Garden Update

I worked about an hour and a half in the garden weeding and tying things up. I have some blooms on some of the plants. It's a great day to be outside today.......so nice! I haven't had any more time to work with the camera. I hope to do some jewelry pictures tomorrow. The bathroom ceiling is done but now we are going to paint the walls and add a new blind. I will probably just sew a new valance to go across the top. We also found a used porcelain sink with brass knobs. We got it at Habitat for Humanity. We weren't looking for a sink but the price was too good to pass up.

Habitat’s ReStore will be featured on the Your Home Columbus TV show on NBC-4, on Sunday, May 31st at noon. Habitat for Humanity's Restore Discount Store is filled with leftover and salvaged doors, fixtures, tiles, blinds, paint, and more to help fix up your home or find something that you have been hunting for.

New DSLR Camera

I have spent a good part of the day reading the manual and playing with the new DSLR camera. I have some macro filters to use on taking the jewelry pictures. This has been a great learning experience. I have to remember things like F-Stops, ISO, aperture settings and all kinds of goodies. Mo-Jo and Jazzy made good test subjects. These pictures were taken in the evening.

Upon My Dreams

♥Upon My Dreams♥

A detailed and whimsical design using an incredible mix of color! My heart was singing while these were being created!

Oh today is going to be another hot and humid day. We are expecting a cold front (not cold enough for me!) with thunderstorms. The garden is doing well. I'll try to do some more pictures AFTER I weed it a bit. Landon only has eight more days of school left. He will be taking Summer school right after to finish out his last Phys Ed requirement. He has signed up for a digital photography course next year and I hope that he gets it. It's so popular that freshmen weren't allowed in and seniors have first pick. Next year, he is also signed up for an elective course to tinker on computers. Maybe he can be my tech man!

Bandanna Mo-Jo and Jazzy

Today I was out shopping for summer clothes for Landon and I and found these bandanna's for Mo-Jo and Jazzy.

I installed an older version of Adobe Photoshop Elements on my PC yesterday and this is my first attempt at doing anything in this program. Not the greatest but it was a learning experience and I really enjoyed it. I love playing around with software. I was a typesetter/form's designer for many, many years before I started designing jewelry. I was the lead typesetter for a fortune 500 company before I left and started my own home-based typesetting/design business. I did this from my home successfully for about five years. It's incredibly easy for me to loose track of time when working with a program that I like!

Bubba Graphite Drawing by Leanne Wildermuth

As posted previously here on my blog, Mo-Jo, one of my German Shepherds won a custom portrait by Leanne Wildermuth. I truly treasure this drawing! I was so happy that I e-mailed Kellie at Mintern's German Shepherds and told her about Leanne's weekly contest. Above is her Bubba's picture and you can click on it to take you to Leanne's site and see all of the comments or consider participating in her contest. Bubba is the grandfather to both of my shepherds, Mo-Jo and Jazzy. We met Bubba (Mi Chief Braveheart) when we first visited Kellie and I can honestly say that he was one magnificent shepherd! My husband and family could not say enough about our visit and he was a big part of our conversations! Bubba meant so very much to Kellie and he has since crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. Leanne has made a video of his portrait in process. You can read Bubba's story here. I had tears in my eyes while viewing this video. So I think in conclusion, I will add my little poem that I wrote about my shepherds:

I am worried….. you are there.
I am so sad….. you are there.
I reach out and touch you….. you are there.
I am so very joyful….. you are there.
I will never take for granted one minute of our lives….. that we have been blessed to share.

KAT

Hostas with Raindrops

Here are a few pictures of my hostas in the front yard. Landon and I were sitting out on the covered porch enjoying the rain and thunderstorm. Some of these hostas were mother's day gifts and some came from my cousin. They have such a lush, tropical look to them.

Today I have baked brownies and I am getting ready to ice them. If you are going to be bad, be bad all the way! I added an extra egg so they are more cake like. And just to be really, really bad, I threw in some extra chocolate chips! I'll be good tomorrow! I promise!

