FAINT SIGNS OF SPRING

Even though there's still snow on the ground, and actually flurrying as I'm typing this post - AGAIN!!!, those early signs of Spring's arrival are evident.

The past few mornings or more, I've been awakened by this sweet fella's song.

House Sparrow

He has been perching himself out side my bedroom window in the Weeping Cherry tree just tweeting away. I love his song.

I've also noticed our early spring blooming trees are starting to bud.

The Star Magnolia is sporting her fat, furry buds.

And the Kwanzan Cherry is showing off tiny buds as well.

Of course, the spring bulbs are starting to poke through the cold, snow-covered ground too. Spring is coming!

Now I'm sure if I haven't convinced my neighbors yet after all these years,

and I may have confirmed it this morning,

that I might really be just a little wacky . . .

wondering around my backyard in my bright red, fluffy robe, my hair all a mess with snow flurries flying around me. Good thing our houses are on two acres so they couldn't witness my smudged mascara and smeared lipstick on my face!

I know, I know . . .

I should wash the makeup off my face before bed, but last night I was too dang tired!

Hope those of you in wintry states are seeing some signs of Spring where you live. Seems so many of us have had to endure such a long, cold, snowy winter. I think everyone's about ready to bid farwell to Winter!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

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HAPPY FRIDAY

Kinda.

Would be a whole lot happier if it weren't for snow that's falling, yet again, and the 50 mph wind gusts blowing the snow all willeynilley like.

BRRRR!!!!

It just looks cold out there.

I wanted to share a few blog entries from a couple other bloggers this morning. It was on the subject of feelings of inadequacy some of us fairly new, still small bloggers may have in regards to our readership compared to some of those big, "rock star" bloggers in our genre.

I know I've felt it a few times. I tell myself that I blog because I really enjoy it.

I do.

Just the process of it, for me, is enjoyable . . .

. . . sharing my thoughts, photos, ideas with whomever might be out there stumbling upon my teeny, tiny corner of blogland.

I tell myself it doesn't matter that my stat counter tells me I had 45 visits today (30 of them being me!!! LOL :o), and I think it really doesn't. But sometimes I do wonder how in the world do some bloggers get sooo many readers. I'm not even talking about followers, because I was a blog reader of lots and lots of blogs for several years before I started becoming an official follower of many of them. I'm talking about the amount of people commenting. And on sometimes extremely insignificant type posts.

Let me say I am so appreciative of my regular readers - those that comment and those that don't.

(I know who some of you non-commenting readers are!! ;o)

And those of you that comment regularly, you all ROCK!!! We all have to admit that the comments help keep us blogging sometimes, right?

I'm digressing a bit . . . .

The reason for this post is to share with those of you who may not have seen these bloggers' posts. They really are a shot in the arm for us smaller, humble bloggers with a handful of followers and regular readers. I think it's admirable of them to cheer us on.

Now, I'm sure there's been quite a few of these types of posts from other big bloggers, but the post from Dawn at

The Feathered Nest

has stuck in my memory because she posted this particular entry soon after I started my blog.

And, besides, we all know - those of you that know Dawn, and who doesn't know Dawn??!!!! - that she is just the sweetest, kindest blogger out there. You can just "feel" it in her written words. Know what I mean?

Read this post Dawn wrote back in September of last year. It was very inspiring to me as a brand-spankin' new blogger at the time. It's also how I found some great new bloggers as well!

Just this morning, I found this post at Kim's blog,

Twice Remembered.

Both these posts really helped to inspire me, and I hope that those of you who perhaps have not seen these posts will get the same inspiration. I love finding new, smaller bloggers. It feels good commenting and feeling like you're helping someone just starting out. Sometimes I feel like the big bloggers don't really need my readership when they've got thousands of followers and scores of comments for each post. Oh, I still visit, but I like to spend more of my time at my slightly smaller counterparts' blogs.

On a personal note, I'm hoping to finally win the battle with

THE CHAIR

by the end of this weekend. I'm almost there. What an unpleasant project this has been. Stay tuned for the big reveal in a couple days! ;o)

Have a great Friday, everyone!

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WEIGH-IN WEDNESDAY

Thanks to you all who commented on how I was feeling yesterday. I was in a deep funk. That doesn't happen very often, nor does it last for long - thank goodness! - but it was almost debilitating. I literally laid on the couch the entire afternoon and was in bed by 7 pm. I'm much, much better today!

Well, here it is. My first installment of

"Weigh-in Wednesday".

I really felt like I was not good at all last week. I have to work harder on my portions and between-meal picking. I'm bad about the picking bit. Annnddd, my "friend" came to visit last week. Seems when I'm going through that my appetite is almost insatiable - and not for healthy stuff either!

Anyway, I'm down one pound. Not bad. I'll take that. One pound a week is not going to get me to my goal by April 1, but the deadline is not all that important to me. I'm going to try to do better this coming week and mayble drop 2 pounds.

