Recalculating

My current favorite commercial.

I like everything about it and feel like this

has been similar to my life. haha.  And hey,

I drive a Jeep, too!

♥  

Did You Look At The Sky Today?

"Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,

and when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,

I hope you dance..."

Lee Ann Womack

source

♥

Bird Bath

source

If I had a bucket list, this would

certainly be on it!

♥

Hamdogs

The other week when Taylor and Lauren were over for dinner

we were laughing at this commercial.

I mentioned that the next time they came to eat, we should

try making some hamburgers shaped like hot dogs

just for the fun of it.  We decided to call them hamdogs.

So I grilled up some regular dogs and some hamdogs, too!

Taylor had one of each.

My, he does prefer his dogs rather plain, doesn't he?

Where all all the toppings? ha.

But the ketchup and mustard is squirted on

in a artsy curly kind of way. lol....

I preferred to eat a good old fashioned chili cheese dog.  Yum.

So, while it was a fun thing to try,

the idea is kind of weird.  Taylor said it was a conflict

 between mind and mouth, thinking that it should

taste like a hot dog but tasting a hamburger.

I think next time we'll just have the regular dogs. ha.

♥

Random Thoughts

1. I was out looking at the moon last night.  It seemed so far away and made me feel like a tiny little soul down way down on the earth.  It sure was beautiful...that color!  No editing!  It looks like a slice of cantaloupe... or maybe a sweet potato chip? 
2. One cool thing that happened today while I was out was a red tailed hawk swooping down and flying very low in front of me.  He continued down the road a ways as if he was my escort!  Lonely little road with tall corn fields on either side....  It made this city girl who lives in the country smile really big (and wish she had her camera!).
3. Have you ever seen a neat cloud shape but by the time you could take a picture, it had morphed into something not so neat?  We were out driving Saturday evening and there were two giant scuba divers in the sky.  They were complete with flippers, air tanks and bubbles coming from their mouths.  Amazing!  They immediately went behind a grove of trees as we went around a bend and by the time they were in sight again, they were just clouds.  Plain old clouds.  Sigh!
4. All this fresh fruit of the season and I haven't baked anything with it!  Not even zucchini! We've been good and healthy, just eating it fresh.  But I bought extra blueberries today because the summer can't go by completely without something a la mode!  Something like blueberry pie with flaky, real butter crust made from scratch.  Oh yes. 
5. I have some of my drawings on sale in my shop and someone put together a treasury using my window drawing!  Her theme was 'Is Anyone Home?"  How fun!  Take a look.  Can you pick out my artwork?  HERE.
6. I bought a big box of Tootsie Pops for the boys today and there was a new flavor inside.  Strawberry Watermelon.  Harry is going to be most pleased when he gets home and finds out!  He does love a watermelon flavored sucker!

Lately when I look at the moon, the song "Somewhere Out There" 

from An American Tale comes to mind.  So I just hum as I look!

(or if I'm by myself, I might sing into my wooden spoon mic. ha.)

"Somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight ♪♪♪"

Aw, little Fievel!  He was so cute.

♥

Starlings At Ot Moor

I think it was Ed that originally told me about the groups

of Starlings that fly over Ot Moor, just east of Oxford, England.

Fifty acres of marshy land serve as a feeding ground for the Starlings.

During the evenings of the winter months, something truly

 amazing happens and this area becomes the most incredible

display of aeronautical skill, spreading across 25 miles.

As the afternoon light begins to fade, the starlings stop feeding

and take to the air, gathering in large flocks of up to a thousand.

They start out flying in groups they've been feeding with all day

and slowly merge into ever denser and bigger flocks.

Individual birds, yet moving as a single entity and never a collision!

Their dance should be impossible!   It's mesmerizing to 

watch.  I imagine them having a bit of fun with their Creator, who

amuses them as he draws circles and lines in the sky, 

and they follow his fingertip.

I hope you'll take 3 minutes to watch. 

It's definitely worth it!

Information for this post was gathered from Dylan Winter,

a travel journalist, who has the pleasure of seeing this

from his door step every night during the winter months.

I'm so jealous!

And although it isn't a photo of my own, I'm linking up with

 I'd Rather B Birdin, because I know all those bird lovers will love this!

Click HERE to visit this week's entries.

♥

Just Like The Zoo!

See!  I'm not the only one that does things like this!
I wonder if I'm related to them. ha.

♥

Easter 2014

image from blancafloral.com

My favorite Easter song~

The Easter Song

Keith Green

1953-1982

Thank you, God, for your immeasurable gift of eternal life!

Happy Easter!

