{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}~ April 17, 2016

Joyous Good Shepherd Sunday!  We've had lots of {pretty} and {happy} around here this week.  Read on . . .

{Pretty}

My {pretties} this week all revolve around springtime.  There is so much going on and so much to do in yard and gardens!  Today we planted tomatoes, peppers, and carrots (which should have been done sooner, alas).  More planting is to come, but we got a good start today.  I've also begun working with flowers.  I got these bee-yoo-ti-ful geraniums into their three barrels at the front of the house.  See, see?

The nursery where I buy my flowers has greenhouses upon greenhouses stuffed with fabulous plants.  My phone pic does not do it justice~

The view from the nursery parking lot is equally fabulous~

Again, phone pic.  The colors were more vivid in person.

{Happy}

Mid-week, I went with Elizabeth, Justin, and girls to the zoo.  I'm so {happy} that we can spend time together regularly now!

Arane and her daddy rode the carousel.

Justin, Arane, and Verity in front of the famous statue of Phil the Gorilla

Elizabeth and Arane

Verity

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Dave is never {happy}-er than when he's piddling down by the pond, poking at a fire.

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{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}~ April 10, 2016

Here I am, back with a full-fledged {phfr} post after going AWOL.  May I just take this opportunity to say that I'm loving having Elizabeth and her family nearby?  So much fun!

{Pretty}

One of the fun things involved doing this cute craft with Arane last week.  We used these directions, though, really, a picture is all that is necessary.  The apple is cute, sure, but isn't Arane cuter? I ask you~

Sorry for the weird lighting!

Apparently, Arane really enjoyed making this.  Her mom says she talked about it all day!

{Happy}

Last week, I took both girls to the farm store to see the baby chicks.  They loved the chicks, which were awfully cute, I admit!  We followed it up with a donut as Baskin-Robbins.  I love Grandma time!

{Funny}

My 86-year-old mother, though still very spry for her age, has given up hosting holiday celebrations at her house.  So she's been distributing many of her holiday decorations among the family, and I fell heir to these cute ducks.  

This one is cheeky, don't you think?

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{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}~ April 3, 2016

I did not mean to disappear for almost a month, and, alas, this week's post is being made in the utmost haste.  Next week I'll try to give a more complete update.  For now, let this suffice.

{Pretty}

I planted these mini daffodils two falls ago in a place that can only be seen from a window at the back of the house.  I loved seeing them through that window!  Flowers strategically placed to enhance a view from inside make my happy!

{Happy}

My older daughter and her family have moved nearby!  This makes me extremely happy!  Instead of being ten and a half hours away, they are a half hour away. The busyness associated with that move is why I haven't posted for awhile.  More on that next week, but here's a picture of the girls with their Pobba by the pond.

That's all for now!  More next week!

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{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}~ March 6, 2016

Hello, all!  I'm a little short on pictures this week because I left my camera in another state.  I've been reduced to using Dave's phone camera, not that it makes that much difference with the quality of pictures I usually take, but still.  Nevertheless, here's my contribution to this week's {phfr} link-up.

{Pretty}

We finally got these watercolors hung up!  Every stage went in fits and spurts (shop for frames and dither; buy the frames, wait a month to put the paintings in them; decide to have that room painted; wait for the painters to come~ you get the picture), but they are finally hung.  Our choice of locations was limited, what with all the windows and doors in this house, so we settled on this short hallway (hence the odd angles of the pics) as the only place big enough for all eight (barely big enough!).  I think Dave and I did a good job spacing them all evenly and nary a cross word passed between us.

These paintings have an interesting origin.  When Dave's mother was very young, her family went on vacation in the Virgin Islands only to have World War II break out in the meantime, making it impossible for them to get home.  So they stayed for two years.  Just like that~ two years in the Virgin Islands!  Both parents were artists, and Dave's grandfather, Luman P. Kelsey, painted these watercolors of local life.  These remind me of storybook illustrations and I'm convinced there is a story to go with them somewhere, just waiting to be born.

Here are a couple in detail~

Harvesting Sugar Cane

Wash Day

I'm thrilled Dave had such talented relatives, and I'm thrilled to finally have these on display!

{Happy} and {Funny}

Last week, we took a few Nigerian friends to see some sights in St. Louis, including the Gateway Arch and the fabulous zoo!

