Count Down 3-2-1

   Hi everyone. It's Tuesday, and that means it's time for a new challenge over at Try It on Tuesday.

  Thank you everyone who joined our All Loved Up challenge. I love the variety of love themed art that was shared.

   For our new challenge we have one that's a little bit more specific. This time we're asking for art that fills the category of Count Down 3-2-1.

   I didn't know how this challenge would work on a journal page (of course it could have worked), but I thought it would be easier on a smaller format. I grabbed 3 of these smaller blue tags I had. I also had a pile of some stickers out on my work table, so I decided I wanted to use those.

   I started by stamping a number image to each tag (I needed to do something with the background) and then using some embossing powder.  I think the embossed background works great on 2 of these, but not so great on the other tag. 

   On the left hand tag I used one flower sticker. I colored that in and then added 2 bird stickers. Finally I stamped a 3 tiny words.

   On the middle tag I added 3 hanging Japanese lantern stickers. I then added the sticker with the 2 cranes. I noticed at this point that they are standing on 3 Lily pad leaves so I guess I didn't need the hanging lanterns. I wasn't sure what to do for the 1 part, so I added one Chinese coin also hanging among the lanterns.

   This last tag is my favorite. I almost posted just this one, but then decided why not show all 3. To make this tag I added  1 butterfly sticker, 2 boxed flower stickers and then 3 little confetti dots to show the butterfly is in motion. I colored in the stickers with some markers. 

   All of the stickers I used are just outline stickers, and I colored them all in with markers.They are oldies from a company from Starform.

   I am also linking this last tag  to Pinky's number challenge at Tag Along (and ATCs).

  Our Try It On Tuesday challenge runs for the next 2 weeks, and as always, we accept any kind of art. I found this challenge a little tricky, so I'm excited to see other people's take on it. 

   And don't forget to check out the blogs of the other design team members too.

  Thanks for stopping by, and have some fun with this challenge.

T Stands for the Back Up Plan

    Hi everyone. Happy new week to you, and for everyone who stops by for T Day over at Bleubeard's and Elizabeth's blog, happy T day to you also.

   What's new with me?  The good news is that our temperatures were a bit warmer than they had been. This was especially true this past weekend, and they say Tuesday (this T Day)  we could hit 40 (or a bit more) degrees F/4 degrees C. It's been weeks since it has been that warm even though that really isn't all that warm. But since I'm used to really cold temperatures it feels pretty warm.  I'm very excited about that. 😀

   Last week I made 2 loaves of this banana sandwich bread. It's  not a quick bread, but a yeasted bread that you add bananas to. 

   Besides adding bananas, you add cinnamon and orange peel. Unlike  banana quick (or unyeasted) bread, I can't say it tastes very much like bananas, but it does have  a unique flavor and makes delicious toast or even French toast.

   I've made this bread a couple of times before, and the recipe comes from this bread book that I've had for years. 

   I know not all American robins migrate, but I was quite excited to see this guy out eating bird food on the ground by the feeder.

 I know we can't count on spring until April (and sometimes not even then) but I can hope, maybe, this is a sign it's coming early this year. 🤞

    The other good news was that when I went to check the beehive on Sunday there were some dead bees laying in the snow. You may wonder why that is good news, but since it needs to be above 50-55  degrees F/10-13 degrees C before I can open the hive, I need to look for signs that they are still alive. You can usually hear the bees if you put your ear on the hive, but seeing it's winter the hive is wrapped so you can't hear inside. Seeing a few dead bees on top of the snow (and we had our last snow a week ago) means that there are live bees inside and they have cleaned out some of the bees that haven't  made it.

  In last Friday's post I shared a bit about the dog saga where Maddie was taking over Pete's bed. I mentioned how Pete was quite upset about it. Not that there was ever any growling, because those 2 get along quite well (they can even eat food at the same time out of one dish although they always get fed with their dishes). Well I think those 2 have come to terms that they will take turns in the bed.

   The only thing Pete didn't like was when Maddie decided  maybe they could share it together. I didn't get a photo, but as soon as Maddie crawled in, Pete got up and left. I don't know if she was trying to take over the bed and get him out of it or she wanted to be close to him. By the look on his face he was quite disgusted. 😡

   Finally I need to share a drink for T this week.

   This past Saturday my daughter and son-in-law were coming home from a little winter vacation and were flying into Manchester (New Hampshire). They were due in at lunch time so we were planning on meeting them for lunch. However, Friday night my daughter said she was starting to feel awful and when we texted with them Saturday morning she said she thought she had a fever and felt really terrible. Sadly our lunch was cancelled. I haven't seen my daughter since Christmas, and I was looking forward to seeing her.

