Smile 20/100 Blossom

These little blossoms are just dying to pop open and shine in the world...I couldn't help getting a shot of them at the edge of their struggle.

The chives are one of only a couple of our herbs that didn't get wiped out in our single digit wave of weather this winter. Of course the mint (or at least one of the two we had) survived as well but the mint doesn't have a cute little blossom lke the chives do.

I don't end up cutting our herbs and using them in cooking as much as I should...but I can say that the difference in fresh chives versus dried chives is unbelievable...and I do take advantage of those little guys any time I can.

I took this picture in the afternoon on our back porch where the herbs grow with no flash, but macro enabled. I edited this in GIMP 2.6 for color and light and then added the fuzzy border.
_________________________

One Month Ago on In My Words...On My Mind

POTD Day 29 Sticky

This cutie is a cupcake from my little cousin's second birthday party. I think they are supposed to be owls...they were super cute and super sticky!!

Last year for his first birthday, they had cute cookie desserts that had faces on them too. And I imagine they were just as sticky!

I took this pic with my Fuji Finepix f50 with the flash and macro on. i really don't like using the flash when I don't have to but the party location was dark so I had no choice. I edited this picture in GIMP 2.6 for color, light and then added the fuzzy border.
____________________________

Last Year on In My Words...Birthday Madness

POTD Day 28 Nostalgia

Grandma is the back right

This is a cool picture our family has of my maternal grandmother and her three sisters.

I scanned it in a few years ago so everyone could have a copy of it. I love this picture...they look like movie stars in their 40's style. They are all so beautiful.

Seems like we don't do protraits like this anymore...family pictures were so common before, but now it seems like you don't see them as often.

My grandmother's sisters (the ones that are still alive) all live in another state so she doesn't get to see them as much as I am sure she would like to. She has never flown and I don't think she could handle being in a car for the amount of time it would take to make a visit happen so I don't know if she will get to see them again. I guess that is one of the reasons pictures are important to us...the help us to hold on to memories.

I didn't take this image but I did edit it in GIMP to clean up the scan and then added the fuzzy border.
__________________________

Six Years Ago on In My Words...Thankful Thursday (one of my paternal grandmother's is in this post)

POTD Day 27 Something I Made

Kai Jiaow with steamed jasmine rice

This is one of my favorite Thai dishes to make...and it is super easy and so yummy!

The only thing missing from it is this awesome sauce that my friend Jai turned me on to, but it is no longer available. Everytime I go to my favorite Thai grocery, I ask the owner if he has seen any of this delectable sauce and he said that he thinks they stopped making it...bummer!!

I need to put a picture of the sauce on my phone so I can have it when I go next time so I can make sure he can knows for sure which one. I have a second sauce I am always looking for that I forgot to bring a picture of last time and I need to get that one on my phone too...LOL. The things we do when we can't read the words on the label.

I took this picture with my Fuji Finepix f50 with no flash and no macro. I edited it in GIMP 2.6 for color, light and then added a fuzzy border.
_________________________

Seven Years Ago on In My Words...Sunday Treats

POTD Day 26 I Am Here

Of course I can't show my face or where I actually am, but I am at an extended stay for the night and limited to the webcam on my Chromebook...LOL.

Fun and exciting stuff. Was able to try this really yummy seafood restaurant and it was amazing.

Luckily didn't run into any crazy road rage people during the drive, and I listened to an audio book in one direction and the BBC World Service over the Internet Radio on my phone in the other. Overall, a very productive visit.

I took this picture with the webcam on my Samsung Chrome book, and did no editing.
_______________________

Four Years Ago on In My Words...Sparsely Living

POTD Day 25 Soft

These are flowers on one of the Phlox plants we have in the front yard. I thought they were so cute and the buds before they open look fuzzy and soft.

It took me a couple of Springs to figure out what this plant was since there were no markers and it was already here when we bought the house. The other day, I was at a garden store and they had a couple different types there so I took a few of the labels so I could bring them home and compare them to ours and it looks like we have Purple Beauty in our bed. The colors on the plants are bit different but I think that might be due to one being in much more shade than the other.

