HIPPEDY HOPPEDY bunny mini-kit

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Ahhh... Spring – yes I am in denial that we had snow yesterday morning. It did melt off by noon.

Today's pictures are revivals of old vacation photos as I haven't taken a photo in a few days (gasp!)

OUR ANNUAL TUNA -

WE BUY RIGHT OFF THE DOCKS ON VACATION!

Miles had to attend a meeting in Penticton – a city about one hour north of us, so I came along with him for the drive. He dropped me off at a mall for an hour and a half and I just truly enjoyed myself. Even though he is the most patient husband in the universe when it comes to shopping, I'm sure you can identify with me that there's something so very freeing about just walking around and enjoying all the sights and sounds of the mall. The mall seems to be a little universe all on it's own, with everything from food stores and flowers to restaurants and restrooms and rest areas and restful music... you get the scenario.

A BEAUTIFUL WARM SUMMER EVEN STROLL

(REMEMBER SUMMER - SIGH!)

Coming from a small community, I get totally caught up on it. In some ways I could probably be spotted right off as in out-of-towner as I walk around with my mouth open, often almost bumping into people and things. I know sometimes when Miles has been with me, I have jolted into mannequins and then excused myself. He just rolls his eyes. My own eyes are glazed and I am sure I appear almost zombie-like. Really I think I get over-stimulated. I can only take about two hours and I'm ready to run.

I gave myself a $20 'allowance' and decided to wander about and see what I might like. I found some terrific buys at a Ricky's store.... even tried them on – a pair of funky black pants and a t... but did the 'walk away' first idea... deciding that if I had to have them they would still be there after (would have only come to $15...) I looked at Claires (my favorite for jewellery) and Mariposa, and Suzy and finally wended myself down to London Drugs. By this time I was thinking it was 'buy or fly' and decided to purchase a huge bag of fresh coffee beans and some healthy snacks for Miles. I was ever so proud of myself. I would have loved the clothes, but I already have a closet full of ones I can't get to wear. I made the right choice.

Do you have a story to share about how you 'did the right thing' while shopping?

SEA LION SLEEPING

(WHEN THEY'RE NOT BELLERING THEY ARE CUTE!)

More spring thoughts:

In Like A Lion, Out Like A Lamb
March roars in like a lion so fierce,
the wind so cold, it seems to pierce.
The month rolls on and Spring draws near,
and March goes out like a lamb so dear.

by
Lorie Hill

When Spring Appears
Meadowlarks
give lusty cheers
when spring appears
when spring appears.

Buds and seeds
prick up their ears
and blades of grass
show eager spears.
And only icicles
weep tears
when spring appears
when spring appears

by
Aileen Fisher

And thinking along the lines of spring – lets think spring cleaning...

BARB'S HANDY TIP #212
Spring Cleaning Help!

I like the way the folks at about.com have broken down the different spring cleaning tasks into categories. Luckily for me, I will be able to spring clean while moving! Please let me know if you have any more good hints to share with readers!

SPRING CLEANING (ABOUT.COM)

SPRING IS COMING blossom element

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Well, winter keeps trying to prevent spring from formally arriving (We awoke to several inches of snow!) I decided to bring a little spring to you all! I hope you enjoy the blossoms.

In case I forget (sometimes I DO forget as you know after reading yesterday's blog) Josey, you asked me what paper I print my digital paintings on. Well, I actually print to two mediums – fine art paper – its called summerset velvet, or to canvas – which is what the kitty and farm animals was printed on. We have a large format printer which allows us to do this – thank goodness. Sometimes I will even get a painting to a certain stage, have it printed to canvas, then go back into it with 'real' acrylic paints. It all depends on the painting and how it feels to me. Thanks for asking.

I have to giggle – a few of you commented about the breakfast doodles – and you all got me thinking the same way... and we had a big omelette for supper! Yes, expect a lunch and supper set sometime too!

All these cool Alpaca Photos are courtesy of our friends Roger and Marie!

Thinking spring, I will share this spring-like poem of hope with you:

THY HIDDEN ONES

Thick green leaves from the soft brown earth,
Happy springtime hat called them forth,
First faint promise of summer bloom
Breathes from the fragrant, sweet perfume,
Under the leaves.

Lift them! What marvelous beauty lies
Hidden beneath, from our thoughtless eyes!
Mayflowers, rosy or purest white,
Lift their cups to the sudden light,
Under the leaves.

Are there no lives whose holy deeds -
Seen by no eye save His who reads
Motive and action - in silence grow
Into rare beauty, and bud and blow
Under the leaves?

Fair white flowers of faith and trust,
Springing from spirits bruised and crushed;
Blossoms of love, rose-tinted and bright,
Touched and painted with Heaven's own light
Under the leaves.

Full fresh clusters of duty borne,
Fairest of ll in that shadow grown;
Wondrous the fragrance that sweet and rare
Comes from under the flower-cups hidden there
Under the leaves.