  But just because they couldn't make it to lunch, didn't mean my husband and I did have a backup plan. We decided to drive to Manchester anyhow and go to the Puritan. The Puritan is a large family friendly restaurant that is known for their chicken tenders. They serve lots of other food, but I have only had their chicken tenders. I keep thinking maybe if they were closer to home (they are an hour away) I would try other things, but since I only get there 2-3 times a year, I stick with their chicken tender meal. 😏

  They are also known for mudslides, and they have a big mudslide menu. The special for February was a strawberry cheesecake one, so that's what I had. Well I only had the half size because that is actually enough for me, especially when I was driving. 

  I finished the mudslide, but I can never finish the chicken tenders. I'll get 2 more meals from the ones I took home.

  That's all for me today. Have a great new week and T day too.

More About Travel Journals

   Hi everyone. I hope you're having a super weekend. Today I am linking up to Nicole's Sunday in the Art Room, Gillena's Sunday Smiles and also to Bleubeard's and Elizabeth's February challenge at Art Journal Journey.

  Last Sunday I shared some photos of a travel journal I created from my trip to Nova Scotia last fall. I've been making trip journals for years now. I love the idea of making a trip sketchbook while visiting someplace new, but that wouldn't work for me because it means I'd need time to sit and sketch during the trip. That's hard when you travel with others who don't want to make a plein air sketchbook. Plus, when I make a junk  or collage style journal after the trip, I get to relive the trip all over again. ❤

   I really love making books. Mine aren't the most formal looking, and that's OK with me.  I love to change them up too. Here's a few travel journal covers  I've made in the past several years.

    The above journal is from a Quebec trip in 2024. I made the covers using some recycled cardboard. I glued paper down on them, and used cloth book-tape to create the spine and to cover the edges (although I wished I'd beveled the corners a bit). The signatures are sewn in as you can see on the spine. 

    I knew my travel journal from my 2024 trip to Greece with my girlfriends needed to be big. This time I took 2 old rescued book covers and covered them in blue cloth. I was lucky because when I was teaching our school library used to put out some old books free for the taking. I would usually bring a few home, especially for journal making. And if there was anything interesting, I often took a few  reading books too.

    I then stenciled the Greek letters onto the cover. The spine is also made of cloth with the signatures sewn in.  I glued the edges of the spine down to the cover, and then wrapped that area with book cloth-book tape.

  Above is my 2021 trip to California cover. I actually made this in a smaller  old book with just the pages removed. I  painted and stenciled on some designs to fix up the cover. Since the back and front cover were already attached, I did not have to stitch through the spine but could attach my pages inside the book.

    For a national park trip book I used the covers off an old photo album and used waxed thread to tie in my pages with the cover.  You can see the thread on the left side. Below, an older trip book to New Mexico was made in a 3 ring binder, but you can't really tell from the cover as I "fixed" it up with paint, tape and some stencil paste. I started with a  chipboard cover, which I find works the best for fixing up.

   And here is the cover of my Nova Scotia trip cover from last fall. I also used a  chipboard ringed binder and fixed up the cover a bit. This is what I'm linking up to Art Journal Journey.

   The plaid is actually wrapping paper that I picked up in Halifax, and the design of that paper is the Nova Scotian tartan. I thought that would be appropriate for a journal about that trip.

    The spine is covered over with blue cloth book-tape, and the edges are covered with some white cloth tape that I roughly painted.  I thought about making them totally blue. That would have made the cover more  finished looking, but I liked the exposed white. 

   Putting the book  together goes faster when I use a ringed binder because I don't have to sew the spine and pages together. To finish it I added  some bits and pieces to the front. 

   For my final photos in today's post, let me share  the shelves where I keep many of my  journals. I also keep  my annual bought daily journals here too, so not all of these are handmade, but many of them are.  I've been making books for years, and just to clarify, these are not all travel journals, but some of them are. And yes, I need to clean off these shelves because right now they are not very organized. 😛

 

   My husband built this shelf into the back side of a closet. You can also see the purple door to this room. It doesn't quite close tight up to the wall (I've got a few things behind the door), so that's why the right side of the shelves aren't visible. 

    Have a great rest of your weekend and start to the new week.

Happy Valentines Day Art

    Hi everyone. Happy Valentine's Day. ❤ And happy weekend to you also.

    I'm not one that really celebrates this holiday, but I do like the shape of a heart. Every now and again it's fun to make some romantic art also.  Today I'm sharing  a romantic style heart laden page for Elizabeth's Anywhere, Any Placer, Any Time with Anyone challenge over at Art Journal Journey.  I also used at least 3 types of media on my page, so I'll also be linking  up to Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge. Their challenges are always anything goes,  and this month is their challenge # 123.

