I is for ...

H is for ...

G is for ...

F is for ...

E is for ...

D is for ...

The other shot pixabay.com accepted.

The mayor of Vineland, NJ, (many, many, many years ago) started a Dandelion festival and he would cook up many of the dishes served at the fair / event.  Looking at google to see if the event is still held, it looks like they have switched over to a Dandelion Dinner.  Too bad.  Not as much cooking to do but not reaching as many people, either.

As a child, I was sort of indoctrinated that dandelions in the lawn are evil evil eveil!  But after seeing M C Escher's woodcut of a dandelion, I saw how beautiful they are.

So one afternoon a few years ago, I spent time shooting digital photo after photo of a robin, a sparrow and dandelions.  An afternoon well spent!

C is for ...

Of course, C has to be for CAT!

I'm not even sure which cat this is.  I am pretty sure it is one of three that when they were just a couple of days old, the mom brought them and left them under my office chair, knowing I would watch out for them.  They were wonderful kitties.  One, unfortunately, died from an injury, cause unknown.  And the other two eventually disappeared -- I think their mom did what I asked her to do, took them to one of the nearby farms to live and spread joy to others.  I hope they did and are still  happily doing that job.

Recently, I saw through an article link at facebook that 80% of orange cats are male and female orange cats are considered rare.  Those three had a rare mom!

For lots of orange cat fun, check out Cole and Marmalade on YouTube!!!

You can find this photo at pixabay.com.  Of the 20 or so photos I submitted, only two were acceptable -- this one and one of my dandelions.  I disagreed with their reasons for not adding them to my gallery but, hey, what can you do when someone else makes the final decision?  I was surprised to find that more than 45 people have like this kitty enough to download the photo from pixabay!  **grin**

B is for ...

Remember that song from school, "B I N G O B I N G O B I N G O and Bingo was his name-o"?

There are a couple of places around where we live now where I could go play Bingo but I have never gone.  Where we lived before, there places to go play 500, Euchre and occasionally, pinochle but not bingo.

If you like to do digi scrapping or other digital art, there is on an online digi-scrap store that plays bingo in the forum, once a month.  You are provided a form, a list of words and then you create your card, post it in the gallery and then on the night, join the fun int he chatroom.  Lots of fun with lots of very funa nd interesting ladies.  I far too often lose track of the date and miss it ...  maybe someone else will join in and remind me?  I hope to do a screen capture of making my card and posting to youtube and to the blog ...

Hop on over to http://www.godigitalscrapbooking.com/ and check out the free daily downloads and then head over to the forum and sign up there and under monthly challenges someone eventually posts the date and word list for the month's bingo.  Tons of fun -- trust me on this!

(As far as I can tell, the April date has not yet been posted ...)

Argh Plus!

I did eventually get a keyboard to plug in to the laptop so I could actually type again ... YAY!  But now the laptop itself is acting up.  This Christmas, I need a new Win 7 laptop -- hubby has found some fabulous deals for desktop Win 7 computers over at eBay but I want to stick to the laptop version ... almost as bad as a friend who abandoned her desktop computer once she got her iPad.  Personally, I have no intention of moving from a "computer" to some kind of device like an iPad or android thing, nor do I ever intend to use a Win 10 computer -- if it ever gets to the point where that is my only computer option -- I will be off the internet faster than you can say "Whoops!" and probably off the computer too -- so, for Christmas this year, I want a piggy bank (hopefully with some kind of donation(s) already in it, to start saving up for the things I want -- a typewriter for when I give up computers and a Silhouette Cameo with pixscan mat or a Brother Scan N Cut;  both digital die cut machines require connection to a computer to use ... **sigh**


Oh, yeh, I also want to figure out where all my camera equipment is hiding so I can figure out a set up that works so I can start making videos for YouTube.  I've finally gotten over my fear of creating junk and decided that even if it is junk, you gotta start somewhere, right?  If you start out perfect, everyone is going to expect that going forward ... start with the junk and get better, right?  Just don't deliberately make junk!


