Greeneyez2 Dolls and Folk Art

New Crochet and Stuff

2012-01-04T23:11:00.007-06:00

My Granddaughter modeling a special order I made. Hello Kitty!

Did this the day after Thanksgiving after considering it for a month or more. It's called a forward pinna piercing (times 3). Did it hurt? Well the top one was so so and the middle one was OUCH!! and the last, bottom one made me almost lose it, but they are healing nicely now.

Yes, it's the red Angry Birds and one was for my husband and one was for a gift that someone ordered. These were fun to make! Pattern can be found here. I modified them and added earflaps.

Hats

2011-10-27T16:03:00.001-05:00

Looky what I recently made for two of our Granddaughters!

Beautiful Day

2011-10-23T17:44:00.003-05:00

Today was just a gorgeous day here. Partly sunny, breezy and cool. Perfect for bike riding too!

Mid Week Thought

2011-10-12T10:22:00.003-05:00

Grandma's Photo Sessions

2011-09-22T11:43:00.006-05:00

My granddaughter modeling a bow tie and brimmed hat. Hopefully she won't be mad at me later. Even though it was made for a boy, she still looks quite striking in it don't ya think? Crocheting for babies has to be the most fun yet!

I did my best to make this look like one of those tinted photographs that they used to do years ago. Her outfit was black and white and I figured it'd look good monotone and added just a touch of blush to her little cheeks and lips.

The bear shot that almost covered her up!

Labor Day Rant

2011-09-05T18:57:00.002-05:00

I have had enough of Kardashian everything.

Don't care about their secrets.

Do not desire to hear about their babies and weddings.

Could care less about any shows they do.

Wish really interesting people could have "reality" shows that depict how life is without glitz, glam, and more money than they could ever use in 2 lifetimes.

Blehhhhhhh.

It had to be said.

That is all.

Grandchildren and Conway the new Puppy

2011-08-22T14:16:00.003-05:00

Our recent visits here with grandkids over the past 2 weekends and Conway, the new edition to the Johnson family of Houston! This is only 1 image and if you want to see more details, click on it to enlarge. I am so ready for summer to be over with the dry HOT weather here in Texas.

Owls are Hot!

2011-08-10T12:00:00.003-05:00

My youngest granddaughter wearing an owl hat that I recently crocheted. This is my own pattern after trying out several others and not liking how they turned out. It's all done with plain ol' Red Heart yarn in purples and pinks, and white. Makes a good photo prop, just needs a better photographer than me.

Gromit Amigurumi

2011-08-07T19:58:00.002-05:00

Here's a quick pic of Gromit I crocheted. If you don't recognize him, he's from Nick Park's claymation series Wallace & Gromit. The pattern can be found here by Ami Amour.

Origami Crane Time

2011-07-27T13:28:00.000-05:00

See Origami Crane and 1000's of others - or share your own on Cut Out + Keep

ROT 2011

2011-06-14T11:09:00.006-05:00

Here is a short list of things seen at the annual Republic of Texas biker rally (ROT) this past weekend. We found out we were able to go at the last minute when friends offered to cover the costs. How nice was that? Our a/c problem at home is still not fixed and it was a bit ironic to be complaining about how hot it is inside and then travel 3 hours away to Austin and be in the heat all day. Oh well, it's all how ya look at it right? Ok, here's the list of

THINGS SEEN AT ROT:

Bikes
Trikes
Bar stools that raced

Awesome creativity and craftmanship
BMX bikes way up in the air and upside down at times
Beer and frozen concoctions
Bandana used as shorts on a man
Bandanas used as halter tops on women
Tattoos and piercings everywhere imaginable
Suspension of a young dude with hooks in the back shoulder blade area
Chicken on a stick
Foot long + sausages on a stick
Hookah bars
Massage tables
Body parts best kept covered
Painted bikinis on women who had no business doing so
Painted bikinis on women who actually looked like that had one on
Leather in 100 degree Texas heat
Sombreros big enough to shade a dozen heads instead of just the one intended
Dirt, grease, grime, sweat, blood, tears
Dogs wearing bandanas wondering what the heck was up?
High heeled women in Texas heat and dirt walking around like it was actually comfortable?
Black feathered wings on a gal with pink horns on her head
Bald heads were big this year more than ever on men
The Doobie Brothers and the other kind of doobies
Burnt rubber and clouds of smoke
Sunburned skin
Patriotism

Texas pride!
Beads beads and more beads yeah the Mardi Gras kind and the kind that blinks at ya
Golf carts with beads and blow up dolls and stuff
Biker patches that had the cleverest sayings (wink)
Tents and kiddie pools
Blissful smiles
Wristbands
Bandidos
Tattoo contests

Tattoo artists
LED lit bikes
Gorgeous blue skies and fluffy white clouds
Cactus, rocks and dirt
Escape artist Michael Griffin
Tshirts and blingy things
Custom fitted toe rings and tons of other assorted jewelry
Helmets that looked like sculls
Knives and switchblades
Much more, but too lazy to list… overall it was a blast and looking forward to the next time!

Stuff and Rambling

2011-06-06T19:36:00.003-05:00

Ok so I'm sitting here in my house. The temps outside are around 100 to 101 F outside and have been for a few days now. No real relief in sight. Only problem is our A/C conked out on us close to a week ago. We've tried to fix it ourselves but to no avail. A call in to a repairman only let us know that what we thought the problem was... really was not. So.....a call to the original installer of our A-Coil up high in the attic and he says it is still under warranty and thinks all it needs is an expansion valve. But he can't come out for a few days. Meanwhile I sit here melting and wondering how much more of this we can take! Then a friend who owns a restaurant calls and wants DH to install a window unit in his BBQ restaurant because the one he has now is not getting the job done. This means he has a spare unit we can use!!! So we put it in the bedroom window and at least one room can get cool now. Here's the kicker. Being in a BBQ restaurant all this time and the smoky wood smell. Well, you know. Now my bedroom smells like a smoke pit, but HEY IT'S COOLER AIR! sigh.
Well so now I've made myself a coconut milk tea with strawberry mini mochis and I'm sitting here looking out the back door and 4 little furry weiner dogs are staring at me wondering where their BBQ is. That's been my wonderful life the past few days. Hope you are staying cool wherever you are!

Yarn Bombing Video

2011-05-10T22:03:00.001-05:00

Saw this on a tweet and knew I wanted to share, so here it is:

Red Moon, Roasted Peep and Bluebonnets

2011-04-20T20:40:00.006-05:00

Yes I know that's a weird title, but it's what I've got!

I understand that our red moon a few nights ago was due to the wildfires burning in Texas. Something about smoke and particles and reflections or not of the whatever and making it appear red. (Yep, I know that is a bad description) We've had terribly windy weather lately. It even toppled half of a tree on our roof and fence requiring an ER visit when trying to get it removed. Long story.

Boredom and peeps make you do strange things. Besides, we'd read about it online and decided to poke a Peep bunny on a chopstick and roast it with our grill lighter. It tasted better than expected!

A short trip down the highway 2 days ago to look at wildflowers. Bluebonnets weren't as plentiful as they were last year. Was nice weather though....sunny and not too breezy. Got a slight sunburn but it was worth it. Great motorcycle weather!

Yarn Bombed Schwinn

2011-03-22T19:05:00.012-06:00

Sounds odd yes? First, check out what it means if you don't know here and many graphic examples here.
My bike (Schwinn Legacy Cruiser) is done entirely with leftover stash yarn and crocheted by hand. Mostly done in sections and fitted and attached afterwards. The seat was the first thing done, then it just took off from there. I suppose some might say that this is not a true "bombing" in the sense that it was done to beautiful something plain such as a drab landscape like it's usually done. Honestly it was done out of boredom and me saying "I can do that!" and so I did. Will I ride it like this? You betcha! As soon as my aching back eases up.
Thanks for looking and each image will open up quite a bit larger if you choose to click on it. That's all for now.

Yarn Bombing: The Book

Magically Delicious?

2011-03-17T10:02:00.005-06:00

I think not. Anyhow, Happy St. Pat's Day to everyone!

May you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live.

I've Created a Monster!

