit of alone time so you can watch the tv that's installed up there

Later

Fun things in Walla Walla, WA

2008-10-02T04:56:00.001-07:00

You can build arrows from scratch

You can go to the library

You can ponder how this presidential election might turn out

End of Summer- Setting

2008-09-05T03:35:00.001-07:00

So this is the house I spent all that time trying to get to. You're standing in the center of the house looking towards the boulevard (away from the bay).

This is looking from the front of the house looking towards the bay.

Once you're at the bay-

As you come around the back here's the back porch:

I realize now there aren't any pictures of my parents or my brother and sister-in-law. I'll have to work on that.

End of Summer- Last trip to the beach

2008-09-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to go to Long Beach Island, NJ for Labor Day Weekend. The drive was horrible and took 9.5 hrs (the first 200 miles took 7 hours). Then, the the lens popped out of my glasses- luckily I had my sunglasses to wear instead. By the time the sun was setting I was able to pull into a rest stop on the NJ Turnpike and buy a glasses repair kit. All in all, a terrible trip down. Fortunately I didn't turn around because I had a great time down at the shore visiting my folks, my brother and sister-in-law.

On Sunday I took a small bike ride up to the north end of the island. There is a lighthouse.

The island is getting bashed on all sides, so they built around it to protect it.

On my bike ride back home noticed this interesting place. (I'm not quite clever enough to paste it all together- you're looking from the far right side of the house across to the left)

The sun was shining- I was able to swim in the ocean. All in all a great trip. And coming home a much more expected 5 hours!

Garden- coming along slowly

2008-08-08T13:20:00.001-07:00

So we had the trimming of the hedges a few weeks ago.
I've been planting a few things- Here are some things I planted 2 weeks ago. The one on the far left will (eventually) yield soft yellow flowers and lots of green foliage.

The blue one in the center is already showing it's flowers. The one to the right should yield white flowers:

Last- this is the sweet pea plant that I started on my windowsill at work that has been replanted outside. It looks more than a bit touch and go (please note many dead shoots) but there is one shoot that is surviving and even one new one that has come out. Given how much rain we've had I'm starting to get a bit optimistic.

Computer Working!!!!!

2008-08-08T13:09:00.001-07:00

About 3 weeks ago my computer had a bit of an accident and would only show me it's "Blue Screen of Death". I thought all was lost, but one of the IT guys I know took a look at it and voila! after not even a full 8 hours in his hands he returned to me a perfectly functioning- no data lost computer. I'm not sure who I'm more thrilled with- the IT guy or my wonderfully functional computer. Sigh. Life is good.

So it isn't Tiffany glass

2008-08-08T03:20:00.001-07:00

But it's still really great. My mother made this. It hangs in my front window.

Tiffany in Boston?

2008-08-06T04:44:00.000-07:00

I was interviewing at Simmons (thinking about getting an MBA). As with most things I ended up walking around a lot in trying to find the place that I was supposed to be. Although I was annoyed about getting lost (which given how often it happens I should be very comfortable with)sometimes it leads to great discoveries. In this case, a private home that was designed by Tiffany.

So what does the outside of this look like? Here's the entrance:

A closeup of the portion over the door:

The bay window to the side of the door:

The portion above the window:

More trim:

Quite a gem.

The great hedge trimming

2008-07-09T03:54:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a long time since my last post. In fact Twitter appears to have rolled in as a major force since then. Ah well. One change at a time.

So those are two of the before photos. In the one directly above you can see at the far left that it had been trimmed down a short bit and then- nothing. I'm not sure who had done that or why they had stopped before doing all of it. Seemed kind of odd. So this past Sat (July 4th weekend) I decided that I really should just level the whole thing off. I layed a string to try and keep things sort of level, and grabbed my hand clipper. After 2 hours we have

At this point I had to take a bit of a break. My hand was killing me. After 3 hours I came back and re-attemped.

By this time I was done. I could barely open and close my hand so I went to the local hardware store and bought a pair of lopers that can cut braches up to 1 5/8". It was an inspired idea! I trimmed off those last few and it's all finished now.

The final version:

Phew. And what of all those trimmings? here they are piled high.

First flower!

2008-05-13T08:31:00.001-07:00

So here it is! The first flower
from the seeds that I planted in March. Pretty cool- huh?

Trip to Brimfield

2008-05-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

A friend belongs to a women's group that provided money to a woman that was interested in going to art school. The woman is doing very successfully and is now giving up her "day job" to focus on painting. It was interesting. Here is a piece of her sculpture:

I purchased one of her paintings. Her studio is in Brimfield, MA. The area is a bit rural. My friend pointed out as we drove, "We're only an hour outside of Boston but it feels like we're about 8 hours outside." The town is well known for the antique shows. Here was something just sitting across the street from francesco's italian restaurant:

All in all, a very good day.

Really bad movie

2008-04-08T03:53:00.000-07:00

I realize it isn't the most devastating thing in the world, but when you spend almost $10 on a movie it would be really great if you felt like it was money well spent. I went to see Run Fat Boy Run (starring that fellow from Sean of the Dead) last night. Man was it a piece of crap. I realized after that it was directed by David Schwimmer (the dull Friend). It was the most formulaic thing. Don't waste your time

Moving on

2008-04-04T04:33:00.000-07:00

Not me- but most of my neighbors. I live in a condo in a building with a total of 4 units. After I moved in- the guy directly below me put his place on the market. He was gone within 2 months. Now the couple who live opposite of him have also bought a new place. Is it just the cycle of things? Is it seeing how much money someone made on their place makes you realize that you want some of that too? I hate change sometimes.

Gardening

2008-03-19T03:18:00.001-07:00

One of the things that I would really like to be knowledgeable about is gardening. I watch HGTV but still only have a basic knowledge of things. This past year my parents gave me one of the seeds of the month and I just started planting them. The seeds were both planted at the same time. The one on the top is doing pretty well on the windowsill at work. The one on the right is in my front window at home. Just goes to show you how much a difference adequate sun can make.

Taking a tumble

2008-03-16T05:57:00.000-07:00

On Friday morning I was hanging out in bed wishing that I didn't have to go to work. Wishing that maybe I was sick or something and could just stay home. I finally got myself together and was walking down the stairs (carrying dirty dishes, camera, glass) when I must have misstepped because I tumbled down my wood stairs and hit bottom. Nothing broke (neither me nor the dishes in my hands) but yowza! I am so sore. I have a black and blue bruise about 5"x3" on my hip, a scrape about 3" x 1/2" on my back, and anytime I move from sitting to sitting up straighter (don't ever bring up moving from sitting to standing)- I feel it. Definitely a case of wished I hadn't gotten what I wished for.

The shortest month

2008-02-24T04:22:00.001-08:00

I just read this book The Last Time I Wore A Dress. The subject of the book is Daphne Scholinski. It's difficult to read- meaning that she spends a number of years in mental institutions. How do people survive such difficult lives? It's hard enough to wake up and function when you have noone that is doing anything abusive to you- how do people that have to struggle through so much manage to do it?

Renovating

2008-01-27T13:22:00.000-08:00

Trying to figure this out.

Here are some pictures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10674108@N08/

It's 5 am

2008-01-26T02:24:00.001-08:00

How long can you have a blog but still remain anonymous?