Though unseen by our vision dim,
Bud and blossom are known to him;
Wait we content for his heavenly ray -
We wait till our Master Himself one day
Lifteth the leaves.

Author Unknown

LUKE 14:23

God calls many of his most valued workers from the unknown multitude.

And here's a little springtime humour to get us forward – thinking!

What's Irish and comes out in the spring?
Paddy O'Furniture!

BARB'S HANDY TIP #211
Start Thinkin' Springtime!

Here's two sites which will help you start creating your OWN springtime!
Even though this link is for a 2004 issue ... it's all to do with some great Kids spring ideas – c'mon, you can be a BIG kid..

MARTHA STEWART KIDS, 2004

This section of the Family Fun is chock packed with all sorts of recipes and ideas to make spring arrive early in your house!

FAMILY FUN CELEBRATE SPRING

" OUT FOR BREAKFAST" CLIPART-DOODLES

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First of all I need to let you all know that your comments are so encouraging to me! Thanks for stopping by and for taking the time. I do have to make something clear about our new home. I only go out once a week, not even for the full day - to HELP our friends Roman and Bonnie as they prepare our new home for us. The work that I'm doing there is nothing compared to the countless hours they are putting into this place. I can't take any credit at all. So, just wanted to make that clear, cuz I could not accept any praise for that when it's them there doing all the hard stuff!

I took the weekend off. Things were just looking too busy and were moving too fast for me, so I decided it would be better to take some down-time and enjoy myself. Saturday morning was wonderful. Miles and I slept in for a change and then he took me out for Dim Sum. I know, how spoiled am I – Dim Sum twice in one week! Afterward, we went to a few stores (walking) and picked up a few supplies and then enjoyed a nice, long leisurely walk.

On Friday we visited our friends Marie and Roger and their loverly alpaca's... thus the sweet pics in the next day or two. Marie prepared us tea – very special tea which came in little rolled up balls! Have you seen these sorts of teas before?

LATE FOR THE OPENING... sigh!

Oh, but I have to tell you about Friday night and the opening of the “Eyes of March” gallery show. I submitted my two paintings and so we worked swinging by there into our plans, along with our friend Nathan who we had invited to dinner. Luckily he's pretty easy going and allowed us to persuade him to come along, promising him there's usually good snacks and desserts there... Well... I seem to be messing up on times a lot lately, and we arrived at the tail end of it. We arrived when it was closing, basically. There were a few good scraps left though and the paintings and pottery alone were well worth the visit!

"THE LESSON" Collage - Painting by FAIGEE NIEBOW

One artist in our group who's style delights me is the work of Faigee Niebow. Faigee's work is a marriage of painting and collage. For instance, when you first glance at her painting, above, you clearly see the woman and young girl doing a lesson. What you don't realize until you look closer is that parts of the painting are not what they appear -for example, the woman's bun in her hair is actually a bagel and the young girl's hair is made of chocolates! Amazing and magical.


So, back to Saturday now, we had a nice easy day and even watched a movie. We chose A Night With the King. When we first read the title we had our doubts but after researching we realized its the story of Esther from the Bible. The movie has a bit of cheesy acting in it – especially at the beginning, but the message is clear and the set and scenery are stunning. Well worth the rent.

I found some time to do some digital painting as well... using a combination of Art Rage and using my trial of Corel Painter X... will have that posted too, when it's all polished!

Sunday we were bad and skipped church. We intended to go to a photography shoot at the local museum but – gulp – yep, did it again, I messed up on the times and we arrived just as they were shutting the doors. My husband is used t to this by now. I was sad to have missed the opportunity. We walked home again and I spent the afternoon on kitchen duty – peeling and chopping carrots and asparagus for our annual church family supper which was held last night. It's always good to gather our church family together.

LAYOUT BY READER LORI M

This boy -assuming its your son, looks well bundled against the cold. I like how you draped the ice ontop of those text – or did they come that way?

(Thanks for sharing Lori – I love to post reader's layouts!)

Lori used Barb Derksen's Chillin' Elements.
I'm not sure of the other elements.

TEA AT MARIE'S

notice the rolled up balls of tea!

Speaking of my friend Marie Richardson, she recently sent me one of those forwarded emails... you know the sort. Every once in a while one really touches me. I would like to share this one with you:

HOW OLD IS GRANDPA?

One evening a grandson was talking to his grandfather about current events.
The grandson asked his grandfather what he thought about the shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.
The Grandfather replied, "Well, let me think a minute, I was born before:

television, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees and
the pill

There were no:
credit cards, laser beams or, ball-point pens

Man had not invented:
pantyhose, air conditioners, dishwashers, clothes dryers & clothes washers and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and man hadn't yet walked on the moon.

Your Grandmother and I got married first, . . . and then lived together.

Every family had a father and a mother, mother did the only baby care, and didn't get the government to pay her for doing that.