2011-03-01T23:25:00.003-06:00

This was done without a pattern, yay me! I was looking through the patterns and diagrams I had collected and decided to just wing it and came up with this crazy little guy. He is only 4 and a half inches tall.

UPDATE: This handsome little guy has permanently attached itself to my Schwinn bicycle handles and become my "hood ornament" in my ongoing process of yarn bombing it. Photos to come soon...

Just cuz it's cute and funny...

2011-02-03T13:10:00.002-06:00

A Social Network Christmas

2010-12-22T14:48:00.004-06:00

Thought this video was very creative and awesome. If it is cut off on the right side, please

click on the video and go to Youtube and watch it there.

New Granddaughter Today!

2010-12-14T16:50:00.002-06:00

Born today in Austin Texas this afternoon. She is 3 lbs. 7 oz. and is a whole 16 inches tall!

Jest for fun!

2010-12-06T23:41:00.002-06:00

Made with Red Heart Stripes yarn in Cancun Stripe, added large blue jingle bells, and used the FREE PATTERN HERE! Just the thing for Christmas time to wear on a Harley or at work, right? Oh, and this pattern is done entirely in single crochet, very easy really, but a lot of counting stitches when you do the points.

Twins 28th Birthday!

2010-11-17T00:03:00.003-06:00

Ten days ago, my twins had a birthday. Imagine how old that makes me feel, yet grateful that we have such great kids who are turning into wonderful adults! If this photo looks odd, it's because I had to Photoshop the two of them together, due to conflicting schedules (KIDS), so I had them pose on opposite sides of the sofa and then "stitched" them together. Happy Birthday Joshie and Boo!

How It Really Gets Done

2010-10-15T17:37:00.003-05:00

Whadya think? She uses a Q Hook for speedy crocheting. Everyone should have a Crochet Elf!

It's Official

2010-10-15T17:29:00.005-05:00

Yep, we're Aggie Parents for sure now! Howdy yall and Gig 'Em Aggies!

Finished Crochet Items

2010-09-22T13:46:00.052-05:00

As requested by a few, here are photos of some of the items I've created this year. If anyone has questions or requests, please let me know with a comment or email. Thanks for looking! If you want to see each photo in a larger, size just click on them and they open up bigger.

Cocoons, or Baby Sacs as some call them...

Lavender with flower vine and leaves

Little Boy's Curly Top cocoon with matching newborn hat

Polka Dotted Striped with Angel Hair face trim and antennae

Blankets and hats below......

12 Patch Baby Blanket

Birthday Gift Set

Mohawk Earflap Birthday Hat

Funky Loopy Mohawk

Boucle Yarn Elf Photo Pop Hat

Granny Baby Blanket

Matching newborn earflap hat

Cotton Sack Tassel Hat

Custom Made Earflap Biker Mohawk Helmet hat

Yikes, crazy experimental hat here

Multi floppy brim flower hat

Flower Child Head Band

Girls Flower brimmed hat

Girl Angel Hair flower hat, Boy Cotton Rolled top knot hat

Ruffly hat and bag combo

Girly mesh hat and scarf set

Hello Kitty and Grandma (me)

Mesh scullie flower hat

Newborn Bear hat

Baby shower gift made of Cotton - bib and curly topped hat

Double crocheted teal and chocolate newsboy button flap hat

Multi cotton newsie hat with flower

Open Mesh newborn hat

Yeeeesh! How'd that get here? OK, it's my piggy face mask hat did it one night as an experimental dare.

These photos are of scarves, bags and shawls...

Basic fingerless mitts with flower embellishment

Basic fingerless gloves

Child's Messenger Bag with button closure

Kid sized market bag

Cotton yarn Market Bag, Large size

All cotton tri-color swirled drawstring bag, tricky to make!

Curly scarf

Mesh Flower Scarf

Tropical Mesh Scarf with edging done in Argentinian Yarn

Zig Zag Scarf Multi tonal

Ruffled Neck Ruff in Olive

Orders for Silver and Beige Vine/Flower Scarves

Wool blend vines with Sari Silk recycled yarn flower

All of the photos below are Amigurumi, which is Japanese for small crocheted stuffed animals.

HELLO KITTY!

Mr. Octopus

Rosie the Sock Monkey and her bananas

Jeremiah's Birthday Gift

Covered in Amigurumi

Basic Lil' Bunny

Large cuddly Panda for new addition to the family from China!

Do you like spiders?

Alien type stuffed toy with plastic bags in the body to make crinkly sounds for babies enjoyment

Guess that's all for now......always more in progress!

Finished Crochet Project

2010-09-14T20:31:00.003-05:00

This is the elf hat and booties that I crocheted a couple of days ago. The more I look at it, you might say that it is sort of a fairy hat with the flower shape. I decided to give it leaves at the end of it's long tail and on the ties of the booties as well. They are intended to fit a newborn and obviously have a girly color. Just found out our son and DIL are having another granddaughter and waiting to see what our oldest daughter will be having in a few months. With the addition of little Jane from Cnina next month, we'll be blessed with 3 more grandkids!

Must Have!

2010-09-08T21:13:00.004-05:00

Hello Kitty Docs, what could be cooler than these?

Crazy for Crochet

2010-09-06T07:53:00.003-05:00

Update on things:
Been crocheting things left and right.
Trying more amigurumi and cutesy stuff.
Getting ready for more babies by making hats and cocoons.
Looking forward to Fall and Winter with scarves and hopefully what I think are "edgy" type hats and hood thingamajigs.
Guess that's it for now!
Updates to follow, meaning possibly photos too.

Regretsy/Etsy Find

2010-08-04T12:46:00.003-05:00

Hare-Brained

Curious? How strange and just ummmmm weird is this? To each his own. If they actually sell it I'd like to know what kind of person would enjoy a piece such as this though. (scratching head)

Read the comments below the "artwork" for some laughs...

2010-07-20T23:24:00.009-05:00

Please vote for my photo if you think it deserves to win Shutterfly's Summer Freedom Contest here. Even if you don't vote, check it out.......and THANKS YALL! Contest is now over, thanks to those that showed interest!
~~Ooh...also, you can vote daily!!!~~

Bats Bats Bats!

2010-07-11T00:38:00.004-05:00

And more bats....

Something to do that is totally free, except for your time and traveling expense, unless you are already in or near the area of Austin/Round Rock Texas. Watch the bats come out at night to feed. I took my daughter and granddaughter to see them night before last and here is my poor quality video of it, but its still interesting to watch. More information can be found here and also here.

The photos posted along with my own personal video are not my own. Just wanted to be sure you knew. They can be found on the above referenced websites and by "googling" Austin Round Rock Bats.

In my World...

2010-06-27T17:07:00.012-05:00

Just a few photos of things going on in my world lately. Busy making baby gifts for friends in our church having a little boy...making hats and bags for one of our granddaughters...sitting around watching deer and baby fawn...going to new places...and riding the Harley. I love Summer even if you can fry eggs on the sidewalk!

Basic granny type afghan pattern for a baby, measuring 36" x 36". I used 3 colors: berry blue, heather gray and off white.

And with the leftovers from the baby afghan, I made this wee little earflap hat too.

Together so you can see the stitches better.

Decided to make a ruffly little hat for Panda and a matching bag as well. She liked wearing her Daddy's ID badge from a job around her neck, so I made this so she could do the same with it.

Out back where we discovered the baby fawn. She's wearing her hat with a lantana flower sprig poked into it that she pulled off of the plant.

What a smile! This was the other hat I crocheted. It has a tiny little brim and a layered flower attached to it. Notice she has hijacked my phone (again). HAHA

Sitting on Yeh Yeh's (Grandpa's) Harley with me making sure she doesn't fall off. It was a beautiful day and she'd just gottten out of bed. That's Daddy in the background sitting on the front porch.

Here's Dad (our second oldest son) and Panda walking along Lake Travis at the Hula Hut where we waited to be seated for a Father's Day lunch. Was a steamy but great day and the food and scenery were both very nice!