I took this picture in the afternoon with my Fuji Finepix f50 with no flash and macro enabled. I edited it in GIMP 2.6 for color, light and then added the fuzzy border.
________________________________

Eight Years Ago on In My Words...Plants Are Here

POTD Day 24 One Of A Kind

I love when I find a daisy all by itself in a field of green....they are just so cute and friendly.

When I was a kid, we lived across the street from a big cemetery. Daisies would grow all over in the grass, and I would make these daisy chains as necklaces or for head wreaths...I remember when I first learned how to make them and was so excited, like I had discovered something new.

I took this picture with my Fuji Finepix f50 in the afternoon sun with no flash, macro enabled. I edited it in GIMP 2.6 for color, light, and to add the fuzzy border.
_____________________________

Three Years Ago on In My Words...Week 42 MCP Project 52

POTD Day 23 I'm Loving

This is a piece of orgonite that my cousin made for me a few weeks ago. I put it in the window in our living room near most of the electronic equipment in the room.

I love the color green too, so it is really perfect.

My cousin started making these healing objects for herself and for others recently. You can read more about orgonite on her website at this location.
She recently got some really terrific news from her latest bone scan and I have to believe that items like this and all the other positive energy sources in her life were responsible to helping her body to heal.

I took this picture with my Fuji Finepix f50 with no flash in the morning sun. I edited it in GIMP 2.6 for color, light and then added the fuzzy border.
___________________________

Six Years Ago on In My Words...AWWA Donation Site

POTD Day 22 Morning

This is what my day involved...lots of rocks...LOL. I figured out the night before that we needed to get some rocks to fix a spot in the back and reinforce a spot in front, so after running another errand, I headed to the rock store.

This is 750 lbs of rock and 550 lbs of it had to be taken from the truck in the driveway up hill into our backyard...it was a very good workout.

The full post on the fix is located here if you want to check out the before, during and after pics.

I took this pic with my Fuji Finepix f50 with no flash. I edited it in GIMP 2.6 for color, light, and then added the fuzzy border.
_________________________

Eight Years Ago on In My Words...Project Progress

POTD Day 21 Full

So I have been on this quest recently to try to find a new body lotion that I like that uses less chemicals. My doctor told me to try to stick to "creams" over "lotions" because they have less alcohol in them, which can be drying. I have been a Jergen's Original user forever.

My issue is that I like a lotion or cream to absorb in so that when I start sweating, I don't feel slippery but at the same time, I don't get ashy skin from it being dry. A few weeks back, I took the doctors advice and bought two different "creams" to try. One from Aveeno, and one from Eucerin. Both of them were okay, but because they were fragrance free, they both smelled like oil to me, which is not really a good thing. I don't want to smell like mineral oil which is one of the main ingredient in them. I liked the Aveeno better, I could put it on once a day and it would last 24 hours, but it didn't absorb that well.

So the other day when I was at Target, I decided to give the lotion aisle another look. I found this lotion (it isn't a cream) in the natural section of the aisle and I liked the idea of raw Shea Butter and it has a great smell with things that are good for you. I have been using it for 3 days now. It is super thick so a little goes a long way, but it seems to work well, absorbs well, and the smell lingers, which I like.

Well see how it goes after the bottle is no longer full...(see I did get the word in there...LOL) and making sure it doesn't turn on me. Some fragrances on my skin will turn, this is why I normally put perfumes on my clothes unless they are essential oils.

I took this picture in our living room, with my Fuji Finepix f50, and no flash but with macro turned on. I edited it in GIMP 2.6 for color, light and to add the fuzzy border.
__________________________

Six Years Ago on In My Words...Stinky Lotion

POTD Day 20 Letter

One of our cousins is in basic training for the local Nat Guard right now.

He had a hip fracture during the beginning of training so after being home for the holidays, he went back to recover and do physical therapy. He is in the Fitness Training Unit until he heals and then he will go back to regular training.

