happy sunday...

as i sit here with my java,

the sun is out,

the birds are all over that feeder,

the buds on the maples are about ready to burst,

the crocus flowers are waking up,

and there is a lovely breeze playing outside.

noahg.

(never mind that it's 40 degrees right now, it'll get to the projected 75 yet...)

enjoy your sunday.

spring is coming.

and the winner is....

good morning!

Vintage Rose Garden

without further ado,
the winner is:

#7

KnitSteph

congratulations!

i had one heck of a time trying to put that dang widget up on this page.

i copied, pasted, redid the copying and pasting, 

cussed a little bit,

(ok, i cussed more than i should have, but i was frustrated.)

nothing.

so, I just wrote the number down, that should suffice.

to claim your prize, you must do two things:

email me your address

and

choose one of the following colors-

lavender

rust

brown-ish

tan-ish

for all of those who entered and did not get chosen

by the supreme Random Number Generator,

don't forget to stop by the shop and send me a message

to set up your listing.

and again,

congratulations to our winner!

 

giveaway coming to a close...

Vintage Rose Garden

there are only 5 hours left before I slumber.

there is still time to visit

Vintage Rose Garden 

and look through the archives, 

all the while, dreaming, wishing, transporting your inner self to enchanting lands.

it's brilliant.

it's inspirational.

it's otherworldly.

leave me a message on the original giveaway post telling me of your favorite photo.

by means of the great and powerful

random number generator,

i shall pick a winner.

should you not be the chosen one, 

please don't hesitate to ask for a private listing in my 

Etsy shop 

giving you 25% off 

and free shipping (to the continental states).

cheers!

time is running out...

a quick reminder that the giveaway is only hours from closing!!

(approximately 36, but who's counting?)

Vintage Rose Garden

the anticipation is just killin' me, i tell ya!

in case you lovelies are not the lucky winners, 

i do have a super cool option for you.

i will set up a private listing on my etsy shop just for you.

i'll even throw in a 25% off discount!

with free shipping to the continental states!

but wait, there's more!

(will this excitement never end?)

anything you want in the shop will be 25% off.

really.

i kid you not.

25

percent 

off.

now, onto a quick little note for my far away friends in 

New Zealand.

i am thinking of you,

i am sending you peace,

i wish you safety.

one last thought before i trot off to teach the trolls,

spring is near!  yay!

we all deserve a little happy...

quite a while back, i happened upon the most delightful little treasure.

it was a lovely little spoonful of smiles.

Spoonfulzine

everything about this magazine is sheer brilliance.

especially considering Thea is my enchanting Aussie buddy.

Spoonfulzine

pop on over to her blog ,

purchase Issue 3.

sign up on her mailing list to be notified when her fantastic new issue is released.

and tell her how fabulous she is...

xoxo

and the crowd cheered!

fans her face with while holding back tears of joy,elation, bewilderment...

my very first award!

yay me!

(sniff)

thank you...thank you...thank you...

Maggie over at The White Farmhouse

passed this lovely award on to me, and i am speechless

(which is a hard concept to grasp, i'm sure)

take a peek into Maggie's little world in the great white north,

she made cake...

in order for me to keep my pretty award, i must comply with the rules.

now, under normal circumstances, i would poo poo the rules.

but this is not a normal circumstance...therefore, i will play along.

i need to share with you, mes amis, when blogging clicked with me.

wow...has it clicked? 

hmmmm....

poppins made me do it.

i wasn't sure, but, she told me to.

(read my first post about it here)

she was having fun meeting people,

making a difference.

she said i should get in touch with my inner chatty cathy.

it's all her fault!

you can find her in a couple of places, but this is where she's been hanging out these days, and it's a lovely little place of support.

as i typity-typed my way through, i started to have fun.

i started to meet fabulous persons from around the globe.

and it helped with my insanity.

and now, it is with great pleasure 

(and excruciatingly painful to choose)

that i bestow this precious little award

which i have renamed:

Birthin' a Beautiful Blog

to the following:

the lovely Thea at for the visionaries

the bubbly Shelley at House of Smith's

full of fun Deborah at Kickcan & Conkers

the ever enchanting Cassie at Hi Sugarplum!

and last, but not least,

the crafty and stylish Jen at Tatertos and Jello

i would have given one to Maggie, but she already has one...and she's not greedy.

and there you have it.

if our winners want to play along, pass the

Birthin' a Beautiful Blog 

to 5 more fantastic people.

and be sure to stop by Maggie's,

she made cake.

twinkle, twinkle...

how sweet are these??!!

Winter Wonderland Jar

i just acquired a set myself and i'm having so much fun popping them open to see what lovely little bits are waiting for me inside.

they're rather addicting, too.

i started popping open just a few , then a few more,

before i knew it, the whole lot was almost open...

i set some aside for emergency 

pick-me-ups.

Paperworks by Mel

the amount of time it must have taken to fold every single star...

personally, it would drive me to drink.

(more than i already do)

go take a peek at these delightful little treasures

here.

better yet, pick some up for yourself or a friend.

pick some up for me.

i'm running low and i don't have the patience to re-fold them.

please.

thank you.

what i liked today...

charislogia

in my little travels throughout the land of blog,

i came upon this absolutely fantastical land.

the first few photos were delightful.

i decided it was someplace i needed to spend more quality time in, so, as with any chocolatier i may happen upon, 

i waltzed right in through the ARCHIVE DOOR.

oh.

my.

gods....

it was as if i was transported to a land of photographic bliss.

take a peek.

then come back and tell me your favorites.

if you feel compelled to let the 

Vintage Rose Garden 

know from whence you came, feel free to leave a message that i sent you.  i love spreading love.

and because i feel ultra giving today,

i suppose i'll jump right in and offer a giveaway!