PiBoIdMo -- have you heard of it?


November was NaNWriMo -- you, know, National Novel Writing Month -- where the goal is to get 50,000 words of a crummy rough first draft of your Great American Novel written.  It came.  It went.  My word count?  Zilch, nada, nuthin'.
PiBoIdMo is Picture Book Idea Month -- I thought it was to create 12 picture book ideas (one a month for the coming year) but when I looked for the link to it for a Facebook comment, I found out it is a new idea everyday for the month.  That too used to be November but for the next one, it has been moved to January 2017 -- still time to plan to participate.  I think I will try it.
I was mentally working on a story (but did not get any of it typed out for an addition to a word count for NaNoWriMo ...) -- and three of the characters got "involved" -- three little girls.  Hannah, Emma and Grace.  In the course of the story, the character who is sort of me, tried to draw Hannah back into childhood and out of the role of "little mother" for her younger sisters.  Told her I wanted to write a silly story about three characters, a puppy named Paul, a kitten named Paprika and a doll about the size and shape of a Barbie but named Armadillo, who likes to wear really funky clothes.
     In the course of the story, Hannah did not get involved in making up a story about these three characters, well, not at first.  Instead, she sat down, drew a stick figure of Armadillo and then began to use her talents to design and draw clothing for the stick figure.  She made up a bunch of outfits and then when asked for more information about the clothes, Hannah began to explain situations where Armadillo might wear them.  The two younger sisters had designed rooms with furniture and places like gardens and more -- collecting or drawing pictures of furniture and flowers and all kinds of things.  plu the youngest began to think up silly situations for Armadillo to get caught up in ... I think those three could come up with about a dozen or more story ideas for starters ... LOL!  Yes, it is true, characters often come up with ideas that are their own and not something I would think f on my own -- even though, ultimately, those ideas come out of my own mind somewhere.  Which reminds me -- every blog post should involve some kind o graphic, shouldn't it?  Well ... I'm heading over to pixabay for an image to share today ... be back as soon as I find something ...

A is for ...

Oh no!
April 1 came and went and this did not post -- it was considered a "draft" by blogger ... so when I checked today (4/2) , it had not yet appeared ...
Then I found out that other than the aardvark busy shopping, there was nothing in the post **sigh**.  I had planned to do something right after midnight on the 1st to add to the post but forgot and headed off to bed instead and all day yesterday, I just could not get my brain in gear to check it out ... right now, we are off to see some things being sold as part of a craig's list estate sale -- cheap used furniture that i can add to my workspace and hopefully get it organized and usable ...  When we get back, I hope to get this post to what it should be ... or what I hoped it would be.  And since Sunday is not considered a posting day for the challenge, I can get a few of the next ones done to post on schedule.


Well, we got the cabinet, got it home sort of okay -- had to tie the hatch shut over it so cold air and exhaust whipped through -- ick.  Got home, got it in the house eventually, after hubby took a nap and spent a lot of time helping me make a space for it.  Got it in place.  Got the storage cart from Aldi put together finally, too.  Still lots more to do but ... on the way -- WOO HOO!  So happy!


😁


So, finally, I can get the "A" post finished ... I hope.


For "A is for ..." I want to share a set of rubber stamps and matching dies from Fun Stampers Journey -- on my "wish  list" for sure!


Here are the stamps and then a pic of samples from the brand new mini catalog:

You can easily get this set or stamps and matching dies by visiting:  www.funstampersjourney.com/WILMAPAYNE

And you can get a downloadable pdf of the new mini catalog at:  http://www.funstampersjourney.com/catalog   Be sure to use the arrow pointing down at the top left corner of the catalog to start the download.  Lots of fun new stuff in there!

Enjoy!

*Wilma is a wonderful, supportive lady and I would love for you to support her and her business.  THANK YOU!

2017 A-to-Z Blogging Challenge

I can't believe an entire year has gone by but then again --
lots has happened in that time ...