We have been writing back and forth since he has been there since I know being cut off from family and technology is hard and letters and packages can make all the difference in the world. I have sent him one box with some puzzle books and writing supplies, but that was before the holidays.

Right now, I just try to keep the back and forth on the letters going. I got this letter a few days ago and I sent off a postcard today and will get a letter off in a day or so. I am a huge fan of snail mail so it is a lot of fun to have someone to write to.

I took this picture with my Fuji Finepix f50 with no flash, but macro turned on. I edited it in GIMP 2.6 for color and light, and to smudge out info for privacy reasons. I then added the fuzzy border.
_____________________________

Four Years Ago on In My Words...The Negative Of Facebook

POTD Day 19 Cropped

I was going to search for a picture that I had cropped well to make it into a better picture but then I remember this yummy "crop" I got at the Grower's Market. I had never had pea sprouts before and we were given a sample to try and they were really good, so I bought a bag of them.

I have used them so far in scrambled eggs and salads, and really like the flavor. If I made sandwiches at home, I am sure they would be great on those as well since I get alfalfa sprouts on my sandwiches all the time instead of lettuce.

I took this picture in our dining room with my Fuji Finepix f50 with no flash but macro turned on. I edited it in GIMP 2.6 for color, light, and then to add the fuzzy border.
_____________________________

Six Years Ago on In My Words...Flowers

POTD Day 18 Five Years Ago

This picture is of my friend's foot in tabi socks and geta sandals with her kimono at my first traditional Japanese tea ceremony.

I joined Okinawa International Women's Club (OIWC) the fall of 2008 and in March our culture group had a tea ceremony. One of our members and her mother were tea ceremony senseis and they had a tea ceremony facility connected to their home. When we did this same ceremony the following year, I had all my kimono parts and was actually able to dress in kimono for the event and it was such an honor.

I really took advantage of our time in Japan during this second opportunity we had to live there and tried to submerge myself in the culture whenever I could. OIWC was a huge part of that. I made life long friends in that group and will forever be thankful for the adventures, experiences and friends.

I took this pic in the morning with my Fuji Finepix f50 with no flash. I edited it in GIMP for color, light and to add the fuzzy border.
___________________________

Five Years Ago on In My Words...Kimono Adventure, this has pics of my kimono parts and then some images of me in it at one of our luncheons.

POTD Day 17 Today's Weather

Our weather has been pretty wonky the last few weeks. March, I think is always like that but we always forget. So we have had sun and warm days, then frosty mornings, then windy evenings, and then clouds with some rain...you never know from day to day so you have to sort of just go with the flow when it comes to the To Do list.

This morning we woke up to clouds and rain even though we really weren't supposed to get rain, just clouds. I am not complaining because we really need the rain, but it made it so that instead of yardwork, laundry ended up on the docket.

This pic is from near our house looking out over the hills nearby. You can see that the sun is shining on the bluff but behind it are some dark rainy looking clouds. The sun did come out to stay later in the day and that was nice, but we never did warm up much.

I took this pic in the morning with my Fuji Finepix f50 with no flash. I edited it in GIMP 2.6 for color, light and added the fuzzy border.
______________________________

Eight Years Ago on In My Words...Cr@p, Cr@p, Cr@p

POTD Day 16 Beautifully Ordinary

I was walking downtown getting some exercise and running a few errands and came across this little sprig of rosemary in a pot in front of a store.

I love how rosemary is so ordinary, but when its little blue flowers erupt, it is quite beautiful too. Both of the rosemary in our yard are in shadier spots so we don't always get blooms on the ones we have.

I was able to get a few pics during my trek but mostly was enjoying the warm weather, sunshine and spots of spring, springing...maybe I will be able to post more from this walk.

I took this picture in the afternoon enjoying the sun with my Fuji Finepix f50, no flash but macro enabled. I edited it in GIMP 2.6 for color, light and then added the fuzzy border.
__________________________

Last Year on In My Words...Chicken Soup

POTD Day 15 Evening

Well, I was volunteering tonight, but I don't have any pictures of that, however I did pull this off the traffic cams for the accident I was stuck in for 20 mins. If you look on the left side, you can see the backup...I was in there. I was on my way to the volunteer gig.

