52 Weeks of Happy 4/52

Last Sunday was Easter. Peanut and I went to church on Saturday night so on Sunday we took Bob to the elementary school.  They have a huge grass area for the kids to play.


Look at this beautiful day.  The school is called Highland Grove Elementary.  There use to be orange groves in this area of Highland.  This is not where Peanut goes to school.  She attends Cram Elementary.



The mountains were so beautiful. The day was warm with a slight breeze. We got a little sunburn.  By 4 pm the clouds covered the sky and it looked like rain. 



Peanut practiced her kickball moves.  She is really good. We had a lot of fun kicking the ball.  This was a white ball and she colored it. It is beautiful.





Since there were very few people there Bob was allowed to be free and run till he was too tired to run.  We brought his tennis ball and he chased it over and over.  What a cute dog.
Peanut put him on the leash in order to get him to go down the slide. He is not fond of the slide.  hehehe



If you look real hard you can see Peanut and Bob on the playground.



This day made us happy.  We would have loved to spend it with our loved one but everyone was busy. Some of the invites from loved one were too sfar away to go to.  My sister had to work on Easter! darn Chevy dealership. Grrrr.   
But church was lovely saturday night. We worshiped our Lord and that he rose on the 3rd day. He LIVES!!!!

{This Moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, visit SouleMama leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.



Forest Falls California. 

{This Moment}

- A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see here onSouleMama .

Spinning Tour de Fleece, Knitting and Garden

I was so lax in blogging that I missed the month of June. So I want to blog more this month.
What have I been up to lately? Well this month is Le Tour de Fleece over on Ravelry. I am on 3 teams. Yeah.
I am spinning some Perendale Top from Crown Mountain Farms. The color is The 5th Element.  I love it.  The fiber is long and fluffy. It is so easy to spin I probably will buy more of this perendale in the future.
Here is the cute little sheep.  The fiber came from New Zealand. It was prepared in Michigan into luscious Top.

The top:

And my spinning singles:



I will be spinning every day that the Tour de France event happens. We have 2 rest days.  It goes from July 2 to July 24.


In other happenings at Casa de Carol is the garden. I got the garden planted. It is growing so fast. We already have zucchini on the bushes and blooms on the tomatoes.  We also planted; sugar baby watermelons, cucumbers, pumpkin, and several types of peppers.

Do you see the wire?  That is a hot wire to keep Bob out of my garden. He chews and digs everything.  The hot wire keeps me from having to stress over loosing my garden to a puppy.  It works very well.

I planted the garden late. We had so much rain that I was waiting for a clear day to plant.  It was only 2 weeks ago that I got the veggies in.

Yes, this is Bob the dog. He has grown so much. He looks too sweet to be half beaver.  But believe me, he can chew up anything in a split second.  My new hose is in about 10 pieces.  
Today I went out to start the BBQ and all I could smell was gas.  Bob had chewed the hose under the BBQ.  I have my BBQ directly plumbed into the gas line of the house. I'm lucky that my son Roland had put a shut off valve which I always have in the off position when I am not BBQing.  Today I had to cook indoors. My chicken and corn on the cob were good but not how we wanted it because of our "beaver" dog.  I will have to get a new hose with the metal braiding on it I think.

Bob is afraid of the pool.  He will come to the edge but he puts on the brakes if you try to get him in the water.  I did put him in once to show him how to swim to the stairs.  I was hoping that he would like the water, he is a lab. No, he told me, "mom I don't want to swim!!!".  


On the painting front. Ok, so this isn't watercolor but it is painting.  I have this table.  (imagine it standing up)

And this oak table has been with me for a long time. It was in my kitchen in Yucaipa. It was moved to the livingroom so we could eat in front of the TV.  It came to my new house after my hubby died.  I gave it to my daughter Sierra and she had it in her kitchen. When she died I got the table back.  It has been on my patio for a few years. Ok, more like 4 years.  I decided it might look awesome if I painted it an aqua blue, Tiffany blue. So I started. 
It needs a second coat. It has just been too hot. The paint wants to dry on my brush so I will wait for this heat wave to pass to finish.