--> The day after the challenge finished last year, I started having major problems with the laptop -- a refurbished desktop was purchased to replace it, it arrived but is not set up yet ... **sigh**
Hubby did not want to set it up until he had a cabinet to store it in to keep the cats from "having fun" with it.  Got the cabinet at Goodwill a few days ago but we have not had an opportunity to clean out the area where it will go, disconnect all the peripherals and re-set up everything ... including finding and recording license numbers for software, saving bookmarks and favorites for the web browsers ... it is going to be "fun" getting up and running again ... probably have to purchase new of a couple of my constant go-to software programs **sigh again**  BTW, the link to Panstoria digi-scrap software is no longer valid;  they sold out to a cloud storage company -- this is one of the software programs I will need to replace -- and when I do, I will become one of their "Ambassadors" to be able to make a commission on it when someone else wants to use this awesome program -- plus, by becoming an Ambassodor (for slightly more than just buying the program), I get some "free" 'art kits' as well, making it a good financial deal for me.)
[I know Goodwill is seen to be controversial -- here in Wisconsin, the prices are outrageous and almost cheaper to go to Walmart and buy new.   But in Minnesota, where hubby works, they are associated with Easter Seals and prices are more in line with being a thrift / re-use-it shop; and actually do some good.]

-->  I have had some medical issues, which to some people might be considered minor but have kept me from signing up for the challenge or even planning ahead for this year's -- last year, I was able to set up each post and schedule it to pop into place on the right day and keep working on it as I had a chance up until it "went live," as they say.  Just got started yesterday, (March 31)
Hubby has had some medical issues too, including a bad back that hurts him a lot because two vertebrae have decided to entangle themselves -- Physical Therapy helps but, I think we missed his appointment yesterday afternoon due to my visit to eye doctor and then to Urgent Care to have some blisters on my back diagnosed -- shingles, as I feared.  :(

-->  Continuing medical issues may hinder or hamper my efforts along with switching over to a new computer during this month, but we will see what happens.

-->  Just a warning, I have no idea for a theme for this year -- every day will be a surprise for us all.  **grin**

-->  I joined and left Fun Stampers Journey rubber stamping direct sales company since i last posted here (I did post at one of my other blogs -  a few projects using their products).  And three months ago, I joined Close To my Heart, another rubber stamping and scrapbooking direct sales company.  I may occasionally highlight a project or item from the catalog but, I may also share some projects or products from other companies.  We'll see.

-->  I have been watching YouTube a lot lately and for a long time have had no inspiration or oomph to actually do anything.  Partly because of the planned computer switch and things got moved out of the workspace to make room for the computer and cabinet -- I have no idea where some of the supplies are and being unwilling to buy new ... well, I am so inspired, I will be buying some new stuff soon (like inexpensive deli paper) and then will go absolutely hog wild to the point where the computer may get completely ignored (except to turn on and off what ever audiobook I happen to be listening to that day).

-->  Having mentioned YouTube, I must admit I find one channel most inspiring and will probably share her videos with you if I find one that fits the day.  And if my brain kicks into gear again, I may try to make and share "word search puzzles" instead of just a list of fun words like I did last year.

I hope you will visit often and leave comments, so I know what I should change on these challenge posts.  THANKS! 

Oh, I better warn you -- if you go to the Blogging Challenge webpage, there is no list of this year's participants -- last year's list is still there and may be a place to try to find this year's players.  I don't know of other participants yet but if I find out anyone I know is participating, I will let you know in one of the future posts.

ARGH

Z is for ...

FIN!  Blogging A-to-Z has come to an end ... **phew**

I hope you had lots of fun visiting a variety of blogs ...

So, What is Today?

Well ... (besides being a video-intensive day) ...

Today is ...