German Shepherd Plate, Creamer, Sugar Bowl Purchase on Etsy

Well, look what arrived in the mail today from Shepherdsgrove on Etsy ! I just love them! I found her shop on Etsy the other day while during a German Shepherd search and did I ever find some good treasure! I'm sure you can tell from my blog that I really, really love my German Shepherds. And I do like to collect pretty things with their likeness. I couldn't have been more pleased when they arrived promptly and so very well packaged! She was so very nice to work with and was extremely professional and helpful. I hope that you can find the time to check out her incredible shop by clicking on the pictures or the link above. If you are a pet lover, Shepherdsgrove offers a variety of pieces with other dog breeds as the focal.

Mo-Jo and Jazzy Enjoying a Sunny Day Outside

This week has been extremely sunny. I don't think I have seen one cloud in the sky! I was sitting outside on the brick patio taking a break and just had to grab my camera and take some new pictures of Mo-Jo and Jazzy. Mo-Jo decided he would hang out in the shade. Jazzy decided to sun herself on the brick patio. It got up into the low 80's.....a bit too warm for me! Today and tomorrow will probably be the same. We went for our walk this morning on the wooded path on the back side of Hoover Dam......much, much cooler!

♥Sea Opal♥

Listed these pretty earrings today. The stones are vintage, unfoiled Sabrina glass with hints of green and blue (aqua). They have an opal or milky appearance and are wrapped in hand oxidized, filigree brass.

Jazzy Taking a Nap after Our Walk!

This is Jazzy taking a nap after our walk. She is parked right behind my chair while I am working on the computer. Last night the dishwasher starting making some very weird sounds. So in addition to working on the down stair's bathroom ceiling, handyman Curt will be taking a look at it today!

♥Whimsical Purple♥
I just listed these in my Etsy store. The glass is so very pretty!

Landon and Kyle Poster

This is a picture of the 4' x 6' poster that I have in my office of Landon and Kyle when they were much younger. It was fall and we were on the back side of Hoover Dam. Can you see all of that mud on Landon's pants? Pretty typical for my boys.....especially Landon!

I just listed this in my Etsy shop today....

♥Whimsical Blue♥

A truly beautiful necklace with a whimsical and vintage feel. Displaying a pretty blue Czech glass butterfly cradled in brass and also embellished with a sweet, brass filigree butterfly.

Sunny Monday Evening!

This is the two man tent that Landon used on his camping trip last weekend. It is in the process of being aired out! Not so very big for two over 6 foot guys!

Here's the back view.

My tomatoes have grown some in my garden since last week. We had a couple of days of not too heavy rain. I took this picture before I watered everything.

L@@K! The onions are up!

This is another picture of the front of the garden. It is extremely bight and sunny today and nice and cool!
Everything feels so crisp and clean!

This is a picture of Jazzy sitting at the patio window because I am outside watering everything. She will stay there until I come in!

Love her lots!

Landon Age 7

Older pic of Landon, Age 7 .....dimple showing!

Well, my garden has been in a week and the plants have grown. We had a couple of days with just enough rain. I saw that the onions have sprouted too! It might get down to 36 degrees tonight and since we are close to Hoover Dam and in an outlying area, we might get some frost. Landon and I took big sheets of plastic and covered the plants. I can't remember it being this cold in May for quite a while. The morning glory's have also started to come up. They will be a pretty blue. We laid some sod in the back yard today that a neighbor gave us when they made a new flowerbed. I added more sand to the brick patio and it looks so much better.

Brass Crown Set Red Bumpy Top Glass Jewel Earrings (Spicy Sweet)

This is a pair of earrings that I just listed. It seems that everyone likes the earrings pictured on top of the rock per the forums on Etsy. I like them too! I guess the boys won't be getting this rock back soon. It's from their rock collection box.

My husband just started the repair on the down stair's bathroom ceiling. Looks like we'll be down to one bathroom for a while! Not good with two big boys in the house! But, Landon will be leaving in a few hours for a weekend camping trip!

Hannah

Here is one of my favorite pictures of Hannah. She is no longer with us and had crossed over the rainbow bridge in May/06. My oldest son took this picture and I smile every time I see it.

