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Monday, April 30, 2012

April 30th, 2011

This is the faucet handle in our new shower. I just love it.
 Shower Faucet on 365 Project

 Standing by the tiny stream in the garden at one of our local parks

 In the Garden on 365 Project

Sunday, April 29, 2012

More Weekend Bathroom Reno

The bathroom renovation continued today.  Our shower now has a shower head and a water control handle.  My husband and my father in law went to Lowe's to get some plumbing supplies and bought the light fixture and globes I had picked out.  The light fixture is up, but we do not have the correct light bulbs for it.  They also removed the caps from the water pipes today so they can put in the vanity and toilet soon.  Tonight they are mudding the floor to put down the cement board in preparation for the floor tiles.  Here is a picture of them taking the cap off the water pipes.



Here are a few more pictures from the renovation that I took today.




I spent a lot of time in the living room the last couple days to stay out of the way of my husband and his dad while they worked.  This afternoon I actually sat on the floor to watch television and work on some stuff for work.



Our puppies love having us home and love hanging out with us.  They play for a while, then rest.  Every once in a while they'll chew on a bone or get a toy out.  Here are pictures of them from today.  I cannot believe they will be a year old in less than a month.




Saturday, April 28, 2012

Making Progress

Well, our bathroom renovation project has been under way for a month and a half now.  For a while, it looked like nothing was happening in there even though my husband and his father had been working very hard on it.  It's finally to the point where you can see progress.  It's getting exciting.  The shower surround, shelves and seat are in as well as the frame for the door.  Just need to put in the shower head, water control handle, drain grate and doors and shower will be functional.  Here is a photo collage showing the work that has been going on so far this weekend.


We were not sure about the flooring we'd picked out so yesterday my daughter and I went to Lowe's and Home Depot to look again at the choices.  We are staying with what we originally picked.  But, while we were out my daughter and I also looked at light fixtures and I found the ones I wanted.  These are not good pictures as they were taken in haste with my cellphone but you can get an idea of what they are.  I just love the globes as they will bring out the blue in the wall and the browns in the shower and medicine cabinet.  It's hard to tell with these pictures, but they illuminate and reflect light perfectly for our color scheme.







And here I am standing in my new shower.  I just cannot WAIT to take an actual shower in it!


While my husband and my father in law were working hard it was thunder storming, so my son laid down on the living room floor with his favorite blanket to watch television.  Both puppies decided this was a good idea and joined him! 





Friday, April 27, 2012

Solidtude and Good Food

This shot was taken using the Retro Camera app on my phone. It's a bench on one of the pathways in the garden at the park that was closest to the house I grew up in.

 Park Bench on 365 Project

Here are some other versions of this bench also taken with the  Retro Camera app on my phone.  It's my favorite camera app.






In the field that I used to play in as a child is an old cemetery. The last time anyone was buried here was in 1969. The earliest grave is marked about 1888.

These are graves of some of the residents from the residential home that owns the field. I'm assuming these people did not have families to take care of the burials. The bigger monuments, I think, are the founding nuns of the home. It is no longer run by a church, though.

This cemetery used to have a wrought iron fence around it. I don't think anyone took care of the small grave yard the whole time I was growing up. So I was shocked to see it freshly mowed and the fence gone.

We used to scare each other with stories of the people buried there when I was growing up. We would dare each other to spend the night there. Of course none of our parents would allow such silliness.

Old Cemetery on 365 Project

 This week has been my spring break. I have spent a lot of time with myself. This is something that is necessary for me and something of which I get to do very little. So, I treated myself some. Here I am at my favorite restaurant with outdoor seating waiting for some of my favorite food to be served. The weather has thankfully been nice this week.

 On My Own on 365 Project

Here are pictures of my lunch.  I had french dip (YUMMY) and those round things are called Mill Fries.  Mill Fries are new potatoes that have been rolled in herbs and spices and fried.  They are SO GOOD!!!  They are called Mill Fries because the name of the restaurant.  It's Old Mill Stream Inn.  It is in a historical building right next to the building that used to be a grist mill and there is a stream next to it between Old Mill Stream Inn and the old grist mill which is a micro brewery restaurant called Trailhead.




Thursday, April 26, 2012

Some More of My Day Out

This man is standing in the door of one of our most popular and well know shops in our historical district. It's called Grandma's Cookies. They also have ice cream.

