Orchids at Mattaei Conservatory

Some pictures of the orchids they had.

Beating the winter blahs

We got a case of cabin fever and I finally came up with something interesting to go see. About 20 minutes away is Matthaei Conservatory and Gardens. Of course the gardens are not open now but the small conservatory was and it was nice to see live plants and feel the warmth.

This first if Gary in the cactus room. This was really huge and I had to get someone in the shot to show the size of it.



I tried hard to get a good picture of the fish but had lost of glare from the overheard windows. Of course you can see them reflected in the pond but at least I got some fish in shadow.


Here I am with a huge curly ball of green.


I did not get the name of this tree but it was fun to look at.
They had several throught the place.

November -December Paintings

I have been lax in posting I know but these will get you up to date...almost.

I for some reason didn't take my camera on the day we did the October painting. I think because the class was postponed and on an odd day or perhaps my mind was on vacation. I will take a picture and post it eventually.

I guess everyone does know to click on a picture to make it full size, right?

Here once again are Jan, Olga and my pictures for November.

Now for December.
I think these were the most fun of all the pictures we have done. The whole class loved doing them. Once again in order, Jan, me and Olga.

And here is a bonus picture. Guess whose?

Give up?





Gary, my hubby. He decided to join the class to try it and see what he could do.
I think I was more surprised by his painting then he was. I think he did really well. Especially since he has never painted a picture before and does no arts and crafty type painting either. He will continue going as he found it fun and very enjoyable.

Recent pics of us both

Rarely do I get pics of Gary and I together. I took these on the automatic setting. And I will include a couple of just me cuz I liked the way my hair was..lol.

Huge Cauliflower

Here is the huge cauliflower I found while at eastern Market in Detroit. The biggest I have ever seen. My hand would barely cover a third of it.

September painting

Here is my September painting.
From left to right: Jan's, Olga's and mine on the right.
Hard to believe we were in the same class huh?

2 sided scrollcut figure

This is what I love to do, compound cutting on the scroll saw.
Two views from one piece of wood. One view is a sailboat and the other view is a dophin.This piece is from butternut wood.



This is one piece also as you can see by the view on the right.
It is a ballerina in one view and when you turn it, it is a swan.
And yes...it is extremely difficult to do and only someone that has mastered the scroll saw would be able to do it. This one is made from basswood.

Carving - 8 pointed star

This is the current project for my students. Each star is made from a block of wood. A cube of whatever size you wish. the largest one I intend to do some wood burning on. I just haven't decided the pattern yet. The pinkish one is plastic that car modelers used years ago. The one on the right, greyish, is soapstone. The rest are basswood. All are done with a basic carving knife.

September painting quiz

Here is my painting for September. Now for the quiz part.
Which one is mine and which is the teachers?
Which do you prefer?
Tomorrow I will post mine as well as the ones from my friends.

#2 Pet Peeve

Some people don't know when to shut up. You know those type...the ones who go on and on and on. They definitely do not know how to carry on a conversation.

Information is nice as well as long interesting stories. But stories that lead into more stories and information that never ends are boring. These people barely pause or take a breath. I do wonder how some even breathe because they can go on at length and never seem to run out of air. They never seem to let people respond and go on for so long, that if a point was being made or information was asked to be imparted, it was long forgotten what it was in the first place.

I myself have been accused of leaving people hanging. Personally I would rather people ask me to elaborate more on a topic rather than bore them to death. I do not intentionally....well... not often anyway except when I am playing with someone, leave people hanging.

And this often leads into a companion pet peeve...people who do not stay on topic. Their conversation runs all over the place and make you wonder what they were talking about in the first place. Some are what I liken to a Stephen King novel. They take 500 words to say what can be said in oh say, very efficiently, about 75. And yes...I think King is too wordy.

I will admit to a bad habit I have that stems mostly from being in a conversation with these types of people....that of interrupting. Yes..I have let myself do it with others that don't deserve it. I am the impatient sort anyway and when I have something to say, I don't want to have to wait to add my two cents worth. I just bust in with it. Nasty habit which I am working on.

Enough muttering Twinsy?

#1 Pet Peeve

The thing that bugs me the most is when someone tells me how to do something differently than how I am doing it and go on and on about how I am doing it wrong, or could do it easier, better or faster.

At first, well...most times I will politely listen to their suggestions and more likely than not, go on doing it my way.

Hey people, and you know who you are, if you want it done your way..then do it yourself. If you want me to do it...leave me alone and let me do it my own way.

I know that you mean well and just want to make it easier, but if I am happy as a pig in a mud waller doing it my way...what harm is it? HUH HUH?

It is not that I am closed minded or opposed to change, but 9 times out of ten, I have tried other ways and they took too much time for me to learn or I just plain liked the way I was doing it. There is that one time in ten that I will change.

At least have the common courtesy of backing off after making a suggestion. Don't take it personally if I decide to just go my merry way and do it back assward. As long as it gets done and it is my time.....be glad you are not doing it.

