SK's Project 365

Playing catch-up, sort of

2009-04-01T07:45:00.007-04:00

I started a remodeling project about the same time I stopped taking a daily photo. Imagine that! What a coincidence! I've taken only a handful of shots the last couple of weeks with the intent of posting them. I think I'm probably done with trying to keep up. Looks like my Project 365 is turning into my Project Less-Than-90 for the second year in a row. Sigh.

Here's a knitting project I started before I started the big paint job. It's now finished and is hanging as a valance in the bathroom.

Jumping on the "recession garden" bandwagon, although we actually started planning the garden last fall. I bought a gazillion peat pots and started seedlings two weeks ago.

Ta da! Three days after planting, these showed up!
The best part of a painting project is removing that pesky blue tape and hoping you don't have a lot of touch-up to do afterward. I do (have a lot of touch-up to do), but that'll come later. If I squint, I don't notice the flaws so much.

72/365

2009-03-14T09:35:00.002-04:00

A late-winter snowfall is a real treat. It's beautiful to look at, but you know it'll all be gone by the end of the day!

71/365

2009-03-13T05:47:00.003-04:00

The lime tree (which was the first photo I posted this year) has four little flower buds on it – future limes! Sorry for the fuzziness, my auto-focus didn't know where to land and manual focus was a joke, since I'm the manual focuser. Heh.

70/365

2009-03-11T09:29:00.002-04:00

My $10 indulgence in the ongoing home-improvement project – the original vents were rusted and nasty-looking. This is so elegant and pretty that I smile every time I look at it. And since it's front-and-center in the kitchen, I look at it frequently!

Recent Photos

2009-03-09T07:15:00.005-04:00

I can't even remember what day of the month it is, let alone the year (a la 60/365, my usual naming format). But if I'm ever going to get these photos up, I have to throw the rules out and Just. Do. It.

Cheapest gas price on my whole trip to NC/FL.

Practicing the balance beam at an outdoor park.

The obligatory first palm(etto) sighting in South Carolina.

Gizmo (lookin' kinda yellow, oh well), so happy his daddy is home from the hospital. Me, too!

A day after my arrival home: Snow! It didn't last, thank goodness.

Finally printed out and framed my favorite photo from my last FL trip.

The ice melteth. These icicles formed below the seat
of a wrought iron patio chair. Very cool looking.

It's been hard to get back in the photo-a-day groove. I did this last year, about the same time. Hope to get back to shooting and posting daily soon. SOON!

50/365

2009-02-20T06:24:00.000-05:00

See that stack of coasters there to the left? They've been buried in a kitchen cupboard for 12 years. Nearly all of our surfaces are impervious to liquid, thus we don't use coasters. But I decided I needed something pretty for the salt grinder and pepper mill, so I polished a couple of them and put them to use. They make me smile every time I make dinner.

49/365

2009-02-19T07:49:00.003-05:00

How cute is this? You know that fat people rarely look in the mirror, don't you? But I can't help looking at the cute new 'do I got Tuesday. Love those little spikes! Amazingly, I have product to maintain the look. Heh.

48/365

2009-02-18T06:57:00.003-05:00

The towel tree I ordered January 27 finally – finally! – arrived. I'm so happy with it, and so happy I didn't have to drill holes in the new porcelain tile. It's so much nicer to hang the towels here rather than over the shower rod. I feel like a grown-up again!

47/365

2009-02-17T07:58:00.003-05:00

I rip inspiring ads out of Runner's World and tack them up on the wall behind my computer. This is the latest, and is apropos because I haven't been running lately. But being a runner never stops.

I hope.

46/365

2009-02-16T07:19:00.002-05:00

More cuteness from my mother-in-law's basement. The ball on the right looks white; it's actually – get ready – pastel blue. Heh.

45/365

2009-02-15T07:13:00.002-05:00

I straightened up my yarn closet yesterday; this is a close-up of one sweater's worth, about half a wire cube's worth of yarn. There are 68 stuffed-to-the-gills cubes all together, which makes my yarn collection fall into the category of Good Stuff. When resources are limited, as everyone's are nowadays, it's nice to know the raw materials for a sweater (or a pouf!) or 20 are at my fingertips.

44/365

2009-02-14T12:29:00.002-05:00

Aren't these sweet? My husband found a trunk in his mother's basement and these were in it. He was going to toss them. They were brought from China after WWII as a gift to him from his father. Sometimes men have no sentiment whatsoever.