Amigurumi (編みぐるみ)

2010-06-03T10:16:00.008-05:00

Amigurumi is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals or other anthropomorphic creatures. It seems to me that the smallest ones have the most cuteness. They are created for no specific use, but hopefully leave smiles on faces and fill empty spaces on shelves, nooks and crannies or where dust would normally collect. I am a "hooker" and prefer to crochet mine. If you make them for actual play things for kids, you wouldn't want to use anything that might be a hazard, like buttons or choke-able items. I've been using safety eyes on most of mine. Here's the latest and the greatest of what I've hooked up so far. The tallest is almost 17 inches and the shortest is a mere 3 inches...

ROT RALLY 2010 Movie Trailer

2010-05-28T11:23:00.001-05:00

Can't wait for this!!!!! I'm ready for the sights, sounds and craziness of

it all. Photos to follow.............if we survive it all.

Austin Renegade Craft Fair

2010-05-11T11:35:00.005-05:00

http://www.renegadecraft.com/austin

Flowers and Stuff

2010-04-17T15:38:00.011-05:00

Here's some things I've been working on lately. It's hard to sit still when the weather is so nice and sunny, but in-between those times, I keep my hands busy with these: (click on each photo to open up into a larger size)

My antique bathtub always rewards me each Spring with gorgeous purple irises! They smell good too!!

Implosion of Texas Stadium this A.M.

2010-04-11T09:59:00.003-05:00

Goodbye Texas Stadium, Hello shopping, apartments and more traffic....woohoo!

Did anyone attend the final tailgate party? I chose not to and now I am confident that that best decision was made. My daughter begged me to go, but I held my stand. This huge place had been here for 37 years and the cost of maintaining it and security necessities outweighted the reason for keeping it erected. Adios!

Happy Easter Yall

2010-04-04T20:05:00.005-05:00

Well I just wanted to say that I hope everyone had a nice Easter weekend! Weather here was nice and time spent with family was a bonus. Here's myself, granddaughter and oldest daughter today. Yellow seemed to be the color of the day and we didn't even plan it this way.

Wedding Photos

2010-03-08T09:26:00.007-06:00

Just a few, mostly pre-wedding of the same day. More to come! Waiting on my daughter to post her own so as not to out-do her special day. These are mostly myself, kids and grandkids for now...

A Wedding in March!

2010-02-10T06:53:00.003-06:00

March 6th, our oldest daughter will be getting married. Things are busy and fun getting ready for it and I'll post photos as they become available. Here is one now of the happy couple and their daughter who is 3 years old and very excited about it all too.

Happy New Year and weird photo to share

2010-01-02T15:04:00.004-06:00

Elaine Davidson and myself in Edinburgh Scotland this past summer. I always meant to post this photo and never did. I have others that I meant to share of my visit and will most likely have them up soon too. This was one of the most bizarre, so I'm kicking it off with this one first. Wonder what 2010 will bring for everyone? I hope it is kind to you!

December will go by too fast too...

2009-12-10T03:51:00.002-06:00

OK, so November came and went (meaning I turned a year older) and December is well under way. So much for posting again sooner next time, hah! Just heard that my son, DIL and granddaughter could possibly be relocating from Scotland back to Texas. Anxiously anticipating that news! We've had really cold weather the past few days and nights. Our weekend should warm up hopefully. I sound like I'm writing a boring letter to someone here, but it's all I could think of to post about for now. Oh, and its like 3:30am and I have no idea why I woke up, but it seemed like a decent time to blog for a change. Hope everyone has a wonderful CHRISTMAS and NEW YEAR!

Later...

Scarf Contest Anyone?

2009-10-27T22:07:00.005-06:00

LOOKY!

Lately, I've taken up crochet and found it relaxing and nice to have something to do with my hands while the football games are on or while waiting on one of the kids when picking them up from school or whatever event the non-driving ones might be attending. There are some really good ideas in my head and I'm fairly certain the winning ones won't be crocheted or knitted (who knows though) but wanted to post this for those that might be interested. So far I've made fingerless gloves ala wrist warmers for my daughter, a scarf and hat for my granddaughter, a ridiculously long scarf for myself or whoever dares to wear it and am starting a curly textured scarf to try out a new pattern I found. There's tons of freebies, no need to really buy anything and Youtube has tons of tutorials on how to do any type of stitch you'd ever want to learn. Ok, that's all for now.....maybe I'll post again sooner than last time!

Make's Urban Bazaar!

2009-10-09T15:44:00.005-05:00

Are you going?

Flu and October

2009-10-01T20:52:00.003-05:00

Got 2 of my kids flu shots yesterday. I had mine about 2 weeks ago. Jacob is recovering nicely from emergency surgery and is back in school. October is here and I'm really ready for Fall weather more than ever. Need to get back into making things.....have been on a break far too long and intend to change that soon! Oh, really enjoying my new hardwood floors, what a difference putting this in makes. So I've been busy repainting trim and a few walls and hanging up some digital scrapping of more family. My wall is almost covered over the piano now, love it!

August, September...

2009-09-10T21:10:00.002-05:00

Oops, where did August go? And here it is over a week into September already! I have no excuses for not blogging except that my time was required elsewhere. Hmmm, that's true to a certain extent but then again, I've had time to check Facebook on numerous occasions. I've tried to whittle down places online that I visit but some are more addictive than others as most of you know. We've been doing some upgrades to our home and spending more time outdoors. Mostly because of the new Harley that we bought. I realized how nice it really is to get out on the open road and feel the wind in your face and the sun on your skin. We aren't the type to ride with a group (yet) or attend ralleys.....but I think that might happen soon. We'll see.

My youngest grandchild is turning 1 year old tomorrow and I wish she were here so I could give her a big hug. Her and my son and DIL are in Glasgow Scotland which is too far away for a birthday visit this time. I hope she has a special day with Mommy and Daddy!

Texas is Hot!

2009-07-19T09:09:00.003-05:00

We're back from bonnie Scotland. One of the most bittersweet departures, leaving part of my family, yet going home to more family. A beautiful, memorable and amazing journey was had by all. I believe that this time it was made more exciting by being able to see the looks on my daughter's and parents' faces as we explored Glasgow, Edinburgh, the Port of Glasgow/Greenock, the Highlands, including Glencoe, Pichlochry, the 3 Sisters (SPECTACULAR), Loch Ness, Loch Lomond, and more. And did we find Nessie? Why yes we did! We were able to take a short cruise on the black Loch and see the whole water mass with the aid of sonar and GPS, along with funny and interesting tales from our tour guide who had the look of a pirate to me. Aside from awesome countryside and architecture, Victorian cemeteries and churches, we visited my son, daughter in law and granddaughter. Being able to stay in their nice flat made it totally wonderful. They were the bests hosts available in the world. Photos to be posted soon!

Wow

2009-07-07T02:48:00.002-05:00

Its so nice in Glasgow, even when it rains. Edinburgh is in the plans for tomorrow. We will do the Royal Mile and see the castle and Emily was promised to go to the Edinburgh Dungeon. More later...

Summertime Travel Plans

2009-06-12T22:10:00.004-05:00

It is official. I am returning to Scotland on July 2nd! My youngest daughter will be flying over with me and also my Mom and Dad. It will be their first time to visit. We plan on all the sites of Glasgow and most of Edinburgh too. Hopefully we will also tour the Highlands this time, which I'd never been able to do yet. And......London might be a possibility too, who knows! Ask me if we are excited?

Texas Scottish Festival is Coming!

2009-05-26T06:24:00.004-05:00

Texas Scottish Festival

Sounds like a day of fun to me!

Goodbye Old Friend

2009-05-21T22:32:00.006-05:00

Rick Brainard

February 18, 1956 - May 18, 2009

You will be missed

Tonight I attended a Celebration of Life for a long time friend from my school days. It seemed so unreal and so untimely. Watching others grieve and laugh and tell stories was a mixture of feelings, but mostly joyful ones. Seeing the slideshow of old photos, his band, children and family was heartwarming. When someone close to you dies or worse yet, a family member passes, things take on new meaning. Makes me think of how much time I may or may not have and how best to use it. I am grateful for my family and my life and don't ever want to take them for granted. God didn't promise us tomorrow! With this in mind, I hope that you consider this and make the most of your days and thank God for what He has given you thus far. Life is short. Cherish it and your family!

The End

Did you win the lottery too?