Until I was 25, I called every man older than me, "Sir".
And after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a title, "Sir."

We were before gay-rights, computer- dating, dual careers, daycare centers, and group therapy.
Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgment, and common sense.

We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions.

Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege.
We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent.

Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.

Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when the evening breeze started.

Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends-not purchasing condominiums.

We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings.

We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President's speeches on our radios.

And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey.

If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan ' on it, it was junk

The term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam.

Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of.

We had 5 &10-cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents.

Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel.

And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.

You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600, . . . but who could afford one?

Too bad, because gas was 11 cents a gallon.

In my day:

"grass" was mowed, "coke" was a cold drink, "pot" was something your mother cooked in and "rock music" was your grandmother's lullaby. "Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office, " chip" meant a piece of wood, "hardware" was found in a hardware store and "software" wasn't even a word.

And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed a husband to have a baby. No wonder people call us "old and confused" and say there is a generation gap... and how old do you think I am?

I bet you have an OLD MAN in mind after reading this... you are in for a shock!

Read on to see -- pretty scary if you think about it and pretty sad at the same time.

Are you Ready?

This man would be only 59 years old.

BARB'S HANDY TIP #210
Go Orchestral! (Your kids, that is)

Today's tip was passed along to me by blog reader Josey (thx Josey – I love receiving tips and sites from readers!)

"Introduce your children to orchestral sounds via the internet. The San Francisco Symphony hosts an interactive website where visitors can learn about the instruments and sounds of the orchestra and create their own music in the Music Lab. Check it out here:

MR AND MRS MILES SCRAPPIN T-SHIRT

(add your own face!)

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Thank goodness for Mr. Miles and his terrific ideas. See, he's such a good provider, he provides for you too, even after a 12 hour day of work when my brain is non-functioning. He has the bestest ideas. So, enjoy the T...

You also asked when I will make a Boy Paper Doll... I will get right on that! I would love your suggestions of if there are any 'extras' you think I should make with him!

Before I go one step further... I have to share something amazing, wonderful, powerful and postive... something with YOU had influence in - all you who stood against Telus, the phone company providing porn on it's cell phones. I had asked you to be vocal - and it seems many more people were too, and though not one of us on our own made a difference, obviously when you put everyone together we created enough oppostition as to have Telus change their minds.

"But after receiving several hundred customer complaints -- most of them from Western Canada -- and a number of service cancellations, Telus has decided to discontinue the service, Johannsson said. There will be no formal announcement of the decision."

Way to go Folks! The funny thing is, we never read the paper, but we happened to pick one up during our lunch out yesterday, and found the article about it. If you would like to read about it you can find the article here:

TELUS DROPS PORN (1)

TELUS DROPS PORN (2)

I believe that it's not only the fight for good against evil... its the example we set to our upcoming Children or our fellow human being... that's at stake here. If we fight - when it seems impossible - it sends a clear example of what they should hold of value too. I know sometimes the task seems daunting - in fact impossible at times... but then our God is a God of miricles and we need to trust in this when we can't seem to see how some mountains will be conquered. Trusting in God, I honestly cannot buy into the sentiment that we can't change some things... thas just the way it is... the way this world is. Sometimes its not the winning, but the fact we are fighting which is important:

PHILLIPIANS 3:14

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize

for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus"

BE STRONG!

Be strong!

We are not here to play, to dream, to drift;

We have hard work to do, and loads to lift.

Shun not the struggle; face it.

'Tis God's gift.

Be strong!

Say not the days are evil - Who's to blame?

And fold the hands and acquiesce - O shame!

Stand up, speak out, and bravely,

In God's name.

Be strong!

It matters not how deep entrenched the wrong,

How hard the battle goes, the day how long,

Faint not, fight on!

Tomorrow comes the song.

- Maltbie D. Babcock

Yesterday was a BIG day. Yesterday was going to the NEW HOUSE day... and we got to move some boxes of books in... and I got to clean and take pictures and just breath happy air there...

Miles dropped me off early so that he could carry the boxes downstairs for me and to see how everything is coming. We spent a few moments planning it all out ... our office/computer room 'specially. He hopes to be able to set his music studio and printing area up in one end that will be 'out of bounds' and away from the rest of the world... he really needs this as he's been working far, far too much lately. He's so talented as a musician and yet he never gets to allow his creativity to come to fruition.

Bonnie and I spent the morning wiping the wood and walls down in the basement while her husband Roman fixed some 'squeaks' in the floors upstairs before the new carpet gets laid down.

The carpet and flooring will come in a few weeks.

