Tuesday, May 25, 2010

TYS-Change Is Good

I'm still art journaling almost daily. I'm a little behind the class now but only by a few days and mainly because there were some extra prompts and I'm trying to do them all. I think if I do two more pages tomorrow and two on Thursday, I'll be caught up. Yeah!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Tell Your Story-Our Big Adventure

This is a weekend photo too. Yes, I already mentioned that Erin and I went up north and had a great time while my husband was at home taking caring of home stuff and my son.

Erin looks like she is having a wonderful time walking in the woods. In reality, she complained about having to walk in the woods and was a bit uncomfortable doing it. I'm not sure why but apparently she's quite a city girl. I don't know how that happened because I'm such a country girl.

Anyway, even with my aunt and I pointing out wildflowers and trees and identifying them, I don't think she was sold on the woods thing. My aunt pointed out a very cool weed that shoots out its seeds when you touch it and she found that quite fun and spent time looking for them so she could touch them. She also tasted wood sorrel to see if it was salty as my aunt told her they used to use it when they didn't have salt. I don't think it ever occured to her why people wouldn't have salt though.

Unfortunately for my daughter, her complaining about the woods has only made me think we need to take more family time to visit nature so that she can develop an appreciation of it and not be freaked out by a bunch of caterpillars on leaves or other insects flying around. Yep, I'm one of those mean moms.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Live in the Sunshine


Metaphor-weather
Originally uploaded by ktes750
I'm ready for more sunny weekends.

This past weekend was absolutely lovely. Erin and I went up north and spent the day in the Frankfort area Saturday. We walked in the woods, visited with my family and got to see baby goats. We had a lovely day and drove home Saturday evening.

Sunday was another sunny day and after a bit of housework, we managed to get outside and do some yard work. It was so nice that it wasn't rainy and windy. Today is raining again. At least I don't have to water the flowers I just planted.

Monday, May 10, 2010

tell your story - my thoughts

This was my interpretation of the most recent prompt from the Tell My Story class. I am still having a great time with these and still managing to do a page a day.

I have managed to complete a few more things on my 43 things list and I'm down to 32 things left. I have 2 more things that will be completed after this weekend so I'm making progress!

tell your story - Summer

I'm looking forward to summer and have a number of goals for the season. The prompt for Saturday was to write down those goals in a journal page. Perfect prompt!

I created the envelope from a green vellum/gold glitter scrapbook paper I loved. I wrote my goals on a gold colored card and put them in the envelope. I spelled out the word Summer with a cool green border tape and added the vellum butterfly and flower that I had leftover from a gift wrap kit years ago.

I'm happy with the way this page turned out and really enjoying the class.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Mother's Day

I am having a wonderful Mother's Day. I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers instead of a card (by request - I really wanted the flowers). I woke up this morning to my son and husband making me a lovely breakfast of crunchy french toast. It was delicious.






Crunchy French toast

4 large eggs

1-1/2 c. whole milk

1/2 t. cinnamon

2 T. sugar

Pinch nutmeg

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 c. cornflakes

1 loaf challah (Jewish egg bread), sliced into six 1-inch slices

1 stick plus 1 T. unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg and vanilla.

Place the cornflakes in another large bowl and crush with your hands until the pieces are small (but not like bread crumbs) and somewhat uniform in size. Place a rimmed baking sheet nearby to hold the bread.

Dip a slice of bread into the milk mixture, immersing both sides. Dip the slice into the cornflakes on both sides, pressing to adhere the flakes; set aside on the baking sheet.

Repeat with the remaining slices.

Heat a griddle or skillet on medium for several minutes. Sprinkle the griddle with a few drops of water; they should bounce around before evaporating. If they sizzle away quickly, the heat is too high. If they just sit there and slowly steam, the heat is too low.

When the griddle is properly heated, add 1 tablespoon of butter for each piece of bread and tilt to coat the pan. Add the bread in an even layer and cook until golden on one side, about 4 minutes. Lift each piece with a spatula and put 1/2 tablespoon butter in its spot.

Flip the toast onto the butter to cook the other side. Repeat with the remaining bread.

Serve immediately or keep warm in the oven until all the French toast is cooked.

Cut each piece of bread in half diagonally to make triangles. Arrange 3 triangles like shingles on serving plates, sprinkle with confectioner's sugar and serve with softened butter and maple syrup.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Metaphors: Doors


Metaphors: Doors
Originally uploaded by ktes750
I'm following Jeannine's Four Rooms FREE Metaphors (Mining the Metaphor).
class this month and finding it interesting that I have lots of doors and windows with shutters in my journal. They are always bright and cheery looking though - not like barriers - inviting me somewhere. It's been interesting to think what they could mean for me.

Things I've noticed about the doors and windows:
- I can never see what's on the other side
- They are never open or if the shutters are open I still can't see through the windows
- I generally feel happy about them so I don't think I see them as barriers but perhaps they are?
- The doors are generally brightly colored in bright sunny (another metaphor I use a lot) yellow, bright blue, red or bright green.
- Perhaps they are doors to a bright and sunny future...

My assignment is to try and use the metaphor differently than normal. I am trying to imagine what is on the other side of the door. I'll have to see where that leads me. Thanks for the ideas Jeannine, I'm certainly doing some digging this week!