They’re Growing!

Not long ago I posted about finding some exciting new colors (to me) of Christmas (and or Thanksgiving) Cactus and ordering some cuttings to start. 
Here they are all snug in their new pots.



Yesterday I lifted their dome and was checking them to see if they needed any water and what did I find???  Some new growth, already!   here is one…



And here is the other. 



I had not anticipated such quick results!  They must like it here.   
I had mentioned our leaking roof, and here is the nasty looking ceiling the water coming thru made…





Actually, this type of bulging and damage spreads further but you get the picture.  Sigh!

On an even happier note I have been slaving over a computer keyboard getting our accounts in order preparing to do our taxes.  Now that is real fun!  (read with dripping sarcasm)

I am still wanting to dig in and find my grow lights, I have got to get some seeds started!  I have so many new plants I want to grow this year.  New to me anyways.
   

To have a chance to win some scrapbooking software go to my giveaway!

67 Ways to Be Healthier in a Minute or Less! : Organic Gardening

Would you believe this is how I found our "green" drycleaners? I did a search for the local one and up popped the cleaners that delivers to our pharmacy. No more driving an hour to take our stuff to the cleaners plus I like that they are green, I hate the smell of dry cleaning chemicals!


67 Ways to Be Healthier in a Minute or Less! : Organic Gardening

What I have been working on!

My Memories V3 Giveaway and Review


I have mentioned a couple times in the past week that I had been asked to do a review of a digital scrapbooking software called My Memories V3.

I admit to not being a scrap booker.  My photos are not even filed very well much less put in fancy smancy books with bells, whistles or frills.

So that being said I plowed into this scrapbook software and gave it as good a working over as I could being a newbie.  I have started on a couple scrapbooks. 

One being the type that you just let the software put the photos in for you.  You give it a file of photos and pick a template, push a button and voila, a scrapbook!  You edit where it cuts off a head or has the subjects of the photo a bit askew but that is simply done.  

You can also put in some journaling…here is a sample of my started but not completed instant scrapbook..







Then there are templates you can buy and many are quite inexpensive, this is one I bought that was well worth the prices of .99, yep, less than a buck!  And it was exactly what I had in mind for this scrapbook of our 2004 trip to Paris.



I still need to add some journaling thus the bare spots but it gives you an idea.





You can easily have your books professionally printed, use them as a slideshow and other cool stuff.

I am currently trying out making a blog banner with it.  But also I want to paint some designs to download and use for a custom look which is also a nice feature of this software, you can create your own templates. 

So now when I come back from a trip or event I have a fast easy way to immediately scrapbook it! 

So are you ready for a chance to win a personal copy of this software?
Okay here we go, just click on over to My Memories and check out their digital paper packs and layouts. Then come on back and leave me a comment or send me an email and let me know which one you like. 

Also there is a discount code in my sidebar for anyone who just wants to get $10 off a purchase of the My Memories digital scrapbooking software.

For another chance to win post this to your Facebook page letting others know about it and then let me know either with a comment or an email.  I will keep this open for a week so it will end next Sunday, January 28, 2012 at noon. 

~Pamela~

disclosure
Disclosure: The reviews and or opinions on this blog are my own opinions . I received the software to download. No monitory compensation was received. I was not required to write a positive review. Your experience may differ. The opinions I have expressed are my own I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsement and Testimonials in Advertising .

A Quiet Moment

A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, 
for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dare live. |
Bertrand Russell

I am listening to the rain be driven against the window panes as I sit in my dark, silent  bedroom sipping a deliciously hot cup of coffee, trying for all the world to be as quiet as possible. 

I must confess to being a snorer, a very loud snorer. It is very annoying to anyone trying to sleep in the same room as myself, so that is the reason my poor sleep deprived husband is even now sleeping on the couch in the living room and why I am trying desperately to keep as quiet as can be to let him catch up on his rest.

That being said, I love the quiet in the morning.  When my 4 kids were little I would get up early, toss some laundry on and enjoy a quiet cup of coffee before anyone got up.  It was my time to just be.  Time to reflect on what to accomplish that day before the hustle and bustle began.  Now they are grown and gone but I still like my morning reflection time, kind of like the quiet before a storm.

In the summer you will find me at first light out in my garden, sitting on my front steps just being.  Sunday mornings are my favorite, as everyone in the neighborhood seems to be sleeping in so there is absolute silence except for the birds singing and a few squirrels bickering.  

I just dwell on things I have to be thankful for.  Like a lovely place to live, our house is humble but cozy, the roof leaks (as is attested by the bowl and pots catching drips as we speak) but only when it rains. 

So I am thankful we did not go to the trouble of repairing the drywall where it leaked last year.  We just did not find the time to pull it down and redo it.  We did have the roof fixed (or so we thought) but now the true test as come with this downpour of a rainstorm and the roof failed.  Ah well, we will give it another go when spring comes and I can cross off worrying about fixing the ceiling for now.