Ayup, I am stubborn and I do like to plug along to the beat of my own drummer.
If you don't like it....don't watch! Come back when I am done and praise me all the more for doing it the hard way. LOL

Copper Harbor and Brockway Mountain

I have no idea what I was doing when Gary took this.This was at Copper Harbor somewhere. The rest I know are from Brockway Mountain in Copper Harbor.

Again..I have no idea what I was looking at. Maybe trying not to fall off the mountain. There were no good pics of me I liked so I will just post what G took.

Beautiful scenery...a shame I was in the way.....lol

EWWW...windy up here.
I think I need a perm or a cut cuz all of these show the best my hair looked which is not saying much. Way to humid . I don't think my hair every did dry and when I took it out of rollers..it fell flat in half an hour even with hair spray on it.

I have tons more Gary took but I have to resize them. Some are really awesome scenery. He takes raw format and they are HUGE...about 3-4 mg each. I have some that I did take on top of the mountain myself that I thought I might try to paint....after I get a bit better that is. I will post a few later.

Mystery Plant

I have not the foggiest idea what the name of this plant is. I got it from a plant exchange. Yes..they told me the name but I forgot. It gets huge as you can see from the garden cart. I put that in the pic so you can see the real size of it. It is a perennial and dies back every year. It spreads like crazy but does not flower. It is a nice filler plant. I have tons of it now and only had it two years. I will have to kill some or it will take over.

Castor bean and Black pearl

This is the Black Pearl Ornamental pepper. It is a new species and just out this year in nurseries around here. It is not big and only a foot or so tall but has nearly black leaves and starts with tiny purple flowers that turn to black marble size berries and then turn red as they mature. I hope there are seeds that will make more. I would love a whole row of them but at $3 a plant...rather pricey.


Now that the day lilies have died back the Castor bean has room to stretch. Behind it is purple bean hyacinth. It is a great climber and makes tons of seeds so I will never run out and I plant it everywhere. The Castor bean also makes seeds. I got this one from a carving friend. I planted it rather late...first week of June but it is doing well. I hope the seeds mature.

Coleus on the front porch

With some pruning of the large tree in the front yard, the front porch finally gets a little sun and this Coleus is doing really well. It likes part sun and part shade. I will grow it again next year. It should look smashing in the new red pots I got to go next to the front door.

July and August paintings

My July painting. I was not that fond of doing it and neither was most of us in the class. I am showing Olga, Jan and mine so you can see that while we all painted the same pic in the same class, they all come out different. Which one do you like best? Which one is mine? I will not be hurt if you didn't choose mine as the best. I am not fond of it myself.



I love this August painting the best of all I have done. I feel like I am learning. Pictures of them don't show them off very well. I did sign up for more classes.

There is one a month and so far a bunch of us carvers are still going. I think though Olga has had enough but Jan and I and others will still go.

Female Humor

I happen to know a few of these to be true.

Although I do not think the pain ones funny.

Q. What should you do if you see your ex-husband rolling around in pain
on the ground?
A. Shoot him again.

Q. Why do little boys whine?
A. Because they’re practicing to be men.

Q. How many men does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A. One - he just holds it up there and waits for the world to revolve
around him. Or, Three - one to screw in the bulb, and two to listen to
him brag about the screwing part.

Q. What do you call a handcuffed man?
A. Trustworthy.

Q. What does it mean when a man is in your bed gasping for breath and calling your name?
A. You didn’t hold the pillow down long enough.

Q. Why does it take 100,000,000 sperm to fertilize one egg?
A. Because not one will stop and ask directions.

Q. Why do female black widow spiders kill their males after mating?
A. To stop the snoring before it starts.

Q: Why do men whistle when they’re sitting on the toilet?
A: Because it helps them remember which end they need to wipe.

Q: What is the difference between men and women?
A: A woman wants one man to satisfy her every need. A man wants every woman to satisfy his one need.

Q: How does a man keep his youth?
A: By giving her money, furs and diamonds.

Q: How do you keep your husband from reading your e-mail?
A: Rename the mail folder to “instruction manuals”

Grow a brain

Grow a Brain

Here is yet another mega site that will keep you clicking for hours.
Don't forget to check out the "collections" on the right. Tons and tons of great stuff.

There is only one problem with the super mega sites....you can get lost on them for hours and hours. Good thing I am lucky and am a kept woman huh?

Enjoy, Pat

Real Simple

Real Simple

Here is another fantastic site.

A plethora of tips and ideas for everything. I love the "Life Skills" section best but the "organizing" is pretty good too. I have not had time to check out the other subtopics but will soon.

Enjoy and hugs,
Pat

Bored?

Never be bored again. Got a few minutes free time to surf?

Well..this is a blog that will take you to tons of interesting sites on the web. It is updated daily and will take you to stuff you never even thought about and stuff that is interesting to thing about. Don't forget to check out the past links on the right under "categories". I find so many great things to email but it is easier to just send you all here so you can choose to your liking.

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