Drawers

Drawers in my home

I have an affinity for drawers.

Large or small....

I surround myself with them.

They are everywhere you look in my house.


There are even more than I have pictured...

While most of my drawers are used often.
There are some that are seldom ever used.

Some drawers hold fun things.

Some drawers hold important things .
Some drawers hold junk.

This drawer holds my poptart crumbs!

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Drawers not in my home but that I like

I've seen stair treads made into drawers but I prefer this style.

The Shakers really knew how to utilize drawers.



There can never be too many drawers available.

A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With A Single Step

"Archie"
Confucius say: "A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With A Single Step" ....
and so did my Dad always find an opportunity to tell me this.

The last post was in memory of my Mother so I feel it only fitting to give my Father's memory a place on my blog as well.

I miss them both everyday of my life.

Happy Birthday Dad.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention...

"Kitty"

Mama was so clever and creative. Her motto chimes in my head like a mantra everytime I need a better way of doing things. Mama would say---

"Necessity is the Mother of Invention." I remember this little phrase when I need it and before long I'm brainstorming solutions to problems and inventing ways to make living on here on earth a little better. It works try it.
Problem - Everytime I put the seed into this coconut shell bird feeder, the larger birds knock it out in one fell swoop.

Solution- Take a knee -high nylon stocking and slip it over the half shell. Then with the extra stocking left hanging....reverse and double up. Poke a hole in the stocking and stretch it wide open. I filled mine with sunflower hearts.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention...

Make the hanging string long enough to deter the squirrels from hanging by their toes to reach it. My feeder has been out there 3 days so far and the squirrels haven't been able to get it yet. Although it's comical watching them try.

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This is an edit to the above post.

It is now May 15th

I think I should tell you that not too long after this post, the squirrels had their way with the coconut bird feeder. They ripped the stocking to shreds, chewed up the edges of the coconut and and yanked it completely down from the tree.

They must lay in their little beds at night scheming in their dreams.

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White Weeds

"A weed is just a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Spider-Man is Back in Black

Shooting webs

Displaying muscular strength

Charming my heart.

Little Things That Mean A Lot...to me

We use this little lamp when the power goes out.

This is what I was looking at while doing the dishes last night.

While I got my camera, this caught my eye too.

Now it's daylight.... I love such simple things.

It's been a long time....

Planted a Smoke tree.

Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'

Pronounced: koe-TY-nus koe-GIG-ree-ah

That's it to the right side in the bird bath picture. I suppose I need a better picture to document that properly. Oh well....another time.

Instead of that ...you can see my monsterously huge pansy!

It's a sole survivor from last year. I had half a dozen encircling the bath but the other ones were so weak they gave up to my rake in early spring. This one held fast and really thrived after I scattered hunks of rabbit poop around. I don't compost it first. I mix it directly into the soil with my cultivator.

Poison Ivy...I know what it looks like. But it got me twice this year before it showed up.

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Dear Blank Blog----
How can I fill you up?
This Springtime entry started above, was the last attempt I made at writing to you.
I just can't keep up with being clever and creative and all that it entails.
So--- I will continue to post at my own lack of speed.
I don't know who will see this but I've decided to write just to see for myself the changes in my life.
Everyday slips by and a new one steps up without me really remembering half of what happened.
I was crushed when somebody thought I put the elephant clip in here as a hoax.
That's not at all me to try and fool anyone... and I did a fair amount of research since.
The elephant's name is Hong and as a matter of fact she most surely can paint an elephant. It is not a HOAX!!!

This Is Great

Please --- pretty please --- pretty please with a cherry on top!
Scroll down to the bottom of this page and see the video clip. I didn't want it to get lost in the archives as a posting would, so I added it as a page element. The video shows an elephant painting a picture. If you have the time and would like to see an elephant using their God given talent -- please look. I hope you've been well. I won't make excuses for not posting here often. I'm just happy that you still come here to look at least once in a while. I hope this video not only amuses but inspires. Thank-you for stopping in. I appreciate each visit.

Just another post

I visit blogs like a doctor makes rounds. I follow links blindly until I wonder how did I get here? Then when it comes to posting on my own blog I'm in a funk. Sometimes I just don't know where I fit in. I'm happy to be me yet at the same time I'm boggled by our diversity. I'm bloggled!

This is a part of my world - what I saw looking out my kitchen window. I ran to get the camera and shot through the window pane. Didn't dare go outside because I might scare "it". Out of 3 quick clicks this shot was the best I could come up with. Upon close study I suspect it's a female Cardinal molting her feathers in a drastic way. But at the time all I could think of was I've discovered a tiny vulture species.

All the other birds were keeping they're distance.

I watched for her but haven't seen her since. Now most people would go on about their day and not give another thought about it. But...not me. I think about her. I blog about her. I wonder how she is and I somehow can relate to her. I imagine she sees her own reflection in the shiny plastic window of the bird feeder and is thinking --that's me?--Gee, I feel much prettier than I actually look.