* International Jazz Day

* International Table Top Day

* National Go Birding Day

* National Herb Day

* National Sense of Smell Day

* Save The Frogs Day

* Walpurgis Night


http://www.britannica.com/topic/Walpurgis-Night

* World Healing Day

* World Tai Chi & Qigong Day

Baker's Dozen Plus ...

Zoo

Zebra

Zipper

Zigzag

Zepolli

Zinnia

Zeppelin

Zydeco

Zap

Zing

Zip

Zone

Zirconia

Zenith

Zebeck

Zephyr

Zodiac

Zealot

Zero

Zilch

Zinc

Zest

Ziti

Call to Action

There are 5 things you can do to earn a free gift (probably a selection of Color-Your-Own SuseDoodle postcards from a forthcoming collection to be released soon! WOO HOO!)  All five  Call to Action options can be found here -- two can be  answered in the Comments Section here or via the InLinkz section at the end of the post ... I wanted to set the closing date as May 7 but InLinkz would not let  me run a link list for that long ... so the deadline is May 1 ...

Y is for ...

Another of my "title graphics" -- "Yellow" ... **sigh**

Today is ...
* International Dance Day
* National Hairball Awareness Day 
* "Peace" Rose Day (The flower)
* World Wish Day
* Zipper Day

There is a Family Story of my grandparents walking along a path in the Park ... and a bear and her cub coming up behind them, then passing between them and continuing on down the path ...

Should probably save these for "Z" but it is Zipper Day -- so ...

Baker's Dozen Plus ...
Yip
Yap
Young
Yellow
Yuppy
Yupo
Yelp
Youngster
Yawn
Yawl
Yegg
Yar
Yacht
Yogurt
Year
Yes
Yard
Yum
Yak
Yolk
Yarn
Yikes
Yeti
Yule
Yore
You
Your
You're
Yam

Call to Action

There are 5 things you can do to earn a free gift (probably a selection of Color-Your-Own SuseDoodle postcards from a forthcoming collection to be released soon! WOO HOO!)  All five  Call to Action options can be found here -- two can be  answered in the Comments Section here or via the InLinkz section at the end of the post ... I wanted to set the closing date as May 7 but InLinkz would not let  me run a link list for that long ... so the deadline is May 1 ...

X is for ...

(Unfortunately, couldn't find anything interesting to put into a
"title graphic" today, so you are"stuck" with this one by me ... sorry ...)

Today is ...

*  Biological Clock Day
*  Poem In Your Pocket Day

Baker's Dozen Plus ...

Well, "X" has just about driven me nuts!  My frustration tolerance level is not high enough to deal with this ... so I decided to go with "Words ending in X" instead of the one obvious x-ray and more words beginning with X ...


1.  Aviatrix
2.  Appendix
3. 

Bordeaux

(Right now I hate all things Microsoft (Word in particular) and Blogger ...
At Word, I removed all the spacing and formatting from the list of words ... copied / pasted that list here and get a right mess of excess spacing and an inability to put the 3rd word next to the number 3 ... I am so glad the A-to-Z is almost finished!  And that I started early and figured out the "schedule a post" feature -- or there would not be an entry for X at all ... However, I had lots of problems with "U" behaving in terms of excess spacing all over the page and lost patience with Blogger completely at that point ... almost quit then and there.  **sigh** so -- today is short and boring -- some words (not sure how many) and a couple of "today is" and one not-related-to-X YouTube ...)

Breadbox

Chapeaux

Chateaux

Lunchbox

Matchbox

Megaplex

Mirepoix

Orthodox

Parallax

Plateaux

Sardonyx

Snuffbox

Has absolutely nothing to do with "X" or today's "Today is ..."