I'm actually not sure why he was leaning out the door, but his stance made me think he was trying not to get caught having a treat.

 Bald Man on 365 Project

 A few other views of people on Main Street from my day out.



During my time with my camera this week I went to wander around in a field that I used to play in as a child. The subdivision I grew up in backs up to what used to be corn fields. There is a residential home for mentally and physically handicapped adults on the other side of the field and they used to farm their field to help feed their residents and to sell to help raise money for the home.

It is not farmed anymore. They gave a small patch of this land that is close to the street entering the subdivision to the weather service. There is a dopplar tower on it. That was built when I was in high school.

Another few acres of this land (right next to some of the resident homes) was rented to the police department for them to board their horses.

The rest of it just sits now. The people who have houses backing up to the field have started taking over part of it to park boats, campers and other vehicles on. This truck seems to have been back there for a while. I'm not entirely sure how they got these things back there since most of the houses have fenced back yards, but yet there they are.

It kind of made me sad to see these things sitting and rotting away in this field.

 Abandonded Truck? on 365 Project




Our historic district located on our Main Street is the home to a very popular wooden Gazebo. It's nice to stand up there and watch people walk by. I even got a few candid street shots of people the day I was there.

 On the Gazebo on 365 Project

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Time Spent With Me

This week is my spring break, but my kids have school so I've had a lot of ME time. Today I decided to go on a date with my camera.

One of the places I went was our Main Street which is also our historical district. It was really busy down there because the weather was WONDERFUL. At least for those of us who love summer type weather. So, there were people wandering around everywhere.

I managed to sneak a photo of this man sitting on a bench outside a shop waiting for his wife. She was shopping and he was reading. I guess that's as a good a way as any to pass the time when your wife is shopping. He seemed very content to be sitting there with his book.

 A Reader on 365 Project

 Just looking up at the dusky sky while standing behind the fence at my son's baseball game.

 A View from Below on 365 Project




 I got to have a day out with just my camera. I spent it visiting old haunts. I had so much fun just hanging out with myself and my camera (as well as my cellphone camera). At first I was not sure where the nostalgia was coming from, but as I was walking through a field I used to play in it occurred to me that:
1) My oldest living child is getting ready to turn 13.
2) In about a week it will mark 20 years since I graduated college.
3) My 25 year high school reunion is coming up in September.

That's a lot for one year.

 My Day Out on 365 Project



Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Parts of My Life

My son had his second game this week. He actually plays shortstop and second base. He trades shortstop with another boy so when he's not there he's on second base. He amazes me every game with the way his skills are developing. His team won 15 - 7 this week. WTG Titans!

 My Lil Short Stop on 365 Project

 Here is a picture of my mama goose I've been keeping an eye on and her babies. They are so cute. I just wish I could get a closer shot of them.

 Baby Geese on 365 Project

 We are renovating our very old master bath in our house. It is being done in blues and browns. So, I have been looking at possible "finishing touches" for our bathroom. Here I am looking at a rug that may do for the floor.

 Bathroom Accessory Shopping on 365 Project

Monday, April 23, 2012

Goslings Have Hatched

My nesting goose now has three goslings. She was not happy about the other geese swimming too close to her family. She warned them several times before flying at them to shoo them away. As you can see here, Daddy goose didn't even want to be in her way as he's leaning away from her flapping wing.

I actually have some better pictures of the actual goslings, but this picture was too much fun not to share. I will post a better one of the goslings later.

The cemetery was NOT a quiet place tonight. Most of the geese have returned and they all seemed cranky tonight. They were squawking and pecking and flapping at each other all over the place. Not sure what was going on but none of them seemed to be getting along very well.

Then, there were the sparrows with their high pitched calls talking back and forth like crazy. And, the mallards were talking up a storm, too. The two drakes that don't seem to have mates are back and one of them like to try and mate with the one hen who already has a mate and that always sets her off. She can get very loud when she's telling him off. Her mate just waddles along behind her with his soft quack almost like he's saying... "yeah, what she said." It was all quite comical and fun to watch tonight.

 Protective Mama on 365 Project



 It's baseball season. My son has had two games so far this season (better than last year at this time as his first four games were rained out last year). His team lost their first game and won their second. Here is my daughter and I sitting on the bleachers waiting for the game to begin.

 Baseball Time on 365 Project

Played around with color curves and light on this rose.

 Dark Rose on 365 Project