Bonnie and I always have a great chat and we have been going out for lunch afterwards - yesterday was Dim-Sum .... mmmm

CLICK ON THIS PICTURE TO SEE THE SLIDESHOW of some of the HUGE changes Roman and Bonnie have wrought with their hard, hard work:

old home new home

MILES - RANDOM CELEBRITY GUY

Lately, on our local tv station, there has been a funny little commercial on... it does not specify what exactly it's promoting either. It involves an executive looking fella and he seems to be talking about searching for someone to promote a product or service. His minions keep suggesting various things while the executive keeps golfing... and he continues to reject their ideas... and then he says ... I'm looking for a RANDOM CELEBRITY GUY... and the camera pans over to two shapely women's heads and then a man slides his head out from behind them, gives a big model-cheeser grin and says "Did you say... RANDOM CELEBRITY GUY?" and a tooth in his mouth gives a big glint...

So... when I was helping one of Miles students learn the ins and outs of ArtRage (digital painting) yesterday afternoon, I vamped Miles (not a great likeness for sure... hehe) into the Random Celebrity Guy. I will keep you posted as to what RCG turns out to be... though personally I think its going to be some tv sitcom...

We taught the 4th installment of Picasa last night for the Digital Photography course at the Learning Center. Everyone seems to truly enjoy learning it all - in fact I am certain some of it is totally overwhelming. Last night was all about sending pictures via Email in Picasa and also making slideshows.

Today, I was going to assist Miles with his Art Students (elementary) but he's given me the morning off - good thing as the house looks like a disaster. We plan to go visit our friends Roger and Marie this afternoon, so you might be seeing more Alpaca's tomorrow...

BARB'S HANDY TIP #209

Learn to Drum

A Drum Lessons Database** The Drums / Percussion Resource for Players and Music Educators. **

This site is a wealth of information and I hear drumming is soothing for some folks...Free drum videos available on the website.

DRUM LESSONS ONLINE

MRS MILES FUN SCRAPPING DOLL

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I created these sort of paper dolls for you... they can be whatever you want them to be, really. I thought you could cut and paste some of the clothing out of your own papers – to match your layouts. You might even want to 'cut' the print out of your child's photograph to put in the dress shape. Whatever works for you. I was even thinking, if you don't like the face I put in the doll, you might erase it and put your own child's face in it? I didn't put the skin color either – you can color her whatever nationality you would like this way.

HANNAH AND ABI WITH DOLLS!

Dolls Outline - Mrs Miles

Miss Mint Coordinated Kit – Playground Pop for ALL

elements and papers used in this layout other than:

Dress for Doll in blue – Amy W.'s Funky Papers Set
(slip over daily to Amy's for the latest download freebies!)

I'm very excited this morning as we are going out to our new house this morning, taking the very first 3 boxes of books with us. Miles has not been there for well over a month and I think he will be very surprised at how it's looking! I know, pictures, pictures – don't worry, my camera lives with me.

Miles took me for a walk on his lunchtime. I chose to go on a trail which follows the old water canal. In the golden olden days the water canal was almost a lifeline in these parts. It ran for many, many miles giving life to the orchards this region. It has long been defunct now, with modern irrigation systems far more efficient.

The old canal has character. In places it's broken into big cement pieces, and in other areas it remains intact for long stretches. Some places are cracked and some vigorous trees and tenacious weeds have grown through. There's tar baked on in scaly patterns where the canal had to be repaired in the past. Sometimes, the grapevines have stolen over orchard fences to grow in tangles into the bottom and up the sides. Other claw-like brush grow over the edge too, like bony skeleton hands, the wood all white and silvery.

I get sort of a melancholy sadness to see the demise of such an important part of our history. I used to think up ways it could have been preserved. My thoughts ran to the direction of filling it up in the summer for the triathalon participants to train in as Penticton hosts a world class one each year... then I thought in the winter – if it got good and cold like this one... ice could be laid and people could skate on it. Pretty good ideas anyhow...

Thanks for the nice comments about the poem featured yesterday – the one on Gossip... I am moved that you would enjoy it enough to share with others. Anything on my blog is meant to be enjoyed and shared, unless it says so otherwise!!!

I will leave you with another poem from the same book – its an old book but the sentiments are timeless:

YOUR FRIENDSHIP

There is something in your friendship
Very sweet for rainy days-
'Tis your thoughtfulness in finding,
What I like in little ways,
And of doing one by one,
Things that others leave undone.

There is something in your friendship
Sand and strong and glad and true,
Which makes better worth the doing
Everything I have to do,
And your friendly word and smile
Somehow helps make life worth while.

There is something in your friendship
Very rare to find, my friend,
'Tis unselfishness in giving
Without stint and without end;
So there is – at last I learn -
Love that asks for no return.

There is something in your friendship
That has stood the through many test,
Giving me a sense,
Of security and rest -
Friend of mine, my whole life through,
I'll be glad that I met you.

Author Unknown

PROVERBS 3:27 (NIRV)
Don't hold back good from those who
are worthy of it.
Don't hold back when you can help.

BARB'S HANDY TIP #208

The Restaurant is HERE - at Home!

This link was shared with me by my friend Kristin.

