Aside from the many activities involved in running a household and managing life in general... there's mornings in my craft room (they're always with me):
Afternoon in the woods:
Weekend at the bay:
And a spectacular winter sunset view from my front yard:
Just wrapping up the week, keeping in mind the things that bring joy.
I hope you find some joy today.
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Pausing mid-play in the back yard to appreciate my favorite fall colors... of the furry variety.
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Outside my kitchen patio door is the promise of a beautiful day.
Sometimes I just have to take a moment.
Wishing you a beautiful and joy-filled day.
Hello! I've been working on cards for next week, but Saturday seems like a good time for an update on the kids. The first picture is the most recent I have, and it represents how we start our days. Just look at these two, sigh... I cannot complain that two such beautiful, soft, warm, loving creatures are this eager to see us first thing in the morning.
The first week or two Ridley was given plenty of opportunity to explore his new home and garden and learn how amazing it all is. I hope his brother has found a good home as well.
Of course, we had to take him to the sand dunes at the first opportunity. Sophie is SO happy to share her joy with Ridley!
It's as though Sophie has been waiting for him all this time. She mothers him, teaches him, loves him. She's always been a very special girl, but Ridley has truly brought out the best in her.
My heart is full.
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You knew I couldn't stop at one, didn't you? What better way to celebrate National Dog Day (Aug. 26) than to give Sophie a little brother? Say hello to Ridley!
Rich came up with the name, by the way. This is the guy who said a second dog was all my thing and he really had no input, yet it turns out he laid awake at night thinking of names.
Ridley is already 16 weeks old, one of the last two left behind from a litter of nine. The others must have been really something because to my eyes Ridley is perfect. He has the sweetest, most gentle way about him. His color will darken as he matures, and he'll fluff out a bit, but never as much as Sophie. He's what Rich and I call the Field and Stream model.
Frankly, I never expected Sophie to be as big and fluffy as she is. She's a whole lot of lady and can be quite boisterous and sometimes oddly grumpy, but she seems to have taken quite happily to her role of big sister. I think they'll be good for each other.
Ridley was raised to this point outside in a pen, not in a mean, heartless way, but in the way that some would raise a working class dog. Earlier siblings have gone on to be avalanche rescue heroes or fine hunters. He had never been walked on a leash, or house trained, or socialized outside the family. His home was rural, and there were no kids or grandkids.
Well, never mind all that because we've found him to be affectionate and at ease with every human and dog he meets, and he's met quite a few in the four days he's been with us. He's okay with the leash, but nervous about the street. Best of all -- he had one pee accident in the house and that was the end of it. He practically house trained himself!
I tried and tried to find a suitable rescue dog. It didn't have to be a Golden Retriever, but it needed to be a friendly, intelligent dog, preferably not a puppy, but young enough to handle Sophie's exuberance. I'd hoped for a medium-size mixed breed, but a daily search was fruitless. Then I saw Ridley and his brother in a local shopper ad... the rest is history in the making.
What a pair they're going to be, and what a good life they'll have together!
It's Labor Day weekend and our son is coming to visit. He's crazy about Sophie and couldn't wait to meet Ridley.
I'll be back with cards very soon as I have some scheduled posts. You know how I am with the camera, so I'll be back with more pics of the kids soon, too.
Have a good day!
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There was a time this post would have been full of flower pictures, but sometimes there are other distractions to capture my attention... starting with Sophie. She'll be two years old in August and has grown into a sturdy and very fluffy girl. She was good enough to stop and let me take her picture, but she definitely had adventure on her mind at the time.
The picture below was actually taken in June. Town turkeys, geez. Ordinarily they're only here in the fall. They don't bother me so much and, heck, I think all babies are cute.
The young buck in velvet, below, caught my eye through the window, so I went out with my camera thinking my photo efforts would be a gentle way to shoo him from the garden. It worked, but he lingered in the woods for a while. He's probably been visiting here since he was a fawn.
Pictured below, Sophie is beckoning me to her favorite place of sticks and loam and the scent of critters who've passed along the trails. She's at the head of the path right behind our garden shed, leading to the network of trails I cut years ago. Just like Wally and LuLu before her, Sophie has the run of the place with or without my supervision. She's a good girl and knows her boundaries. She doesn't stay down there long without checking in, and she comes running gleefully when she's called.
The fawn below is standing at the very same spot in which Sophie was pictured. A doe and two fawns were lounging alongside our shed, and the buck was munching on native foliage nearby, probably part of the same family. This fawn is robust and healthy, but just as I took this picture another smaller, paler fawn stood up and wobbled weakly into the woods.
I was and still am very worried about the weakling fawn, and fear I may find another casualty in the woods this year. I waited a while and then ventured quietly down the path. Just a few steps in I found the family resting once again. The weak fawn is laying down, the healthy fawn is standing the other side of Mom. You can see its two back legs in their knock-kneed stance just beyond her.
Finally, Sophie is now at the front end of the yard in the cool shade of the cherry tree where she loves to roll in the emerald lawn and chew on the sticks she brings up from the woods.
The past two summers I let the garden go. I was grief stricken the summer of 2023, then the summer of 2024 Rich was very sick and I spent all my time as a caregiver and chief cook and bottle washer. Over the last 5 years we've lost 4 trees, changing the look of the garden significantly. The deer were already eating everything in sight anyway, so I threw up my hands. This spring the whole front of the yard and half of the side were torn up for sewer line replacement. It's never ending. However, once the landscapers finished the huge job of putting our yard back together I decided I missed my garden and now I've started over. Hence the back and foot pain, sigh.
