The Life of Mrs. Miles

if you right-click on the download link, and open the link in another

tab or window, you won't be taken away from today's blog entry!

download

Oh, I'm so full of oddities... today's element was inspired by a glass doorknob. Really. My friend Gina recognized that immediately - but she has a passion for them! She truly LOVES them... if you have one your not using, pleeeeeeeeeease send her one. She would give it a loving home. She has some wonderful and creative ideas for them. Now, I did not add any extra bevel and embossing to the button, I like to give you that option if you choose. I'd also suggest you try a bit of a drop shadow too. Gina's got a nice freebie link for you too, daily - only one a blog entry and it has to be something she really likes. Click here to go to her blog!

mystery? or not!

I better tell you all too, what the pictures were from my last blog entry. Nobody guessed correctly - but then I did not expect you to, as they were sort of abstract. They were photos of an air mattress. You know the $15 ones you can get at the dollar store? They have a silver bottom and clear top, and baffles in between? Ya, that kind. I did use some filters etc. on the photos - but the mattress was intriguing and I could not resist!

We are having a great visit with our daughter, think she's finally unwinding from work. Dez just loves Sushi, and Miles was listening to some good articles on NPR articles the other day - he thought you may enjoy to learn more about Sushi, and what we think Sushi is! (yes, we've Americanized it - you may be surprised what it's really supposed to be!) Just click here to listen and learn!

layout by blog reader Kim B.

credits:
template: Gift Template 2 by Kim B.
Vintage Watch Element: Barb Derksen

Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful layout with us - and for the great template. Kim has been creating some rockin' templates (FREE!) ... you simply must scoot over and pick yours up today! Just click here to get to Kims blog. I look forward to seeing Templates 5, 6, 7 etc!

Question for blog reader Sybil who left a comment on the last entry - what store do you buy your sweetened condensed milk in at $1 a can - you GOTTA cough up Girl! Do tell!

I'm still drying things around here. So far I've done apricots and cherries and I've got some blueberries, tomatoes, plums and peaches happening out there. During the day when the sun is very hot, I put the trays out in the direct sun, but when night falls, I stack them into the electric part and plug it in. The tomatoes came from the tomatoe fairy, had to, as they were on our doorstep when we came in from a swim the other day! I sliced them up and sprinkled them liberally with my own dried basil, sea salt and freshly ground pepper. mmmmmm... Hey, at this point I will dry ANYTHING! Its fun to watch it all wither up. (and I think boy... that is what happens to our skin if we sat out all day long!) I don't dry everything till its as hard an chewy as shoe leather - I like to leave the center nice and chewy - then I layer my goodies between waxed or parchment paper in plastic containers. Come winter it will be like bringing a little bit of summer out of the freezer!

My brother just sent me an email telling me that some folks are using Listerine Mouthwash as a mosquito repellent, and getting good results. Have you heard of this? Is it effective? Please let me know!

I've got some great news! If you're an ArtRage user (if you're not you should be) ... they just released version 2.5. This new version is $25 for new buyers, but if you bought the last version you can upgrade for free. The new version has some very neat features - yes, I've been playing with them! In particular I'm loving the new STENCILS feature, its just like when you were back in art-class as a kid! You save the stencils as png files and I can see some powerful uses for this. You also have the ability to save colors into sets as well, which you can save. There's a few other neat things I haven't played around with yet. And if you are newbie and have never heard of ArtRage at all - you MUST go and check it out and at least download the free version and unleash the artist in you! Just click here!

I'm feeling moved to leave a word of encouragement here today - for someone. The following scripture and words have been laid on my heart for you!

Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.

I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm. 139:14

Self-love but serves the virtuous mind to wake,
As the small pebble stirs the peaceful lake;
The centre moved, a circle straight succeeds,
Another still and still another spreads;
Friend, parent, neighbour first it will embrace;
His country next; and next all human race.

by
Alexander Pope

My blog-reader JanMary, who has a blog I don't miss (she emails me when she updates as I requested) well, she 'tagged' me. Its a short tag so I'll take it. I don't 'tag' well. Just so ya know. If you tag me its a hit or miss - she just caught me at a good time. Ok, so I'm supposed to say 8 things you may not know about me. Here goes.

