Nummies 911

Tech Tuesday

I thought I would start to share some of my favorite gadgets, tech tips, etc. with you, my readers, those few of you who keep checking in with me to see if I'm still alive :-)

Let me begin by saying that I am by no means an expert in modern technology, but I do discover things that I have found useful when shared with my friends and family.  So that's what I aim to do, highlight items and techniques that I have found to be beneficial or fun. I'd like to encourage you to do the same by chiming in via the comments.  Let us hear any related information so that we can all benefit without having to scourer the computer mags and blogs every week. 

So today, I'd like to give a big thumbs up to skinit.com. I had read their ads before in magazines and online, but I never ended up on their website. I did however pick up a case for my new iPhone 4S while shopping in a megastore. The case is basically a black bumper with a clear back. The purchase price was only $20, which I consider below average considering the purchase included a free skin of your choice from their website. I rarely see any iPhone case that appeals to my artistic side. They are either boringly corporate, cartoon silly, or just plain loud and rubber. I was attracted to the idea that I could either choose a skin I liked, or customize my own with a photo. (I anticipated a photo upload given my history.)

It was after I started browsing the skins that I became hooked.  There were so many skins that appealed to me, that uploading a photo was quickly dismissed, and the next hour was spent trying to decide which skin to order. I finally decided on a beautiful purple background to an OM symbol. 

The skin and shipping were free with the code included in the purchase of the case. I think that is a bargain. While the check out made it seem as if it would take weeks to receive your skin if you didn't upgrade the shipping and pay for it, I didn't and received my skin in under a week. On top of all that, I also received a code for 20% my next purchase, and Skin It encouraged me to share it with my friends so here it is. 

Enter code FEB12 for 20% off your order.  This code expires 2.29.2012.

Check it out and let me know what you think. As for me, I'm going to be looking for an OM sounding ringtone to complete the look and feel of pure bliss.

 

Party Hats & Party Girls : Act 8

This is Heidi. Don't let her name fool you, this child is brilliant, decisive, outspoken, a leader and sometimes just a trial of her mother's nerves. I love her, though. I appreciate the outspoken honesty and unlimited curiosity which combined with her lack of patience often get her in trouble from simple disobeying to climbing up to a zip line and lacking the ability to dismount she does what any Heidi would do, she let's it rip. She was wearing a helmet I recall. So you can see where I get my drift.

Anyway, after my surgery, I spent two weeks recovering at my sisters and Heidi saw a party hat I knitted. She asked for one right away, you know the way kids ask for a candy bar or an icee, never thinking of the money and time that goes into buying those things or knitting a hat. Their lack of currency knowledge is refreshing to me. So, of course I knitted her a party hat and while she was slow to warm up, she was quite the model toward the end. She was very proud of it, which warmed my heart and she insisting on wearing it every where she went in the 100 plus degree weather of South Mississippi in August.

I've got lots of yarn left over, so if you want a party hat for a special little (or big one) just let me know. I'm going to put a few on etsy, but I love taking special orders from those I know.

Thanks Heidi for making me laugh, and from one short gut to another, we gals gotta stick together.

Love you,
Aunt Becki

 

      

 

Shake and Bake

We have eight new baby chicks. We are raising some to sell to a friend who wants older hens about to lay. Mysteriously, Camille started having an allergic reaction about the same time. So in an effort to eliminate any possible causes, we wanted to treat the baby chicks for mites and other possible parasites.  Turns out that Sevin dust is the preferred agent. This method was highly touted on several web sites.  When conferring with my sister who has more farm experience than me, she just laughed and asked me to video it and put it on youtube.  Here you go, Stacy.

 

 

 

With Age comes...

This year at the beach, I tried bodysurfing. Now please remember that just being on the beach is a huge step for me. Two years ago I looked like this.

But this year I was at Myrtle Beach and decided to give it a try. Cullen was my teacher. He waded out with me. Let me back up and say that I’m no great swimmer, and my sister, Stacy, who was my personal lifeguard all through childhood, made sure Cullen was looking out for me.  I had no idea how hard it would be just to get out to the point where you actually BEGIN to bodysurf.  I felt I was drowned and winded before I even started. After three or four failed attempts, we were far down the beach and Cullen motioned that we should get out and walk back up to where we started. This is when my epiphany came.

I’m walking down the beach. I’m tan. I’m 130 lbs. I’m carrying a bodyboard. The sun is shining and the breeze is blowing. I should be basking in this scene. But the reality is much different. I couldn’t think about any of that. I was only concerned with putting one foot in front of the other, so I didn’t fall down. I was breathing so hard and I could feel the sides of my vision closing in. My back was about to seize up. My legs were like jello from trying to withstand the blows of wave after wave. After a few paces, Cullen was so far ahead of me that I doubt he could have heard my call for help, even if I had mustered enough breath to actually yell. That’s when I kept saying, one foot after the other...get close enough so that my sister will see me when I collapse. When I got there, Stacy was watching my approach and while Cullen was still facing forward, I feigned a fall as if to say, I’m about to die. She laughed hard.

There were times in my life I would have paid good money to be 130 lbs, tan, on the beach, but now, I’m just hoping to survive. Later when we were both walking with boards, we joked that the young people are looking at us and saying, “What do those two moms think they are doing?” However, we agreed that even though age brings us less stamina, more aches and greater pains, the gift is that we don’t care what other people think.