Thought I'd share what I had for lunch today. Hummus with cucumber and tomatoes on little triangles of toasted sandwich thins.

Have you tried these? OMG! They are amazingly delicious! We love 'em, and they're only 100 calories for two slices. They come in a couple varieties - plain, whole wheat, whole grain. They're yummy to use for sandwiches, of course, but they're super yummy toasted for breakfast too.

The amount (2 tablespoons) of hummus on my plate was 140 calories, 12 grams of fat (little high on the fat side, but it's the good fat, right????). The bread was 100 calories, 1 gram of fat.

Then for desert a homemade, low cal ice cream sandwich. Well, it's not ice cream but Lite Cool Whip. This is a recipe I learned when I was in WW many years ago.

The cookie part of the ice cream sandwich is made from

chocolate graham crackers - 60 calories.

The ice cream part, or Lite Cool Whip - 25 calories (about 2 tbsps).

I just happened to have both items in the house the other day, so I made up a bunch for the freezer. You would be amazed how much the Cool Whip tastes like ice cream in these little sandwiches.

There are some great low cal, low fat frozen treats available, but it's nice to use up what you have, right? Besides, if those chocolate graham crackers hung around too long, I'd be slathering them with mounds of peanut butter and snacking on them and that would not be good!

How did some of you do this past week?

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THE BLAHS

This is how I feel today

No energy. Tired. Blah.

Maybe it's the weather.

Or lack of several good night's sleep . . . or both.

Let's hope tomorrow's a better day.

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BOOKS!!! GLORIOUS BOOKS!

I love books! Gardening books. Cook books. Quilting books. Decorating books.

The more pretty pictures, the more better.

LOL!!!

Even with the vast amount of ideas and inspiration available on the net, I still like to look at my pretty books for even more up-close and personal inspiration.

I also like to have my books commingle with my decorating/tablescaping. I have a stacks of books here and there all over my house. I've always heard a home's decor should reflect it's occupants by having snippets of personal items. It shows "who we are". And the books we read on the subjects that interest us can really fit that bill.

I also read or saw somewhere that if you use books in your decor, you should consider removing the dust jackets. The sometimes busy photos and graphics of the covers can be too much visually in your decor. And, many times, as I've shown above and below, the actual book's color and the color of the print on the spine are so pretty and vibrant.

For example, look at the colors of the two Ina Gartin, aka Barefoot Contessa, books below. Aren't they gorgeous! I just about gasped when I took the covers off. Well . . . not really gasped, but was pleasantly surprised! What a great way to introduce a little bright yummy spring color to my springish display on my hutch.

That hutch . . .

I certainly wouldn't suggest throwing away the dust covers. I have mine stored in a box in the basement. So, take a look at what beautiful colors might be hiding under your books' covers.

I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised too!

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QUICK CANVAS WALL ART

Wow! Thanks so much to all of you for your ideas and suggestions on my hutch. There were some really terrific ideas that will be hard to choose from.

Want to share a quick little project with you this morning. It's most certainly an idea you've seen many, many times in blogland. But I felt this "scaled-down" version was worth presenting!

In our family room, we really lack wall space. As a matter of fact, we have only one full, "unbroken" wall in the room. The other walls are chopped up by a bay window, half wall and pocket doors leading into the living room.

Hey look! There's that unfinished chair! No worries. That chair and I are spending some much needed quality time together today!

As you can see by the picture, I had a little space in between the bookcase and TV where I feel just a little something (where the canvases are now) was needed. It bothered me there was absolutely nothing on that wall itself, besides the furniture pieces.

So, I grabbed some 6-inch square canvases, painted the sides black and a bit of the fronts. I cut some really pretty, coordinating scrabooking papers slightly smaller than the canvases. I also inked the edges of the paper before I adhered them to the canvas just so there'd be a nice transition from the papers to the painted canvas. I used Mod Podge to glue the papers down, and also coated the entire canvases with them.

After everything was dry, I screwed eye hooks into the canvases and connected them with hemp string to create a vertical "piece of art".

Just a little time, a little money spent on the canvases and hardware, and a little art project was created to fill a small, awkward space.

I'm linking this project over at

Twice Remembered "Make Your Monday"

event. Hop over and take a look at some of the other great, inventive projects other bloggers are sharing.

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Really Need Your Suggestions

First, I want to thank those of you who've offered your support

on my quest for a thinner waistline.

It's nice knowing you all have my back!

Now, I'm asking for your help again. I really, really, really need some suggestions or ideas regarding this piece of furniture. I want to paint the back panel part of this hutch.

We purchased this piece, gosh . . . years ago, from a Penney's catalog. We were looking for something to temporarily fill this space that was

not too wide, not too deep, and cheap

cheap it was - under $199 and there's not one snippet of real wood on the whole thing!

until we could find something more permanent. Well, years later, it's still here. And we never did look for anything else.

