Fun morning shopping

Happy July 1st.  Can you believe that we are 1/2 way thru 2011.

My dad took a ride to Vermont with my brother yesterday and they stayed overnight at my brothers place in East Ryegate which is across the road from Tickle Naked Pond. Quite the name for a pond, eh? :-) My dad decided to go, because there has been a gastrointestinal bug going around the nursing home with residents and staff, and they discouraged visits for a few days. Dad feels real guilty if he doesn't go to visit my mom everyday.

That meant I had the morning free today. I decided to take a ride to the scrapbook store...The Crop Shop in Rockland. I knew from an email that came yesterday that the new Wizard of Oz papers and other item's had come in.
Right as I entered the store, just inside the front door..I found a rack with all the new Graphics 45, Wizard of Oz items. And, then as I was selecting my Oz items,  the owner told me everything in the store was on sale for 30% off. She made my day, but I then I knew my checkbook would take a good hit. :-)

I took photos of what I bought and they are below...
Wizard of Oz 8 x 8 scrapbook pad. double sided 8 x 8

















I almost bought the larger 12 x 12 pad, but I decided to buy individual sheets of the larger papers that
I liked best.
  12 x 12 double sided papers
packages 1 and 2 of chipboard Wizard of Oz pieces
3 packages of Wizard of Oz foam mounted rubber stamps
assorted 12 x 12 double side papers and cutouts
assorted beach themed 12 x 12 papers and cutouts
London themed stickers
a few sheets of London, England themed 12 x 12 scrapbook papers
leaf stickers, 2 horse die cut outs, lace
assorted circus themed 12 x 12 papers

12 x 12 Tim Holtz double sided paper pack and two  Distressed Ink pads.

I also signed up for a class at The Crop Shop for Sunday, July 10th, which is my birthday.  I decided it would be a nice birthday present to myself, as I haven't taken a class in ages.  The guest teacher will be,    Cheryl Mezzetti , and accomplished artist. I am taking the Seaside Escape Album class from (10:00am-12:30pm) at The Crop Shop. I met Cheryl yesterday when she brought the journal for her second class for Sunday, July 10th, to The Crop Shop. I am still debating whether to sign up for her second class. Both journals were full of embellishments and very well done.
                                                       Seaside Escape Photo Journal Class

Cheryl's second class that she will be teaching...Easel photo journal

As I was leaving the scrapbook store there were 2 chipmunks in the grass in front of my car. I had my camera handy, and I snapped these photos.

I love chipmunks, and they seem to be everywhere this year. In the past several years I hadn't seen many at all.
I took the two photo's below in Plymouth the other day when I took my mom out of the nursing home to bring her to Jordan  hospital, in Plymouth  for an ultrasound test.  Then, Dad and I treated mom to a lobster roll at Isaac's restaurant which overlooks Plymouth harbor. It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day and mom enjoyed her time away from the nursing home.

I snapped these photos of swans near my parents house when I was bringing my mom back to the nursing home.   reflections on the water..neat.
Yesterday, I had to go for a routine bone density test, in Dartmouth. I stopped at the Michael's store that was nearby and found more of the smooch spritz sprays on clearance.  Have you tried these? I love them.
F.Y.I....Stay tuned...tomorrow I will be posting another giveaway. So, don't forget to check back.
Hope you all have a happy, but safe 4th of July long holiday weekend.

Busy few days

Friday, I took a ride to Rhode Island with my cousin, Cheryl who is a florist. We went to a wholesale florist so she could get flowers to make funeral arrangements for my cousin, Lillian that passed away.
Saturday, we went to the Cape for the funeral. After the funeral, family went to my cousin, Jon's house. Sad day, but it was nice to see cousins who live far away..Saipan, Florida, Ohio, and Vermont.
Later in the afternoon on our way home we stopped at our niece's for her twins 4th birthday party.  There was lots of good food, and it was fun watching the twins open their many gifts.
Here are a few pictures that I took. The twins..(in red)  Kyle and Cody received so many gifts. The boys loved trying out their new scooters that their Aunt Kelly gave them.
 Below is Kyle having a serious talk with my dad.
 
Today, I spent a most enjoyable afternoon with my good friend, Betty Ann. We  took a ride to  look for a double white clematis at several nurseries in the area, but we had no luck.                               We did find a site on the internet that had a double white clematis,  and I am going to see if I can order one. I am hoping it's not too late for this year's planting. The name of the white clematis is Duchess of Edinburgh. Then, I took Betty Ann around the cranberry bogs to see what wildlife we could spot.
Here are some photos I snapped of a great blue heron. Every time I moved to try and get closer it flew off, but I couldn't get the bird in flight. By the time I got the bird in my lens and got the correct zoom, it had moved.  As we were leaving the great blue heron flew off, and a second bird that had been hidden from our view joined it. I was quite a distance away from the bird taking the photos... Thank goodness for zoom lenses.
 
Cat a nine tails...a week ago the cat tails were still all yellow, but this week they are starting to darken.


I was distressed to see dirt bikes had ridden up and down the large sand pit where the bank swallows were nesting. I did see some swallows flying in and out of their nest holes.

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend. The sun finally did come out yesterday afternoon, and also today in the afternoon. We have had rain for several days straight.

Got Leg's ?

I decided I would make a pot roast with vegetables in my crock pot this morning.  I had peeled and cut my onions, celery, and potatoes. I had started peeling carrots, and I got a laugh as I pulled this carrot out of the package.


