What is it?

Yep, it’s more pictures from the park.

What can I say, I don’t get to many places these days.

So I saw this in the park and thought perhaps a child had stuck a pretzel in the ground.

Upon further and closer inspection, this appears to be an organic growth.

Another one about four feet away.

Fungus, perhaps?

The pink sun looked orange in this picture.

Maybe due to the smoke?

 What odd nature things have you noticed today?

Food

So lately I’ve been eating more vegetables and sometimes I’m mixing leftovers together.

What I’m noticing now  is how similar they all look in photos.

This was leftover stir fry (riced cauliflower, shredded carrots, broccoli, corn) on top of a baked potato with a bit of queso in the middle)

Broccoli and carrots on top of baked potato and some queso!

 

Frozen mix of orzo, lentil, peppers, carrots and broccoli.

Sometimes I add a crunchy option of water chestnuts or chow mein noodles.

Simple lunch at work of sweet potato and a lettuce/spinach salad with crunchiest on top

 (sliced almonds, wonton strips and some leftover croutons.)

What’s on your menu?

Labeling and organization

 So, I’ve been trying to take note of things while I walk. A few days ago I noted that they had marked some of the public area with paint, sticks and flags.  They must have marked electric lines, underground things and areas they were planning to work

Sticks labeled with underground things and those little pink flags.

But I felt like some things didn’t need to be labeled, at least in my mind.

This was in front of the light pole.  Apparently there are people who might need to know 

that this is ... well a light pole.

Perhaps there has been a lot of questions as to whether this is a junction box, or one of the other labeled items.  It made me laugh!

What’s been tickling your funny bone?

A morning in surgery

No, it wasn’t me under the knife, I was just the designated driver. Blueman received a Spinal implant.

It was far enough away that I wasn’t going to drive home so into the cold waiting room I went.  I had planned my goodie bag and I was ready to roll!

A bagel (we left the house at five a.m. y’all) some flavored water, a book and yarn for crocheting.

In the pocket was my ear phones and I spent nearly four  hours listening to an audio book and crocheting.

 

I had started this at the beginning of the pandemic and then left it.  

It was fun to get back to it. I finished the yellow, completed the orange and half of the red.

Blue man came through the procedure just fine and we are both recovering! Him from the procedure and me from these early mornings!

How do you handle long waits?

Recent purchases

 Feeling more secure, I started going out a little more. Masks are worn and hand sanitizer is used. It’s not normal but it’s a step in the right direction, I think.  And let’s face it, sometimes you just want some retail therapy.

A couple more books, these from the used book store.

I need physical books like I need a hole in my head...but I wanted to buy something!

Then I got some fun fabric.

The pumpkins will make cute autumnal masks.

And I just liked the rock fabric.

This fabric made me buy it. It was screaming SO loudly.

Ha! It was purely an impulse buy.  I’ll have time to think about what to do with this lovely.

What found it’s way into your shopping cart lately?

Just some fun things

The maternal unit celebrated a birthday last week. A lady never tells her age, but in a dozen years she’ll reach the century mark!

Pretty flowers that scream “happy”, don’t you think?

She advises that even four days later they look just as pretty.

A friend of mine lent her puzzle out. It turned out quite cute.

We went on a hunt for some used puzzles when in another store we saw new ones for $14. 

We agreed to keep looking. 

But now I know what might make an addition to her next present worthy holiday!

What fun things are you finding today?

 

More mask making

 It seems each time I go into the stash bins to “shop”, I find fabric I forgot I had.  So as we were discussing needing fall and autumn masks, I pulled some fabric out that just might do.  

The small astern in mushrooms, but they remind me of little pumpkins.

Leaves and the only Halloween fabric I have, bought as a remnant. 

Metallic “boos” in different colors.

Folks at work have expressed an interest in this one!

Another pile of masks looking for a home.

I’ve sent some around to friends, taken some to work, given a few to people who do service for us.

I’m guessing I’ve made nearly 100 so far. What can I say? It’s fun and they run up pretty quickly.

What’s in your craft pile?

Everything old is new again?

I braved a department store last week. It wasn’t as bad as I feared. Carts were sanitized before use, the cashier at the self checkout sanitized the equipment before use.  It had been many months since I’d been inside anything other than a grocery store.  So what’s for sale?

Handbags...that kind of look like flower pots hanging  by macrame cords.

These bags also look like things I could have purchased when I was younger.

(Or something I might have tried to make)

I know this style of shoe was popular way back when.

Thinking these things while wandering the store made me feel so old. Add that to the comments I was muttering about short shorts and tight tops worn by other shoppers and I believe my hair began graying right on the spot!

Have you seen any “blasts from the past” recently?

 

Grumpy kitty aka toasted marshmallow

The community cat we’ve been taking care of greets me at the door in the morning waiting for food. This morning grumpy kitty met me atop the car.  I felt this stance was telling me “yeah, I’m here, so what?”

The next morning, the mood was definitely a “dude, I’m chillin’ here” vibe.

So THAT’S where the paw prints on the hood came from!

Who makes you smile at 5:30 in the morning?!

Fun at the park

 

The problem with something being your personal best, it’s harder to get your next personal best!

Last Saturday I managed to get another personal best. And hour long walk and then some shopping, a bit of chores and you too can log 11,000 steps!

