Cosmic Ocean

Another low-energy day for me.

Another small colorful puzzle.

This one had a missing piece, dang-it!

I digitally  "colored in" the blue jellyfish on the first picture. Ha!

Neon Art

A low-grade fever laid me low this morning. So after a nap (gasp!), I spent the afternoon putting a jigsaw puzzle together with Dale.

I bought this 350 piece Artbox puzzle at Dollar Tree. The bright colors and fun neon shapes made it enjoyable to put together. For an inexpensive puzzle, it had very little puzzle dust, was made of a decent weight of cardboard, and held together fairly well. Because there are no big sections of color, I sorted all the pieces by shape. So though the early-going was slow, putting the pieces together became much easier as we went along.

After resting for the entire morning and afternoon, I felt strong enough for a short walk in the evening. Let's hope a good night's sleep will give me lots of energy for the coming week.

Paper Roses

 Hand-crafted,

but not by me. This is a hinged box, 3-1/4" x 5-1/2". 

Lovely and intricate.

Birds of a Feather

The next Grandbaby Craft Kit celebrates Spring with a baby bird. Bright beak. Big eyes. Long legs. Lots of tail feathers and a wing.

I do believe she's giving me the side-eye!

Last of the Daffodils

 

Under the Sea

Jeanne spent the day with me today! We'd planned a little 3-hour crafting session, but did about six hours instead. With her help, I got back in the groove of making a few more Grandbaby Craft Kits. If all goes well, we'll get to spend time with the grands not too long from now.

Grandbaby Craft Kits contain all the bits and pieces to make a single craft. I make these to help Julie craft with her kids. It's much easier to do a craft if you don't have to go looking for all the supplies. 

The first kit? An octopus! This kit has pre-cut colorful "designer" paper, the googly eyes, and instructions.

Did you know that it takes extra Covid-brain power to divide 6 inches by 9? (Yes, nine). What a laughfest. When we switched to the metric system, the marks on the ruler made much more sense.

What a looker!

Deep Purple

Ms Iris, hangin' out in the 'hood.

Reminds me of the band.

Margaret, the Living Barometer

All you need to do to find out what the weather is like is to look at me.

Today, it's overcast and windy.

I've spent all afternoon plopped on my bed, listening to podcasts, and playing solitaire. 

Sigh

Tonight's Sunset

The sun is setting far north in the western sky now.

Wisteria

The wisteria were out in full bloom last week.

I didn't realize how much is planted around here. Last  year in early May while we were in lockdown, I only walked around the track behind my house, so I didn't see them. I now have a two-mile walk around the neighborhood where several local gardeners have these beautiful "flowerfalls" that flow over their backyard fences.

The blooms were plentiful for a week or so.

Then ::poof!:: gone.

Next to lilacs, this may be my new favorite fleeting flower.

#flowersforfriday

Throwback Thursday: Who Goes There, Matey?

 From the Fall of 2008, the Sea Ray carnival ride at the country fair.

The Happy Couple

Our 30th Wedding Anniversary celebration ends today, after a month. Our daughter Jodie gave us a photo shoot as a gift. She captured our essence very well.

Scene in Oregon

Nothing quite so iconic as a red barn in the country.

Add in a dramatic Oregon sky, and ... wow.

#passengerseatphotography

Happy Birthday, My Love!

Look who turned 62 today!

Dale's the best man I know and my very favorite partner of 30+ years. I'm beyond grateful for him.

As part of our celebration, I made a 6-inch white cake covered in fluffy white icing with raspberries on top. In addition, I made a dozen cupcakes to freeze and enjoy later on.

Ssssshhhhhhhhh! Don't tell him, but there's a surprise inside. It's reminiscent of our wedding cake.

Calla Lily

 Happy Mother's Day to my sister moms!

Have a Coke

 Last year, as part of my 20 Goals in 2020, Dale and I got in the habit of celebrating minor holidays. We more-or-less forgot about that simple pleasure until today.

Dale noticed it's Have A Coke Day. That is totally do-able! So here ya go!

Have a Coke, and a smile.

Poppies!

The second wave of Spring flowers is upon us. All over town, the curbside daffodils are gone, replaced with bright orange poppies.

Perhaps I'll plant some in our front yard so we can join in the the explosion of color next year.

#flowersforfriday

Throwback Thursday: A Hearty Bellylaugh

Throwing back to August 2013 when I found these books side-by-side at the grocery store.

#throwbackthursday

Pop Art Puzzle

I put this happy puzzle together back in March during my puzzle-making spree. I love its bright, brilliant colors.

I picked up this 350 piece puzzle at Dollar Tree. The puzzle is by Cra-Z-Art. The cardboard is thinner and stiffer than most of the one dollar puzzles I have in my collection.

Here's a close-up of each image. Cherries

Cactus

Lips

Eye

Guitar

Try It Too-sday: Sweetlips

Daughter Jeanne is two weeks past her second vaccination dose. She came by to play since we can be maskless together in person. First we made cookies. Then had some lunch with her dad. She helped me with some shopping. And we found a geocache together.

We spent the rest of the time recreating an image for #tryittoosday.

Like most of the others I've attempted, mimicking someone else's photo takes more brain power than I imagined. Each time I think I'm choosing a simple image to re-make, but I find myself back in the weeds. I was very happy to have Jeanne's help with this. She is a whiz with photo editing, and teaches me new tricks every session.

Here's our version of the leaf-that-would-be-lips:

Here's the original image I saved in August 2013. I don't know who the original photographer is, but I love their point of view:

I tend to get lost in the details. Jeanne pulled me back to solid ground. I'm heartened that we get to spend time together in person again!

Eventide

Peaceful

#passengerseatphotography

Weather Vane

Spotted on a twilight drive

Delicate Blooms

This bush which I encountered on my Red on Red day 

has come into bloom. The berry-shaped red buds have popped open

into petite pink star-shaped flowers.

Added later: A friend of mine identified this a Purple Chokeberry