Welcome to Copykat Recipes, home of the web's most exciting recipes. You have tried it in the restaurant, now make it at home and we will show you how. Unlike other similar websites all of the recipes here area available for free. We have a free membership for you to rate recipes, share your favorite recipes with others, and you can receive free newsletters keeping you up to date with the website. Consider signing up today for your free membership.

COPYKAT RECIPES

HAND PAINTED PANSY ORNAMENT

(with or without sentiment)

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Thanks SO MUCH for those of you who 'visited' while I was taking a down - day... I can honestly tell you it really brought a smile to my face that you find my blog interesting enough to visit even when I can't post a freebie!

Well, we have 3 boxes of books ready to be transported to our new home - its exciting! Miles and I will deliver them out there tomorrow - feels like a milestone of sorts. Bonnie tells me the house is really 'coming along' and we are very very charged up about it all. Though the reality of it will still take some time to sink in.

UGH - THIS COULD BE THE INSIDE OF YOUR 'PUTER TOO!

(click to view larger!)

This is inside my honey's laptop. Yep, thats dust - a thick layer of dust and hairs and whatever else floats around in the air when his machine is running. With the fans, the computer acts like a mini vaccum cleaner and sucks up every little thing that floats around. He decided to take the plunge and clean it himself. Warning: this is not something you should consider doing yourself unless you have the knowledge and the proper tools and equiptment - including a wrist band to keep yourself grounded so you don't get zapped! I am so proud of him for fixing it himself! We get a TON of dust here in our desert climate - and his machine in particular, a Toshiba P series, is notorious for overheating in the first place. We've had to have it professionally done before and it really $$$ adds up.

THE FARM GANG

I finished up the title tags for the art gallery yesterday... These are two of my digital paintings which will hang - and hopefully sell. These are both created using Corel Painter and a Wacom Graphics tablet. I LOVE my tablet and art programs. I still love Art Rage for fast stuff tho!

LIL STALKER

OK - so I had to mentioned that I was a bit overloaded and stressed over the past few days - but what I went through was MINOR compared to what my friend Rebecca when thru ... she sent me the most HILARIOUS email and I begged her to blog it or let me share it... do yourself a giggle and head over to REBECCA'S BLOG - THINKING OUTSIDE THE WEB to read up on what a stressful day TRULY is! Won't you leave her some love after all her trials? LOL! Thanks for posting and sharing Rebecca - you made my day seem a 'piece of cake'

I had friend come over yesterday for a visit. Melanie brought me a sweet book all about friendship and I would like to share a poem I found in there. It deals with GOSSIP... ahem, we all have been victims and servers of this before. Its SO destructive!

ITS A PRETTY GOOD PLAN - TO FORGET IT!

If you see a tall fellow

ahead of the crowd,

A leader of men

marching fearless and proud,

And you know of a tale

whos mere telling aloud

Would cause this proud head

to in anguish be bowed,

Its a pretty good plan

to forget it!

If you know of a skeleton

hidden away

IN a closet, and guarded

and kept from the day

In the dark, whose showing,

whose sudden display

Would cause greif and sorrow

and lifelong dismay -

Its a pretty good plan

to forget it!

If you know of a spot

in the life of a friend,

(We all have such spots

concealed, world without end),

Whos touching his heartstrings

would play on and rend

Till the shame of its showing

no grieving could mend,

Its a pretty good plan

to forget it!

If you know anything

that will darken the joy

Of a man or a woman,

a girl or a boy,

That will wipe out a smile

or the least way annoy

A fellow, or cause

any gladness to cloy,

Its a pretty good plan

to forget it!

Author Unknown

PROVERBS 16:28

A perverse man stirs up dissention, and a gossip seperates close friends

BARB'S HANDY TIP #207

Good Design - Whats Today's Trend

This is an informative, up to date, and entertaining site to bring the latest in designs into your home.

I think you will enjoy being here!

The ultimate insider’s guide to what’s hot, new, and undiscovered

THE DAILY CANDY

MY LATEST LOVE LANGUAGE!

Yes, it's very very strange to not post an element for you today - but I had to be wise. I am not superwoman and I simply could not do it for today. I even considered re-posting an old something, but then I decided to leave it be. I know you'll understand - though if there is something that you would care to see reposted, ever, thats not a problem.

It's time to start packing! Miles, speaking my love language, bought me not only the packing tape which I had on my list, but the dispenser as well. It's so fun! We were able to get boxes from our local Home Hardware store. They conveniently have one big metal container filled with clean, flattened cardboard boxes of every shape and size.

WATCH OUT - SHE'S ARMED AND DANGEROUS!

I'm not packing it all up in one day, just a box here and a box there. I'm going out to the house about once a week to help clean etc. and I will move things in bit by bit.

THE FIRST AREA OF ATTACK

Books - both Miles and I love em. These will be the first to go. I'm trying to weed them out as we go along, but strangely I can count on my hands how many won't make the grade.