but over at FB there was a post about making a making a Classic Rock Mix Tape and asked for a favorite song to be added ...
Well, when my brother headed off to college, somehow I ended up with quite a few of his LPs and 45s ... "rock" of the 60s -- I think this "hand-me-down" collection of vinyl may have included some stuff from one of my sisters too, but I'm not really sure which stuff came from which one ...) including Santana, Chicago, Moody Blues and Emerson, Lake & Palmer ... and one LP of King Crimson ... I think I may have almost run the grooves for this song right on through the LP.  Probably good it was made of vinyl and not the old wax or it would have given up its ghost far too soon ... (Yes, I am far too young to have lived in the age of "wax" records except Mom had a collection of wax classical music LPs that I loved too -- I was a weird little kid with a 45 of Snoopy and the Red Baron and another pile of hand-me-down 75s in orange vinyl of things like the "Riders in the Sky" with the Sons of the Pioneers and some Disney stuff (I think) ... Later, my 45 collection included awful stuff of my own High School years like "Muskrat Love" **shudder** oh the horrors!  But to this day, I love King Crimson's "Prelude:  Song of the Gulls."

ARRRRRRGGGHHH!!!!  I did say that Blogger is driving me nuts?  Well, now it won't let me change the justification of the text ...

THANKS for visiting today ...

Here is the Call to Action ...

There are 5 things you can do to earn a free gift (probably a selection of Color-Your-Own SuseDoodle postcards from a forthcoming collection to be released soon! WOO HOO!)  All five  Call to Action options can be found here -- two can be  answered in the Comments Section here or via the InLinkz section at the end of the post ... I wanted to set the closing date as May 7 but InLinkz would not let  me run a link list for that long ... so the deadline is May 1 ...

W is for ...

(another of my "title graphics")

I took Ceramics Courses at the University of Minnesota, but Warren MacKenzie had retired by the time I had moved from NJ to MN in 1996 -- one of the teachers in the department had been his student, though ... I never did get "good" at the wheel -- had a hard time "centering" the clay (and one teacher kept telling us that 2 pounds of clay mud should not be able to have so much power over us but ...) so I kept hand building and slab building.  **sigh** wishing I had a mud space still and I think hubby would love to get his mitts into the mud;  he would make that stuff behave itself on the wheel ... (apparently one of the videos posted by a MacKenzie student has in the "about" section that MacKenzie told them that centering wasn't as important as many other teachers claimed ... hmmm ... if only I had known that then ... what is it "They" say about hindsight??  LOL)

Before moving to MN, I had taken art classes at a community college in NJ.  In one project we collaborated -- my friend threw the pots (which she loved to do on the electric wheel) and I did the trimming on a -- you know, I forget what the type of wheel is called -- not a "kick wheel" but it had a lever on the side that you pushed on to throw -- similar to what Warren is using here but our trim wheel was one you stood by not sit at ... And, I loved trimming!  I've often wondered if it would have been possible to set up a pottery partnership each doing the part we loved best ... (but only after I had moved -- DUH!  LOL!)

I did eventually get almost "good" at "throwing off the hump" -- that is, centering just a small bit of the clay up off the larger lump on the wheel, and making miniature bowls and vases.  Should have stuck with that maybe ... but oh so much mess and mud on my pants when I got done for the day!  LOL!  And then go get on a public city bus, walk through the really nice part of downtown Minneapolis?  Embarrassing!  **sigh**

Today is ...

(Thanks to http://www.brownielocks.com/april.html again ...)

*  Administrative Professionals Day or Secretary's Day
*  Babe Ruth Day
*  Morse Code Day
*  National Little Pampered Dog Day

Baker's Dozen Plus ...
*  waffle     *  whale     *  wicked     *  wicker     *  won't
*  write     *  willowy     *  when     *  wind    *  weather
*  wipe     *  worry     *  wonderful    *  western 

*  window     *  words

This is almost half an hour long but ...

oops, this next one too is 25 minutes long -- was looking for a short but ... :D

Check out the selection of Winnie-the-Pooh books here ...

If you are interested in the book on creativity mentioned in this video -- please use MY affiliate link -- I really need to pay off some huge medical bills and every penny helps!  You can get the book in hardback, paperback, ebook, audio, etc.  Click on "see all formats" for the audio and Audible versions, too.  Or get the Kindle ebook first and add on the "whispersync" Audible book at a reduced price at the same time ... Next "credit" in my Audible account is probably going to get Creativity, Inc by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace.