♥

Some Random Acts of Kindness Inspiration

I saw this on the news today and thought it was the sweetest

thing!  This little boy with autism LOVES garbage trucks and

waits every Monday for the truck to come.  Inside, he lines

his stuffed animals in the window so they can watch, too!

He watches and waives to the garbage man each time.

His mom records the visits on her phone so he can

watch them again during the week!

Then one day, he gets a surprise!

Don't you love it?

The garbage man does the RAK!!

So sweet.

I'm inspired!

What will you do this week?

Come back Friday and share!

♥

It's Snowing!

I've spent quite a bit of the day sitting and staring out the window!

♥

Let's All Sing Like The Birdie's Sing

I'm not quite sure what made this song pop into my head

since I haven't heard it in probably 40 years. haha.

I think we used to sing it in grade school!

Was probably played on a record player, too!

And...isn't Mr. Finch lovely?  He deserved 3 photos today!

♥

It's Snowing!

We went to bed without any snow and woke up

to about 6 inches on the ground!

It has continued snowing throughout the day and

instead of my usual photos, I thought I'd share a little

video clip! That way you folks in the warmer states

that don't get to see snow can experience it, too!

At least for 30 seconds. ha.

This is my back yard, covered in a white blanket!

♥

Freckles

You'll need the back story for this post! :)

A few weeks before we traveled to Pennsylvania for

Taylor and Lauren's wedding, we had a pet door installed

at the back of the house. 

 When he read about that door, my friend, Keith, sent me a link to

a British documentary about a fascinating study on cats and

 their habits.  It's about The Cat Village, Shamley Green.

Part of the study revealed that cats in the neighborhood

tend to let themselves into other homes via the 'cat
flap' to eat from the cat dish while the homeowner's 

cat is out prowling at night!  We laughed at that, but said

 that since we seem to 'own' all the neighborhood

cats, that probably wouldn't happen.  
With our luck, we'll get a possum coming in some day. lol...

But instead...we got this little lady...

About a month ago, in the evening, this little cat was outside my kitchen

window.  It was a nice night and the window was open.  When

I said hello to her, she ran around to the cat flap and came inside!

Obviously, she'd used it before!

She's friendly, sweet, skinny and hungry.

She looks to be nursing a litter of kittens.

She was familiar with our house, that's for sure!

She knew right where the food and water was.

She even made a bee-line to the back of the house and used

the litter box...obviously she knew her way around! ha ha.

The second visit was the funniest!

It was late...almost midnight.

We'd closed up the house and turned off the lights.

The Mister was in bed reading and I was in the bathroom

getting ready to take a shower.  He calls out to me and says,

"Hey, Hon! Come and see who just came in and jumped on the bed!"

It was Freckles!  She had let herself in through the cat flap!

I guess she'd put the 'kids' to bed and was out

 and about on her own for the night.

And this visit I caught on camera...just happened to have

my camera on my bedside table!  One morning, very early,

The Mister was in the shower and I was sitting in bed

drinking coffee.  I didn't take much notice when a

 cat jumped on the bed.  It's usually Jack.

But no...it was Freckles! ha ha.

We still haven't seen her litter, but suspect it may 

show up eventually.  

So now we know for sure that the cat gossip chain is

up and running!  "Are you in need?  Go to the Brocks!

The little grey house with the cat flap in the back!"

The British Documentary has been removed from
youtube, unfortunately.  I was planning on sharing it with you!

See why I named her Freckles?

♥

Mother of the Groom

Well, the big day is almost here!

Sunday is Taylor and Lauren's wedding!

We're just about all packed up and excited to get on the road

Friday morning.  A seven and a half hour drive.  I think we'll

be just fine.  The boys travel well and will enjoy watching traffic

and doing something new.  We're taking all the comforts of home

 with us, so they should be happy and enjoy the trip.

And Monday is their day...we're spending it at the Strasburg Railroad,

touring museums and taking a train ride!

  I really hope the heat wave breaks and we have something more comfortable by then!

Wanted to give you a peek at my dress!

I have to say that if you go to the dress shops and look at the

racks of dresses for the mother of the bride or groom they

leave a lot to be desired. ha.  Or maybe they just aren't 'me'.

All the shiny satin and bling...I just couldn't do it.

I wanted something unique and maybe a little vintage looking.

So this is what I found from Victorian Trading Co.

It was my first choice, so that turned out to be a nice surprise!

I wasn't looking forward to endless rejections. lol....

It's lovely and comfortable.  Can't ask for more than that!

The earrings are from etsy's Fine Heart Shop.

They are handmade, 14KT, and I was really pleased with them!

