Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Day #59 - All in black and white

Inspired by Trish and her great b&w photos, I learned something new about my camera today and played around with it.

I liked the angle of this...

I liked the bits of shadow...
(colors are shades of pink, rose, and corals)

Boy, this camera is good! If you look reeeal close, you
can see a cat hair right about the middle of the photo!

I liked the slight depth of this one...

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Day #58 - Just a bunch of lightweights

Every little bit helps, even if it's only 1 or 2 pounds. I usually use them while watching TV but I've been lazy lately, and they've just been laying around, collecting dust.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Day #57 - Postal profusion

*sigh* It's a losing battle. This is less than two weeks worth of catalogs. Doesn't matter that we're on every mail preference/suppress list out there. Doesn't matter if I tell them NOT to put my name on their mailing lists. All it takes is using a credit card, contributing to charity, or placing an order somewhere and boom! we get inundated with a whole new series of unwanted catalogs/email.

I hardly ever look at them anymore, they just go straight from the mailbox to the recycle bin. What a depressing waste of perfectly good trees.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Day #56 - Snow bud


The rhododendron in my front yard are fearlessly getting ready to do their thing in spite of the fickle and contrary weather we've been having.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Day #55 - Up in smoke


This crime scene is all that's left of the Dunkin' Donut shop where we get our goodies. Last week, an armed man attempted to rob a liquor store located in the same strip mall. For unknown reasons, he started a fire, which totally destroyed the entire mall - along with about eight businesses. The lone fatality, the charred body of the gunman, was located the next day.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Day #54 - More red


Got this in the mail yesterday and now I think we're done with red stuff for the kitchen. Maybe a red dish drainer, but that's about it. We're starting to get more than I planned, and I don't want to grow weary of it too soon.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Day #53 - Tool of the trade

It was critter prevention day today at my house so we had our regularly-scheduled visit from the exterminator. Call me silly, but I have this thing about unwanted "guests" and like to keep the creepy crawlies and unloved four-legged furry beasts down to the barest minimum, preferably far away altogether. Living in a rural area, we get more than our fair share - spiders, crickets, ants, earwigs (they used to enjoy coming in to watch the 11 pm news,) mice, squirrels & birds (who liked to nest in our chimney,) moles, groundhogs, skunks, snakes - you name it, we've probably seen it hanging around, chewing on the shed, or dropping in to pay a visit at one time or another.

Oh yeah - tres exciting day, the bugman came! God, I must get out more!*sigh*

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Day #52 - A Little Ray of Sunshine


I was struck by the sun bouncing off the gold rim of these glasses this morning and tried to capture the moment. I failed miserably but it's still an interesting picture.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Day #51 - Hair Care


A trip to the salon to get a haircut was about as exciting as it got today.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Day #50 - Out with the old, in with the new


We're on a roll replacing stuff in the kitchen. Having grown real tired of the grungy, dirty-looking-but-clean plastic storage containers we've been using for at least a bazillion years, we bought some new ones.

They came with a convenient holder that keeps everything in one place, thus giving us the added bennie of freeing up shelf space in two cabinets, as well as a drawer that held all the lids.

Out, damned spot! out, I say! - lol
Well, maybe off to Goodwill anyway.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Day #49 - Red Stuff


My collection of red stuff is growing. After I can't even remember how many years, we decided to retire the glass canisters and replace them with these cool red enamel ones Lew found at Wal-Mart. Slowly but surely, my red/white/bisque kitchen is evolving.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Day #48 - We went with the choosy moms


So we did the wise thing and pitched the questionable peanut butter. However, the man must have his peanut butter and Ritz, so that meant getting a new jar, along with a few other items we needed - and one we didn't. So much for cutting back on calories - that apple pie sure is good! ;)

Friday, February 16, 2007

Day #47 - Family Jewels


I got lazy and cheated - today's photo is doing double duty. I'm using it here and also on my regular blog for tomorrow's Photo Hunt theme, which is "antique." The ring was my mother's, who would be 92 if she were alive. The watch belonged to my father-in-law, who passed away 2-1/2 years ago, a few months shy of his 92nd birthday.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Day #46 - Peanut, peanut butter...


Oh dear, we've eaten a good 2/3 of our "contaminated" jar with no ill-effects. Not sure what that means, but we probably shouldn't tempt fate and should just get rid of the rest of it. These foodborne disease outbreaks are occurring a lit-tle too frequently for my tastes... pardon the pun.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Day #45 - Reflux Relief


Diagnosed with GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease) aka Acid Reflux, a year or so ago, I take this handy-dandy little miracle drug to keep it under control. Worth its weight in gold, it works wonders and allows me to once again enjoy the foods I love.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Day #44 - What is this white stuff?



