“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It Goes On.”
Robert Frost

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Resolute

Well folks, here we are in the last days of January.  I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions anymore, but if you are going to make one, make it one you can keep!

The snowman made a wise choice indeed!





Just goes to show you that in between those ears, snowman had more than just white mush! 
Hope you enjoyed this little poem by Aileen Fisher.

Of those of you who have made resolutions, how's it going?




Friday, January 25, 2013

Winter Is Wild Wooly and Cute ...

When it's ugly outside, at least I can turn to my Pinterest and Flickr for some gosh darn cute images of animals having fun in the snow. Take a look at these wild and wooly images!

Let's go Skating! Rolling in the snow is fun too!









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Pull on your Scarf and Sweater (errr Hat)!







Source: etsy.com via CraveCute on Pinterest






奶茶_01









Wow!



Play Time!


Oooo! Icicles!








I'm the King of the World!!!







Muffi&Zazza



Follow Me!!





 Deer_with_Frosty



"Should I take that carrot?" 







There goes the Nose!

What the??? I thought it was something good!!








Let's go for a Walk or Maybe a Run!
Oskar running in the snow II




Duck X-ing





«Winter cat»









Read more about Frosty here.







Just Because!




















Amazing!






Thank you for stopping in, please come again soon! ~~ Diane


Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Winter Weary Doldrums . . .

Yes, I am finally at that point where I am getting tired of winter.  Mainly I am tired of this bitter, nasty cold and biting winds that have been hanging around here for the past week. It has finally warmed up to +10F/-12C degrees outside. Yesterday was a shocking -7F/-22C degrees.  I know some of you further north had even colder temperatures.




The thing is, where the heck is the snow?  Ours has almost melted away from our warmer weather a few weeks ago.  Now we have ugly brown patches and plants sticking out from the snow.  I fear for my poor garden.  Will anything survive the freeze-drying atmosphere? We had a dusting of snow overnight, but not enough to make any real difference, just a nuisance snow. I want real snow, pretty snow that blankets and protects my plants and makes my yard look beautiful. Oh well, we can't control nature, it does what it does.  So what's a person supposed to do?


Regular photo setting

Enhanced with color levels.
Backlighting


Well, since it's way to cold to go outside, frostbite in five minutes cold, I will catch you up on what I have been doing. I have been messing around with my new camera that I got for Christmas. Trying all sorts of weird settings to see what it will do.  Trying to perfect my product photos for my shop.  I even pulled out my water colors for a few minutes the other day and painted a snow man. I started working on taxes and organizing receipts and doing inventory for my shop. Which makes me want to cry, I hate that kind of stuff.  I've also been paying bills, reading about how to improve my shop, reading all the millions of topics on the Etsy forums. Have you ever looked at all that mess those comments and suggestions?  It makes a person want to take up drinking!

product photos

pinecone reindeer


My poor car is finally out of the shop and after thousands of dollars, I can drive it again.  It's still better than a new car payment! Still seeing the bill is a real bummer. The other fun thing I have been doing is trying to figure out how to set up a Google+ account and business page. I have run across of few of you good folks out there.  Thanks for your kind comments, I'm glad to know that I am not the only one that finds this new fangled technology somewhat confusing. If you are not familiar with the word "fangled", then you know I am much older than you! Anyway if you are a Google+ enthusiast please "Circle" me and "Plus" me and pass my shop page around to your friends that might be interested in my stuff.  It is on the right side of the page, just under my bio.



etsy type look



I plussed myself, I'm sure that is against Google+ etiquette! Also sometime soon, I am going to do a give-away of something from my shop or inventory. I still haven't decided yet what that will be. I'm still making it through everyone's blogs, if I haven't been there to visit lately, I apologize.  I will get there eventually. Meanwhile I will be trying to work myself out of the winter-weary-doldrums!


soft effect

toy camera effect

What do you do to get through the long winters?





Sunday, January 20, 2013

A Song for Sunday - Snow


Loreena McKennitt * Snow

Loreena Isabel Irene McKennitt, (born February 17, 1957) is a Canadian singer, composer, harpist, accordionist and pianist who writes, records and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern themes. McKennitt is known for her refined and clear soprano vocals. She has sold more than 14 million records worldwide. wikipedia

 

 



Friday, January 18, 2013

Magical Thinking



My mother used to tell me to “get out of your dream world” and clean your room, dust, practice the piano, hoe the garden etc. I usually obliged and did the mundane and boring task she had requested of me. Even when I was doing those things (especially dusting), my mind would revert back into that dream world I had concocted.  










When I was really young (around 5), I was a singer. We lived close to a very small town.  I sang at church, community events and anywhere somebody needed free entertainment and a cute kid.  Sometimes I sang alone, other times with a couple of other kids. I imitated singers of that time period; I imagined that someday I would be a successful singer on a stage somewhere. When I got a little older and more self-aware and experienced stage fright for the first time, I realized that becoming a famous star was not going to happen. My first dream shattered. 












I recovered; I was a virtual Walter Mitty. There I was, riding my imaginary horse and galloping through the imaginary fields (ages 8-13; horse obsession). I think I used my imagination a lot when I was a child; I did live in the country miles away from other kids after all. I never had an imaginary friend or anything like that, but I always found new and fun things to do. We had hundreds of acres of land to explore and I would go off into the trees and observe the birds and other animals. I loved to see what the farm animals were doing. The farm cats and dogs sometimes accompanied me, but often I was on my own. I imagined all sorts of crazy things. Witches in the grove of trees near our house... there was a huge black cauldron out there! I read a lot as a kid and I think that helped to fuel my imagination. Ursala Le Guin was a favorite author of mine.





Source: cuded.com via CraveCute on Pinterest



Of course from age 13 my horse obsession turned into a variety of obsessions that changed throughout the years! Back in my young adult years, when I was working two jobs and going to school, I don’t think I had the time or energy for my imagination. If I had any free time, I was sleeping!









Now that I’m older, I still find myself day-dreaming now and then. 
Often just a picture or a fragrance can send my mind off to another time and place. 
Perhaps it’s a memory or an imagination of what might have been or what could be.


Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Robots Need Love Too

This kind of weird song has always been a favorite of mine. Have a fun robot day!






Robots
I don’t know what you’ve been told, but i don’t get out much these days. Waking young and feeling old, the days are no longer my own to piss away the waking hours. But don’t don’t don’t, don’t let them go, don’t don’t don’t don’t, don’t let them go to waste.

The fire in my eye is fleeting now your robot heart is bleeding. Tried to be the robot king, and settled for a robot boy.

Ring the bells that still can ring and sing your stupid head off to the ones who are not listening.

But don’t don’t don’t, don’t let them go, don’t don’t don’t don’t, don’t let them go to waste. The fire in my eye is fleeting now your robot heart is bleeding out.

And I spent half of my life in the customer service line. Flaws in the design, a sign of the times. And that little voice in the back of your mind, just wants you to know, just hopes that you know – robots need love too, they want to be loved by you, they want to be loved by you.

by Dan Mangan




Some cute robots on Etsy.




Rosie --
from the Jetsons cartoon.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Humour Me

Winter is weird. We had rain the other night. Extremely weird to have rain on the roof in the middle of January. That's all changed now, it has turned very cold and we have a bit more snow. My car needs an operation, the transmission is bad. I will be home bound for a few days. I need to cheer myself up with some Tundra humor.






















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