I see weak light coming thru the blinds now, I should open them up and welcome the new day.  For some reason rainy days incite the desire to sew in me.  I have loads of fabric stashes to work from even though I gave tons away already.  I spent yesterday afternoon sewing a little jumper dress and had a grand ole time doing it.  I will share a photo soon. 

Enjoy your day.

~Pamela~

It works! Happy Days!

On the 15th I wrote a blog post and mentioned that my DSLR camera stopped working out of the blue, taking photos one second then the next all I get is soft clicks when I depress the shutter button.

I researched it, looked up forums, recharged the battery (though I had just recharged it days before and normally it lasts for months) and did just about everything I could think of except take it apart.  I figured I would just take it to a professional and see what was up.

All I could see was $$$$$ flying out the window but I figured it was less expensive than a new camera, though I am dying for my upgrade.  I am being good and that is a future purchase, AFTER I replace some much needed things around here. 

The camera sat on our kitchen table, taunting me in its deadness.  My husband, in all his techno genius, suggested I pick it up and try it again.  I do so but the the camera just made it’s sad clicking noise.  My oh so brainy husband then tells me to hold it tight.

Clueless as to his intent I did so.  He reaches out and gives it a good hard smack!

I was horrified to say the least.  At first.  Then I tried to take a photo and here is what I got.

Can you believe it??  I was so excited I ran and took some photos to see if it was a fluke or if it was going to continue working.

My Ladies enjoying their breakfast.

Tyler the cat posing on our garden bench..  I still need to paint those legs.

My wonderful worktable in use.  See the legs of my buffet table on the bottom shelf.  The more I use my table the more I love i!

I am so thrilled to have a working camera again.

don’t forget about the giveaway of this software I am doing soon!

I have been trying out its features and watching the Tutorials (a great aid). 

Enjoy your day!

An eye opener for me!

On the Clock, page 58
Vegetables tell time. Flowers follow a schedule. Tapping in to your garden’s circadian rhythms reveals the secret to knowing the best times to plant.
By Michele Owens

The article above from the February/March 2012 issue of Organic Gardening answered some questions that had bugged me for awhile.

Such as why will my Cilantro planted from seed in late winter thrive and produce (in the greenhouse) and what I plant later in the season just goes right to flowering and seed? Even though the temperature was not much different. (I had read earlier that cilantro was effected by temperature)
The opening line of the article: 

“Like comedy, vegetable gardening is all about timing.”

I knew that day length affected plants like strawberries thus the different cultivars like “day neutral” or June bearing and everbearing but I was clueless that it also was responsible for other plants success or failures to produce. 

Not only day length but the latitude can have a bearing on the success of production.  Who knew?

I am always learning something new when it comes to gardening.

  Pamela

MOMENT

It is hard to pick a word for the year.  A word to inspire, encourage and uplift.  So I decided to go with the word that really is my life’s mantra: 
MOMENT

Definition of mo·ment

   /ˈmoʊmənt/ Show Spelled[moh-muhnt] Show IPA
noun
1.  an indefinitely short period of time; instant: I'll be with you in a moment.
2. the present time or any other particular time (usually preceded by the ): He is busy at the moment.
3.  a definite period or stage, as in a course of events; juncture: at this moment in history.
4. importance or consequence: a decision of great moment.
5. a particular time or period of success, excellence, fame, etc.: His big moment came in the final game.

Yes, a few different meanings and they all fit. 

For now I will focus on meaning  2

I choose to live and enjoy the moment.




I do not wait for circumstances to get better to be happy as in “when I get this or when we can do that” I will be happier. 

 

Living in the moment is being content no matter the circumstances.  Finding the joy in the here and now, not waiting for the ideal.

A few quotes I found that are fitting as well and probably say it better than I ever could.

"To finish the moment, to find the journey's end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom. It is not the part of men, but of fanatics, or of mathematicians, if you will, to say, that, the shortness of life considered, it is not worth caring whether for so short a duration we were sprawling in want, or sitting high. Since our office is with moments, let us husband them."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
 



Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed. Coria Kent
 


One should count each day a separate life. Lucius Annaeus Seneca
 


Today is life - the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Dale Carnegie
 


The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time. Abraham Lincoln

When I spotted this necklace from the Rusted Chain I had to have it because it just fit..



Now to give an example, today I am suffering from a cold, my head hurts, my sinus’ are stuffy and I just generally have little oomph but a long list of things I would like to be doing. 

Instead of lamenting not being up for my normal routine I will pamper myself, enjoy having an excuse to sit on my couch with a hot cup of tea and get some blog work done,  some Pinterest surfing and other things that don’t take much physical energy but I normally would not have time to do, at least not guilt free.  

Now everyone, enjoy the moment!


PS: for those interested in winning the scrap-booking software My Memories V3 just keep checking back here on my blog.  I will soon be doing a post on my opinions of it after working with it for close to 2 weeks and I will be doing a giveaway for one.