Hello??? The little beast didn't see his shadow!! We're not supposed to be having six more weeks of winter. We're not supposed to be getting this, this... substance! It's pretty and all that good stuff, but enough already - I want some warmth, some sunshine!

~ ~ ~

So, that's the way I felt this morning when I looked out the window. Then... well, check out my bonus pictures...

...aww, the man brought me some sunshine!

Monday, February 12, 2007

Day #43 - Quiet Please!


I live with a snorer. Love the man to pieces but there have been times when suffocating him with his own pillow would have been easy. Soooo, wanting to keep him around for a bit longer, I broke down and tried these last night. (more of the story on my regular blog.)

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Day #42 - Sunday Comics


I must get back to basics. I used to thoroughly enjoy spending my Sunday mornings reading the entire Sunday paper. I'd begin with the news, then sports, Metro, Style, and Parade, and saving the best for last, end up with the comics. Now I get most of my news from the TV or computer, and occasionaly skim the paper. I can't remember the last time I sat down and read the whole thing. And I like to read!

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Day #41 - Someone's in the kitchen...

Down to my last jar in the freezer, it was time to restock one of my favorite snacks - Spicy Black Bean Salsa - aka Texas Caviar. If you know how to use a can opener, it's easy-peasy. ;)

A little of this, a little of that...
and you end up with some good stuff!
You can find the recipe on my recipe blog, Marianne's Kitchen.

Friday, February 9, 2007

Day #40 - Beddy Teddy


This little guy 'sits' guard in our guest bedroom, keeping it safe and ready for the next guest. ;)

In case anyone missed it, the answer to yesterday's "what is it" is an update in that post - thanks for playing all!

Thursday, February 8, 2007

Day #39 - What is it??

2-09-07 - UPDATE:
Desert Song got it!... well, pretty close anyway. It's just a plain ol' duster - a modern-day version of the feather duster, I guess. I keep it by my monitor, which collects all kinds of dust - darn thing picks up everything but men and money!

Anyway, you don't win a prize or anything, just a great big ATTA GIRL!! and a Thanks for Playing! :) LOL!

So, going about my mundane day, and unable to come up with anything other than mundane, I decided to totally steal Southern Girl's idea (thanks!) and tried to come up with something to make y'all ponder instead. Had fun playing on the macro setting too. I'll post what it is tomorrow (or tell you if someone guesses.) :)

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Day #38 - Meltdown


Well, this didn't turn out quite the way I intended, but it was colder than cold and I wasn't about to stand out there putzing around for better shots... it is what it is.

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Day #37 - Baby, it's cold outside


Holy ice cubes, Batman!! It's flippin' frigid out there! Like much of the rest of the country, we're experiencing some of the coldest temps we've had in over a decade. Our thermometer read 9 (!) degrees last night, which is pretty darn cold for this area, and it's well on its way for more of the same tonight.

So, rather than turn the heat up a few more degress, we put our nifty quartz heater into service. It does a very nice job of chasing the chilly cold spots away with a lot less energy.

Monday, February 5, 2007

Day #36 - Old Bag

I wrote about this purse on my blog today. It's soooo old, but, but, but... there's nothing wrong with it! Ah, well, it' really time for me to break down and spring for a new one. I deserve it.

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Day #35 - Fuel for fire



They're predicting single-digit temps for us this week, so The Man is making sure we stay comfy cozy by stocking up on and stacking a supply of wood. Not to mention providing us the pleasure of sitting in front of a crackling fire while pigging out on munchies and watching the Super Bowl. Whatta guy!

Saturday, February 3, 2007

Day #34 - Soup's on


Today was soup day - it's a staple 'round our house but somehow I let us run out of my favorite - oh no! Since we just can't have a freezer without taco soup in it, I remedied the sitchee-a-shun. Soooo good on a cold winter day.

Friday, February 2, 2007

Day #33 - Just buttons

After posting today's picture for Stuff Portrait Friday on my regular blog, I remembered that I had more buttons in my scrapping supplies. Soooo, not being terribly creative today, decided to use them as the subject for my daily photo also. A little reflection gone awry there, but what the hey, it kinda adds a little interest, right? lol

Thursday, February 1, 2007

Day #32 - The Beasties


My beastie babies checking out a flock of big ol' noisy blackbirds, who were caw-cawing and rummaging around the grass for fallen acorns and any creepy crawlies that survived the cold.