I'm moving....

over to my own domain. 
www.halleshobbies.com

I hope you'll update your blogroll, links, etc and visit me at my new home.
 

Baby, it's cold outside...

So glad the kids don't have school today!! 

We can stay in and stay warm.

Although the cold is doing it's best to try to get in...

That is ice on the inside of the front door. I even made a draft stop but the cold is persistent.

Anybody needs me...I'll be under a blanket, drinking tea.

 

Wish Jar

No, this isn't a work of art...
it's just something I did quickly to cover a hot cocoa container. I may pretty it up more...or not.

I read about a great way to painlessly save for Christmas all year long and thought....hmmm...

We have our 20th wedding anniversary coming up in a little over 15 months. We've always talked about going someplace special for each of our "big number" anniversaries but never have. Mostly because we had little kids at the time. Now that they are older, I think it's time.

So I've decided that every $5 bill that crosses my path goes directly through the slot I cut in the lid. I'm not going to look, count, or in anyway keep track until it's time to open it to pay for our trip.


Mr. G is on board the our savings plan. We are both excited to see how much we can save. Since cash isn't a commodity we use a lot, it could be slow going. When I told my mom about what we were doing and she sweetly slipped me the $5 bills she had on hand.

What do you think of our plan??

 

Happy New Year 2013

First of all....

Hope you all had a wonderful New years eve!!  

Best wishes to all in 2013.

I have decided to pick a word for the year once again.

This year I have chosen  "Simplify" .  

I'll use this word as a guide in the year to come.

Thank you so much for continuing to read and follow my blog. 

 

10 years ago....

We welcomed our baby girl 

into the world. 

Welcome to double digits sweetie!

 

Still here...

Just trying to claw my way back to the functional world again. 

Isn't it amazing how strong yet fragile we are as humans. Something microscopic can take us out of commission for days.

I've had a "flu-like" virus. 

The kind that makes you feel like a wet noodle. The kind that makes the 10 step walk to the bathroom and back to bed seem like a 10 mile hike.  

Mr. G  stayed home from work to look after me when my fever was 103°F.  He also made me Jell-O when I mentioned that it sounded good. That may not sound like a big deal to you but it certainly was to me. As the kids would say, "Dad is not a cooker".  Makes me smile.

 

Relief and sucess

After setting up my table at our local Curves on Friday evening, I felt a little sense of relief. 

The picture looks a bit odd because of one of the exercise machines behind my space.

Anyway...in the morning I made a few adjustments. 

No time for photos then. 

There was a steady stream of customers throughout the day.

It was a fun day...lots of time spent with great women as well as a wonderful learning experience for me. And I'm not going to lie, having a lit bit of cash at the end of the day is pretty sweet.

It snowed!!

I absolutely love the first snow falling for the season...whether it "sticks" or not. 

It tells me that winter is on it's way. 

YEAH SNOW!

Spoken by a native Minnesotan 

and 100% Norwegian-American.

 

Chaotic craft area

I've been in non-stop arts and crafts mode in preparation for this Saturday's craft sale. 

Haven't taken a moment to clean up 

Yes, that is my clothes dryer...

Don't judge me, the height is perfect for a workstation

I'm both nervous and excited.

So much so that I'm having 

those dreams....

you know the ones...

like the one when you're on your way to take a final the determines if you graduate 

and you can't find the way... 

or you forgot to study.... 

or you get there 5 minutes before the test is over.

Seriously...

I'm planning to do a test setup of my table display and make sure I have all my ducks in a row tomorrow.

 

Apples, apples everywhere

On Saturday, a few families on the block got together to help harvest the apples from our neighbor's trees. 

It's a big job but the fruits of our labor really pay off.

This year 63 grocery bags of apples were picked.

The apples were all big and beautiful with very few blemishes or worms.

Amazing!

We took home about 6 bags worth. 

I set up shop in the garage so I could make a mess and not worry about it. 

Concrete washes quite nicely. 

 After countless hours of cranking the peeler, I ended up with 23 gallon size freezer bags of peeled and sliced apples ready for the next stage of processing.