2009-05-08T14:47:00.003-05:00

So do you get those annoying emails as often as I do too? Every day my inbox is loaded with another lottery that I've mysteriously won, an inheritance from some unknown poor soul with abosolutely no living relatives, or some other too good to be true scam from someone ready to give you bucket loads of cash. All I'd have to do is forward all of my sensitive information to this "trustworthy" person from Nigeria, the UK, or wherever they say they're located. Then for a small sum of money they need to process all this newfound wealth, they'll take care of it. Yeah right, take it and disappear!! I am so infuriated to think that folks do fall for these games and wonder how many have actually lost their life savings to thieves that do this every day hoping for just one taker. It's actually scary to think! Anyhow, that's my rant of the day...the little image did make me laugh, but in reality something like it is really just sad.

Help me fight Swine Flu now!

2009-05-01T15:57:00.002-05:00

Click Here

Pandemic Paranoia!

2009-04-30T22:48:00.003-05:00

What do you think? Check out this ebay auction that I found....people can capitalize on anything these days is what I think!

I think I can I think I can

2009-04-29T12:12:00.001-05:00

Easter Sunday 2009

2009-04-12T09:20:00.000-05:00

Good Friday

2009-04-10T14:42:00.020-05:00

Today is Good Friday and to Christians everywhere it is the anniversay of Christ's death on the cross. This leads to Easter Sunday in a couple of days, when we celebrate His resurrection. I don't know about you, but to me this is even more important than Christmas when we celebrate His birth. I won't preach on this subject but wanted to recognize it here on my blog and also post some photos of crosses that I collected from Scotland this past year. It seems like an appropriate time to present them. Most of them are Celtic varieties and they are all photographed within the Glasgow Necropolis Cemetery. The Necropolis is an ancient, eerily beautiful Victorian burial ground. This place became a popular tourist attraction since it opened in 1833. I found myself walking to it at least 3 times when I was there last year. Mostly because it is so big and also to get the best photos at various times of the day. They say at least 50,000 Glaswegians are buried there in 3,500 tombs and mausoleums. If you go to see the magnificent Glasgow Cathedral, you can get to it from The Bridge of Sighs, also very beautiful sights to see. The cemetery is actually a hill starting with the wealthiest people at the top down to the common people down at the bottom. Seems snobby? That's how it was done. I recommend not missing this if you are ever in Glasgow!

I don't normally pose in cemeteries, but did here to show how large these monuments actually are. There are many more that are even taller. I was awe struck to see this in its entirety. Some might find a place like this strange, spooky or weird, but it was serene and beautiful for me.

Irish Blessing

2009-03-17T00:50:00.001-06:00

May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.

Georgetown Getaway

2009-02-17T20:45:00.019-06:00

We went down south to the hill country area of Georgetown this past weekend. It was so pretty and the weather was amazingly nice. Below are a few photos of what we saw and did. Our son and DIL still own a home there and we have been going down now and then to check on it and help out while they are living in the UK for a bit. For those that aren't aware, it'd be just a short jog down further I-35 to Austin, which is the capital of Texas. Anyhow, here's some photos...and if you want a better view, click on the photo and it will reopen in a larger size.

A view of Lake Georgetown with the limestone shores and a few folks fishin'.

This is part of the shoreline and an scraggly old tree with roots growing inside the limestone.

Old farm equipment used as landscaping ornaments at a law firm.

A rusty old water spout going into a feed trough used as landscaping.

Buzzards up in the trees in the sanctuary of the hiking/biking trails alongside the San Gabriel River, which sorta creeped me out.

Me in a drain pipe by the dam of Georgetown Lake.

Deer approaching the front lawn hoping for some corn to eat. They are literally everywhere in this neighborhood! Free roaming deer, so ya gotta watch out when you drive down the roads.

DH standing on a twisted tree stump on the lake edge.

The Georgetown Water Tower

An armadillo we were able to snap a photo of along the hiking/biking trail before it scurried away. Usually we see these odd creatures dead on the side of the road instead. Look at that long pink nose!

My DH in the woods beside the San Gabriel River.

That's me with the sun in my eyes.

DH across the spillway near the bridge that leads into the neighborhood.

The hiking and biking trails near the home that we had a lot of fun walking and riding bikes on.

UHOH!....now this wasn't part of the getaway. It is my 17 year old son's pinky finger post-op about a month after amputation revision surgery. He had another accident. Please advise your children to be very careful lifting weights. This happened at school and long story short, his finger got in the way of a dumbbell and was chopped off at the end. OUCH OUCH OUCH! He is much better, but geez did it look a lot worse when it first happened. (Sorry if this photo offends anyone.)

Wow it's February and I haven't made a post yet!

2009-02-09T15:35:00.008-06:00

Either I am lazy, busy, or distracted from my blogging. Well this past weekend my daughter and I went to the Teddy Bear and Folkart Show here in Grapevine. It was nice and inspiring, full of the usual eye candy, but the best part was meeting back up with our dear friend, Claralie Hall from Gaunchywhomperd Bears. I came home with a few new "elephant" friends and more (THANKS CLARALIE!!!) and we had a nice talk about life and things were were doing. I will return and post some photos of Main Street and I'm sorry that I didn't get a single photo of the show, but sometimes the people there are not so keen on you taking photos for whatever reason. Not like I want to steal their ideas, hey it's free advertising if you asked me. But nevermind that. We walked all down the historical part of Grapevine and saw a Glassblower shop making art glass flowers with long twisted stems. Then there was the train depot and the museum. Further down, we grabbed a bite to eat at Weinberger's Deli yummmmm. Wilhoite's the biker restaurant/bar hangout had a full house. There were antique, gift, memorabilia, jewelery, clothing shops, eateries and more. Every now and then you'd see a bronze sculpture of something whimsical or historical as far as some person in the making of the city or whatnot. The Opry House was there and I even saw Elvis in the old movie house that is now an art gallery, imagine that! Further down at the end we visited the British Emporium and they had IrnBru for sale! Wow, how I miss that drink from Glasgow. We also got a few candies that I had tried over there and saw a lot of London, Glasgow and even Indian grocery items. They had meat pies too. The Beatles, Paddington Bear, Dr. Who and more were prevalent in the gifty items. Mind the Gap towels that I saw in Heathrow were available. It was almost like being in the UK again.....well not really, but fun to shop around in anyhow.

The Gaylord Texan Trolley Shuttle that comes through Main Street.

Mayor Benjamin Wall in bronze near the corner of the Courthouse.

Wilhoite's Biker Hangout View I

Wilhoite's Biker Hangout View II

Master Made Feed Store in Grapevine, Texas

The Sunday Skaters bronze sculpture next to Weinbergers Deli.

Me next to a bronzed gent in front of the Wall Hotel.

The Glassblower's Display - Vetro Artglass Studio in Grapevine, TX

My shadow and her friend on the back of a vintage railroad car.

Cotton Belt Route Windmill

Hedgehog with Mohawk Latte Art

2009-01-22T23:03:00.002-06:00

Hedgehog with Mohawk Latte Art by Thai
Originally uploaded by gwen bell Wonder if the hedgehog froth makes it taste better? *wink*

Who Owns Edgar Allen Poe?

2009-01-16T14:16:00.006-06:00

Do you remember reading Edgar's poems and stories in school? I sure do. Today in an email from a site I just registered with, I found out it was the 200th anniversary of Poe's birthday on January 19th, which will be this coming Monday. Funny the things you end up learning by the networking and facts on random sites huh? Look here for an interesting article about who owns him. Get your free Never More emboidery and clip art images at Urban Threads dot com too. Here is what it looks like as a shrunken clip art image. The above image is a downsized hand embroidery example. Click for their true sizes. Cool freebies I thought!

Breathing Books

2008-12-10T23:36:00.004-06:00

Things - Edith Kollath Creates Books that Breathe from Bre Pettis on Vimeo.

Interesting little video and I wish her secret was safe with me so I could make some of these myself. What a neat conversation starter for any room in your house, yes? I find interesting little oddities like these on this site here and thought it share worthy. Enjoy!