It works and it looks okay.

I want to add some contrast with color, but I just can't decide. And I'm scerred! I know it's only paint. If I don't like one color, I can paint it another. Right???

I'm not sure if I should use a brown or tan or black. Just not sure. My first thought was black, but then I was afraid it might look like a black whole. Then I thought some shade of brown or tan, but was afraid it clash with stained part or the wall behind it. I'm lost.

As I was typing this, I just had a thought. Maybe I'd paint the "stained" parts black and the back panel a brownish/red. Or would that be too drastic and dark?

Below are pictures of the rug and curtains in the space to give you an idea of the colors I'm working with.

Any ideas or suggestions would be sooo appreciated! :o)

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Waging War . . .

. . . with my weight that is. Yes, I'm throwing down the gauntlet here . . . at MY feet. I'm challenging myself to loose some very unwanted poundage before you all.

You're going to be my witnesses.

Picture from our cruise to the Bahamas.

And while I go on and on and on about my weight, I'm going to throw in some nice warm-weather pictures. What kind of blogger would I be if I didn't have something pretty for you all to look at? I figure that most of us have been living through snowmagedden for quite some time now, and we need some proof that warm weather does exist!

Another from our cruise

It's time to get serious. I'm thinking the only way I can really do it is to own up to it here on my blog. I feel the only way I can stay committed to this is by publicly journaling my progression. My plan is to blog each Wednesday my weight and my breakthroughs and breakdowns of the preceding week. Oh don't worry, I'm not going to rant about my weight with every post. And I really don't plan to rant on Wednesdays. I just think I need to report in to someone/somewhere (besides Hubby) about my weekly highs and lows.

More Bahamas

I'm ready. In this post a while back, I said I needed to loose a bit of extra holiday weight. That I had to decide if I wanted a more trim figure or yummy brownies. Well, I'm really wanting that trim figure for sure. But it's going to be hard to push the brownies aside.

Fenwick Island Beach, Delaware

That would be my main obstacle. Food. I love to cook. I love to bake. I especially love to eat! Exercise isn't a problem for me. I've exercised regularly since my very early twenties. I've always incorporated a weekly routine of cardio and weight resistance to my life for many years. And maybe that's one reason why I always thought I could eat what I wanted and not worry too much about gaining weight. Guess that worked when I was younger. Well, I ain't gettin' any younger!

Fenwick Island, Delaware

I'll be heading on the downward descent of forty-something April 1 (Yes! I'm an April Fool's Baby!). Forty-six to be exact. And I feel if I don't change my bad eating habits now, I'll never be able to loose what I want.

True sign of Spring. Nest found in cypress tree outside my window last Spring.

It's not really that much. I'd absolutely looovvee to loose 23 pounds, but that might be a bit overzealous of a task. That would put me at the weight I was when I was 20. So, I'd be ecstatic to loose 18. Actually, the number amount isn't all that important to me as is how I'm feeling in my clothes. I also realize that since I workout, perhaps that number might be a little higher than others my age and height. So, like I said, the number's not all that important, but just a reference. Know what I mean?

Found this little guy crawling up the house behind my potting bench last Spring.

I'm out of my "comfort zone". My jeans are tight. I'm sporting the ever-so unattractive muffin top. I can pinch waayyy more than an inch! And I'm fighting with a bit of back fat. Oooo . . . I'm painting such a lovely picture of myself, aren't I? LOL!!!

a found pic from the web

Your supportive comments and words of encouragement and inspiration would be so appreciated, but not necessary. If you happen to visit here on Wednesdays and see I'm posting my new weekly segment

"Weigh-In Wednesday"

(original and clever, eehhh??? ) and think "oh sheeesh, she's yammerin' on about her weight again . . . ", it won't hurt my feelings if you don't stay and read. Like I'd know anyway, right??!!

a found pic from the web

I just feel it's necessary for me to log my progression out there in writing. Kind of like keeping a food and exercise journal, only a little more condensed and online. I hope you'll bear with me.

a found pic from the web

And I just found out another one of my blogging friends is chronicling her weight loss endeavors on her blog. How about stopping by

Cindy's blog at Junque Art

and show her a little support too. What the heck, let's start a whole online, bloggy group of weightloss participants. Anyone else want to try and collectively loose some weight? Join the, uh-humm, fun?

a found pic from the web

So here are my stats to start:

46 years old (come April)

5' 10" tall (thank goodness for that!)

current weight: 173 (uuggghhhh!!!)

size: 12 (I think. My 10 jeans are pretty snug!)

goal weight: 155

date to reach goal: 4/1/2010 (this is negotiable)

a found pic from the web

I know this was a long and perhaps boring read. So, again, thanks for bearing with me. All I need to do now is clean the crap out of the pantry and buy a scale. I don't even own one. I have to weigh at friends' houses!

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