Just got done in the kitchen with dinner. We are having sweet, red peppers and onions with balsamic vinegar with just a wee bit of sauce tossed over fettuccine noodles. Landon also just got done testing his fry bread recipe for his upcoming camping trip. After his test, which we ate, he made up the dough that he will need on his trip. He also dehydrated strawberries for the trip. They are yummy! Meijers had them on sale this week.....4/$5!

Landon's Herb Garden

Here are a couple views of Landon's herb garden. He built this about three years ago all by himself. He has done detailed drawings of previous gardens that he has done in the past. This is only part of it. He has seeds and plants that are ready to go in as soon as he gets the time. He is tilling a garden for Kyle's girlfriend's mother this afternoon. What you see on the side are Day Lilys. He transplanted those a few years ago. They are so pretty in bloom! Landon has many books on herbs and knows what they are good for. His uncle gave him a dehydrator a few years back so that he can speed up his drying process. He then grinds and labels them. I have some that I use in my cooking. Well that sure is handmade! When walking in the woods he is great to have around. He can identify almost anything!

Listed these pretty brass and glass earrings in my Etsy shop today. They are called:
Color Dance.

Mother's Day

View of part of the Garden with Raised Beds

Chives in the Garden

Outside View of part of the Garden


On Mother's Day, my two sons planted our garden. We usually put our garden in around Mother's Day in Ohio. They tilled in the rich, dark soil from the compost pile, weeded, and planted all of the plants and even put stakes in! My husband built the raised bed boxes out of recycled wood about three years ago. We got the wood for free! We had added wood chips to the walkways for the past two years. We haven't done it yet this year. We got the wood chips for free too! In the past, when we have heard them chopping up and chipping trees in our neighborhood, we have asked them if they would like to dump the load on our driveway. It saves them a trip to dump it and all we have to do is wheelbarrow it to the back yard......it usually takes a day! Hard work but well worth it! We also ask if the trees were healthy. My husband also built the little fence in front of the garden, complete with gate, to keep the doggies out!

For dinner on Mother's Day, the boys grilled out chicken with Italian dressing. We also had baked potatoes and a veggie. It was a cool, sunny, beautiful day that I will remember fondly!

Filigree Brass Wrapped Czech Bird Art Glass Button Necklace

♥Coming Home♥

The focal on this beautiful necklace is a Czech, fired crystal Bird Art Glass button. I just fell in love with it! I was finally able to find a few more of these! It is wrapped in filigree brass.

This particular button is back after 120 years. The button was made from a 19th century, old mold. It was hand crafted in the Czech Republic and was hand pressed and hand painted using original czech methods that haven't changed in over two hundred years. The necklace was finished with a filigree repousse clasp.

Mintern's German Shepherds

I have been asked many times for information about where we found Mo-Jo and Jazzy. Kellie has a wonderful site for you to explore (just click on the pic). I thank you Kellie everyday for these wonderful companions! You have always been there for me!

New Brass and Glass Earrings

Here are a couple of earrings that I have listed in my Etsy shop this week. My sister-in-law from Charlotte, NC will be visiting with us today. My husband left to go and pick her up from her mothers. This is all that I had time to do today! I can't wait until she gets here. I haven't seen her in over a year!

Mo-Jo - Custom Portrait Winner

We won a custom portrait of Mo-Jo. Just click on his picture or the link below to get to Leanne's. You too can enter a picture to win! She does pets, animals, people. Please check out her site. You will be amazed by her talent! This portrait will truly be treasured by my family!

http://intricateart.com/browse/blog/getting-creative/graphite-portrait-giveaway/

This is the little poem that I shared with Leanne when I entered my picture of Mo-Jo:

I am worried…..
you are there.
I am so sad…..
you are there.
I reach out and touch you…..
you are there.
I am so very joyful…..
you are there.
I will never take for granted one minute of our lives…..
that we have been blessed to share.

KAT

Dragonfly Fantasy

Brass Wrapped Vintage Vitrail Medium Crystal Glass Victorian Tooled Dragonfly Earrings

Landon and I will be leaving in about an hour to go pick up $300.00 + worth of flowers to deliver. He sold these as a fundraiser for boy scouts. Boy are we going to be busy!