I can only imagine the effort it will take to reach 12,000.

Goals are good.  

I like some of the things I see while walking in the park.

This looked like a side portrait to me, perhaps presidential.

Puddle portraits, I call them!

Then sometimes I get a little philosophical.

Footsteps (mine) walking through sprinkler puddles.

Life is like a puddle footstep.

What you walk through doesn’t always have lasting effects even if it’s messy at the time.

To be truthful I felt a little like the invisible woman after seeing this picture!

What are you contemplating today?

Fun views in the park

I tried a new path the other day and found some pretty interesting trees along the way.  This one looks like a kokopelli. Apropos, I think for this area!

If you squint a little it’s like a kokopelli.

This looks like a headless dancer to me. 

But then I might just have a warped view!

So, am I the only one who could picture little creatures sitting on the horizontal branch while they just chill?

And then there is this. Someone relocated their poinsettia to the outside.

Christmas in July?

Here’s hoping you find something natural to enjoy today!

What’s in your photos

I haven’t been taking a lot of photos recently.  In fact I went in to clear out my temporary photos (those just not going to make the cut long term) and found that recently I have three kinds of photos. My furry children (honestly who needs another sleeping cat picture never mind how cute they are when they sleep) food (it used to be restaurant food but now it’s healthy concoctions at home) and pictures of my weight loss journey.

Crustless quiches. Good for breakfast on the quick.

Two quiches is about 160 calories and low carb.

Super simple recipe which is my jam....jam is not an ingredient here!

Multigrain orzo and vegetable mix. I like to add a baked potato to this frozen mix although not necessary. Sprinkle with a hint of Parmesan cheese and yum-o!

Didn’t realize the wooden spatula was center stage here. Anniversary gift for Blueman on our fifth anniversary...the wood anniversary!

Here’s hoping you’re cooking up something good!

Vacation mask making.

A coworker gave me this pillowcase and asked me if I could make some masks.

I’m not going to lie, one of them likely showed the Aircraft upside down... 

I’m not a Star Wars enthusiast so I wasn’t aware of the proper orientation!

One day on vacation I spent a couple of hours on these masks..

Another day found these in process.

It wasn’t easy. My feline fabric weight was very good at his job!

I liked the fact that you could finish them in such a short time.

When so many of my projects take weeks or months, it’s fun to see a pile of completions in a few hours.

Here’s hoping you find a fun completion today!

Yummy and Yukka

One of Blueman’s specialities is a scallops and angel hair pasta dish. Little scallops are best because they won’t freak out my texture issues.  He doesn’t cook a lot but he comes up with some yummy stuff.

Of course we’re going to have to work on portion sizes!

I took leftovers to lunch after this meal and it was still yummy.

Now for the yukka. 

 I first saw this plant when I went out exploring the neighborhood on my walk one morning.

I rounded the end of a car and holy lizards and snakes Batman!

It was yukka!

Well yucca that is!

For some reason I just love this plant!

Here’s hoping you find something that takes over your heart today!

Finishes...long overdue

It’s been awhile since I finished these, but I figured better a late post than never!

At the beginning of the covid hoo-haw, I began my card writing campaign.  Apparently between that and my journaling, I wrote more than I thought.  I replaced stamps and bought more cards.
What I didn’t expect was this:

I emptied my pen! Finished it clean off!

More often pens dry up that empty. And this was a favorite, too!

While working from home, I emptied my mints and the plastic container is what my chewing gum comes in. The mints had a date on them. Apparently, I noticed after the were gone, it was expected to be empty  sometime in 2018! Whoops! The gum container is quite nice but what to use it for?

I’ll have to think on it. I have two more at work.

But this is my latest crafty finish. Wildfire was the name of the donated yarn. It was fun to work with and you didn’t see the striating colors until you saw it from further than fingertip length.

Thank you to my friend YarnAngelR for letting me have this delightful yarn to play with.

Here’s hoping you enjoy some finishes today!

The elusive.....hard to find....

While shopping today I ran across something that I hadn’t seen in quite a long time.

I managed to get a picture or two before it disappeared.

It’s the most elusive and endangered species...

Yes, it’s toilet paper!  

This is the most I’ve seen in the store at one time in eight weeks!

And look, it’s cousin paper towel!

Rarely photographed in the wild, I’m lucky to have managed the shot.

😉

Here’s hoping you enjoyed your day no matter what wild thing you find!

Fun things while walking

I don’t normally take my phone on my morning walks. For one thing, I don’t normally have pockets and my fear that I’ll catch my hand on my leg sending the phone flying is a real fear. Sidewalks are hard y’all!

One day I did give in and took a slew of pictures. I was going to create a story and illustrate with my pictures but alas, it will not be so.

The point of this picture is under the table.

You walk up a slope to this area and it looked like a bird crashed first and left a splat mark!

The I decided that it was a baby dementor!

This is down from my house. A big black spot. 

It’s like a team of dementors got drunk and smacked into the tree.

The idea makes me giggle!

I’m guessing these are roots where the dirt has been washed away. 

(It’s on a slight incline)

Then I decided it was like tree varicose veins!

I did mention these are my early morning walks, right?

So I might not be the most clear thinking!

This is a sea of rock

While this is a pond of rock!

So that’s what I see when I walk.

Here’s hoping you see interesting things too.