Outside My Window ~ 2.20.11

Outside My Window…has been pretty amazing these past few days.  Friday we had a high temperature of 75°F….well over our average for this time of year.  Yesterday wasn’t as warm at 64°F, but still above our average of 51°F for this time of year.  Friday and Saturday had a bit of wind, but it didn’t take away from the sunshine and warm temperatures.  Absolutely beautiful!  Today is a little cooler still with a current temperature of 45°F and an expected high of 51°.  There is a slight breeze outside, but not quite as strong as it was yesterday.  There are some high clouds at 11:30 this morning that is making our day partly cloudy so it does feel a little chilly outside ~ or it did to me when I went out to feed the birds.   These past few days really had me looking forward to spring.  The sun shine and warm air felt wonderful, almost as if it were recharging the solar batteries inside of me.   This winter hasn’t been particularly harsh for us but it has been cold.  Warmer temperatures will bring us a definite drop in our heating bills ~ there have been a couple heart stoppers this year when I saw the cost of mine…..I don’t even keep my house that hot plus it is very tiny!  I can’t imagine what people who live in larger homes were paying.

I am thinking…about reorganizing my work area.  It seems like I do this a lot….and then I have to do it again….and again.  I think I need to do it right this time because I’m actually a little tired of dealing with to tell the truth.  First step is to get rid of some things that for some reason I feel I need to hold on to.  Once I get over that, space opens up and I don’t feel quite so claustrophobic with the clutter.   Now don’t misunderstand, we aren’t talking “Hoarders” clutter here….just a few things that need to go elsewhere and some things that need to be either given away or thrown away.  I’m also cutting down on the plant population in the house…..not entirely, but people won’t feel like they are wandering through the forest quite so much when they visit.  🙂  I love my plants, but it does takes a long time to care for them all….and they are contributing to this claustrophobic feel of clutter as well. 

I am thankful…for Advil….for coffee in the morning….for wind chimes singing in the wind….for a clean and tidy living room.  Later today I will be thankful for the other clean and tidy rooms.  😉

From my kitchen…will be Nina’s biscuits in a little bit.  Sadly, Nina will not be making our biscuits today, but I will be using her recipe to create chicken biscuits for our brunch. I’m hoping they come out as delicious as hers.  Tonight I will be making Chicken Alfredo for dinner and some pineapple/coconut ice cream for dessert.  I love this flavor combination (Häagen-Dazs ~ yum) but have never made it myself.  I’m using  this base recipe (less the cinnamon and nutmeg) and if it all works out, I will share the new recipe with you.

I am creating…not so much recently.  I have been working on photography related items….creating some layouts for cards and such.  Craft wise, not so much.  My camera bag/purse project is giving me fits.  I think my first mistake was the fabric I chose for the interior….and perhaps the purse isn’t large enough.  I haven’t given up…..yet…..but I feel the end may be near.

I am going…to go to the office supply store a little later today.  I need some printer paper but I also had an epiphany last night as I was moving the confounded yellow cord that connects the girls computer to the Internet while I vacuumed.  This ugly yellow cord has been a part of our lives for quite some time…and I hate it.  I hate….and yes I know hate is a strong word ~ but I do, I hate…..how it snakes across the floor just waiting for someone to trip over it…how it makes vacuuming a royal pain….and how it looks.  So as I vacuumed last night, I was thinking how I would love to cut it into pieces when suddenly it came to me.  I could….and I will…right after I buy a USB attachment to make the girls desktop computer wireless.  I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner…..but then I thought, do they make such a thing for desktops?  I know they do for laptops, but could my wildest dreams come true and they do make one for desktops?  I went online this morning and looked it up ~ eureka!  And best news yet….for less than $20 I can remove this ugly, yellow cord from our lives ~ forever!  {Imagine now I’m doing a little happy dance in the living room….life is good.  🙂 }

I am reading…the Prisoner of Azkaban in the Harry Potter series.  I have been getting time here and there to catch a few pages….that seems to work best at the moment.  I noticed the other night when I sat down to read for an extended period, I woke up with my neck killing me, the book across my chest….and there could have been drool but I will neither confirm nor deny that.

I am hoping…the headache I woke up with this morning goes away….or at least doesn’t get any worse.  It is never a good sign when you wake up with a headache.  You have been resting….in the dark…eyes closed….no tension….and wake up with a headache.  Now there is harsh light….noise…..daily irritations.  Let us hope the little round tablets of hope do their magic and keep it at bay….so far so good.

I am hearing…the ticking of my many clocks…..the wind chimes singing an occasional song…..birds on the feeders outside my windows….and a quiet house. 

Around the house…is a cleaning marathon at the moment.  I didn’t turn on the computer yesterday until about 9:30 or 10:00 last night.  I find if I get on the computer relatively early I tend to stay on thinking of things that I want to work on.  Yesterday I wanted to do some intense cleaning in the living room/dining room area so that is what I did.  I was thinking at one point (probably when I was moving the confounded ugly yellow cord) how some of the blogs I visit will post about how they have to disconnect for several days or weeks from the computer so they can concentrate on family and homes (their words, not mine).  They assure readers that they will be back, but they need to concentrate on this or that.  I couldn’t help but think if I felt I had to deliberately make a decision to stay away from the computer, then maybe that was a problem.  And then I realized that is just what I had done that morning….made a deliberate decision to stay off the computer.   I can remember when the Internet first became “a thing” in the mid to late nineties and more and more people were getting online….there were stories of people hopelessly addicted to being online.   It was their life, it was all they did.  With the Internet today, I can understand how easy it would be to fall into that same pattern…maybe even more so.  There are blogs galore….email….and of course the social sites.  So I joined the ranks and I made a deliberate decision to stay off of the computer….and I cleaned.  But I’m happy to say, I didn’t even think about getting online to check my mail or other sites as I went about my day. That made me feel pretty good….I can sit in front of the monitor and edit images or visit other places but I can also take time for myself, my family and my home.  The Internet isn’t the boss of me.  🙂   How about you…..do you find yourself sitting in front of the computer more or less lately?

Plans for the week include…I haven’t made any real plans for this week actually.  I will work from home one day this week….have dinner with my mother one evening….work some more on graphic designs….and read some more of my book.

One of my favorite things…is watching the birds visit the feeders outside my living room windows.  They are quite friendly to each other, almost as if they are taking turns.  I think their favorite is a feeder I hung in the dwarf red maple tree in my front window….multiple levels, no waiting.   Not to mention they sit in the tree and sing songs while they are feeding.

A picture I’d like to share with you…did all of you catch my shot of the moon this week?  That one was one of my favorites in quite some time.  If you didn’t see it, take a look by visiting the link.  🙂   This one was taken about a year ago….something I ran across recently, edited it a little bit and liked the results….so thought I would share it with you today.   Have a good one!