Well......it's not much is it? But its all I got today. Thank-you for the visit. xox ~Elaine

Happy Easter

Good Friday

First Day of Spring

These little snowdrops welcomed me to spring over at Green Briar Nature Center, Sandwich MA.
If you get to know me well then you'll discover I love wildflowers, birds, being outside and basically anything to do with nature. Today being the first day of Spring seemed a good time to pay my tribute to the heralding snowdrop. Green Briar has hundreds of them marching through the landscape as if on parade.
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This is one of the few clumps I have growing in my own backyard.
Now with all these flowers you would hope to see them open and smiling but noooooooooooooooooooo. So I had to google one open to show you.

Or .....you can bring them inside where it's cozy and warm to coax them open as my sister did here.

A Day to Remember

When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it happened or not.- Mark Twain

Xavier just turned 6 years old.

Instead of making the usual cupcakes for the class, I thought up another treat. I bought a box of giant POCKY sticks and tied a bright colored party blower to each one with a length of blue rafia. Then I tucked them all into a Spiderman gift bag and Xavier brought them to school. It was also his classmate Clarissa's birthday and the children did have cupcakes after all.

The theme of Xavier's birthday cake is my original idea but yet simple...another year older. A toy bulldozer pushing 5 birthday candles out of the way to make room for the Big Number 6. It's chocolate cake with chocolate frosting just as he hoped for but with pink vanilla frosting between the 2 layers for a little extra surprise. The cake is sprinkled with tiny bright colored confetti candy.

We have a tradition in our house that the birthday person may have the birthday meal of their choice. This doesn't usually get out of hand except for the one year Emma requested a cornish hen for each of us. I honored the request but the entire meal was very expensive and consequently her presents were limited that year. Since then she's been more frugal with her requests. Xavier had his favorite, spaghetti.

He got lots of presents and enjoyed his birthday. I hope it will be one for him to remember, although I must admit I have a hard time remembering many of my own past birthdays.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Yesteryear

I have been trying hard to clean and organize my things. One thing that is just pouring out from boxes and bags are old photos. I have a steamer trunk full of them and then some. I came across this one of Emma and a garden that is no more. We had an addition put on the house and the town used my lovely garden as a second test hole for the new septic system we needed to have. One hole wasn't enough....they just had to dig THERE. I lost it all. I'm thankful for this Kodak reminder of the way it was.

I will make it my goal to get it back. It can't be the same, I now have a much needed clothesline nearby but it will be fun gardening again and it might even be better someday.

Oh and for those of you loving the chards of pottery bordering the garden? I do remember it was a pain in the neck. Not only was it hard to cultivate the weeds but the ants had a field day playing amongst them. At the end of summer I gathered them up and saved them for a serious mosiac project that I have yet to get around to. Maybe it will be in the near future however because my Mother- in -Law dropped 2 of her nice old mixing bowls today and they smashed and broke together. She was going to throw them away but I rescued them with loving hands and hope to make something good come from it.

Thanks for stopping by ... sorry that my posts are so sporadic.

As far as crafting goes----well?

I just can't create when my house is a mess and I'm still working on how to fit a set of bunk beds.

(which we still haven't found yet)

Don't give up on me. xox~Elaine

Well she was just 17,

and you know what I mean.

Hmmm, come to think of it, many of you may NOT know what I mean.

I was singing a Beatle's tune.

My little Emma has turned 17!

This is a picture of her making her big birthday wish.

Whatever it was she wished for I hope it comes true.

If you had but one wish --- THINK --- what would you wish for?

Don't tell me.

Just make a wish right now and blow out all these pages.

xox Elaine

Fire Safety

I never realized that a wet dishcloth can be a one size fits all lid to cover a fire in a pan! This is a dramatic video (30-second, very short) about how to deal with a common kitchen fire ... oil in a frying pan. Read the following introduction, then watch the show ... It's a real eye-opener!! At the Fire Fighting Training school they would demonstrate this with a Deep fat fryer set on the fire field. An instructor would don a fire suit and using an 8 oz cup at the end of a 10 foot pole toss water onto the grease fire. The results got the attention of the students.The water, being heavier than oil, sinks to the bottom where it instantly becomes superheated. The explosive force of the steam blows the burning oil up and out. On the open field, it became a thirty-foot high fireball that resembled a nuclear blast. Inside the confines of a kitchen, the fireball hits the ceiling and fills the entire room. Also, do not throw sugar or flour on a grease fire. One cup creates the explosive force of two sticks of dynamite. This is a powerful message----watch the video and don't forget what you see.

The above post entry is an email I got from my friend who is a fire fighter and would like to educate as many people as possible about how to control a grease fire in your kitchen. I hope you are able to view the video with your connection. xoxo~Elaine