HELP!

Last year I found a blogger who had made a small greenhouse, or conservatory out of old paned windows. This blogger featured it sitting on her patio, later on someone spotlighted that post. I saved it on my favorites for the longest time as I have a half a dozen windows hoping that my husband would help me re-create it. After much complaining from him about all of the 'favorites' I have on the computer and then just his general negative 'this can't be done' or doesn't 'need to be done' attitude  I deleted that favorite on my computer. Well Mr. Grumps is now on lay off from work and decided to build it, he has most of it done but it seems to be there was some scroll work done on it.  For  I can't for the life of me find that post, does anyone have any knowledge of it? If so could you please pass that on for me?

I so appreciate it. Thanks!

Funky Junk Style

A friend of mine is opening a new store - we hope. I asked if I could help decorate because I love nothing more than to decorate using money that isn't mine!! She told me she loved the funky junk style that I too so dearly love. I have been saving what Jeff calls 'crap' for years, all packed away in my someday 'cottage garden studio' and I was telling my friend how I have this collection and not doing anything with it. OK not much of a story but it set the stage for an epiphany a little later. Oh and what one man calls 'crap' another woman calls 'treasures' - ole Jeff he gives me a hard time but he brings me home more 'treasures' than not - I just had to add that little note.

Then this weekend, while organizing my scrap area I thought of the little nook in my laundry room that has no purpose and decided it was time to make it useful. So what to do, what to do?? I think I need some more storage, would like to have a place for my sewing machine that I don't use but would if I had a place to put it. I will eventually need a place to put my old extra large chair that will soon need to be removed from the living room. What else could I use this space for and what to decorate it with? And then I thought of my conversation with my friend and the crap I mean junk I have been saving and thought why not - so now here I am on a journey to find inspiration for my funky junk.  I went here - one of my favorite blogs to help out. This gals decorating is just amazing to me. Her name is  Donna and you can visit her site here: http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/ She has so many amazing ideas that I could never begin to tell you about them all. If you have some time stop on over and check out her site. Right now I am going to read her post about PC to Mac review.................... and below, well here are just a few photos I have found that gave me some more ideas.

AND.........I have the stairs to do this!!

I will be taking some before photos of my area and then I am going to strip it down; finish scrapping the walls and repaint and then.............let the fun begin!

Miss Nebraska wins 2011 Miss America pageant

We Nebraskans have so much to be proud of and Teresa Scanlan's has added to our state's many accomplishments. And folks not only did she come from NE but from our neck of the woods.

As a little girl watching the Miss American pageant was a must in our household. I would sit in amazement watching these beautiful, talented women as they walked down the runway but never, ever did NE get very close to that crown. Congratulations to a beautiful, young lady who has made her state proud.

Photo Class

  Even though it was a tad bit chilly and the snow was falling steadily today  I decided  I needed to get out of the house and practice what I learned yesterday at my first ever photo class. The class was all about 'knowing your camera'. Now I am not one who really cares about the guts of a camera or really how it works nor more than I wanted to learn the history of art when I started learning to paint. I just want to DO IT! 

  So I was a little skeptical about taking the class to say the least.  I have been shooting photos since I got my first camera at age 8, I even shot photos as a profession when I worked for the newspaper, I can't count how many senior pictures, weddings, sporting events  and family photo shoots  that I have done,  and I am sure that somewhere I learned about exposure, aperture, etc. etc. but most of my training came from the school of hard knocks. 

   So here I sit in class between 'By the Book' and 'Master of the Manual' thinking "Who cares if my camera is set on the correct exposure for the correct setting for the correct...blah, blah, blah. But then something happened... their enthusiasm was catching and I started learning a few things. And not only did I learn  from the teacher but also from the other students in the class. 

   I could tell that   'Book' and 'Manual' were rolling their eyes at me, I am sure wondering 'how ever did she get a good picture, she doesn't know anything'  when I realized something. An epiphany so to speak. When I first took pictures I know I read everything on photography, cameras, exposure etc. that I could. My first five or six cameras ONLY shot manual and I had to KNOW my camera, but alas with knew technology  I had  become complacent. Part of that being that I had lost a lot of my love of photography and part laziness, knowing that I could shoot on RAW and then use the computer to make up for the lack of bad photographs. 

   What did I learn you ask? Well maybe not as much about my camera as about me. I need to re-learn how to use my camera, get that old manual out and brush up on things, and I need to regain my love of photography. Don't get me wrong I DID learn new things about my camera and now I need to practice that, hence the photo shoot in the snow. I shot only on manual, I used my historgram to judge my exposure, aperature, film speed etc. and I also played with my new knowledge of white balance. Can't wait until next class - hope I get to sit with 'Book' and 'Manual' again!

Learnin' to drive!

Is 13 months to young to learn to drive? Well Santa didn't think so as Lucas got a new Lightning McQueen (is that how it is spelled?) car and Emm Jean got a new battery powered 4-wheeler. They sure had fun over the holiday playing with their new toys.

At first Lucas just enjoyed sitting in the driver seat but it didn't take him long to figure out what it took to make it go.

He looks so serious - I don't think he was sure that he wanted to make it go.

Showing off  all those muscles it took to learn to drive!!

Then it was time for Cash to get a few lessons.

One show of the button and he was off!

After Emma ran into the neighbors car, over my flower beds and broke off a few of my solar lights she got the hang of it.

Look grandma - no hands!

Santa sure knew how to put some smiles on those little faces.

Big boots or short legs!

So what's a guy to do when his boots are bigger than his legs are long....Ham it up I guess. Little Mr. Cash is just such a hoot, especially at his age of 18 months. What he doesn't think of to entertain us! So here he is stylin' in his dirty little onsie (that was a drink spill at his gmma Marge's house) and wearing papa's boots.