1. I've been stung at least three times this summer. I'm attracting all bugs with stingers. Perhaps its because Miles had a pet black widow spider here for a while (he was filming it for a children's school project) He fed it several big wasps. The spider always won, by the way. One time there was a wasp as big, or bigger than the spider, and she had no problems with it at all! She actually had us glued to the terrarium like we were watching a nature show as she had built her webs from the top to the bottom and she sewed the wasp up good with her web, then she bit it till it died, then she 'winched' it up to the top of the jar to eat! We were in AWE! But I'm off track. Right, wasps/bees. Stinger things. Ok, so my latest sting? Last night we took our daughter out for a sunset stroll. As we were walking on a nicely mowed grassy strip, I must have brushed up a wasp or bee with the hem of my baggy pajama bottoms. It had no way to escape and so it flew up, up, up. Right. I got a good zing on my backside, which had Miles and Dez laughing at me for quite a while. I don't know what smarted more, my backside or my feelings....

2. I love potato chip sandwiches. Plain chips, as high as I can stack them. Bread buttered. Slight bit of ketchup. I think our mom used to give them to us when there was no lettuce to provide a nice crunch in a sandwich.

3. I have a 'happy song'. Whenever I'm really really happy, I hum a little tune. It's just a made up one, and its only a few bars, which I repeat, but you can be guaranteed I'm utterly content when you hear me singing...

4. I dye my eyebrows. Don't worry, I'm super careful never to get any in or around my eyes. But our eyebrows fade in color same as our hair does, and if you simply use a small paintbrush (the kind you use for real painting, a small fine one) and brush over your brows, then use a thick, wet facecloth to wipe it clean before rinsing the rest of your head. You would be amazed what a difference it makes - and they match your hair color. When you think about it some people get their brows tattooed on, or professionally dyed - why not do it yourself?

5. I love toe-rings. More than finger rings, I think.

6. I love candles and incense and smelly bath salts.

7. I can make pizza, from scratch, dough and all, on a campfire. Two months camping on a budget can cause me to try to make anything on a campfire.

8. I like line-dried clothes. I find it relaxing to hang laundry outside. I love the crunch and crispness of clothes and sheets that are dried in the fresh air.

alpacapoolde or poodlepac?

Time to give you'all an Alpaca Update - as I've been feeding you photos over the many months the adventures of our friends Roger and Marie as they raise several of these amazing creatures. Rather than try to reword Marie's words, I'm going to just cut and paste from her email. Thanks so much, Marie, for sharing your escapades with us!

"We finally got the alpacas clipped yesterday. Only took just over an hour to clip the fur on the 4 adults and trim their toenails. He decided the their teeth were ok till next year. As it is so late in the year for clipping, he gave them a cut that makes the look like big poodles, left the fur on their heads, necks, and legs and trimmed their body. Looks like we now have a new animal, maybe called an alpacadoodle, poodlepac. They all look quite funny with their furry heads and trimmed backs.

The alpacas weren't too happy with the trimming but all survived ok. Kyla and Snowflake were the easiest, they both just stood there and let him trim what he wanted. If fact, Fudge came over and started nursing on Kyla while she was being clipped. Frosty was the hardest to do, had to be held down. Emmy Lou just complained loudly the whole time but stood there quite quietly while it was being done. They seem to feel ok with the trimming and are coming around Roger again as he held them while the trimming was being done.

Glad we got it done this week as the weather forecast is predicting hotter weather by the weekend."

Ok, I know that while I'm enjoying the summer and all that comes with it, some of you have to work. Hopefully I can provide you with a little bit of good information and humor thru my blog to help make your day lighter once in a while. I recently came across this ever so funny video which you might enjoy. It's very well done!

And if you enjoyed that one, you might enjoy the following one, which reminds me of myself around things... I am SO CLUMSY!

funny clumsy video

Today in History:


1100 - King William II of England, son of William the Conqueror, was killed by an arrow while hunting in the New Forest.

1492 - Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, on a voyage that took him to the present-day Americas.

