Clean Up Time

Well, it is the New Year and that means it's clean up time. We took down the tree and decorations and cleaned up that mess. Then we moved some dressers and shelves around to give me more room in my workshop to store things and then we cleaned up that mess. Then I decided to tackle my file drawers....that was a very BIG mess to clean up. See, I never removed the stuff from 2008, then had no room for 2009 and just stacked that wherever I could find room. Then I dug into my very old, very slow running computer and cleaned that out too! From there I went into the kitchen and cleaned out some cans and boxes that were way past their "safe to eat" date and tossed those. Next I uploaded a bunch of stuff in my camera to clean that out too!

I didn't photograph any of the clean up, but I can show you some pictures that were in my camera.

Here is a silly little primrose that has somehow managed to survive since last spring in my office at work. This is what he looked like after my six days off.

I gave him a big drink of water and here is what he looked like the next day. He just doesn't quit! He is such an inspiration. :)

We were sitting in the drive through at Starbucks on Thursday morning and I took this rather blurry picture of the icicles on the building next door. There are icicles everywhere right now because of our fluctuating temperatures. If I can, I will try to take some other ones to show you. Some of them are pretty amazing...including the ones hanging off my own roof!

This is Michael and Bernadette's Australian Shepherd, Teagan. Isn't she beautiful?

Whenever we see her, she gets so excited that she smiles just the biggest toothy grin you would ever want to see. I have tried so many times to get a picture of her smiling, but while she is smiling she is also jumping and wiggling and wagging her entire back half and the pictures never turn out. This is what I got while trying on Thursday.

I just love this! I can't wait to show this one to Michael and Bernadette! She looks like she's meditating! Hmmmmmmm.....

Here is my newest tote bag. I will be listing it today. I just loved this fabric. The lining looks blue in the picture, but it's really purple. I would love to keep this one, but I already kept one and I have a rule about that. NO KEEPING THE MERCHANDISE!!

Today I will be making a couple more totes for FourDogDay. If my clock parts come, I will be finishing three little desk clocks I made.

I will also be taking inventory of everything in our cabinets and freezer and making our menu for the week based on what we already have. We start our new budget plan on Friday when we get paid, and I want to see if we can stay under $150 a week at the grocery store. I am only allowing $150 a week for food and household items AND our weekend carryout. If we want carryout....we have to spend very wisely. I know we can do it.

Well, that is about it for today. Make it an awesome day today!

Welcome To The Frozen Tundra

Just a quick little post today. Michael just came over and I am going to get out of my workshop for the first time since 7:30 this morning! Don't forget to leave your comment each day on my blog for extra entries into my very first Giveaway. Remember to visit my shops and leave your favorite item in a comment for a couple of extra entries.

Welcome to the frozen tundra of northern Illinois! Wow, what a week we have had. The temperature reached about -25 and with the wind, there were some areas with wind chills of -40. Our school closed yesterday because of the weather. There are a lot of kids that bus to school and it wasn't safe for them to be outside waiting for the bus I guess. (Gee, when my kids were in school and it was cold or raining, I drove them to the bus stop and let them sit in the car until the bus came......I guess parents don't do that anymore)

People's cars that sat outside would not start so that kept the gas stations in business running around jumping everyone's cars. Switches on the railroad tracks were freezing, so guys had to be out there working on those.

I felt sorry for the people that have to work outside. That wouldn't be for me. Once I am cold, I am cold for hours and hours after that, even when I am in the house!

I was out and about yesterday and had my camera with me so I snapped a couple of cold weather pictures. The first icicle picture is not my house, but the second one is. The horses looked happy enough, but something tells me they might have preferred a warm barn to the cold field, even with the little blanket on their backs.

The birdfeeders are mine. They are in an area that we don't shovel in the winter so they are empty. I just thought they looked cold and lonely like everything else right now. My other feeders get filled. Irv said the other night that he wished he could bring in the little birds that live on our deck. He said he could see the tail feathers of one of them sticking out of their little "house". They must have all been packed in there trying to stay warm.