Never did hear on the news what happened or if the people involved were okay, but I did watch 3 state troopers, a EMS supervisor, an ambulance, and a fire truck all go down the shoulder while we were waiting, so I assume someone got hurt. I also noticed that there were three smashed up cars, and 1 Budget truck. There was also a semi truck but I don't it was anything, but a witness to the accident.

Fortunately the wait wasn't longer and I did get where I needed to be with time to spare.

I didn't take this picture, but I did edit it in GIMP 2.6 for privacy and to add the fuzzy border.
__________________________

Four Years Ago on In My Words...Car Crash (my accident in Japan)

POTD Day 14 Care

This is one way I care for our computer systems and the memories we want to keep that are stored digitally.  I highly recommend a regular back up schedule for everyone. I probably go a bit overboard on ours but since all of our backups are on mechanical drives, I feel that doubling up might be prudent.

So because I use the laptop the most and that is where I process all new images, I do the following: an auto Windows update of all the data and image files onto an external harddrive, 2 manual copies on external different harddrives of all the same files, 1 manual copy of all the images/videos on another external hardrive. I do the same thing with the PC except not as a frequently because the PC data and images are not changed much.

I used to burn DVDs for backup, but it just seemed like I was going through tons of DVDs and the externals are portable and pretty easy to use.

I took this picture as a snip of my screen while in the backup/restore area of the control panel on my laptop. I edited it in GIMP 2.6 to add the fuzzy border.
____________________________

Four Years Ago on In My Words...PC Rebuild Part Two

POTD Day 13 Fresh

I am not sure what kind of tree or bush this picture is from, but I thought the blooms were pretty.

I was in the park doing a 2 mile route that I have for exercise while running errands downtown. I stopped to take lots of pictures of all the spring blooming around.

Everything felt very fresh to me. Today the sky is cloudy again but it isn't supposed to last. We need the rain so if it were to rain, that would be nice for the vegetation and our water reservoirs.

I took this picture with my Fuji Finepix f50 in nice afternoon light. I edited it in GIMP 2.6 for color, light, and then added the fuzzy border.
___________________________

Four Years Ago on In My Words...Ikebana #2 Basic Upright

POTD Day 12 Partial

Here is a one of the hostas we have around the house, and it is already coming back up, but only partially at this point.

I love hostas, got hooked on them when we lived in WA and owned our first house...now we have two in big pots on our backyard, and we have 5 more in gallon containers that need to go in the ground on the shady side of the house. (And they all survived the winter!!).

This one hosta in particular gets some good spring sun right now so I think that is why it is higher than the others at this point.

I am excited to see some stuff sprouting already, gives me hope that the winter didn't kill everything, but it also makes me a little bit stressed because we have so much to do before it all gets out of hand...lots of weeding to do!!

I took this picture in the afternoon light on our back porch with my Fuji Finepix f50. I edited it in GIMP 2.6 for color, light and to add the fuzzy border.
_______________________________

Six Years Ago on In My Words...Repotting

POTD Day 11 Something Good

This is the second baby blanket I am making this spring. This niece is due in late spring so I started her blanket after the one I made for my niece that is due in April. She is having a boy so this blanket has more blues than the other one did (which you can see progress shots of that one here and here).

I am using a granny square stitch but instead of doing squares, I am doing rows with it. I have been varying the width of the rows to keep it fun and non-symetrical. The navy blue is the "field" color so it is in between each color (and set at 3 rows) and it is also at the top and bottom and will be the color that I border the entire thing with.

I really love how this one is coming out...super fun (once you get past the first starting rows) and fast. I might be making one of the same stitch but different colors for my sister soon.

I took this picture in our living room with my Fuji Finepix f50 with the macro enabled but no flash. I edited it in GIMP 2.6 for color, light and then added the fuzzy border.
_______________________________

Nine Years Ago on In My Words...Sharp Items