    I started by using a light pink ink pad directly on the page and adding a bit of color. Then I took a larger AALL & Create stamp. I tried stamping with sand colored ink once,but it wasn't what I wanted, so I went with a rosey pink and stamped the image several times over my page.  After that I took a smaller heart stamp from the same set and stamped that in red. 

    I colored in a few of the smaller red stamped images with a marker.  Then I added my details. These included a few flowers and also a scrap  paper edge from a 49 and Market punch out set. The butterfly is from the same company, but I didn't want the color so I painted it. I used a  "tag" die cut (the shape is for wrapping threads) from paper, and I wrapped a bit of colorful yarn around it. The quote on it is from a TH set.  I had a sheet of pink paper that was stenciled with grey paint, and I used that paper to die cut several hearts. I added one of those hearts. And finally I die cut the bird and used ink and paint to color them in. The details (eye and beak) were colored with a black Sharpie.

    This page (above) is in a Dyluions journal. 

    I decided to add one more page to this post, and it is nothing fancy but is Valentine's Day appropriate. It's on the back of a sheet of music paper in a homemade spring themed journal I am playing in.

    That's all for me. I hope your weekend is starting off or has started off in a good way. 

It's a Friday in Winter Again

    Hi everyone. Happy end of another Monday through Friday work week. Not that I go to work Monday through Friday any longer, but I still separate the work week from the weekend.

   Today I am joining Nicole at Friday Face Off and Gillena at Friday Lunch Break. 

   The good news about this past week is we've had several warmer days. Now  by warmer I mean it's been around the freezing point, but after weeks of some very cold days with wind chills driving the temperature down to around -10 degrees F/ -23 degrees C or even colder, these days at about the freezing point are wonderful. 👍 😀 ❤

  My husband is now semi-retired and working only 3 days a week. The other day he was off, and we went out to run an errand and to get some lunch. On our way to lunch we noticed that the runway on the Big Lake near us (Lake Winnepeesaukee) was open, and there were a lot of planes coming and going. We stopped to watch them for a bit.

  In fact, the frozen lake was hopping.  You can tell it's been a cold winter because for several years there wasn't thick enough ice for this runway to open. This is the only FAA sanctioned frozen lake airport in the lower 48 states of the US, and since it was a beautiful winter day at that point, I think  the pilots (and people) were taking advantage of being able to be outside.

    Here's (photo below) a plane taxing down the runway to take off. I couldn't get a photo of that actual liftoff since he was too far away to take a photo on my phone. I had hoped to catch a photo of a plane coming in for a landing since they land at the base of the bay near where we were, and I thought I had snapped a couple, but I guess I didn't. 😞

   And ha ha, notice the covered pool table and the raised fire pit at the bottom of the above photo. Off to the side of the runway are lots of ice fishing shacks.  I guess some people want something to do while they wait to hook a fish.

   All this adventure is right across the street from one of my favorite summer time places to eat, which many of you have seen several times in some of my posts. It was too bad they close for the winter (though they never even did take their umbrellas down this past winter) because a  Pop's lobster roll would have hit the spot. 😏

   Instead we drove around the lake and went to a local NH only chain restaurant that serves  tasty food. I had a bowl of fish chowder .

   By the time we finished lunch the clouds had moved in and a couple of hours after we arrived home we had another 4 inches/ 10 cm of snow. Here's the view from the restaurant parking lot. This view is another bay in another part of the same  big lake (Lake Winnepeesaukee.)

   I need a face  for Nicole's Friday Face off, and since the only photos of faces I've taken all week are of the dogs, I guess one of them will have to do. I take daily dog photos to send to my daughter since she likes seeing what the family canines are up to

   Now this may just look like Miss Maddie laying in a dog bed, but this has been Mr Pete's point of concern all week. This is actually Pete's bed, and Pete isn't the most flexible of dogs. Especially since Maddie believes her bed is my and my husband's actual bed, and she will  growl at Pete if he even looks  at it. For the last 10 years, this has been Pete's bed, and he hasn't had to share it.

   Then all of a sudden during the Superbowl, while Pete was laying on the floor elsewhere, Maddie climbed into Pete's bed, stretched out and went to sleep. Pete didn't know what to do. He kept looking at me and at my husband with a  practically panicked expression. If expressions were words, his face would be saying  "Oh no. Help! Maddie is in MY bed. What can I do?" And this event didn't happen just once.  It's been happening daily all week. 

  If you looked carefully  you can probably see that there are 2 dog beds in the photo,so I tried separating them so they would both have a bed. Ha ha. Neither of them would get in either bed, and Pete's expression this time said "What's happened to my bed?".  So the beds went back together, and the saga continues.