The other thing I'm soooo busy with is re-installing all my software on my comptuer... almost got it done at this point, and I'm also working hard to finish creating, printing and cutting the Title tags for the paintings in our local Art Gallery for the show opening, coming this week. This is a volunteer thing on my part and it sneaks up on me, even though I very well know when it is supposed to be...

So I'm leaving you now. Hopefully I will get to wrestle up some nice element for you in my downtime today. In the meantime you all have a wonderful day! Thanks for dropping in on my blog today.

BARB'S HANDY HINT # 206

Know Your Nutrition!

Get the nutrition facts and analysis on any food.

Learn what your body needs to be healthy
Estimate your daily needs of vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and more...
Analyze any food
Secrets to weight loss
Sensible diet advice
Recipe help: Create recipes and let ND help you make them healthier
Find foods that are highest in any vitamin or mineral or lowest in saturated fats or sugars
Nutrition glossary: your reference guide to diet and nutrition
Calculate glycemic load, inflammation factor, and omega-3:omega-6 ratio for any food or recipe
Calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI) and what it means for your health Generate custom nutrition facts labels for your cookbook or restaurant

NUTRITION DATA

LOVE STAMPS ELEMENT

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These stamps look better when you apply your own drop shadows and bevel/emobssing... I leave them without so you can choose your own styles. If you are an unexperienced scrapbooker and need a version with those features you can always let me know.

I'm having to re-install all my programs back onto my laptop this morning, on the side, while using Miles computer to blog. Yes, my computer had to be cleaned and reformatted again... let's not go there, ok? Suffice to say thanks to God for a patient, gentle, kind and understanding husband who, even though he has a bazillion things on his own plate, still took the time to help me.

I had intended on updating first thing yesterday morning, but knew that was not going to happen after a good struggle... and then it was time to go to Church. I was craving to arrive in time for pre-service prayer, you know? I was on nursery duty and wanted at least some time to rub elbows with some adult company. I thought about updating my blog later on, on Miles computer but then decided to take the rest of the day 'down'. It was good... I got some things accomplished.

The biggest thing I did was to sweep the driveway and sidewalk and part of the road. The gravel was an inch deep, on the edge of the road! Yes, the town sends out a road sweeper later on, but I could'nt stop once I had the broom in hand!

LAYOUT BY AMY W.

head on over to Amy's to find today's FREEBIE links...

Christmas eve when Emma and Amy made cookies and such for the firehouse. We need to do that again soon. - yes, Amy - bet right about NOW the firemen would LOVE to recieve cookies... if you use a ziplock bag and squeeze the dough out you could concievable make 'hose' cookies...

Credits:

Kit- Grungy Scribbles by Manu-Scraps (The Daily Scrap)

Doodles- Tea Doodles by Barb Derksen

Alpha- Seebee's Freebies Grunge Edge

AlphaTab and Ribbons- DigiScrap Tabs and Wraps by Christina Renee

Fonts- 28 Days Later, Blackjack, Penstitch and Poornut

All of today's photos come from the generous people over at Stock Xchang. I'm choosing today's theme to be JOY. Its so easy to get mired in the every day tedium. I think particularly, after Valentines, and before Easter we find ourselves at an emotionally barren place - unless we consciously build some Joy into our lives. Whether its something I do knowingly or not, I can slide into a place of almost dispair. So, as soon as I realize I'm in this place, I can begin to address it.

Perhaps part of it is like my driveway. I can wait for the road sweeper to come along, or I can take control and beautify my own little space. Even though the world might not celebrate a specific event at this time, I can always make my own one. Its a terrific opportunity to create a tradition in our own family. Perhaps I will surprise Miles with a new holiday all of our own. Do you have any suggestions?

Another way I'm going to take control of putting the JOY back in my life is to get closer to God's word. I can usually take it as a given that if I'm not feeling the Joy, I'm more involved in pleasing self than I am in God. It's time to feed my spiritual side - it's a craving that can only be filled with answers from time spent in prayer.

Peter 1:8

Though you have not seen him, you love him;

and even though you do not see him now,

you believe in him and are filled with

an inexpressible and glorious JOY.

If we could see beyond today

As God can see;

If all of the clouds should roll away,

The shadows flee;

O'er present griefs we would not fret.

Each sorrow we would soon forget,

For many JOYS are waiting yet

For you and me.

If we could know beyond today

As God doth know,

Why dearest treasures pass away

And tears must flow;

And why the darkness leads to light,

Why dreary paths will soon grow bright;

Some day life's wrongs will be made right,

Faith tells us so.

If we could see, if we could know,

We often say,

But God in love a veil doth throw

Across our way;

We cannot see what lies before,

And so we cling to Him the more,

He leads us till this life is o'er;

Trust and obey.

Romans 5:1-1

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverence; perseverence, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Okay, my blogging you joy is bringing my joy back. LOL!