Stuart Cassells of Red Hot Chilli Pipers

2008-12-04T13:15:00.002-06:00

Stuart Cassells
Originally uploaded by chillipiper

I found this on flickr looking for some things and saw this. I am the one with the pink sleeves to the left holding my camera. Just thought it was interesting that someone took a photo of the RHCP while I was also taking a photo of them too! If you'll click on the photo, it'll take you over to flickr and you can see all of the sizes. Kinda makes it easier to see me too, haha. Choose the largest one cuz I'm only a small side view at best.

2008-12-04T13:11:00.003-06:00

So how do you delete a post? I tried and this won't go away...grrrrrrr

with·draw·al

2008-12-02T19:58:00.003-06:00

\-ˈdrȯ(-ə)l\
Function: noun
Date: 1749
1 a: the act of taking back or away something that has been granted or possessed b: removal from a place of deposit or investment c (1): the discontinuance of administration or use of a drug (2): the syndrome of often painful physical and psychological symptoms that follows discontinuance of an addicting drug as in a heroin addict going through withdrawal

In my case, the drug is Lexapro, and is known as an SSRI drug. (Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor).

It's been just over a week and silly me thought things would be getting better by now, but instead they seem worse. I slowly weaned myself off of a 20mg a day dose down to 10mg for a month, then 5mg for another month, then 5mg every other day or so for a couple of weeks, then decided to heck with it and stopped it altogether. I have to say that a pill cutter is a must with this drug to get the dosage as exact as possible! My first couple of days without Lex was hardly a noticeable difference, then on day 3 or more, I had dizziness and a lightheaded feeling throughout the whole day. Then Thanksgiving came and I panicked and wondered how I'd get through it with lots of family coming over. I doubt everyone knew just how agitated, anxious, and disoriented I felt. To family who might be reading this, please do not take this personally. This is my deal, my problem and my obstacle to overcome. I had a great time over the holidays despite my odd off balanced feelings. Not long after Thanksgiving, I began feeling angry for no reason, then could not get enough rest and sleep. Today I feel much the same and very very foggy headed and hard to concentrate even on typing this post. I've started and edited it several times now. Last night I experienced the dreaded brain zaps that I've horrifiyingly been reading about. Gee and I thought I'd lucked out by not having them for over a week. Not true! They start on the left side of my head behind my ear with a sudden shock like a jolt of electricity, then travel a bit across my head. Sometimes a lot, sometimes just a little. Afterward I feel drained and scared. They come unexpectedly and only last a second or few, but the unexpectedness and sudden shock of them make for a very unhappy me. I'd say that last night they were coming as often as 2 or 3 times in a 5 minute period, so just going to bed and lying in the dark with the covers over my head was a slight relief until I fell asleep. Not moving and no lights does help. Almost like a migraine but not really. That didn't make sense to anyone unless you've experienced this I bet. Today, the zaps happen every hour or so, not as frequent, but I've been a lazy person on purpose to see if that would help and it has. Can't afford to have too many of these kind of days though :o(
Backing up a bit on why I started taking this good/evil drug in the first place.... it was not for depression as some people take it for, but for anxiety instead. I have GAD and it has ruled my life for far too long. My decision to go on it was still a good one and I don't regret it because it did help me. Now over a year later, I just decided it was time to be me again and see if things might be better without it. Time will tell, but until these side effects cease I won't really know. Please, if anyone out there that might read this has suggestions or ideas to help a person through this feel free to leave a comment. I'd welcome genuine advice or just a note knowing someone else has gotten through this. I don't feel hopeless or worried yet, but sometimes the things you "google" when looking for advice is really disturbing. Surely people have the tendency to exaggerate a bit or over analyze on some of the forums that I've come across on this subject?

Ink

2008-11-17T16:35:00.005-06:00

I'm still me, just more decorated!

Back in the saddle again

2008-11-15T12:52:00.002-06:00

Yep, I'm back home in Texas. Been here since November 4th and too busy to post. Things are cooling off here quite a bit and sort of match the weather in Glasgow right before I left, but now the people drive on the right side of the road and talk ever stranger *wink*. I miss lil 'P and my son and DIL, but am glad to be back. Scotland is so beautiful and I'll never forget the sights and smells and sounds I was able to experience! I've so many photos that it's hard to choose which ones I'll show off, but I'm sure in the coming days there will be some for those that want to check back. Thinking of Thanksgiving and Christmas delights right now. It'll be nice to try and gather around family members and get even more photos!! For now, I wish everyone who visits my random blog a wonderful holiday season and peaceful remainder of the year 2008! God Bless everyone,
-greenie

Video as Promised

2008-10-27T20:48:00.004-06:00

Ladies and Gents, The Red Hot Chilli Pipers!

Red Hot Chilli Peppers Rock Argyle Street!

2008-10-27T19:23:00.011-06:00

Red Hot Chilli Pipers BLAST Live DVD and CD Release at HMV store on Argyle Street, Glasgow Scotland! Recorded at The Old Fruitmarket

Me and one half of the band

Me and the other half of the band!

Had a unique time today was able to go to their DVD/ CD release "BLAST LIVE" today at the HMV store. These guys are so entertaining in person too, very cheerful, friendly and funny. I have a photo posted above here of myself and the band in 2 sections at their autograph signing. There were so many of them (8) and the body guard looking chap was very happy to snap the photo for me.
I recorded 3 videos of their street performance and love them all. Some tunes they did were: Flower of Scotland, Hey Jude, We Will Rock You, Smoke on the Water, Eye of the Tiger and bits of others that I'm really not sure of their titles. These guys don't just stand there and play. They jump around and act silly, get into the moment and entertain constantly. I could be their spokesperson eh? Anyhow, it was a fun evening and a great bagrock concert that I won't forget!

You can read more about this new style of bagrock music created by these guys here: Red Hot Chilli Pipers

I have video of this to be posted soon if anyone is curious......come check back in a day or so!
-Sharon in Glasgow, soon to return to Texas

Red Hot Chilli Pipers New DVD Release

2008-10-21T15:13:00.002-05:00

Here is a clip from TV with a couple of the band members talking about what they do and their DVD release in 6 days. They are supposed to show up at the HMV store on Argyle Street in Glasgow at 4PM and sign CD's and let people have their photos taken with them. Guess where I will be? Hopefully the line won't be so long that I'll have to give up, I hate lines but plan on showing up early to try and get in line sooner. We shall see!

Glasgow Cathedral Service

2008-10-20T04:37:00.005-05:00

Sunday morning service at Glasgow Cathedral was very beautiful. They had a service dedicated to Seafarers and there were servicemen and women in full dress uniform from the HMS Neptune as well as veterans, fishing fleets and their families. The Royal Navy, Royal Marines, and the Merchant Navy representatives were all there as well as children in uniforms too. While I am not of the Catholic religion, the experience was still appreciated. The music was quite lovely with the echoing pipe organ and gorgeous choir they had. Sitting there surrounded in ancient history and massive stained glass windows was just so awesome! The first lesson was from Psalm 107:23-31. Hymns sung were mostly ones that had to do with being a pilgrim, the sea and things pertaining to storms and God's mightiful power. You can click on each photo and see more detail.

Clanadonia Live!

2008-10-18T17:34:00.003-05:00

Who I saw today!
The free entertainment is overwhelming!!
Of course, I had to have their CD
and they were nice enough to sign it.
Here is Clanadonia's website.
Warning: With 5 drummers and only one piper,
they are VERY LOUD, so ya might just
hafta turn down your volume.

I also got up early, took the subway to Queen Street and took a short walk over to The Barras Market, another side of town. There is a big ol' flea market there with tons of things to look at, buy and stare at! You can read more about it here: The Barras
Your usual fish and chips, scottish meat pies, haggis, other oddly smelling items are all there. This is a true Glaswegian seller's market and the conversations alone are worth the visit. (if you can understand them) There are also bootleg sellers and sometimes they get raided, but none of that happened on my visit. I read that you can find almost anything from an anchor to a needle here and I believe it. The antiques, jewelry, clothing, baby stuff, and sweets are what I liked. I didn't dare take too many photos cuz some of these folks just have this look about them and I'd be afraid to tangle with some of them! But I did snap a few from a distance. Funny, I had a fortune teller come up to me and start telling me all about myself. She new I was a foreigner and took advantage of that saying all these things and would I buy a charm from her? I turned her down and she really didn't like that, but heck I never asked to have my future read in the first place, LOL. I guess that's how she takes advantage of some, but not me. Anyhow, it made for an ineresting day and tomorrow I'm goin to the Glasgow Cathedral services to hear their majestic pipe organ music. More later...