  Ha ha. You can tell life is wildly exciting at my house, can't you? 😂

  That's all for me. I hope everyone has  a great start to the weekend and of course, a lovely Valentine's Day if you celebrate. 

 

My Last Travel Post from Nova Scotia

    Hi everyone. Happy mid-week to you. Today I am sharing my final trip post from back in September when my husband, our 2 dogs and myself visited Nova Scotia. Time has flown by and that trip was now 5 months ago. Wow. Much of this post is about our last full day, and then I added some photos from our ferry trip back to Bar Harbor.

   We started our day in the Halifax area, and we ended our day back in Yarmouth. Although we needed to be in Yarmouth early the next morning to get the ferry back to Bar Harbor, we had the whole day to travel between Halifax and Yarmouth. 

   If you look on the above map, the red dots are places we stayed and the open green dots are general areas we visited. Halifax in the red dot just above the C in the words Nova Scotia. Yarmouth is  the red dot on the furthermost left (plus you can see the arrows where the ferry traveled to and from Maine).  We didn't have tons of miles to travel that day, but at the same time we did have some exploring we wanted to do.

   We started by taking a little drive around Halifax, and then we decided to drive to Peggy's Cove. The suggestion for Peggy's Cove came from a brochure we picked up at the hotel where we stayed in Dartmouth/Halifax.

   The drive down to Peggy's Cove was quite scenic. My hubby even turned off on a few side roads so I could take some photos. 

    These next 2 photos are from one area where there were these 2 photogenic  "sheds" or boathouses.

    Before we arrived at Peggy's Cove itself, there was a pull off. I knew right then and there that the lighthouse was going to be a little too crowded for me.

   There must have been at least 5 tour busses there as well as many cars. But we did find a parking spot, and we were there, so we just went with it.  I wonder if we had arrived at a different time of day if it would have made any difference.

   However, as I mentioned,  it was a little too crowded for me.  Too bad too because it was such a pretty spot. With a little walking and driving onward we did find some  spots that weren't such a mob scene. 

    I'm glad these people (in this next photo) went with bright yellow for their house.

   And after that, we were back on the highway until we saw a sign for Oak Island.

   Have you seen the show called  The Curse of Oak Island? Supposedly there is buried treasure on this island. That has been the belief since the late 1700's at least. The present treasure hunters are 2 brothers from Michigan and their partners. Plus they have a crew with archaeologists, hydrologists, geologists,  and other specialists. As of the date of me writing this post, they haven't found much treasure, but the archaeological items  have been pretty interesting.

   There are island tours on the weekends, and I asked my husband a couple of times, pre-trip, if he was interested in a tour. His answer was no, and since the tours aren't cheap, I never booked them. Of course, when we then ended up looking across Mahone Bay to the Island, he was wishing he hadn't said no. However at this point the tours were all full.

    We discovered we could drive onto the island. However you were limited to being in the parking lot at the end of the causeway.  For the hubby, that made up at least  a little bit for not going on a tour.

   If you've seen the show, here's the causeway going onto the island.

And here it is in the other direction.

    It wasn't the most exciting sight we saw, but it did make my husband happy. Now he can say he's been there.😏

    From Oak Island we meandered to the nearest "big" town called Mahone Bay. We had a really lovely meal at this Pub.

My fish chowder was amazing.

And right outside the pub were lots of boats for my husband to ooh and awe over. 

   Then the day was getting on, and we had an early morning ahead. We were off to finish our trip with a night in Yarmouth. 

   The next morning we caught the ferry known as The Cat home. The ferry left at 9-ish in the morning, but you needed to get there between 7-8 AM to line up. You can't just show up when the boat is closed up and ready to leave.  And just a note, there is only 1 ferry a day in each direction. It runs between Bar Harbor, Maine and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia  ( I trip per day in each direction) between May and October, but you would need to check the dates if it was something you were interested in. 

 The dogs were ready for their long morning nap. 

The ferry heading home was pretty full, and this trip we parked up on one of the top ramps.

The views leaving Yarmouth Harbor in the morning were really lovely.

   The trip back to Maine was relaxing. From our table we played along with some trivia, I read and warmed up with a chai tea latte.

But I had to watch out for sea monsters at the window...hee hee! 😛

And before we knew it, we were back in Bar Harbor.

  The hubby and I are  actually talking about doing this trip again sometime. Well at least some of this trip. We've been to almost all of the Canadian Provinces in the general Maritime area except Prince Edward Island and Labrador, so we thought Prince Edward Island  might make another good road trip with the dogs. I would also like to explore more of the Coast between Yarmouth and Halifax. And I would love to see the Maud Lewis art in Halifax too.  We will see what time brings, but we may take this trip sooner rather than later. 😉

   I hope you enjoyed some armchair travel to Nova Scotia. Thanks for following along.