1589 - Henry III of France was assassinated at St. Cloud by Jacques Clement.

1769 - The city of Los Angeles was named today by Gaspar de Portola, a Spanish army captain, and Juan Crespi, a Franciscan priest. The two were heading north from San Diego and liked the area and decided to call it Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula, which translates to, Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula. Porciuncula is a chapel in Italy.

1776 - Members of the Continental Congress began attaching their signatures to the Declaration of Independence.

1791 - The first father and son joint patent was awarded to Samuel Briggs and his son, Samuel Briggs, Jr., for their nail making machine.

1802 - Napoleon Bonaparte of France was declared ``Consul for life,'' giving him the power to name his successor.

1823 - Founded today was "The New York Mirror and Ladies Literary Gazette". Later the weekly newspaper would become a daily release called "New York Mirror".

1824 - In New York City, Fifth Avenue opened. The home to many fashionable stores, Fifth Avenue would become one of the most famous streets in the world.

1835 - United States inventor Elisha Gray born. Founder of the Western Electric Company, he filed a patent on a telephone device only hours after Alexander Graham Bell.

1858 - In the streets of Boston, Massachusetts, and New York City, New York, the first mailboxes were installed. It was in 1848 that the idea of mailboxes started in Belgium.

1876 - Wild Bill (James Butler) Hickok was shot and killed by Jack McCall, a from Texas, in Saloon #10 at Deadwood, Dakota Territory. With his back to the door, Hickok was playing poker when he was shot. McCall shot Wild Bill in the back, and was hanged for it although he never revealed his motive for the shooting. The poker hand Hickok was holding when he died included a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights. This combination would come to be known as the dead man’s hand because of this incident.

1887 - Rowell Hodge, patented barbed wire.

1914 - Germany declared war on France.

1923 - Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th president of the United States, following the death of Warren G. Harding.

1926 - At the Warner Theatre in New York City, the first demonstration of the Vitaphone system, which combined picture and sound for films, was held. The demonstration film starred John Barrymore and Mary Astor starred.

1934 - Adolf Hitler declared himself Fuehrer on the death of President Hindenberg.

1938 - Tested for the first time today was the yellow baseball in a game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals in New York City. The players had no preference for the yellow over the usual white ball.

1939 - Albert Einstein, concerned that German scientists were working on powerful bombs using uranium, wrote to President Roosevelt urging him to start an atomic project.

1949 - The National Basketball Association was formed.

1970 - The British army used rubber bullets for the first time to quell a riot in Northern Ireland.

1984 - Charles Schulz’ award-winning comic strip "Peanuts" was picked up by Portsmouth, Ohio's "Daily Times", making it the first comic strip to appear in 2,000 newspapers.

1998 - Puppeteer Shari Lewis, the children's entertainer who charmed youngsters for decades with furry sidekicks Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse, and Hush Puppy, died of cancer; she was 65. Lewis, diagnosed with uterine cancer in June, was undergoing chemotherapy treatments when she developed pneumonia and died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, spokeswoman Maggie Begley said. The Emmy Award-winning ventriloquist began cancer treatments 6 weeks earlier and cut short production on her latest PBS children's series, "The Charlie Horse Music Pizza." Lewis and Lamb Chop premiered on television's "The Captain Kangaroo Show" in the mid 1950s, and that single appearance led to her own TV program, "The Shari Lewis Show,'" which ran Saturday mornings on NBC. Lewis won 12 Emmys, including five for her last PBS series, "Lamb Chop's Play-Along." She also wrote more than 60 children's books.

Barb's Handy Tip # 297
Paint Someone Happy!

Very cool. Just surfing with my daughter yesterday and stumbled across this neat site. You can paint a masterpiece to share with someone, even hang in a gallery. The impressive thing is, when you've painted it, you can play it back as it was painted. In case you can't vision this, I will send you to the card I made and sent to my honey. I would love to see your own creations too - how bout sending me a link to my email at lalalime@hotmail.com? I may even complile a list of links just from reader's art? Just click here to see the card I made for Miles! I will also leave the home link to the site below:

ART.COM artpad - express yourself!