Blueberries, TJ's shopping and Pedi Day...

This mornings tweet was for me to pick blueberries, shop at TJs (Trader Joe's) and then get a well deserved pedicure... Well, all of this DID happen plus running other misc errands.

I picked 4 quarts of blueberries in 40 minutes when the humidity got the best of me so I decided that was enough picking. I brought the blueberries home so that they wouldn't bake in the trunk then ventured out again.

While heading to TJ's I remembered that a wine I liked was on sale so took a small detour to buy a case of Tohu's, Sauvignon Blanc at a great price. I followed a wave of people getting their last liquor purchases done before the new MA alcohol sales tax starts on Saturday. While at the liquor store, I noticed that Leinenkugel beer was also at a great price. Knowing that this is one of David's favorites, I called and asked if he wanted me to get some -he asked me to buy as much as I could fit in the car.... so I bought 6 cases of the Classic Amber and was still able to squeeze my single case of wine in the trunk in between my two pair of golf shoes, umbrella and misc golf attire that's typically in my trunk.

Trader Joe's was my next stop and as usual, bought more than planned and stuffed the bags in the back seats and headed home.

Next on my "list" pedicure. It's been quite a while since I've had a pedicure and a longer while since I've had a pedicure locally (last summer I had my pedi in Beacon Hill while visiting the kids). I started looking at reviews online of local spa's, nail salons and wasn't feeling great about going to any of them. I emailed and called a few friends for advice and by the time I was off of the phone it was 4pm and I really didn't want to venture out and possibly deal with rush hour traffic.

It's now 6:30pm and I'm happy to report that I did indeed get a pedicure and discovered a way to make a good pedicure great by pouring myself a nice glass of wine while giving myself a good pedicure... The money saved with my do it yourself pedi paid for 1/2 case of the wine that I got today.

Ahhhhh - another great day - CHEERS!!!

Sunday - stayed cool indoors

Since I'm so sun sensitive and dealing with heat rash on my back , I primarily stayed indoors and worked on my elephant sculpture (see louiegirl fiberarts blog).


I did take time to cut some of my "guaranteed to stay pink" hydrangea - yes they are purple (which I love).


I also made some yummy eggplant parmesan (oven grilled unbreaded eggplant) for dinner, and snapped some interesting cloud formations above the house.

...another great day!

Rainy Day...

Time to work on the little man that rides the elephant!


The elephant guide is on the left - the rider is on the right. See my Fiberarts blog for details of this project.

More Berry Picking...

Jose and I went berry picking yesterday and I picked 4 quarts of blueberries and a pint of raspberries. I froze 2 quarts of the blues (now have 3 bags and need 8 more to get me through the year) and made a batch of Chef Jason Bentley scones and a raspberry/blueberry tart. I wanted to share these with the family so drove to Moxie Wellesley to deliver my basket of goodies. Hopefully AJ will try the scones - I'm sure that Alex, Gianni and Karen will enjoy them!

Debating on picking more berries today. Still have to make another batch of scones for the freezer too!

Bastille Day

We went Chloe's Bistro in Hudson, MA to celebrate Bastille Day with Dan and Debbie. We had a great meal (although the service could have been better).



Our appetizers were fantastic -



ooops - no pix of our entree

The dessert was yummy too!

Imagine my surprise...

As I was walking back from the mailbox, I glanced at the water logged peonies and was startled by the following...











I guess that they were water logged too and heard that the sun was going to shine today!!!

Great Vermont Views...

We played at Okemo Golf in Ludlow VT on Friday. I had a lousy round but captured some neat pix

Fiery Sunrise in the Horizon

While walking by the front door I saw the beautiful sunrise and had to rush for the camera... I could feel the heat starting up for the day - today we're supposed to hit 85. I'm not quite ready for the heatwaves. Tomorrow cool then Tuesday another scorcher!!! Crazy weather in New England - so what's new!

Full moon

The beautiful full moon sets in the west at 5:10am...

(I've been awake since 3:26am)

Go Red for Women!!

In recognition of "National Heart Health Awareness Day", I will be wearing red today (in fact, I've been wearing a red robe since 3:16am).

The needle felt mini hands and heart titled "I give my heart to you - A Grandmother's love for her Grandchild" was created for the “Art from the Heart of Bolton" display at the Nashoba Valley Winery. Members of the Bolton Artisans Guild created "heart" pieces for this special wine and chocolate reception on Feb 8, 2009 from 3:30 - 5:00pm

2:17am and all is well??

Well it looks like the Prednisone side effects are winning... INSOMNIA is a common side effect of the medication, and I'm one of the lucky ones whose asthma responds to the prednisone at the cost of sleep. One of the advantages of not sleeping is that I get to read about the possible other side effects.

• "My brain won't shut up" I can relate to this when I wake after 3-4 hours sleep
  
• Mood swings (my moods are always swinging, with or without the drug)
• Moon face (my greatest nightmare) so far it's just a little puffy
• Weight gain (I have a temporary excuse for my added pounds)
• Hungry horrors (loved the 1/2 package of sugar wafers at 10pm last night)
• Blurry vision (as long as it's temporary and doesn't hurt my laser vision)

A couple of weeks to go before I finish my dose. Good news is that while I'm in Vegas, I'll have something to do in the wee hours when the Moxie girls are sleeping - cha ching, cha ching!


On a happier note! Today's fiber adventure, a "felted stone rug" made of felted wool balls sewn together. I'm going to attempt to make one so I'll be making wool balls for a while (it takes >200 of them) or I might just make a mini rug for Doodle's dolls.

Another 4am wake up

This is becoming old really fast - I woke up at 4am again today. I started thinking about blogging - how crazy is that. So here I am at my pc wondering what creative work I can accomplish today. I can continue with the restaurant rendering or start another project. Knowing me, I'll be starting one or two different projects today - it's hard for me to stick to one thing - I'd rather work on several for variety.

I also want to work on my scarf and finish the color patterns piece so that I can work on the solid cabling and bubble stitches. This is the scarf in progress...

Do I want to blog?

Blogging takes time and commitment, neither of which I have much of these days.... It's a great way to share information and photos with friends and family, so I will "try my best" (that's Frances' background voice).