So far I've dehydrated 10 trays of apples, 4 pans of apple crisp-ready to be thawed then baked and cooked up about 2.5 gallons of applesauce. 

And I still have a freezer full of bagged apples. 

I am going to have to can the rest of the applesauce I make since my freezer can't hold any more.

 

Wordless Wednesday

It's school time....

I'm back....

from my computer woes to say.... 

I'm proud of our girl. 

Don't get me wrong...I love them both equally but I had some special things to share from Little J. 

She took a ceramic class this summer and we were able to pick everything up just before my computer hiccups. 

She actually had a couple other pieces but I'm really not sure where she stashed them. Unfortunately, she has my "creative bent" for organizing....

The black glazed piece was the first...she said it's to fill Gracie's water bowl. Isn't that sweet...too bad it takes 3 fills to do the job. 

She got to use a pottery wheel...I'm quite jealous! That is something I want to do sometime. Need to just dive in and take a class. 

This was her 1st bowl on her own.

This was her second....

This one I love because of the swirl in the bottom and that she made a lid that sits nicely on top completely by accident. 

Yes we spent a week driving 30 mins one way out into the country each day for a 2 hour class but I was totally worth the joy on her face. She told the instructor that she was looking forward to next summer when we picked up the pieces the following week. 

My other thing I that just had to mention as long as I'm singing the praises of my second born is late in coming. She got her hair cut for Locks of Love for the second time way back in June.  

Here's the before:

And the after with 10 inches cut off:

Cutest haircut ever!! 

Perfect for a hot, hot summer such as this one.

 

Busy, busy end of school

Ever have one of those weeks that you have all planned out way a head of time...then when the week begins you completely forgot that you had a zillion things to do?? That's been my week. I think the 3 day Memorial Day holiday weekend was what started me off on the wrong foot. Monday turned into Tuesday in the blink of an eye. 

 Tuesday I was a bit under the weather...allergies and such.
Wednesday was filled by inventory at the school library.

Yesterday I got to go to the Arboretum as a chaperon for Little J's class. I really love it there. We should really get a membership...but I digress.

The girls enjoyed the Japanese garden...

especially the koi.

I enjoyed a moment of quiet serenity myself. 

But we can't forget about the flowers...

So many beauties. 

It was hard to choose which to share.

This was my favorite floral photo of the day.

Soft and dreamy...and pink!

Today will be my "catch-up" day. 

The team of fairies I wished for at the fountain never showed. A girl's got to dream, right?!?!

How are you preparing for summer?

 

Meet Gracie...

We adopted her yesterday.

All we planned to do on Saturday was pick up some more fish for the tank and we ended up applying to adopt a cat.

Crazy how things work sometimes.

She's almost 2 yrs old. She had the name Grace but we thought Gracie sounded a bit cuter.

Both myself and J have cat allergies but only to certain cats.

We had J pet the cat then rub his hands on his face. In the past, if he's allergic, he'd start sneezing and getting itchy eyes almost immediately. 

No reaction.

I also didn't have any reaction.

It was meant to be.

She has very pretty markings.

This is what she's been doing most of today...

basking in the sun, watching the birds and bugs fly around.

Pretty simple life...

The really strange thing was, in the adjoining cages there were cats named Halle and Tika....not very common names!! I have a cousin named Tika. It would have been just to strange to take that pair home...plus if they were anything like Tika and I, they'd have gotten into a lot of mischief. :) 

 

It's my birthday....

another big one! 

Time certainly does speed up the more years that go by.

I haven't had some weird mid-life crisis such as wanting to take up sky-diving or get a motorcycle. 

No tattoos, although I did dye my hair pink for breast cancer awareness last October.

Later we are going to have 

my favorite meal...

SUSHI !!

 

It's so nice!!!!

I have no art to share...just my giddiness over the nice weather! 

It's 81°F in Minnesota on March 16th!!! 

The funny part is that there is still ice on the lakes around here. Obviously not safe to be on but ice none the less.

Have a wonderful weekend!

I know I'm going to be enjoying the great outdoors while it lasts...being Minnesota...it could snow next week. :)