Monthly Archives: March 2014

Greening up

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With St. Patrick’s Day coming up (and hopefully Spring as well)  I thought I’d freshen up an old wreath for my front door.

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I found this wreath at a yard sale in Ohio when I was visiting my BFF in 2000.  It was a nice big 24″ grapevine wreath but very sad-looking.   The colored baby’s breath, eucalyptus branches, dried statice, and faded red paper bow were original.  I added the yellow and dark red flowers and the leaves with blue berries.  It was my late-August/early September front door decoration.   I removed everything from the wreath and started over.

Spring-wreath-001

I was inspired by this lovely refreshingly green wreath at my local Joann Fabric store.  It was on sale for $24.99 but just didn’t have the heft I wanted.  I’ve discovered that with a red door that bigger and more contrast are better.

So I purchased some green and white fake dogwood, some green shiny stuff made from tiny Styrofoam balls, and a couple of bunches of a small white flower.  I cut some apart and stuck them in between the branches of the wreath util I was satisfied.

Then I hung it on the front door and took a picture if it.

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First attempt.  Even though this photo is straight on, the wreath looks lopsided.  I didn’t notice it until I saw the photo.

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Second attempt.  I moved some things around.  Better but still not quite there.

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The finished wreath.  I love it.  And yes, I always add the USA flag to my front door.  Except at Christmas.

I think this looks fresh, green, springy, and ready for St. Patrick’s Day!

Are you ready for Spring?

Mind games

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A coupe of days ago I posted about turning my clocks ahead one hour for Daylight Savings Time earlier in the day.  I actually did this around 11:00 a.m.  Did it work?  Not really.

mind game op

It was me.  I kept reminding myself that it was an hour earlier than it really was.

So much for that mind game.

I didn’t go to the market Sunday morning after Mass as we didn’t really need anything.  I got my knitting out and promptly fell asleep for about an hour.

After our carb-heavy pancake lunch, I washed the griddle (too big for the dishwasher) and checked my email and played on my iPad.  And fell asleep.  Again.

Getting a good nights sleep Sunday night was out of the question.

So yesterday instead of playing another mind game, I played a body game.  Mr. Aitch wasn’t home last evening and I was restless.  I went outside and raked leaves from part of the yard, picked up fallen branches and twigs, spread the clumped up flowerpot soil I dumped out last fall, put back part of the collapsed rock wall around the raised beds in the front of the house, straightened the solar lights around the raised beds, and evaluated what else needed to be done.

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I went to bed at 10:15 last night, fell right to sleep and woke up 10 minutes before the alarm went off.

The wear-out-the-body game worked.  I sit all day at work and I don’t get much exercise.  I need to change that and do something every day. It’s supposed to get to 60 degrees toady so I plan to work outside again.

 

It ain’t broke, why fix it?

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My home computer was purchased in 2005.  That means it’s traveled around the sun nine times.  Nine Earth-Years.  I’m not sure what that translates to in Technology-Years.  It seems like computer technology changes quite often.  Daily?  Twice a month?  For the sake of argument let’s say it changes once a month.  12 times a year.  That means my computer is 105 Earth-Years.  (I got it in July 2005).

old computer

I’m running Windows XP.  Beginning on April 8, 2014, Microsoft is discontinuing support on Windows XP.  I’m already having issues with my browser as it is very outdated so I can’t see or do certain things on the Internet with my current setup, like access support for some of my other electronic devices.

Our office just purchased a cute little tablet-that-converts-into-a-PC which I took to the conference in Orlando last month.  Once I figured out Windows 8, it was fine.  But I don’t use this device regularly so I don’t remember the ins and outs.

windows 8

Upgrading an operating system AND expecting it to work seamlessly (IMO), is like trying to unburn toast.  It just doesn’t work.  I know for a fact that my Office 2003 will not work with the new Windows OS.  It didn’t work with Mr. Aitch’s Windows 7 computer so I’m sure it won’t work with 8.  What other surprises await?

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I’m not looking forward to this at all: transferring files, bookmarks, programs, and learning a new operating system.

new computer

I guess I’ll just have to figure out how to work in a new computer out of my already stretched-to-the-max paycheck.

Spring forward

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I’m sure that by now most of you reading this in the United States know that we turn the clocks ahead one hour tonight.  And if you happen to live in one of the few states that doesn’t do this, well, I’m jealous.  This action is called Daylight Savings Time.   In the fall we turn the clocks back an hour and this is called Standard Time.  I understand the concept but I still don’t like the first week (or two) as it takes my body and brain longer and longer to adjust each time we do this, though not as much in the fall.

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My bladder was up by 6:40 this morning so I dragged myself out of bed and stayed up.  Usually when the rest of my body doesn’t HAVE to get up by a certain time, I crawl back into bed and go back to sleep.

So far this morning I’ve put a load of clothes in the washer, watched the deer scamper through the yard, thawed a mini-loaf of pumpkin bread, had my morning tea and pumpkin bread, put the clean dishes away, got my hand sewing together, got my current knitting project out, and written a post.

Maybe if I turn the clocks ahead now, I won’t have any trouble falling asleep tonight as my brain will already be on the accelerated schedule.

Do you do anything special to get through this time change?  Or does it not affect you?