I wish I had learned that a little earlier in life. I watched Cullen abandon the group several times because we were embarrassing, and while I understand that is just being a teenager, I hope he leaves that with his teen years and emerges with the self-confidence to do what he loves, no matter what other people think.  I spent too many years trying to please others and worrying about what everyone else thought. I still catch myself doing it now, but less and less often.

So here’s a quick video of one my many wipe outs. I hope you laugh hard and remember me the next time you see a mom trying something with her kids. I, personally, am extremely grateful for a “second” chance at life through my surgery and weight loss. I’m grateful that I COULD be active with my kids, instead of watching from the sidelines. So I intend to embarrass them every chance I get. That’s my small payback for all the diapers and sleep lost. Not an even trade, but hey, no one said life was fair.

Oh, and how about this picture!  Britt having the time of his life...me hanging on for dear life.

Cute Beach Towel Dress from "MADE"

It is HOT outside. H. O. T.   Africa Hot!! So I decided to stay inside and make something.

I've been following http://craftgossip.com/ which is like crack for artists of all kinds. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't see something I'd like to make.

This at MADE, particularly caught my eye. http://www.dana-made-it.com/2010/06/beach-towel-dress.html

So, despite being a novice at sewing, I attempted this, because well, the supplies were cheap and the product, if it turned out, would be very useful on my vacation.

It took me a while to get the shirring down. I had to send Anna back to Hellmart to get more elastic thread. I had bought some last week, but the worker in the sewing department for allegedly 20 years, told Anna today they had never carried the stuff. Thanks to the iPhone, I was able to pinpoint the item and Anna got it. (Steve rocks again.)

So, with new supplies in hand and a few ruined pieces under my belt, I poured a glass of wine, put on Bob Marley and all of sudden, all my shirring was even and straight.

I completed one for me.

And a matching one for Camille.

So, now I'm relaxing even more...and knitting, something I'm much better at than sewing. And I'm still inside, until it cools off. Which ought to be...well, November.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

It's Saturday, not Friday, but I've been surfing today instead of finishing the 4-5 projects I have ongoing.  Hey, everybody needs a break from time to time and my other big diversion today was pruning my neighbors shrubs and weeding her iris garden, so "good on me."

Five Question Friday

1. If you could go back to college would you change your major? Or, if you were to go to college right now...what major would you choose?

Oh, this is an easy one. Nursing! That way I wouldn't be in the stupid position I am now of being in a state that won't give me a license to practice, even though I've ALREADY been to nursing school. (Note the anger and frustration in that answer.)

2. What do you love most about your home?

I love the hardwood floors and all the windows. My current home was built in 1929. There is so much light. I also love the yard and the way I have plenty of sun for my flowers, garden and clothesline, but plenty of shade for the house and enjoying all of the above.

3. What types of books do you like to read (if you like to read at all)?

I particularly like biographies and autobiographies. I also like historical fiction. However, what I mostly buy are "do-it-yourself" books about art, home repair, etc.

4. What is the grossest thing you've ever eaten?

Well, I had to think about that one, but I think octopus sushi was probably the winner based on sheer texture. I have eaten escargot and that was actually very palatable.

5. If you HAD to a character on a TV show, who would you be?

I'd like to be Ty Pennington with all those tools and budget at my fingertips. Or Cameron on Modern Family...flamboyant and confident!

Blue Birds

Molly's Birdhouse

They were much prettier as eggs...

Russell Hat

This is Camille’s Russell Hat.

She loves Russell the Sheep by Rob Scotton. “What’s a sheep to do!?” she always says.

She asked for a hat like Russell’s, so I went on Ravelry and just knew that someone had done this before and would have a pattern. No such luck. What? No knitters with little children who love Russell the Sheep and want a very long blue and white striped hat? I find that hard to believe, but yet again, here I am looking for something that does not exist. Story of my life. So I went to Creative Yarns, our local yarn store, which by the way, rivals any yarn store in Atlanta or DC, and with their help, developed a pattern and bought the yarn. Several tries and weeks later...The Russell Hat. Not perfect, but just right. Camille took it to school for show and tell along with samples of wool in the different stages from right off the sheep, to dyed, to spun, to knitted, of course. Overall, one of the more enjoyable projects I have done.

Shared Thoughts

June 24, 2009

Outside my window...a hot summer evening and grass that needs cutting.

I am thinking...I hope I’m here when this cat goes into labor.

I am thankful for...the quiet that is mine this week.

From the kitchen...cheese, bread and wine (my absolute favorites.)

I am wearing...a long skirt, deep purple…a white tank with a light purple top, no shoes.

I am creating...a copycat necklace out of Garnet Hill.

I am going...to enjoy the evening.

I am reading...back issues of magazines in order to recycle them.

I am hoping...to get the grass mowed this week.

I am hearing...the small gurgling water of the fish tank.

Around the house...sleeping dogs and cats.

One of my favorite things...having cut flowers from my garden on my end tables and bedside tables.

A few plans for the rest of the week: a little sewing, maybe dinner out.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

This journaling idea from The Simple Woman's Daybook

Losing your luggage

I don't fly much, but whenever I do, I'm always afraid this will happen to me.