Look at how good it matches my old metal chair.  That is from my old house too.  I might paint the chair to give it a fresh look.  I love the color. 


I have been knitting too.  

This is a sweater based on the EPS, aka Elizabeth Zimmermann Percentage System.  I am doing a KAL (knit along) with a Ravelry group. I have finished the body. Now we are going to work on splitting for the sleeves.


I finished my Sprossling Sweater.



Now it is too hot to wear this sweater.  Maybe I can wear it to the movies?  Except I never go to the movies. LOL


Happy 4th of July to all of you tomorrow. We will be at church for the annual event. They will have the blow up water slides for the kiddies for FREE!!! Music, Hot rod and motorcycle show. And In & Out will provide the food. Yum.
They usually end this gathering around 3 pm or so.  My sister Susan is with us on July 4th every year since '05 or '06.  She has a new job and has to work. Boo Hoo. I will miss having the swim races here at home in my pool and BBQ.  Last year Susan, Peanut and I were in Idaho with Dustin and Bambi. We sat at the park to watch the fireworks in their beautiful town. It was fun.


Happy 4th !!!!!



Does Bob need a bigger Dog House?

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

I noticed Carrie of we do not have a knitting problem was doing this every Friday so I will too.

Happy Swimming

CAROL

HAPPY MAY 1ST !!!!!!!

Happy first day of May.  It is windy and sunny here.  I'm happy that the sun is shining and my life is happy.
I read this and I like it:
A good walk cures most problems. Want to lose weight and get fit? Walk. Want to enjoy life but spend less? Walk. Want to cure stress and clear your head? Walk. Want to meditate and live in the moment? Walk. Having trouble with a life or work problem? Walk, and your head gets clear.


I would add that walking my dog is fun.  He is so cute.  More on Bob later.


I wanted to share my 2nd lesson painting from my online class. The subject was Boxed Gardens.  The photos I saw of flower boxes were not getting my mojo moving so I set out with camera in hand.  I drove all over Redlands and I walked the sidewalks for a good photo. 
It is legal to take photos if 1) you took the photo (or I)  2) if you can see it from a right of way or public domain.


Here is my painting:


This is the photo:



I had a little problem with the border. I tried to tape around the painting and then paint a dark border to frame my painting.  The problem is that the blue paint bled under the tape.  


Since I didn't find a good flower box I chose to paint this tree with a grate and the Nasturtiums.  I love Nasturtiums.  


About Bob.  He is so funny.  I was working in my garage and he wanted to be near me.  I left the garage side door open and put a childs gate across. He jumped over it. So I raised it up to make it higher. 
See here how it looks:



I did put a hand dolly in front of it and that stopped the jumping over. Eventually I brought him in the garage and he is on a chain. I live close to the street where  people speed. I'm always scared that if he gets in the street he will be hit.  So I use the long chain in the garage.

Bob is looking older here I think.  He is 8 months old now.


So the project in my garage is this. I wanted to organize and clean up the clutter. I installed these racks with my handy dandy power drill.

They look so puny on the wall.  But the internet says that the toggle bolts will hold a lot of weight. I'm just so use to having a handy husband who would weld up a rack when my heart desired it.  Now that I am a widow I have to go to Home Depot to buy their puny racks.  I really need to buy another for the brooms.  
Oh and YES, I do put art work on my garage walls.  You can see the ballerina by Degas.  I bought it at the Norton Simon Museum.  I love Degas' work.
I also have hung many of my own paintings on the walls of my garage.


RACK  with tools



It looks a little crowded but I'm happy with it.  I have the tools out of the large trash can, so floor space is empty, clean and roomy.  I will keep on working on the garage.   
I'm not sure that I posted what I did to my work table. I put a sheet of metal on the table to have a nice heat resistant cleanable surface. 



Here is a wide shot.  I have an air compressor under my table. I love my tool drawers (by Kennedy) on the left. It still seems cluttered so I might put in some shelves for supplies. Art uses a lot of misc. supplies.



Well that is about all. I will leave you with some pretty Roses from my garden for a HAPPY MAY FIRST to all.