YAY!

by way of randomness, the lucky winner will receive my one of a kind hemp art pencil case. 

with goodies inside.

colors and goodies will vary, but all will be sure to delight.

for you.

because i love.

it's what i do.

so, pay a visit to the Vintage Rose Garden,

choose a favorite from the archives,

share some love,

come back and tell me about it.

i'll choose the winner on February 23 before i slumber.

i'll let you know the next morning.

don't forget to leave me a way to contact you in the body of your post. and spread the word...it's fun to share with friends!

integers will be the death of me...

math humor

as if my days aren't complicated enough,

little man had to have issues with his integers today.

it is precisely times like this that i cringe in agony.

it is a physical pain that i have when dealing with anything related to algebra.

really.

i'm not lying.

it hurts.

i don't know what sort of joy any person can gain from subtracting negative integers, looking for hidden variables, then multiplying them to the 5th power to come up with some obscure numerical answer that, apparently, only a professional mathematician can solve.

the only joy numbers could ever give me is in the multiplying of my net worth.

that is all.

and lucky me...

i'm married to the lusty woodsman

(posing as iron man these days with a spud wrench)

who happens to find great joy in solving the impossible.

he finds great joy in making paper tessellations,

tying intricate knots with rope,

knitting,

making a metal lathe from bits of aluminum that he melts down in his hand made crucible and charcoal furnace (yes, he even made the charcoal himself).

sigh.

as for me, i shall let the iron man have his damn integers and variables to the gagillionth power divided by the sum of negative three.

i will watch.

with my rooster in hand.

and pretend to follow along.

my favorite....

she had her nails done,

did her hair.

got all dolled up

down to her heels.

just before their waltz began,

she opened her eyes...

and smiled.

and so, i raise my rooster to the best damn Busia

the world will ever see.

she was my favorite.

i will miss her

xoxo

we danced in a whirl of blue...

it's been a long weekend.

and it will be a long week.

my Busia is making her journey to her main squeeze.

they'll be dancing to the

Blue Skirt Waltz

before the week's end.

they have 6 children,

15 grandchildren,

26 great grandchildren.

she is total AWESOMESAUCE (tm).

she is loved, she will be missed, but most of all,

she will be celebrated.

hugs and kisses to my Busia.

time in a rubberband...

i never thought i would say this...

EVER.

but, time, please slow down!!

yesterday was "do a good deed" day for sweetie pie and little lady.

both of my girlie trolls have the biggest hearts.

it was the second time around for little lady.

sweetie pie wanted to be generous too.

so, we headed for Great Clips.

yes, mes amis, my girlie trolls were going to give, a lot!

between the two of them, they gave.

a total of 23 inches to Locks of Love.

le sigh.

i'm so proud.

however, i wasn't prepared to see my girlie trolls all grown up like.

especially little lady.

she went from my long maned "warrior cat" in training

to a pixie movie star.

and sweetie pie...well, she went from "unruly rat's nest"

to short and sassy chic.

i'm so sad.  and so proud. and so sad.

the really DO grow up!

i know i've always said i couldn't wait until they were 18 and shoved off to college to get a good job and take care of me when i'm older and need a new Bugatti Veyron,

but....

this is just another case in point that there really is a need for society to come up with a manual that is mandatory to read before having children. some sort of reference book to prepare us for when our children just might make us cry.

i'm serious.

i might take on the job.

i can write.

especially if i don't have to be politically correct and can cuss.

i can do it.

ch..ch...ch..ch...changes.....

mes amis, i've been quiet.

life decided to pay me a visit and ruin my glorious plans for

"getting things done."

needless to say, 

i was not happy.

i'm a planner...everything must have a schedule, EVERYTHING.

i plan the trolls' school week.

i plan a weekly dinner menu,

i plan appt's., 

schedule in library time, 

schedule in chores and weekend errands, 

even have a plan for renovations, calling  the realtor, and waving goodbye while driving into the sunset on closing day.

seriously, it's written in my planner, to the very day...stop looking at me that way, i'm just thorough.

i plan.

it's what i'm good at.

what i'm NOT good at is "change." 

when life steps in, dances around my plans, and decides that i need to tweak it just a smidge...

that's where i fall apart.

it was not in the plan.

i did not schedule it.

therefore,

it

must

not

HAPPEN!!!!

take it easy, little t. breathe. inner calm, inner calm.

so, this week was chalk full of change.

more specifically....MY change.

ugh.

i'll be hitting the big 4-0 in a couple months.  

link

up until now, i thought it would be no big deal, just another year to celebrate my existence.  another year to celebrate how freakin' awesome i look for my age!

do NOT look at the white streaks in my hair and assume they're not natural highlights.

recently, i've been noticing a few things

(9 out of 12 to be precise)

that point towards the beginning of the end.

it all makes sense now.   i may not be crazy after all!

this discovery has put a kink in my schedule.

i don't like kinks.

because i can't really stop time

although, what an awesome super power that would be, right?

i have decided to come up with plans to make this change as painless, less of a tweak, and far cooler than it intends to be.

waking up in the middle of the night feeling like you are on FIRE isn't as cool as it could be...must find herbs to counteract said flame.

this plan of mine,

yes, 

i said it...it's a plan,

this PLAN of mine may help me realize that i don't have control over everything.

that plans were meant to be tweaked, 

just a smidge.

link

and that 40 will still be 

FREAKIN' AWESOME!!