Okay I’ll answer the burning question – I don’t know why the frog holding a valentine is a bead but enjoy. Here’s wishing you and yours a very happy and loving Valentine’s Day. Thanks for reading.
Category: Crafts
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Monday Marginalia – Other Asheville Houses
Solarium at the Smith McDowell House. Our trip to Asheville was to see its world renowned house – Biltmore. However while there we enjoyed two other much smaller but just as lovely in their own way. The first one is North Lodge on Oakland. The second was the Smith McDowell House. (more…)
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Monday Memories – School Valentine Boxes
Valentines Card Box Bee Themed by ohsohappytogether on Flickr. She has so graciously granted rights via Creative Commons
Attribution – NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic. Be sure to visit her blog here. Click the image to visit her Flickr.I don’t think they do this any more. I know Aaron never had to make one, but then again he may have opted not to. It was something that was a chronic source of personal disappointment for me when I was in school. The making of a Valentine’s Day box. You see back then we had a Valentine’s Day party at school. You made a box to put on your desk during the party for friends to drop Valentine cards into. Later grades 3rd and 4th I think, there was a contest for favorite box. I read this as best box, prettiest box, most popular box. I so wanted this honor. I never achieved it, never came close.
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Tuesday Thoughts – Life & Crimes of Doris Payne
The required US legal disclaimer: All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique I’ve admitted it here before I’m a crime documentary junkie. I also adore Hollywood heist movies. When I found this documentary on Netflix little did I know I found something that mixed the best of both.
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Throwback Thursday – The Bicentennial School Photo 1976
Why yes that is a Mrs. Brady of the Brady Bunch hair cut, thank you for noticing. Also here I am wearing commemorative jewelry from my trip to Washington DC that Bicentennial Year. I was so proud of it. I also remember that was a maxi dress. Yes a floor length dress. Oh and the book was a World Book Encyclopedia turned to Mt. Everest. Why? I don’t know. (more…)
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Harbor Market Ever Saturday In September
This September our booth is in front of the fountain on 2nd Avenue every Saturday It’s that time again. September starts the craft shows for my friend Paula and me. We kick it off with an Inventory Clearance Sale of the previous years’s things in Kenosha’s Harbor Market Every Saturday in September. Last Saturday was our first one this year and it went well. This is the first year that we have taken credit cards for purchases of $25 or more. (more…)
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Throw Back Thursday with An ANNOUNCEMENT
That’s me when I was little next to Mom’s Irises when we lived in Greeneville. Photo is from about 1970. A bearded Iris is my favorite flower. It has been for as long as I can remember. I think this is why. I loved it when the irises next to our driveway in Greeneville, Tennessee in were in full bloom. It was a riot of color and scents just my height. One of my fondest memories of living in town (besides having playmate just across the street) was the bloom of the irises followed by the big old lilac bush at the corner of the house. All are gone now.
When Greeneville started hosting the Iris Festival back in 1994 it was the right choice in my mind. (more…)
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ML’s Designs Is Finally Here!
One of my necklaces in my new online store ML’s Designs. This one is called Nature’s Beauty. I’ve been talking about it for YEARS but I finally did it. I have an online store! I overcame procrastination got the ability to take credit cards and made an online store. Like so many things I procrastinate about, it was easier than I thought it would be. Really, the hardest part was… (more…)
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Stand Back – Photo Dump Approaching
For Memorial Day I went down to Tennessee to spend time with my parents. My has gotten into Greene County history and doing posts on Down Home Greeneville on Facebook with a short historical write up about each. While I was there I took her around to make photos. Needless to say I made more than a few of my own.
Then I got home with my camera chips and realized I’d not loaded up all the photos from our trip last July to Williamsburg Virginia and the Norfolk area. I know I’m not done with the cruise pictures. Oh and winter – there’s been a really hard winter in there with shots of it, snow sculptures and such. Any way it turns out I have a few thousand pictures to upload. Okay maybe not multiple thousands but definitely over a thousand. So hold on to your hat for a few photo posts as real life time permits. There will be….
July of last year the trip to the beach, Williamsburg, and Mike’s Navy graduation (that I didn’t get to see due to flight booking, my agent ahem named Mike booked my flight before the ceremony not after)….
Mike enjoying a dessert while on vacation – Oct in Orlando 
Life is a beach when on vacation in Virginia in July. 
The brutal winter here had us all thinking of the tropics. 
Yes I actually have over 400 photos from Williamsburg. 
Oh you know there were pet pictures. 
Holidays in Tennessee. 