Here's a totally unrelated bit of trivia for you to chew on for the day, taken from a popular science magazine:

Want more time? You got it. Clocks spring forward three weeks early (on March 11) and fall back a week late this year. Although the extra month of Daylight Savings Time, a shift mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, should save the equivalent of 100,000 barrels of oil a day, it may also trigger glitches in consumer gadgets and computer networks.

BARB'S HANDY TIP #205

Cool Trivia Site

This site should fill your trivia palate! Fact of the Day, Quote of the Day and Word of the Day are just a few of the features you will find at this informative site:

COOL QUIZ TRIVIA

YOUR PHOTO STAMP ELEMENT

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Hope you like the stamps - Miles to the rescue AGAIN! He's had this idea brewing in his head for quite some time and since I did not have any goodies left in my basket for you, he stepped in. We apologise for those of you who don't live in Canada or US - but who knows... if you made a request perhaps we might be able to accomodate?

CULINA MUNDI

(a gastronimic delight for the eye and tummy!)

We had a lovely day yesterday. Other than for some strange reason I was kind of snappy at times to my ever-so-patient husband. We had the first entirely sunny day since before I can remember and it made me industrious. Miles and I have figured out I must be solar powered. While he went to the gym for a workout, I did a practical workout at home - everything from chasing dust bunnies to dusting to laundry and on and on. It was a day to hang sheets outside in the fresh air to dry. It was a day for Miles to scrub the cinnamon heart stains off of the driveway from my Valentines day decorations... he he.

We drove to Penticton to have dinner and shop around. Miles bought me this amazing cookbook - Culina Mundi. Its filled with recipes from around the globe, featuring unique dishes from over 60 renowned chefs. Each recipe comes with interesting history of ingredients, beautiful photography and pictures which step you through each recipe. Normally this book would cost upwards of $80 USD new... we paid $18.99 CDN at a clearance store, still in it's wrapper. What a treat!

Thanks for all your stories about 'found' money - and related stuff...

Val j's Mother in Law keeps a jar used for 'found' money - buys a treat with it.

Saab, as a child found a wallet containing over $100 and did not receive a reward upon it's return (that sucks!)

Lucy did not find money, but once, while working as a hairdresser discovered a customer had left a $20 instead of what was intended to be a $1 tip - so she returned it to the customer! (some of our CDN dollar bills of different amounts does look sorta the same if your not careful to check!)

Elaine used to collect soda (pop, to us Canucks) bottles for extra money as kids. Boy, I sure remember doing THAT! I think thats why our ditches were so clean all of the time. Even now, there are one or two sort of 'professional' bottle collectors who bike around Osoyoos collecting bottles. They are actually worth something here. This is one thing Miles and I find very sad when we travel in Washington State, USA - the bottles are worth virtually nothing and we often notice the ditches are literally full of them... :(

Did you have chores or ways of making money as a kid? I remember the usual things like dishes, raking, folding laundry etc... I think if I recall correctly my allowance was something like 3 or 4 dollars per week....

COLLAGE FEATURE IN PICASA

I didn't tell you what Miles taught the other night for the workshop on Picasa. These are some of the cool features you can find in the program. This first one is the collage feature. You simply choose which pictures you would like to use for this look and then choose Collage and Picture Grid to create this type of a look.

CONTACT SHEET USING PICASA

Picasa easily allows you to create a contact sheet of the pictures you select. You again choose your photos, Collage and then Contact Sheet. The program automatically puts the folder name at the top, but if you saved this sheet and then took it back into the edits, you could easily crop the title off!

MULTI EXPOSURE USING PICASA

You can also create multi exposure effects in Picasa, using two or more photos. Again, you choose the photos you desire to use, choose Collage and then Multi Exposure from the drop-down menu. Yes, this program is FREE.

BARB'S HANDY TIP #204

Spice is Nice!

Make the most of culinary herbs and spices.

Sandra Bowens is a dedicated foodie with twenty years experience in the food service business. She now works as a freelance cook and food writer in Washington, USA.

This website is a labor of love that allows her to ply both trades at the same time. All of the recipes are original creations developed over the years.
"I've worked in a variety of situations that have allowed me the freedom to experiment with different flavors and ideas," she says. "I've also had the opportunity to work with incredible chefs who have taken the time to show me a few of their secrets."
Her favorite job has been with the Colorado Spice Company where she sold herbs and spices to restaurants. At the warehouse she learned about the product and in kitchens all over the Denver area, she learned how they were used. "The best part of that job was when we opened a barrel of herbs. You can't imagine the delight of leaning into 50 pounds of dried dill, fresh from the producer, to inhale the aroma."

A PINCH OF

WIRE FRAME ELEMENT

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(kitty picture by Stealth at Stock Xchange)

Eeeks - its SUNNY outside!