It will never be the same, but a person has to just keep going forward with hope... and lots of deer spray and altered expectations.
Have a beautiful day!
Hello and happy Friday, friends! Just a little something I colored for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge -- "On the Farm" -- for March. Wait, what? That was two months ago. At that time I pulled this stamp out thinking it was my one not-yet-used Penny Black stamp that looked somewhat farm-y, and then I don't know what happened, but I didn't get it done until now. That's the way it goes in my stamp room -- I'm easily sidetracked.
I'm enjoying my playtime with last year's Penny Black stamps before I start on the new Penny Black. This one is from the Scent of Spring set. Looks like someone's been gathering eggs. Stamped in Memento London Fog and colored with Copics. A little gingham and wood grain helps with the countrified look.
Down home at the Miller residence Sophie is happy to be helping in the garden. See her smile? She's my sweetheart.
Playing along here today:
Penny Black Saturday Challenge -- Monochrome or Anything Goes
Thank you for stopping by to say hello! Have a happy day!
Stamps: Penny Black Scent of Spring and Super Day Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White 80 lb, Mintay Farm Life designer paper Ink: Memento London Fog and Toffee Crunch, Stampin' Up Bashful Blue Coloring: Copics Other: Lil' Inker Silly Stitched Die Set, Spellbinders A2 Bracket Borders One, linen thread
Hello, friends! I've been playing around with dies and embossing folders for the last few cards, but now it's time to get back to coloring as I have so many wonderful stamps yet to see ink. Today it's Penny Black's Pleasant Perch. This was a birthday gift (October) from a friend who knew exactly how much I would love it. I think you know I have a great fondness for the outdoors, particularly if there's a forest or fur or feathers involved.
I stamped in Ranger Archival Watering Can and watercolored the bird and branch with only three Tombow markers: Green 177, blueish-green 249, and brown 969. I used a black permanent marker on the eye, and white acrylic paint for the eye glint
The background was watercolored with smooshes and splatters of Stampin' Up inks from reinkers -- Creamy Caramel and Brocade Blue.
The sentiment is from another Penny Black set, Thinking of You.
It's not flowery or flamboyant, but this little bird on her piney perch imparts a sense of peace and comfort. In my real life world I appreciate that.
Pictured below is one of my most appreciated local spots where I can walk for miles and Sophie can run off leash. This is a winter pond -- dry in the summer, but good for Sophie's splashing and swimming in the winter.
I'll send my card along to the following challenges:
Stamps: Penny Black Pleasant Perch and Thinking of You Paper: Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot press watercolor, grocer's kraft Ink: Ranger Archival Watering Can Coloring: Watercolor with Tombow markers plus Stampin' Up reinkers for background and splatters, black permanent marker for eye, white acrylic paint for eye dot Die: Hero Arts Wood Frame
It's been a while since I did a Sophie post. Shame on me since she is the light of my life. Fluff and love and fun. She keeps me moving and looking for adventure without traveling too far afield. It's all a thrill to her and I can't tell you how good it is for me as well.
We headed out on a beautiful October day. Our dunes are edged with scraggly woods and shallow marshes, and they're a wonderful playground for Sophie. In the first picture we'd just stepped out of the car and she appears to be making an assessment as to which area she should explore first.
Sophie is just shy of 15 months and still very much a puppy. Depending on their lifestyle Golden Retrievers stay puppies for many years, and I'm sure that will be the case with Sophie as I do like to keep life playful.
On the edge of a marsh we came upon these pretty Asters with beetle... maybe a cucumber beetle, though no cucumbers in sight.
After a good run in the woods and marsh we headed into the dunes. Guess who loves to dig in the sand? Yes, and guess who gets to stand in the backyard pool with Sophie to clean her up before she can come in the house. She's worth it.
A good time was had by all, including Rich who moseyed along the level path while the kid and I ran hither and yon.
Thanks for coming along. Wishing you a beautiful day!
Hello and welcome, friends!
The Can You Handle the Pressure challenge is always anything goes using an embossing folder, but there's an optional twist if you so desire. This time the twist is leaves, and it inspired me to stop dancing around this gorgeous Lisa Horton Leafy Flourish 3D embossing folder and actually use it on a card.
Leafy Flourish is a 6" folder, but I applied it to an A2 card and simply let it overlap to the back. It comes with a matching die which I'll save for later. I used sponge tipped applicators, similar to eye shadow brushes, to apply Stampin' Up inks -- River Rock, True Thyme, Really Rust, Bordering Blue. The Impression Obsession For You sentiment is a double layer of SU's Bordering Blue cardstock.
I'm hurrying and scurrying to finish up tonight. It's been a busy day, including a long walk with Sophie. In the afternoon we met up with a friend and walked in a favorite city park, but first Sophie and I went into our woods. The bees have abandoned their nest and I haven't seen the cougar in a while. We explored for a bit and had just crested a little rise when I asked Sophie to look at me so I could snap a picture. She seemed reluctant and distracted. Well, I'm sorry to say it turns out she was bothered by the carcass of a very small fawn. It had been there long enough for the forest critters to take care of it. I can only guess what happened, but it's getting a little nerve wracking back there. You know when you have the feeling that someone's watching you... well, that.
Back to the craft room... Here are the two challenges I'm sending my leafy card to:
Thank you for dropping in to share a day in the life of Sophie and me. There's always something going on outside my stamp room window, and hopefully there will be a lot more going on inside my room, as well. Hugs all around!