Did I mention it was a nasty winter here? It was and we did all we could to make the best of it. Ice sculpture contests and such. 
Of course more beading and craft sales… 
Going about Greene Count Tennessee making pictures with Mom. 
Yep and more on the cruise adventures. So over the last three days I caught up on my uploading to Flickr. Yes over 1800 photos uploaded. Raw just off the camera no adjustments images. I’ll improve a few for future posts – maybe if time permits.
Also for my birthday I got a droid tablet (no Apple stuff for this girl) so now I can easily take stacks of comics with me to read. Expect that sometime there will be catch up on those too.
In the meantime you have been warned – photos are coming. Be prepared.
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Happy 2014!
Dusting TV Set with a feather-brush from the National Archif of the Netherlands as a member of the Flickr Commons No known copyright restrictions. **Blows the dust away and gets out broom**
Why hello there! It’s been awhile since I’ve been here. Lots has happened and not so much has happened. I do have a good excuse as to why I’ve been gone.
First off Miss Mo my female kitty got worse. It was very sad. She died and we did discover that the issue was a fast developing spinal cancer. I still miss her very much. She was a very special girl.
Miss Mo at the Vet’s. She made a number of visits before the spine cancer took her. Next Mike graduated another post-grad program in Norfolk. It was another trip there for a few days. I was very proud of him. While there we went to Colonial Williamsburg. I made lots of great picture. Yes I’ll do a very belated post about them.
Then there’s work. A few times we’ve had short staff for medical reasons, people moving, etc. At times I’ve work full time rather than part time to help out. I love what I do so I don’t mind. BUT for me it’s a side thing.
Finally my writer’s block broke. Yes I furiously wrote 41 chapters of a whole new story, 21 chapters on my Urban-fantasy with a rural setting, and about 12 on my steampunk novel. The muses were so demanding I’ve been cramming in writing where ever I could. Now my goal is to go to an event in Madison by their continuing education branch where I can do pitches to publishers and agents. Oh to get an agent! My focus will be on the whole new story and getting it prepped as that muse is the most demanding.
He’s a cadet now. He’ll be commissioned as an officer upon his graduation. This photo is from his graduation from basic earlier this year. Aaron is doing well in college and in ROTC. He got a full scholarship in bio-chem from them. He loves having his own small apartment. No roommate problems that way. Being one who has to report to PT at 5:45 am with roommates who think 10:45 am classes are early can be difficult.
The holidays were nice. Our big present this year was a new furnace and boiler. Our 30+ year old one finally gave up the ghost. Heat is a must in Wisconsin and a new system isn’t free. So each time the radiators bang with a surge of new heat we wished each other a very Merry Christmas.
Did craft fairs again this fall and winter. They went very well. Now maybe I’ll make time to get an on-line shop up in 2014 along with a book agent and a few novels sold! Eh? why not dream big!
Mike and I took a vacation to Florida in the fall. Again we enjoyed an airboat tour. Also we managed to not go to a single amusement park. Did hit the beach though!
Wonderful airboat tour to ourselves! Health wise 2013 was one of improvement. My 2012 surgery seems to have helped many issues. It’s a slow and gradual process getting healed and stabilized but well worth it. Sadly as you get older bouncing back from such things goes slower than I’d like.
Finally for Mike – he’s nearing the end of his Navy career and retire looms on the horizon. I don’t know what we’ll do with ourselves. We’ve spent all our relationship with our lives accommodating the Needs of the Navy first and foremost. Now, there will be no monthly drills, no 2 weeks or more of active duty, no call ups – just waiting until we need to collect retirement. However that might be pushed off another year or two if he can. Captain Mike loves his Navy.
Yep Blue is the leader and the cause of frequent screen repair in the summer. As you can see his brother hangs back to ensure all is well. Our remaining pets the two Furry Boys – Red and Blue are facing problems of aging cats. Red has chronic kidney insufficiency. Blue had hyper thyroid. They both take medication regularly. They are healthy and happy but aging like the rest of us.
As for comics… Yes I’m still into them. Saw Thor The Dark World and enjoyed it. However I do agree Tom Hiddleston’s Loki got the best lines. Then again I’ve always enjoyed snark (sarcastic humor). As for reading – I am behind. As in a few short boxes behind not counting those I only get in digital form. So be patient with me, I’ve been writing more than reading. However if there’s an issue you really want to chat about – shout out to me and I’ll be sure to move that title to the top of the catch-up list.
I guess that gets everything caught up about me and mine. Hope you and yours are doing well, had a great holiday season and are looking forward to 2014.
Mary Louise Eklund 