Church Service in Scot's Language

2008-10-12T14:52:00.007-05:00

The Lord's Prayer
Matthew 5:9-13

Our Faither in heaven
hallowt be thy name;
thy Kingdom comme;
thy will be dune
on the yird, as in heaven.

Gie us our breid for this incomen day;
forgie us the wrangs we hae wrocht;
as we hae forgien the wrangs we hae dree'd;
an sey-us-na sairlie, but sauf us
frae the Ill Ane.

This was how things were spoken in an evening church service that I went to tonight.
No, it's not spelled wrong, it just looks like it is. What an experience to hear these people speak and read from their Scottish Bibles. And each person had a slightly different translation too, so it made from some really strange sounding things. There was enough English in it that I caught the main point of it all, but how I wish that I had a recording to share some of it! The name of the church that I visited was called Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church. It is a beautiful old building of which I'll post a photo of later when I get a chance to get them off my camera. Denominations here are either Catholic or Presbyterian. I chose the latter. If tomorrow is nice enough, I'm taking the train early to Edinburgh!

We Will We Will Rock You

2008-10-11T13:47:00.004-05:00

Same group of musicians in my previous post 3 days later, same spot performing Queen's big hit We Will Rock You! Notice where the big bass drum player kneels down for the small child to try and bang out a few beats....he seemed to be very timid. Was quite funny to watch.

Pipe and Drum Music from Glasgow Video!

2008-10-08T02:54:00.003-05:00

While walking down Buchanan Street near the intersection of Argyle, I came upon this talented trio of kilted young men playing the most amazing music and I quickly switched my digital camera to video mode. It's definitely what one might expect or think of whilst in Scotland for sure. Here are the results. They are quite fun to listen to and look at as well ;-)
Enjoy!

I'm in Glasgow now

2008-09-30T08:23:00.002-05:00

I arrived safely! Had an IrnBru right away, met my son and DIL at the airport, saw my granddaughter, and ate some tasty Indian food. All is well!

Fall Back

2008-09-27T14:24:00.003-05:00

I was just thinking today that the time change comes up again soon for the Fall. The first Sunday in November at 2am this year is when this happens for my neck of the woods. Too bad the weather doesn't seem like Fall here just yet. In the evenings and mornings it's awfully nice, but the humidity during most of the day is still so fierce that Summer feels like it just doesn't want to leave. So I say this because I'm ready for Fall weather! It's probably my most favorite time of the year if it ever comes. Scotland will be a refreshing change I'm sure. So......I'm leaving tomorrow for the UK, wish me luck!

Insomnia

2008-09-26T05:24:00.004-05:00

So it's like 3 am and I'm awake. I don't know why. This happens all the time lately. I go to bed tired, sleep a couple of hours, then I pop up. Only one thing I can think of is I've cut my dosage of Lex in half recently in an attempt to wean off the stuff. I had some initial withdrawl with headaches and changes in appetite which caused me to lose some more weight which I probably didn't need, but oh well. Other than that it still does it's job and in due time I'll probably eliminate it altogether (fingers crossed). Well, guess I'll make the time I'm awake productive and get housework or some sewing done. Kids have to be up in an hour or so anyway, no use in trying to go back to bed. Life is good, no real complaints but it just seems like I should be getting more sleep. Enough of this. Have a great day yall! If I can stay awake through it I sure intend to enjoy it cuz this weather is just crazy nice lately.

Tiny Clothes

2008-09-24T09:31:00.009-05:00

Here is a little preemie gown that I sewed for my granddaughter yesterday. I prewashed some super soft flannel and found a freebie pattern on the internet. The sizing says it is for 2 to 3 pound preemies, so this should be just right. It also shows me just how tiny she really is without even seeing her in person, gosh! I gave it french seams so it won't rub her delicate skin and it has teeny plastic snap closures instead of Velcro that could be irritating or ties that probably would come undone too easily. It is open enough at the bottom for diaper changes, yet soft and warm enough to keep her covered and extra CUTE! My love for the color purple, lavender or anything in that group took me over again, haha. The little drawstring bag was an afterthought with no pattern used, just a freehanded sketch and stitch quickie that the gown fits in nicely or it could be used for the little bear that I also made for her below...

And to add to all this "purple haze", I found an absolutely darling little cotton knitted hat meant to look like a wee blueberry, complete with a green stem! It is also a preemie size and has a roll up bottom so it can be sized just right for her tiny lil' noggin. I just LOVE it. You can find the maker here on Etsy, my new favorite place to shop for handmades. Her shop name and id is My Little Minky.Anyway, looks like I'm on my way to brainwashing another female in the family into loving the color purple huh? I just can't help myself. Call me silly, I don't care! I dream in purple.
the end
TTYL...................

Granddaughter Update!

2008-09-16T08:54:00.002-05:00

Such tiny fingers, a miracle to behold.
I hear that she is making steady progress
and was active and alert yesterday! Just
can't wait to see her in person...

SHE'S HERE!!!!!

2008-09-12T06:04:00.003-05:00

I am happy to announce that my fifth grandbaby was born yesterday! She's a 911 baby literally and was born emergency c-section due to complications, but I am relieved and happy to say that both Mom and lil' peanut are doing well. She was a whopping 3lbs 5oz and amazingly strong and healthy looking for a preemie. What a blessing! I have to say that yesterday was a test of nerves and faith for me. God is good and I firmly believe that through the prayers of family and friends everything went as smoothly as it did. My visit to Scotland will be earlier that we thought, but hey I'm totally up for that! Wish me luck and please keep this new family in your prayers if you would. OK, so I'm off to pack for my journey! Updates to follow...
~greenie

Remembering 911

2008-09-11T09:14:00.000-05:00

Labor Day

2008-09-02T21:13:00.007-05:00

Hi, hope everyone that reads this had a nice Labor Day weekend! Ours was not planned out as far as celebrating or traveling. We just took it easy and enjoyed being around family. I did cook some steak and chicken on the grill outside and that was mighty tasty! We've been having an influx of evacuees here in the local area from the states that were ordered to leave because of Hurricane Gustav. I'm hopeful that it will pass soon and everyone can get back to their homes without too much damage. The first week back to school went smoothly for the kids and they've gone back today for week 2. Football season is coming on strong here in Texas and although I don't get "into" it as much as a lot of folks, it is still a reminder of the change in seasons and that's the part I look forward to. Our son plays for his High School team and no doubt I'll be at most of those games.
My tattoo is healed already, wow can't believe how quickly that came about. Touch ups if needed will be done in about 2 weeks. They say you will probably need a little something in most cases with color and when it's on the foot area, so......no problem.
Looks like I'll be flying over to Glasgow, Scotland again in less than two months. My time over there this time will be a lot longer (YAY!!!) and my hopes are that I'll actually be a help for my son and daughter in law and the new granddaughter. It is very exciting knowing I can help out and take a vacation all in one, how blessed and lucky can a person be?
How do you like the new feel of my blog? I stumbled Chelsea who makes free backgrounds on her own blog called Aqua Poppy Designs and had to try one out. This one caught my eye because of the colors. I intend to update my blog header logo soon too. I realized how bad it looked to me because it still said Happy Spring, oops! Here it is at the beginning of Fall weather already, yikes I missed the whole Summer even, LOL. I'll post again ASAP, have a great week everyone!
-Sharon

First Day of School

2008-08-25T20:56:00.003-05:00

Today was back to school day for my three youngest at home. Here are the very two youngest and how they decided to present themselves. We have had 8 kiddos go through the system here where we live and these final 3 are in the 6th, 9th, and 11th grade now. Five down, three to go!
If any more Johnsons go to these schools, it'll have to be grandkids from now on!

Digital Scrap Credits for my photos from Choubinette

Fresh Ink!

2008-08-22T13:31:00.011-05:00

~~I DID IT~~

Wow, what an experience and I LOVE how it turned out!