43/365

2009-02-13T07:31:00.004-05:00

You really need Smell-o-Vision© to appreciate the beauty of this "good stuff" photo. I love walking into my bedroom after the linens have just been changed – that fresh fabric-softener scent is delish!

42/365

2009-02-12T06:28:00.000-05:00

I feel like an inmate, crossing off each day on the calendar until it's time for South Beach Phase Two! One week down, one week to go. So far, so good.

41/365

2009-02-11T14:24:00.003-05:00

This may not look like good stuff to you, and I'll admit it's a pretty yucky photo. But the pile of pine straw that used to be there has been bugging me all winter and it's finally gone. If my husband hadn't inadvertently locked me out of the house yesterday afternoon, I guarantee it would still be there.

40/365

2009-02-10T06:50:00.003-05:00

I mailed six handmade Valentine's Day cards yesterday to each of the grandchildren – this is one of them. There also was a bear offering "BEAR HUGS" and a penguin declaring "TOO COOL." Kept me out of the pantry for six hours.

39/365

2009-02-09T07:11:00.003-05:00

My husband has been working on an ongoing project to clean his mother's basement out. He rescued this old doctor's instrument chest from a mildewy hell, and it now lives in our new bathroom. Much better than the cheap plastic shelving unit that used to hold our toiletries and cleaning supplies.

38/365

2009-02-08T07:20:00.004-05:00

While searching for flavorings and extracts at our local Tiny Kroger yesterday, I ran across a new-to-me seasoning that I just had to try. Bacon was the new black last year, and this product climbs right on that bandwagon. It's zero carbs and calories, low in sodium and added a yummy-yet-not-overpowering bacony flavor to our ground sirloin burgers. I probably should have given my cauliflower a shake or two.

37/365

2009-02-07T06:49:00.003-05:00

Each of our eight closets is illuminated by an old-fashioned pull-on-a-string light bulb. While I was out buying various and sundry items for the bathroom remodel project, I picked up a package of old-fashioned ball chain. I'd love to figure out how to attach some kind of pretty bead to the end of it, but right now I'm happy just to see that little brass chain instead of a ratty old piece of string.

36/365

2009-02-06T08:11:00.002-05:00

It had to happen: A day when I could find nothing good to photograph. And if I had found something good, I wouldn’t have had time to grab the camera.

Grrr.

35/365

2009-02-05T07:06:00.006-05:00

My husband and I sat down to dinner last night and I said, "Your father would have left the table if I'd served crackers in their cellophane sleeve." To which he replied, "You're right, and my mother never put crackers in her soup." When I asked why, he said she didn't think it "looked good."

We both thought it looked very good. (It was!)

34/365

2009-02-04T07:43:00.003-05:00

Not much of an early adapter here. I'm just not getting around to upgrading my OS to Leopard. Argh. I've completely mess up my e-mail. Grrr. Ah, well: This, too, shall pass.

33/365

2009-02-03T06:36:00.002-05:00

Gack, what a horrible photo. Honestly it looked better when I was editing it. Must. Read. Up. On. Metering.

Anyhoo, our remodeling continues apace, this time laying some laminate flooring at the entrance to our office space on the second floor of our garage. What a surprise to pop outside mid-project and see snow falling! It was lovely and unexpected. If I'd had a telephoto lens I could have taken a photo of three does crossing our road – it looked like a Christmas card!

32/365

2009-02-02T07:15:00.002-05:00

When I get really, really frustrated, I can play solitaire for hours on end. Yesterday was one of those days. None of the three doors in our bathroom fit, now that the floor is 1/4" higher. So we have an open-air bathroom floorplan. Not good. Solitaire? Good. Also good? Take a peek at the temperature on the weather widget: 57! My husband and I took a six-mile walk. Lovely ...

31/365

2009-02-01T07:22:00.002-05:00

Those crazy kids over at The Weather Channel have a little mini-feature going on called "Why I Love Winter," in which they interview more crazy kids who talk about the beauty of nature when it's -5°. KRA-ZEEEE! My fluffy, soft, warm, fleecy robe is why I love winter, thankyouverymuch. Here in southern West Virginia, I get to wear it from December through February. Which is pretty much how long winter lasts around here.