Photo credit: Dave

Elephants always look like they're smiling and having a good time!

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}~ February 28, 2016

Unless I crash and burn within the next thirty-three hours and twenty-one minutes, I managed to get through February without falling into the doldrums.  Yea for me!  It may be because winter has been mild or because I've been very busy or because there has been extra sunshine, but for whatever reason, it happened.

{Pretty} and {Happy}

A welcome sign of spring~

The daffodils are up and will soon be blooming, especially if this 70-degree warm spell continues.  In two weeks, pansies will be in the stores, and that will mean spring has officially begun.  I love sweet pansies!

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For over a year I have been planning to do a collage of family photos on a wall of our bedroom.  I finally finished amassing the photos and frames (some of which were fine as they were, some needed to be bought and others painted) and got them hung yesterday all by me onesie.  The silhouettes are of my two girls, done years ago by a man from Russia or a former Soviet satellite, judging by his accent, at the Bob Evans Farm Festival in Rio Grande (that's RYE-oh Grand), OH.  His skill was amazing!  He cut the likenesses freehand with a pair of surgical scissors in about three minutes each.  I updated them with new frames and I'm really pleased with how they turned out!

The frame in the middle bottom was copied from something I saw in a craft store for $50.  It's just an empty frame strung with twine to which I clipped snapshots using little clothespins left over from another project.  We already had the twine and I bought the frame from Goodwill for $5.  It didn't even need painting.  I took out the horrid Andy Warhol quotation, used hot glue to attach the twine and it was finished!  It will be really easy to change photos too.

I love how it all turned out.  I think maybe someday we will paint over the school bus orange walls. :)

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{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}~ February 18, 2016

Look at this!  I'm joining Like Mother, Like Daughter on time for once!

Leila suggested we share our desks for this week's {phfr}, so here's my contribution.  I've already shared my new workspace a couple weeks ago, but here's a quick pic to jog your memory.  

It's just a dining table and two chairs, but it's great for spreading out my books and papers as I prepare for my classes, pay bills, or whatever.  I love the way it looks and it is consistently tidy, but that's because I don't actually keep any of my "desk stuff" on it.  This is where I keep that~

And I'm using the word "keep" in its loosest possible meaning because it is really too strong a word for what happened here.  "Keep" denotes forethought and purpose, neither of which went into the decision (again, loosely interpreted) to stow things on this little table when we were unpacking over a year and a half ago.  The table itself I love.  It was my mother-in-law's and I know nothing about its age or origins, except that it came from her side of the family and is very old and handmade.  It's in the dining room, a mile away from my new desk, but I don't want to clutter up my new pretty space with this stuff.  Of course, this space would be prettier if I cleared things out and tidied up.  I do think about that almost weekly, so you see, I'm not a total slob.

The wood organizer, again using that term loosely, is where my papers go to die.  The white container holds letters to answer, address labels, stamps, and a few odds and ends.  The stack on the left is things I need and ought to find a better home for (except the map of England and Scotland, which I've designated a spot for but haven't hung up yet), and the stack on the right is mainly back issues of Imprimis, which are awaiting my attention.  (Do you get Imprimis?  You should.  Hillsdale College sends it out monthly and it's free.  Or you can read it online here.)  In the drawer is stationery and a few odds and ends.  The drawer doesn't actually work that well, so it's not a good spot for things that get used often.

So, to sum up, I keep my desk clean by having everything in a semi-jumble on this table instead, which is not ideal and feels like cheating.  Maybe soon I can rework this space and make it more appealing and functional.

But don't hold your breath. ;)

Thanks for visiting! :)  

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}~ February 7, 2016

Joining in the fun with Like Mother, Like Daughter.

{Pretty}

After a few days of murk and gloom, the sunshine is even more welcome than usual, don't you think?  The evening light in our dining area one day last week was especially bright and warm.

And today there was rosy sunlight against ominous clouds as the sun began to set.

{Happy}

Hannah turned 19 on Thursday!  Her birthday dinner request?  KFC and Fazoli's breadsticks!

{Real}

My $2.50-on-clearance amaryllis bulbs were not exemplary this year.  They didn't get very tall, but they did seem to put all their energy into producing enormous blooms. . . which are pretty bedraggled. Alas. At least they are a shot of color, very much needed at this time of year.

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