I've been tagged (click on photo for an up close look)

I've been tagged by Cassie - the challenge is to go to your photo storage, to the 6th folder and then the 6th picture. Post it on your blog and talk about it, then tag 6 more bloggers to do the same.

Since I'm scrapbooking my 2007 pictures, the 6th folder was our California Spring Break photos and the 6th picture was one that my son, Bruce, took of his brother, Scott. It doesn't matter where we are or what we're doing, Scott always has his camera out and ready to shoot. I love this photo - a candid study of a photographer on California's northern coast, just California Dreamin'. I had already created a scrapbook page using this photo, so it was easy-squeezey to post. Tag, your IT!

Andrea
Eleanor
Gail
Sara
Barb & Donna
Cindy

Remember: Your 6th photo folder and the 6th photo then tag 6 bloggers. Have Fun!

It's DAISY DAY!

According to Everyday is a Holiday, today is DAISY DAY and you have to know I'm in love with those little rays of sunshine. It's white and yellow coloring compliments all that surround it's willowy stems of simplicity. As a scrapbooker, I use the daisy as my accent all the time - what's not to love ~ I just can't get enough. So here's to you, DAISY, a day just for you to be admired, spoken of and enjoyed. And in the words of William Wordsworth, To the Daisy:

Bright flowers, whose home is everywhere
Bold in maternal nature's care
And all the long year through the heir
Of joy and sorrow,
Methinks that there abides in thee
Some concord with humanity,
Given to no other flower I see
The forest through.

RED RED RED

The before and after pictures of our new kitchen island color --- RED. It matches the back wall, the fireplace and the drapes in the dining area giving a bit of a punch to the room. I like it, but I think I'm done with adding RED to the kitchen (and staging for pictures - LOL) --- now on to the bathroom paint job.


According to the Paper Source's ColorScope the color RED tells us about our self with this definition:
You know who you are and what you want. Popularity, money and power are all yours. You are kind and generous to your friends. You love to have fun at parties, especially if you are in charge. You are also a perfectionist and you state your opinions boldly.
Yup, that's me -- LOL! Are you seeing RED?

It's My Party ............................................

This is what's in the stars for me today, January 24th birthday celebrators ~ Innovation is your normal approach this year (well duh!) You'll turn old methods on their ear and earn new fans along the way (oh, goodie I've got a fan club, coming). A vivacious valentine makes February one of your favorite times of the year (r-e-a-l-l-y-?) The money comes from different places in March (it's about time! I'm feeling - lucky) You'll be made a leader because of how you handle stress in April (oh good more stress). Sagittarius and Pisces adore you (as they should - LOL). Your lucky numbers are 50, 1, 24, 39 and 18 (I better hit those roulette wheels or buy a lotto ticket today).

Sounds like Neil, Edith, Ryan and I
are in for some good times ahead!

"A New Birth of Freedom"

Teddy Roosevelt once said, "The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get rich quick theory of life."

From Semisonic and the song, “Closing Time”: “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” We can do more than just hope for a better America. We can all do our part, how ever small, to make a change in our country and in our lives. It not only takes a village, it takes a whole society to get us back on track and today is the day to start anew with our President Barack Obama's Inaugural theme The New Birth of Freedom.

"Let the watchwords of all our people be the old familiar watchwords of honesty, decency, fair-dealing, and commonsense."....."We must treat each man on his worth and merits as a man. We must see that each is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less."...."The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us." Teddy Roosevelt, September 7, 1903.

I'm Feeling Project-ity

I don't do new year resolutions (just cause) but come the middle of January, I start to feel project-ity. I get organized (even more than usual - yikes), sort out the file cabinet, weed out the closets, do a little scrapbooking, clean the house (still getting rid of those pesky pine needles, everywhere), crochet a couple of blankies, entered the blogasphere and start looking for some project(s) to do for the rest of the winter.

Well, it's the middle of January and that project itch has kicked in (or was that the kick in the butt I needed?). I've picked my project - PAINT. I love to paint! Rooms, Walls, Furniture, or as Bruce claims "when you get like this, anything not moving is going to get painted -- I can feel it coming!" as he quickly walks away. It's cheap, it's fast, and it makes a world of difference when it's all said and done.