No, I haven't lost my mind, I'm just enjoying life and this was a well thought out event and not just a moment :) This "artwork" was done to celebrate my 50th birthday, although early. It represents my fifth grandchild who will be born this year in Scotland, hence the 5 flowers. The blooms are thistles, which are the National Flower of Scotland. They happen to also be my favorite color. The vine is shaped into the letter "S", which is the first letter of my name and Scotland too!
I did a lot of research picking out just the right artist to do this and the whole concept of what I actually wanted and why. I don't regret it and am quite proud of how it turned out. It is on my right outside ankle and even DH says it turned out great. (He is not into tattoos at all.)

Life is a Journey

2008-08-18T21:14:00.011-05:00

CLICK US FOR A VERY BIG VIEW!

Our ride Sunday was certainly that! We drove to Dallas and visited Rick Fairless' Strokers Bike Shop and Ice House. What a crowd and so many cool bikes to look at too. We borrowed our "ride" from a good friend and DH has a craving for another one himself. He had one years ago and this trip had him drooling over a few bikes that he'd love to have, but these darn things just cost do much. Someday he may get his dream bike, but for now it's fun to get out and feel the breeze in your face and bugs in yer teeth. ;o)
Oh, the bike is from American Iron Horse and is LOUD!
And just one more thing...if you scroll down 3 posts below this I talked about my urge to get a tattoo. Well I have a consult set up the day after tomorrow to have an artist sketch out what I have in my head. I am so excited! It will be my first and hopefully I won't faint, haha.
...to be continued...

What did you pay at the pump last?

2008-08-17T22:40:00.004-05:00

Curiosity has the best of me. I jumped for joy when I thought $3.44 was a great price. Then I drove down a couple of blocks and it was $3.41.....then I called my daughter and she said she saw it a few miles away for $3.39.9 per gallon!!! Wow! I'm so scared how the prices are plummeting because I don't trust it. I am convinced that we are simply being teased for the time being and someday really soon, we'll wake up and it will be close to $5. a gallon like they predicted last summer. What do you think? What are you paying currently at your pump? Please comment if you can, cuz I'm very interested in what you think too. Look here and see how low it is down south of us, (as low as $3.24 per) wowza!
Texas Gas Prices
Thanks!
-me

Fire Belly Update

2008-08-08T14:47:00.005-05:00

Here is where you can find out more about these creatures: CLICK!
It is also about two inches long, which is fairly small. I could never seem to get an underbelly photo, so I found one on a google image search instead that looked the closest. No idea if "it" is a male or female. Only way to really tell is if it started making a low barking sound during mating season according to what we've read. So far, no barking from this fella or gal, haha.

Pet Count

2008-08-07T13:20:00.004-05:00

Odd topic I know. But before I go into that, just wanted to let those of you who read my blog know what my family has been up to lately. Actually enjoying summer! We've taken 2 trips to the coast and have been to several new movies out and even explored our little neck of the woods like we never have before. Funny how little I even knew about the DFW area and all of the beautiful areas and things there are to do without traveling that far. DH has been recovering from rotator cuff repair surgery and off from work for a few weeks. Physical Therapy is in progress and he is progressing very well the doc says. It was hard making him rest from day one because that is the kind of person he is.
I was out back today putting some things in our upstairs barn storage and started wondering if we'd all gone crazy. Our "pet count" is now up to seven. We have 4 doxies, 1 min pin, 1 rabbit and as of yesterday....1 fire belly toad. Before that, we had about a dozen hermit crabs that we brought back from Galveston. Bad decision. They are not land hermit crabs and they all died :( So to make up for my daughter's terrible loss, we went and checked into land hermit crabs and ended up bringing home a fire belly toad instead. Go figger?!? They say that these can have a life span of 10-15 years if properly cared for. Imagine that? It looks sort of like a moist colorful tree frog, but it's actually a toad found in China. Vivid green and black specks on top and bright red underbelly. It sure loves to snap up crickets! I'll post pics of it later if we can get it to be still long enough.
Anyhow, I hope everyone is having a great summer and is all ready for their kiddos to go back to school soon, cuz I know we are! It starts on the 25th of August for us. I am so anxious to go back to Scotland in the Fall and meet our new granddaughter that is expected in early November!!!
Oh, another thing. Don't laugh now! I turn 50 this year. That is not funny. We will have our 5th grandchild born this year. That is not funny either. But in honor of both events, I plan on getting inked. No kidding! I wanted to do a thistle one near my ankle because of the significance of it as far as it being the National flower of Scotland. Also in mind was maybe 5 flowers representing the 5th grandchild. Then the alternative tat would be the Celtic symbol for motherhood which pretty much says it all I thought. Perhaps I'll design one with all of these things combined. I've been playing around with it, doing sketches and looking online for ideas and inspiration. If anyone has any thoughts, please let me know!
Later!
-greenie

My Online Scotland Photo Book

2008-06-27T03:20:00.014-05:00

Whew, what a job editing well over 600 photos and picking ones I liked the most...here is an online photo book that you can view here or click HERE and see it in a larger size, complete with descriptions. If you'll click on the Full-screen option and after it opens, then choose options, you can slow it down or speed up the page turns. Enjoy.
Cheers,
Sharon

Click here to view this photo book.

Probably Not Strange

2008-06-24T16:07:00.007-05:00

But just different! I wanted to tell you all about some things that I learned whilst in Glasgow. Check out this Irn-Bru commercial first. I love this drink!

OK, so most of you may know that they have their darn steering wheel on the wrong side of the car ;o)
Of course that makes these Glaswegians, which is what they call themselves also drive on the wrong side of the road too! You MUST be careful when crossing the street or you'll absolutely get run down by a taxi. Most folks don't own a car and use mass transportation instead. We whine about our gas prices, hahaha you should hear what we calculated the price in USD from pounds after the conversion of litres to gallons. OMG! You stand to save money by walking, taking the subway or taxi, or even riding a bike. The train works nicely for longer distances and they also have buses. Anyway, we mostly walked everywhere except for when we went to Edinburgh. We'd take the subway to get to the furthest side of Glasgow to save time too. The air there is just so clean compared to DFW where I live, in spite of the fact that there are just so many smokers there. They only smoke outside though and I don't think it is allowed in any indoor spot at all. I was told that their autos and vehicles were so finely tuned and many are alternative fueled that the air stays cleaner than ours. Wow! The days were simply perfect with temps varying from 50F - 65F or so. I lucked out and it really didn't rain until the last day or so and it was very light at that. I say lucked out because my son said it rains a LOT in Scotland. Funny thing....I brought an umbrella and never used it until the next to last day. Then on our trip to Edinburgh the 2nd time, I had a darn pick pocket grab it out of the top of my purse. HAHAHA, it was so odd, because I had my passport, money, and credit cards all below it and he must have thought he was getting my wallet or something, because it was one of those tiny compact ones. Oh well, I hope he enjoys my black multi-colored polka dotted umbrella....NOT! Daylight happens around 4AM and it stays that way until almost 10PM at night. This makes it hard to want to go to sleep at night and my bedroom window just happened to be above where the party crowd comes when the clubs close. So almost every night at around 3AM, I'd hear laughing, yelling, arguing, and breaking glass. The OKO Express across the street would usually stay open and others from around town gather there to have their drunken breakfast or whatever they ate there. I wised up and started using ear plugs and that took care of that! If you can imagine how many 7/11 stores there are here, there probably are just as many Starbucks and Fish & Chip spots there. Our dollar is really weak right now, so my shopping adventures were not as interesting as they could have been, except that my wonderful son and daughter in law took care of just about anything and everything. I was just bowled over and felt like a queen! I tasted so many different and delicious foods there. My new favorite drink now is called Irn-Bru. The taste is very different and I wish so bad that it was available at a reasonable price. You can find it here and there I've since discovered, but the price is outrageous. It's just a simple carbonated soda, a pale sort of orange color, full of caffeine, a little like a slightly cream citrus like taste, but not so much....hard to explain until you taste it for yourself. I had great lamb, Indian cuisine, Japanese sushi, Italian you name it, squid, tofu, udon noodles, ox tail, crepes, honeypot yogurt, yummy rocket salads, feta cheese, espresso, prawns, French wine, teas, Victorian lemonade, Cloudy lemonade, Hot pot chinese buffet, puddings - oh my!, sweet corn at the cinema, angus beef, meat pie, apple slice pastry, dark chocolates, fresh asparagus, delicious root based soups, scones, shortbreads, back bacon, clotted cream fudge, creme brule, tapas, and more I can't remember right now, hah! I weighed myself when I had the nerve after coming home and found I'd only gained 4 pounds, which is not as bad as I'd feared. I suppose all that walking we did helped remedy that, so all is well. Oh....here's something else funny - the traffic signals of all things, they turn yellow right before they turn green instead of our yellow before red, wonder why that is? Taxi drivers can be chatty and tend to like to give out advice if they know you are a tourist, which is fine. Only thing is, their Scottish accent is so thick sometimes, you have to ask them to repeat some things until you catch on to their quirky little phrases and ways of saying certain things. Also, the working class order of the people coincides with how hard it is to understand them. If they are a suit wearing well to do businessman, you can usually understand their Scot-English easier, whereas a beggar in the street (and there were plenty of them) or a raggedly dressed man or woman has more of a thicker accent.....coincidence? I don't know. Beggars will either sit on the street or a corner with an old cup and say "Spare change love?". They always look very forlorn and unshaven or ragged, but some of them have crutches one day and then the next they don't, so I decided that they play on your emotions more than anything and didn't feel quite as sorry for some of them as I first did. Every museum that we went to was Free to the public! They took donations of course. The buildings of the city were so Victorian and Gothic looking, I just wanted to take so many pictures and stop and stare. Just beautiful!
Yes, there are bagpipe players on the streets and most play in anticipation coins tossed into their hats or instrument cases. There were more street performers of all kinds on the weekend, but you can expect to hear a guitar player, sax musician, drummer, or even a singer on any given day down Buchanan Street near the Royal Exchange Square. Wow, I miss it already and if things go as planned, I'll get to return in November to see my new Grandson or Granddaughter for the first time and son and DIL again! More photos to come soon, thanks for your interest if you've read this long post =o)