Hybrid Tea Rose: Sheer Bliss



David Austin English rose: Belle Story

Exodus 4:11-12 – Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say Posted: 30 Apr 2011 09:01 PM PDT The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” – Exodus 4:11-12 (NIV)

TWO kitties & a DOG

I have 4 cats really. Two are outdoor cats who keep the gophers out of my yard.
The other two are barely 1 year old and they are 75% indoor cats. As spring turns warm
they want to be out more and more.

So here are some cute photos of my 2 indoor cats. Coraline is the tuxedo, black and white cat.  Oliver is my gray and white cat. I'm not sure if he is a tuxedo, maybe a causal tux?
The dialog between Oli & Coral

OH NO, MOM FOUND US!!!


I TOLD YOU TO BE QUIET, NOW SHE IS LOOKING AT US.


I CAN'T LOOK AT YOU CORALINE, NOW I JUST WANT TO GO OUTSIDE.


LOOK AT THAT BIRD OUT THERE JUST WAITING FOR ME.


MOM, OLI ISN'T BEING NICE TO ME. LET ME OUTSIDE BUT KEEP HIM IN.


I'M SORRY CORALINE, NOW CAN WE GO OUT MOM?


I love my kitties. They just crack me up.  I think that they wanted to read that cat book!!

So here is BOB. Bob is 7 1/2 months old now.  That is an estimate, give or take a week.
 I haven't posted about Bob lately. He is growning fast.  He went to the vet 2 weeks ago and was 57 pounds. He was updated on his shots. He got his first rabies shot. Then we went to City Hall. Yes Bob walked in the front doors of City Hall and to the window to receive his first dog tag.  He is legal now.  Yeah!


He is so good.  He is easy to teach and sweet as pie.
I think he is turning brown. What's up with that?


He isn't going to be as tall as we thought.  But I love his size even if he doesn't grow another inch. Here he is with Peanut who is trying to put a flower on his collar.


He is really tired from our walk to the park, then he played and played with the dogs at the dog park.  The dogs all love him. One crabby lady kept yelling at all the dogs who stepped on her feet.  I wanted to tell her to just move.  She was sitting right were the dogs go to get in the shade.


WELL BOB, CAN YOU GIVE EVERY BLOGGY FRIEND AN ADIOS SMILE?


Have a great day and go hug your pets.
Hugs from me, Carol

Bob the Dog writes a letter.....

Note: my son and daughter in law have an awesome english mastiff female. My new dog Bob wanted to write her an email.  I copied it....SHHHHHHHHHH...and pasted it here.  I just thought it was so cute.  LOL


Hi Roxy, 

I wanted to send you some photos of my day today.  I had a great day at the dog park.  I had to hide from the other dogs under the picnic bench. They were so big.  I jumped onto some big men's laps. They loved me.  They said, "oohhhh a puppy".

My mom took me home and she gave me a bath. I was so embarrassed with all that stinky shampoo bubbled up on my black fur. She washed me on the front lawn and everyone could see me.  Doesn't she know that I am a modest dog?  I'm sure you understand.

After my bath she made me model for some photos.  I gave her my best regal looks.  Here are a few.  Oh and I think I am 5 months old now.  I'm a big boy.

I'm all shinny and clean. My mom is letting me sit on her new socks she made.

She forgot my collar so I going commando right now. 

I really would like to eat her shoes and socks. To me they are cow (leather) and sheep (wool).

My favorite flavors!!!

Did you say smile? Ok, for you Roxy I will smile

How is this for a smile?  I wanted to show you my new teeth too.  

Well it is time for my dog nap.  Can you believe that my mom took me for 

a little walk? And she won't let me sniff the ground as I go. Phewwy, I love the 

smell of sidewalk. I can smell every dog who walked there before me.

I hope your enjoying the sunshine like I am.  Try to avoid those darn baths with shampoo.

I'll see you Roxy in my dreams. Good night beautiful.  licks and kisses.  BOB

Letter from Bob H. to Roxy H. via my mom Carol H. to my aunt Anne H.....