I've zeroed in on what's going to get a fresh coat of paint this year, collected my paint samples and found some inspirational pictures to get me started. This year, two places: the master bath (for it's size it should be called a mini-me bathroom) in a soft ivory palette with gold fixtures. And second, the kitchen island is going RED (to matchy-matchy the kitchen's red wall).

Wish I could say, "Hey, do you like our new kitchen?" (see photo below) --- NOT! But, this is my inspiration to do the kitchen island, since our kitchen looks sorta like this one (minus the cool glass cabinets, the neat lighting, the wonderful corner windows, the huge sub-zero refrigerator and our chef preparing our evening meal) well OK, it kinda looks like our kitchen (if you squint at our kitchen you can see it --- or is it just me? hmmmm (but, we do have the granite counters and white overall look -- really).

I'll post pictures of my finished project(s) --- soon, very soon (I hope). Are you feeling project-ity? Let me know what you're getting into this winter. I'm still looking for more to do and may need to borrow, copy or steal your ideas, too. Have a super mid-January day!

Water Water Everywhere!

Robbie and I went exploring our city of water. Whatcom Falls was simply amazing - the width and breadth was beyond belief and the deafening roar of the water echoed throughout the park. The downtown creek was a creek no more - but a river that runs through it. A rush of water that claimed it's banks, sluiced through tight channels and quickly made it's way to the bay. The mist rising above the water's flow joined the rain of the day. We felt that being in the rain to view this spectacular event was fit and proper --- there was water, water everywhere and not surprising with all the snow we had starting to melt and the rains that came soon after.

In the wee hours of the morning........

Some of the most fun I have is when I'm out in the wee hours of the morning, timing the sunrise and looking for northwest photo shots with Scooter. We roam the countryside, back track, square a window with our fingers, travel here and zoom there -- for early morning light, timing is everything.

We always find something to shoot - a tree, a brook, a misty bay, a fence, an abandoned leaning shed. while Scooter is setting up, jumping fences, metering the light or attaching the next lens, I'm taking snapshots of him shooting.

I have lots of "Scooter' snapshots for that future photography book featuring all his work and "the" artist at work. I'm always ready to have some fun, see the country with an artist eye, bond with my son and pick up a tall latte in the wee hours of the morning. Visit www.scottmansfield.com and see what I'm talking about. Or if you're in Utah, for the Sundance film festival, you can see Scooter's original work at his one man show at Sundance.

Weather Update

Finally the snow has melted --- but you just can't fool mother nature --- we now have flooding. It has gotten so bad that the schools are closed today. We now can get off our mountain, but the flooding is so bad that we still can't get off our mountain. I've been dreaming of snowblowers but, now I'm dreaming of a boat. You just can't fool mother nature. Isn't it pathetic when I've only had a blog for a few days and all I can think to write about today is the weather. But, the good news it that all the snow has melted, melted, melted.

If you give a mouse a cookie...

Remember the childhood story, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie? Well, if you give your mum a photo, it's going to be scrapbooked. You rented a Mini Cooper for the night, Stephen? Way to Go (pun intended) --- that girl loves Mini Coopers! Portlandites really know how to p-a-r-t-y like it's 2009.

And speaking of 2009 --- our snow is finally starting to melt - YIPEE! Bruce & Yana were kind enough to rescue me from our little mountain retreat to get more survival supplies (food, printer ink, food, printer paper, food, movies, food). So, we're good for another week of melt down (fingers are crossed). With fresh puter ink, I'm back to scrapbooking ..... be careful, be very careful .... cause if you give a mouse a cookie .........

A New Year? Still looks like the Old Year to me.

I've become a tweaker of the blog. I change this, add that, step back to look at the big picture and hop back to the drawing board. Isn't it wonderful to be snowed in for a few weeks, with extra time on our hands? With the additional inches we got this morning, I can soon claim a full month of "snowed in" bragging (or was that moaning?). Yup, the new year still looks like the old year to me.

So, veteran bloggers, how much do you tweak? Did you only tweak your blog when it was new? Are you still tweaking after months on the internet(s)? Does it really matter, or is a fresh image important to you and those that follow your words, your thoughts, your musings? Inquiring minds want to know -- are you, too, a tweaker of the blog?