Here's the song Taylor picked for the mother/groom dance. :)

I'll be back home Tuesday night.

Maybe, just maybe, I'll have time to post a photo or two

of all the happenings while I'm gone.

You can be sure my camera will be putting in overtime. ha.

Have a lovely weekend!

♥

For My Friends Without Fireflies

A few comments on my post about my cats laying in the grass

  at dusk, waiting for the fireflies to appear, made me realize that

  not everyone knows what fireflies are!  I didn't know that Great

  Britain and the Western US don't, among other places.  Having

always lived in the Midwest, I grew up with them!

They appear here mid June and stay through the first frost.

It was always fun as kids to put as many as we could catch

into a jar to create a lantern.

For my firefly-less friends, I found a youtube video for you!

Now if you can just imagine crickets chirping while you watch,

you'll know just what a summer night is like in Ohio. :)

You do have crickets, don't you?  :)

So, this is for Taria and Jenny and anyone else that has never

had the pleasure of experiencing a lightning bug show!
Make the video full screen to get the best effect!
Evening gets darker the further into the video you go.

♥

Easter

image from blancafloral.com

My favorite Easter song.

The Easter Song

Keith Green

1953-1982

Thank you, God for your immeasurable gift of eternal life.

Happy Easter!

♥

The Very Best Hand Cream

.....really isn't for your hands!

I have always had a terrible time with dry, winter skin...especially

my hands!  I've tried every product out there and still didn't find

complete relief.  Well, this is it!  

Sally Hansen Cracked Heel Repair Cream.

I had originally bought this for Spencer, who had

one cracking heel.  When we got that repaired,

the tube sat in my makeup drawer and when I

cleaned that out the other week, I decided to

use it myself instead of having it go to waste!

I was rubbing it on my feet before I went to bed and

rubbing the excess into my hands when I was finished.

The result?  My hands are as healthy as if it was summer!

Another thing that is meant for your feet but I use on my hands

is a foot file...you know..the one that is meant to smooth out your

rough heels?  Well, I used it on my fingertips to remove those

dry little pieces that snag on everything.

And guys, this doesn't smell girlie, so you can use it, too!

P.S.  And before anyone asks, (because someone always does)

I take a supplement for my nails called Biotin.

I take 15 mgs daily.  It gives you thick, strong nails,...

something I never had before!  So, there you go! :)

I don't usually give beauty tips, but here are three all in

one post.  Ha..but maybe they are really winter survival tips!

*********

Well, what was your favorite Super Bowl commercial?

This was mine. :)

♥

Smart Bird!

Did you see this story?

Pet parakeet returned to Japanese owner after telling police his address

SAGAMIHARA, Japan -- A pet parakeet was returned to its Japanese owner Wednesday after the brainy bird told police its home address near Tokyo. The male bird, called Piko-chan, escaped early Sunday morning from his home in the city of Sagamihara and remained at large before being coaxed into perching on the shoulder of a guest at a nearby hotel.

He was handed over to local police, but Piko-chan did not speak until Tuesday evening, when he blurted out the names of the city and district where his owner's home is located, a police spokesman said. The stunned cops then listened as the parakeet produced the home's block and street number.

His owner, a 64-year-old woman, once lost another parakeet after it flew away and was determined not to make the same mistake. "So the owner decided to teach the address to this parakeet after she bought it at a pet store two years ago," a police spokesman said. "The bird's name was found to be Piko-chan as it said, 'You're pretty, Piko-chan."



And here he meets the press in Japan. 

They really do mimic the human voice...he sounds just like his owner! ha.

So how come my parakeets only sing?  ha.  Actually, I read somewhere that if you want them to learn to talk and be more affectionate with you, you should only buy one.  If they have another parakeet to bond with they most likely will not bond so closely with you. 

I told Mr. Bird about Piko-Chan. :)

I think he prefers a companion.  In fact, this albino sweetie is his third wife!

Maybe a little love is the secret to his longevity?

He's an old man now at 12 years old!

♥

M is for Mushroom

This three day growth of an Amanita Muscaria is time-lapsed to only 1 minute long and

worth every second!  Very, very cool!  You know, there was a time when I thought

these red mushrooms with white polka dots were make-believe and

only found in children's storybooks!  When I came across this video a year

 or so ago, I couldn't believe they were real!  They still have that make-believe quality about them, which is just accentuated by the time lapse!  And it all goes to show you,

 as I always say, that real life really is better than fiction!

Although it's technically a fungus, I call them mushrooms and so it will be

my entry for the letter M.

I've joined the A to Z Challenge for the month of April!

We're celebrating the letter M all day Saturday the 14th!

♥