Photos to share of my journey!

2008-06-23T21:22:00.011-05:00

Hi yall! I've been back a few days and finally have my time zone lag adjusted (I hope). The difference in Glasgow is a whole six hours ahead, so you might imagine how "off" that must have felt for me. To try and force the change when I arrived, I stayed up & felt like a zombie, but it seemed to work per my son's advice. But somehow when I arrived home, it took longer to get back into the days and nights for CST. Whew! What I'll be trying to do is post a few photos from each day spent there every day or so as I have time and energy. The heat here is just awful, so adjusting back to 100F from being in 50-60F is really not fun :( I have lots of things to tell you about how different things are in the UK from the USA too, but for now, here's a few images and I've labeled each one as to what and where they are. These are from the first full day in Glasgow and if you want to see a nice 600x800 size of each one, just click on them.

Me in the UK!

2008-06-16T07:32:00.004-05:00

I'm here on day seven of my Scotland journey and all I can say is why haven't I been here before now?!?!? No words can really describe the experience, sights, people and feeling. I'll post more later, but here's one of me at Edinburgh Castle. I just had to add the little dragon to accent the feeling there, hah! Tomorrow, we have a "booking" for The Witchery for dinner. I'm really looking forward to that.
Lata Luv....
(click on the photo to see the HUGE version!)

I'm almost ready!!!

2008-06-05T12:43:00.016-05:00

In Scotland, the currency used is Scottish Pound Sterling. ("£" or "₤") Three Scottish commercial banks - Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank, issue their own notes with their own similar designs. Although all banks in Scotland have the right to print notes, only the above 3 choose to do so. Also, you can use British pounds there too, but the Scottish pounds can't be used in London. Interesting I thought...
I have the cutest little wool passport cover that I found on Etsy and wanted to show it off. Tucked inside are some Scottish pounds that I converted to take over with me. Wow, it really sucks that the USD is so weak right now too, cuz I had to pay over $100 for only 50 pounds from there.
Can you tell that I'm excited? :-)

Freckles

2008-06-04T14:04:00.005-05:00

Summertime is the perfect time for showing off freckles, don't you agree?
Credits: Love in Paris Collaboration from scraporchard.com

Thursday

2008-05-29T11:33:00.002-05:00

Last day of school for my kiddos today!
We have recovered from the previously posted storms and I want to thank everyone that posted their concerns. It means a lot to us :) Summer feels like it is well under way already and June is not quite here yet. Very humid and hot days already and this weekend is supposed to be near 100F already. ARGH....that's Texas for ya though. Anyhow, we're still alive and well and I've not given up on my blog, so do check back for more soon. I'll be flying over to Scotland in a little over a week, so expect to see photos, stories and stuff when I return. I am so excited!!!
Later,
Sharon

Texas Storms

2008-04-14T15:57:00.011-05:00

We were hit with terrible storms this past weekend and many around us are still without power. Ours is on, thank goodness! We had neighbors all around us with much worse damages than we had, so we were very thankful. Below are some small photos of what it looked like and also a few that show how life goes on and that Springtime is still wonderful here...

Amazing how strong the winds are to uproot huge trees, roots and all!

This is one side of our home and what it did to some of our fencing.

This is in the middle of trying to temporarily put one side of our fence back up to keep our dogs in.

In the cul de sac down our street, a neighbors whole tree fell through their fence and blocked the whole street, which prevented anyone there from driving to work or wherever they needed to go.

This is the back view of the Farmer's Market building near our home. It's roof was blown off, along with many bricks and in front where you can't see, a huge sign toppled over and the traffic lights at the intersection here were left as bits of wire blowing in the breeze.

My daughter and I drove around the neighboring streets to survey damages and already, people were busy with chainsaws getting debris out of the way. A lot of people could not do anything until their insurance adjusters came to look at the damages. Still others were talked to by the Red Cross trying to determine who needed immediate attention. Did I say that we were lucky?

But....like I said, life goes on and I still have my purple irises blooming in my antique tub in the backyard :)

And my stubby banana tree is sprouting up again :)

And the peach tree hanging over our fence (wink) from the neighbor next to us is full of little peaches, just waiting for the darn squirrels to pluck them if we don't watch out for them! ;)
It will be awhile before everything is back to normal for some of us, but gosh, we were so fortunate!

Sigh of relief

2008-04-02T17:53:00.004-06:00

It's been a tough time for me lately. On March 19, I had the wonderful news that my Grandson was born! This was the good part. The other part is that my son was injured in a baseball game. He had numerous injuries, including a concussion and a broken orbital bone, causing his eye to be pushed back some 5 millimeters and drop a bit (yeowwwsh!) If that wasn't bad enough, his sinus cavity literally exploded or burst. He had reconstructive surgery approximately 10 days later, after a round of antibiotics and waiting for immense swelling to go down. Today, you'd almost never notice except that he can't put his contact lenses back on yet and there is still some slight bruising and the stitches are visible until they dissolve just under his lower eyelid. I have to say that this was a scary ordeal to go though for the whole family. My son barely complained the whole time. I was amazed...simply amazed. Again, let me thank those of you who knew of our situation and prayed for him. We are very thankful that he came through this as well as he did. Hopefully, his vision will not be affected, but time will tell and he is recovering nicely! Head and facial injuries can be serious business. If your child gets struck in the head, face, or neck area, please do not take it lightly! We've known of children who have died over seemingly lesser blows. I urge all parents who have children in any type of sports activities to be sure of the policies and procedures regarding such injuries. We found out some interesting things in our children's school district and plan on bringing about a change. I won't discuss details, but we were not happy with with the circumstances surrounding our son's injuries. I am blessed that things worked out the way they did and know that God had His hand in it every step of the way!
Credit for digital elements here.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-22T20:44:00.004-06:00

May you all have a blessed Easter and time with your family if you are lucky. I also want to welcome to the world my newest grandson! He is healthy and already at home with Mom and Dad. On another note, I want to update those that are aware of my son's unfortunate accident while participating in a High School baseball game. He is doing well considering what happened and we are anticipating at least one surgery if not more. Prayers and good thoughts are very much appreciated at this time. Thank you and God Bless,
Sharon