Silly me, I had to take a picture of this weird carrot, and couldn't bring myself to peel and cut it up and add it to the crock pot. Gee, do you think if I put it for auction on ebay someone would buy it? New Barbie legs, or perhaps write up some ridiculous story, and maybe make a million dollars. (LOL)  Even sillier...coat the carrot with envirotex and make some art project out of it. Just kidding. :-)

Now, I am off to run errands, pick up a few groceries, and then head to my dad's, make his lunch. Then, I will take dad and we will go visit mom in the nursing home. Then I will take dad home, make his supper, and finally return home. Thankfully, our supper will be done.

P.S..coming home from my dad's on a nearby cranberry bog I saw 2 adult turkeys and 4 little ones. Too cute!!

Alphabet art..C is for Cranberries

How could I not go with cranberries to use as a theme for my alphabet art C tag.  Cranberries was the first thing that popped into my head. 
Below: front of my tag using the cranberry stamp that I designed.

Back side of my C tag.
Water harvested cranberries scene. I found 2 different 12 x 12 sheets of cranberry themed scrapbook paper at Colorful Creations scrapbook store in Hyannis. I cut the tag with my Big Kick and my Tim tag die out of the glossy paper with the water picked berries scene. The paper looks likes a big photograph, don't you think?

Today is the first day of summer, and it is also the longest day of the year. Tomorrow the days start to get shorter again. Summer just doesn't last long enough. Enjoy your day!!!

Art tag inspired by new Tim stamps

Last week I used a coupon at Michael's to buy one of Tim Holtz's new foam mounted, red rubber stamp sets. Yesterday, I took a few minutes to make an art tag using my new stamp images.
I used one of my many pre cut manila tags that made with my Big Kick and my Tim tag die.
My  Tim distress ink pads were out on my desk,  and so I chose to use...peeled paint and shabby shutters for my tag. Next I sprayed my new Smooch Spritz  pearlized accent sprays onto the tag. The colors were  Citrus Tickle (yellow green) and Splash (blue). In the past several weeks I have found several packages of the Smooch Spritz's marked down from $9.99 to $3.99 in a variety of colors at Michael's. I have had fun using those Smooch sprays on my tags. There are some new colors in the Smooch Spritz's, but those weren't marked down.
I then stamped my new Tim  images with black memories ink onto my prepared tag. While waiting for my tag to dry I pleated some of Tim's paper tape. When the tag was dry I adhered the tissue tape to the bottom of my tag, and then added a butterfly to the center of the tape.


This morning I ran some errands, including getting my oil changed. Then I made what was going to be a quick side trip to A. C. Moore. I spent way longer in the store than I thought, as it took me awhile to decide what to use my 50% coupon on. I ended up using my coupon on a Tim embossing folder that I didn't have.             
While in A. C. Moore I met a very nice lady, and we ended up talking for quite awhile.

Before heading home I stopped at the nursing home to see my mom. Other family members came while I was there. Mom ended up with  quite a gang visiting including 4 of her great grandchildren. While at the nursing home, I gave my granddaughter, Bella her first taste of a red Tootsie Roll pop, and she loved it!!! :-)

Now that I am home, I have to start some laundry and think about what to make for supper tonight. Take out sure sounds good right now.

Stray Kitty naming contest winner is....

Sorry that I didn't post the winner of my contest a few days ago, but my days remain hectic.
Our stray has remained nameless long enough. We had a difficult decision to make, as there were several names that were suggested that Tom and I both liked. After going thru names left in the comments on the original posting, and then when we found out our stray was a male kitty. After much debating our stray kitty now has an official name.

 

The winning name is.......Tuffy, which was suggested by Debbie of CraftyMooseCrafts .                                                                                    Tom and I both thought that Tuffy was an appropriate name for our stray kitty, because he managed to stay alive from birth thru the long freezing, snowy winter living on his wits outside.
Debbie...let me know if you would like earrings or something Tim Holtz to use in an art project. Please email me    EAkers@aol.com   your mailing address.
Thanks to all that suggested names.

Bearded Iris

I haven't had time for art, but wanted to share with you a lovely iris that my cousin picked up for me while visiting her aunt in New Hampshire. Cheryl's aunt, Priscilla sell plants. Cheryl also bought me another new re blooming iris while at her aunts, a pretty blue. The blue iris had already bloomed by the time I received it, and so I will have to wait until fall to see it bloom. I wish all my iris bloomed twice in a season. 
This deep violet purple iris is really pretty, and shimmers when the sun shines on it.

Superstition
 

waiting to see this blue iris bloom.

Below is another photo that I took at the cranberry bog. High up in another sand bank is a belted kingfisher's nest hole that my brother,Paul found and told me about. He saw the kingfisher going in and out of it's nest hole. Kingfishers always nest near water so they have a good supply of fish to eat.
The day that I went I didn't see the bird, but thought that those of you who have never seen a kingfisher's nest might find it interesting. I love birdwatching and also find the different bird nests interesting.

 
I also picked up a good sized white quartz rock that I found at the base of a sand pit while I was driving around the bog. I am always on the lookout for white quartz to add to my rock garden in the back yard. My car always needs a good hosing off after driving around the dusty dirt roads.

Tom is slowly getting the numerous tomato plants that he started from seed into the garden. I can't wait for garden fresh, ripe tomatoes. Just thinking of eating a garden ripe tomato sandwich is making my mouth water.

 

 

P.S... while I was driving my dad home late this afternoon I spotted a male Eastern Bluebird flying back and forth across the road. I sure wish a pair would nest in one of my bluebird houses that I have in my yard.