It has been gloomy and cloudy for weeks now - and this doubled with going through the flu means this wonderful sunny day - well it's like God throwing the light switch on after the long, dark night. My honey does not know this yet, but I am going to beg him to take me for a lenththly walk when he comes home in a while. He had planned to go to the gym for a workout but he WAS the one to tell me if I wrap my arms around him and gently ask anything, he could not refuse me. The gym is for those "ick" days, right?

CHAI, BABY!

I went for lunch out yesterday with my friend Bonnie. She is very adventurous and took me out to a restaurant which specializes in East Indian dishes. Now, my limited experience with East Indian has involved foods with an intense day-glo yellow color - intensely sweet and spicy things which didn't leave my taste buds with the impression they would be begging for more any time soon...

VEGETABLE PAKURA

My taste buds have updated their opinion of these particular dishes! Bonnie introduced me to these two dishes. They were both intended as appetizers - can you imagine? Yes, they both involve deep fried 'stuff' so I may as well have just taken them and stuck them to my hips (Miles tells me) but they were sooooo good! I will definately be taking my hunny out to this place. It's called the Ambrosia restaurant, on main street, here in little old Osoyoos. The decor won't leave a lasting impression but the good food and friendly service will.

CHATT

I wanted to 'chat' with you-all more too, about found money. I mentioned the other day that I found a 'toonie' (Canadian two dollar coin - I heard on the radio that the USA is going to make a third attempt to introduce a metal coin dollar again...) Yes, I found that toonie in the midst of a big empty lot - nothing there but old orchard tree stumps. It really gets your mind going... who dropped this coin? I know personally as a frugal thrift store shopper, a twoonie could never go missing without my knowledge!

But the thrill of finding it - is worth many times over the value of the actual coin. When I find money it sucks my into a black hole back to my childhood. I can feel the sunshine, see the sidewalk and I even feel like I'm wearing a print dress and flip-flops. It would be spring/summer and I would be around the age of 10 or so...

In a large family (6 brothers, 1 sister) found money was like pirate's booty! You suddenly became very popular when you found money, let me tell you. It was the bargaining chip to get brothers to even 'want' to have their stupid little sister around. Well, thats until I caught on to thier wily ways. It took a few times of falling for their ever so constuctive suggestions of what to spend my new treasure on (mostly candy) and their subsequent eating of a good portion of it to learn not to do that!

I once found a twenty dollar bill - at a far younger edge, as it still just barely tickles the edge of my memory. I remember showing it to my Gramma with great pride. She let my daddy know - that was a LOT of money way back when. My daddy took it and changed it for a safer and wiser one dollar bill for me.

But found money was 'funny money'... money besides your allowance or money your wonderful Aunts and Uncles blessed you with. Money to buy candy and pop and chips. Oh, and I could go on about those candies we had then and how much a dime, for example, could buy in those days. The possibilities seemed endless and your mind simply spun as you clutched the coins in your hand until it was all sweaty and you had the queen's face imprinted in your palm longer than the money lasted.

Even now, when Miles and I run, I find money very often. He's gotten over his amazement that I can even see coins in the dark. He used to be amazed and ask how on earth Idid this - but I'm sure its all the training I got with young, fresh eyes. My eyes trained themselves to look for the shape, the color the juxtapositin of the neat round shape, color against any other type of surface. They could spy the dull golden lustre of an old copper penny or the shiny glint of a tiny, newly minted dime against the dark soil, or even the winking light of the edge of a quarter in the pale tinted light of the streetlights in the evenings.

And what mostly was a problem to Miles was the fact that I used to literally 'stop on a dime' while running. Yes, we had some amazing pile-ups simply becuase I stopped immediately and directly in front of him in mid stride. Thank goodness he does not curse or my ears would long ago have curled up like dried mushrooms and fallen off...

Have you found money? Do you have childhood memories of finding money? Other treasures? I would love to here your story.

VALENTINES IS OVER BUT GOD IS THE LOVER OF YOUR SOUL

EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Dueteronomy 7:6

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God.

The LORD your God has chosen you

out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people,

his treasured possession.

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God.

The LORD your God has chosen you

out of all the peoples on the face of the earth

to be his people,

his treasured possession.

PSALM 36:7

How priceless is your unfailing love!

Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.

BARB'S HANDY TIP #203

Very Cool Online Shirt Store

A very COOL flash website -you will be amazed how they put this site together! This is what UNIQLO says about itself:

After much anticipation, the wait is finally over. Today, UNIQLO, Japan’s most popular apparel retailer and a worldwide leader in casual wear, opened its first global flagship store and the world’s largest UNIQLO in New York City, the fashion capital of the world. Located at 546 Broadway, the 36,000 square foot UNIQLO SoHo NY features the very best of UNIQLO - stylish, high-quality and affordable clothing and accessories, complemented by an unparalleled modern Japanese shopping experience in a stunning architectural landmark.

UNIQLO