Blog Design and Changes

Hello Readers,

First of all, I want to thank you for coming back each day and following along with our adventures here. One of the main reasons I blog is to connect with others and share adventures. So, the fact that you take time out of your busy day to stop by means a lot to me!

You may have noticed that my posts have been a little light this week.  That's because I have been busy setting up another blog!

I have decided to switch to using Wordpress.  This will allow me a little more control over my content, as well as more design options. I will explain more and give more details at another time, but for now, I need to keep reading and learning:)

This is exciting for me as a blogger, but a little scary and confusing at the same time!  There's a lot to learn. Continuing to follow along is easy.  Just click on the link below.

You can find me here.  I hope you will stick around, and again, thank you!  Both blogs will remain up and running and will be linked to each other.  It's just that I will be updating the new one, and leaving this one as is for now.


~Lynn

It's About Time...

Our clock finally arrived! I think we found the perfect spot for it in our breakfast nook.

Now we can easily see the time from the kitchen and great room:)

Bokeh...Boom!

I have been trying to "play" more with photography and to see what our camera can do.  I have a lot to learn and there is so much out there to help you ~ I will admit that sometimes it can be very overwhelming! This weekend, we had the chance to spend some quality time with our kids, which means I got to pick my daughter's graphic design brain ~ we think pizza was somewhat of a fair exchange, however her talents are worth a lot more for sure:)

We were playing around with bokeh, defined as "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light."

I think it took over 50 shots for us to get what we were hoping for, but I think I'm beginning to get the hang of it.  I'm sure I have a lot more to learn.  Kristen was also giving me a tutorial on photoshop, so I was experimenting with different fonts.

This was a lot of fun!

If you were here, you would have seen us lying on the ground to get this one:

and kneeling in the grass.

You would have wondered what we were doing when we shot this one MANY times.

Me: Kristen, am I doing this right?

Kristen:  Little more to the right, no, left...

The guys on the porch: What in the world are they doing laying in the dirt?

Chloe and Champ - our chocolate labs - were licking my ankles as I was trying to figure this out:)

I think Kristen may have taken this one??

She checked the shot, as did I, and at the same time we exclaimed, "Boom!"

And laughed hysterically!

Yeah, it was a good time, and I'm going to keep practicing. 

And if you come over, and I ask you to stand over by the tree with the sun behind you, well, you'll know what's going on.

Have a great Monday!

For Your Weekend

Hope you dive right in and enjoy whatever it is you love to do!

Champ after going head first into The Danny Pond after a rain - ughh!

Have a great weekend!

"Nautical Knots Make Great Family Ties!"

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go boating with friends who own a marina, and it sure was a fun day!  We boated for years when the kids were younger and it brought back some great memories....and also the realization that at our age we should remember to bring ibuprofen before any water sports!

Check out this ski boat ~ not ours, of course:)

Tom helping to get things ready - once a boater, always a boater:)

We were also able to use this party boat, which is more my speed - loved the shade!

And up on the first try!

We had such a good time - I even went tubing:

A great way to spend the perfect summer day:)

Summertime Goodness

Summer .......the season we wait so patiently for.

And the one that seems to go by the fastest.

There's so much that I love this time of the year.

Thought I'd better capture some of it before it was gone:)

Love that I can pick fresh blooms to bring inside!

And that it stays lighter longer so we can go for walks after dinner.

And see these:

And that we have a brown fur who never says no to an adventure.

And that Citylogger found a way to keep the deer flies away from us.

I hate deer flies.

And that we have oodles and oodles of this deliciousness all around us.

And that the trail signs are up.

And that our flowers and landscaping are hanging in there, despite little rain!

Hope you are finding joyful ways to spend your summer!

Framed in a Different Light

We received these lovelies right before we were married.  Our wedding invitation is in one of them, and my sister designed a needlepoint picture of our wedding date.  The two oval pictures were handmade by my grandmother.  I love them, and have always proudly displayed them wherever we have lived.
This is one of those times when I wish I had pictures of their former homes of years past!

It's hard to tell from the pictures but all the frames were different.  This seems to unify them and I like the look. 

Happy Monday!

Tick Tock...

 A wall clock!

Found this one here, and hope to place it in our entryway when it arrives.

Also spotted this on Pinterest and think I will give it a try.  It would work great in my classroom and would keep files I use frequently right at my fingertips! You just need a paper towel holder, some metal rings, and some plastic pages.  I can see this coming in handy for my guided reading groups - just pull what I'd need for each group as I meet with them!

I'll keep you posted!

For Your Weekend

May you be able to spend time with friends and family,  and those you love...

Have a great weekend!

Easy Entertaining

I had the chance to have some friends from work over the other day.  We've been working together for over twenty years.  A couple of us even went to graduate school together.  So, when our building closed and we were all sent to different places, we realized that we'd better schedule time to get together, or we wouldn't see each other.  I didn't want to spend my time worrying about serving - visiting is so much more fun. A little bit of prep ahead of time, and we were all set.  It was another hot day, so I set up a "drink station":

Some fresh lemonade

Also had limes and lemons cut up so guests could help themselves.

This was a pitcher of sangria that went over really well.  I found the recipe here, which is an online magazine that I love!  I cut the recipe in half.  Basically it's the following:

Pour 1 bottle of your favorite white wine into a pitcher ~ I love Eco Domani Pino Grigio

Add 1/2 cup of sugar

Squeeze in juice of 1/2 lime and 1/2 of a lemon

Refrigerate and let this mix together for at least 1hour.

When you take it out, slice up a lemon and lime and add to mixture.  You could also add oranges, but I added a sliced peach instead.

Pour in a bottle of  sparkling water

Add a 1/2 cup of raspberries and serve over ice!

Delish!

We also had iced tea and white wine, but the Sangria was a hit - very refreshing!

We had all sorts of snacks as well, but wanted to show this cheeseboard.  We got this for Christmas from my brother-in-law - You can write on it with chalk - I suppose you could leave all sorts of messages:)

Fun and easy ~ it was so much more relaxing to have this time with friends when all the prep was done ahead of time.

Blueberry Picking

Yesterday my mom and I went blueberry picking at a local orchard.  It was a going to be a real hot day ~ 95 degrees ~ so we got an early start at about 7:30 a.m.  These photos could be better, but I only had my phone.

You could just take them off the branches in handfuls!

Mom means serious business when she picks berries.  Between the two of us, we picked about twelve pounds!

I took my share home and froze them.  I'll be making pies and just enjoying them on cereal for sure!

Love the summertime and the chance to eat locally grown, fresh food:)

Happy Anniversary!

29 years....love you Citylogger <3

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Here are two new pieces for my new classroom:

A little bit of Old White over Duck Egg Blue (love the name of that color), plus a coat of clear wax over the top.  Here is the before:

I think they make a nice pair!

Anyone else making something "old",  appear new again?

Hope you are staying cool in this heat:)