V is for ...

Today is ...

Thank you to http://www.brownielocks.com/april.html for today's info:

*  Audubon Day
*  Hug An Australian Day

*  National Pretzel Day

(There is nothing quite so good as a Hot Pretzel -- YUM!  So glad I can get a very good variety in the frozen foods section of the grocery store ... but here is some info on the "Philly Tradition" ...)

Baker's Dozen Plus ...

* valve    * velvet     * vowel     * vow     * vengeful     * vengeance     *  violet

* vole     * volume     * vegetarian     * vegan     * volunteer     * volute

* valiant     * velour     * valence     * victrola     * Victoria     * vinegar

* vote     * vim     * vigor     * vitality     * voon!     * verse     * verve

Call to Action

There are 5 things you can do to earn a free gift (probably a selection of Color-Your-Own SuseDoodle postcards from a forthcoming collection to be released soon! WOO HOO!)  All five  Call to Action options can be found here -- two can be  answered in the Comments Section here or via the InLinkz section at the end of the post ... I wanted to set the closing date as May 7 but InLinkz would not let  me run a link list for that long ... so the deadline is May 1 ...

U is for

(one of my "title art" graphics using items from pixabay.com)

Today is ...
*  Eeyore's Birthday Day
*  World Penguin Day
*  Red Hat Society Day

 

Baker's Dozen Plus ...

 1  umpire

 2  under
 3 umber
 4 uncle
 5 undo
 6 uh
 7 unicorn
 8 unique
 9 uppish
10 upward
11 urban
12 urbane
13 use
14 union
15 updo
16 upon
17 urn
18 ugh
19 us

In Neil Gaiman's Fortunately, The Milk, you may get the impression that the book is set in England ... but I suspect that may not be true ... you see ... Neil lived in Menomonie, Wisconsin, for many years.  Menomonie is, in galactic terms, less than the width of an eyelash away from Elmwood, WI. 

Elmwood is known as the UFO Capital due to a series of UFO sightings in the 1970s and journalists coined the phrase to describe the town.  And Elmwood hosts and annual festival celebrating this bit of town trivia.  It is now held the last full weekend of July.  And I think the aliens Neil describes in Fortunately, The Milk made a minor coordinate error and arrived in Menomonie instead of Elmwood ... Just my thoughts on it ...

Dealing with UFOs

This video is almost 10 minutes long ... sorry ...

I love the title and description of this blog -- http://ufoadministration.blogspot.com/

(the entire description of the blog does not show up in my browser unless I highlight it -- I hope this is okay, but I think I will share it here with you and suggest you replace "knit" with any and all projects you may have lingering in similar situations ...)

"Across the world, hidden in cupboards are accumulations of half knitted works. On conception, the ideas were fueled with love and contemplation. For various reasons, sometimes funny, occasionally sad, the projects have stalled. With hours of skilled effort these pieces are rarely thrown away. Hidden in drawers, they harbour unexplained feelings. UFO Project Administration Service is here to help. Send one in or take one on. Knitting is not dead."

I would love to set up a "UFO Swap Meet" in the gym at Elmwood during the UFO Days but maybe I could figure out how to make a Facebook UFO Group ... Hmmm ... That sounds like a great idea ... LOL WOO HOO! 

Coming Soon!  A Facebook UFO Swap Meet ... :D  Announcement will be made here (at the blog not in this post) once the Group is set up and ready to go ...

Call to Action ...

There are 5 things you can do to earn a free gift (probably a selection of Color-Your-Own SuseDoodle postcards from a forthcoming collection to be released soon! WOO HOO!)  All five  Call to Action options can be found here -- two can be  answered in the Comments Section here or via the InLinkz section at the end of the post ... I wanted to set the closing date as May 7 but InLinkz would not let  me run a link list for that long ... so the deadline is May 1 ...