This map shows the heat indices from late afternoon today. Earlier we registered a heat index of 116 degrees here in Minneapolis.
Heading out for a dip in the pool. Thank goodness our back yard has a southern exposure and the house blocks the evening sun.
Isn't she just too cute for words?? ♥
SO happy that when we wake up tomorrow . . . it'll be March.
Spring will be here before we know it. And I for one, cannot wait. My thoughts are quickly turning to flowers, flowers and more flowers. In the meantime, here is a sweet daisy pendant to keep me happy. Set in pewter behind a crystal clear hand-cut glass dome. Ahhhh . . .
Think I'll take a little time this week to plan some new garden beds in our backyard :)
Well, this recent round of snow certainly is beautiful, but I'm pretty much sick of it.
Minneapolis broke records in December (greatest monthly snowfall on record) and this month (greatest one day total) and we're looking at a third place finish for greatest monthly totals for February, as well. And winter isn't done with us yet since March is historically the snowiest month. Ugh.
Just hoping our spruce trees are okay - look at the heavy blanket of snow on the limbs. (I'm not even going to mention the sadness I feel when spying all the snow on our diving board.)
On a brighter note, tickets have been booked to fly to Florida in 6 weeks, so no matter what things look like here in April, I'll be enjoying temps in the 80s before long. Sweet.
They say the valleys make the peaks that much more glorious. I'm thinking Spring and Summer are going to be mighty fine this year!
Yes, I'm finally back to painting! It's been a while. Between recovering from all the house issues and then our middle daughter needing major surgery in December, I had to step away from the blog for a bit.
The good news is our daughter is now doing just fine and I'm back, and with some new art. Hoping this is just the tip of the iceberg . . . more paintings to come soon!
Here is what these little guys looked like yesterday, while they were still a 'work in progress'
And you can see a peek of some of the Easter images I'll be working on (in the photo on the left). In addition to the Mini Notes, all images will eventually be available as Gift Tags, Pocket Mirrors, Magnets and most likely as Note Cards, as well.
Hope you're enjoying 2011 so far, it's been such a whirlwind I'm kind of shocked to find tomorrow is February already!
Heather!
Congrats on winnin g the Boxed sets of A Dozen Art Cards, in my Etsy Sh op!
And a big thanks to everyone who left comments, and visited Bee's Buzzings.
Things have been quite busy in the shop, and also at home. So plans are to take a break from Etsy from December 13 through the end of the year to enjoy the festivites with family and friends. I'm hoping to get some painting time in around New Year's and plan to have some new Art Prints, Pendants and some other new items listed when the shop re-opens in January. Will be posting previews here, as time allows, so check back towards the end of the year.
In the meantime, I'll be sharing some more house photos from the demolition, construction and final results of our house and also some Holiday decorating (including more Shiny Brite ornaments!) between now and the end of the month.
Again, congrats to Heather and hope you all are having a great week.
In about 6 weeks (maybe sooner) this sight will no longer thrill me. But for now, this Winter Wonderland looks inviting, yet pristine. * Enjoy *
p.s. will be selecting the winner for the Free Box of Note Cards tomorrow evening (i.e. still time to leave comments on any and all blog posts, each for an automatic entry).
There's one really big upside about living in five different brand new homes over the past eighteen
years. They'd all had great kitchens. Usually with some solid surface counters, hardwood flooring . . . and pantries. NICE pantries. But there was something I'd learned from living in so many places, and cooking in so many kitchens. Surprisingly, I do not prefer walk-in pantries.
In our last house, we specifically designed the kitchen with a wall of very shallow 12" cabinets, and several narrow, roll out drawers where the cabinets required a depth of 24". You don't lose food this way, and there's very little 'pull these items out to get at that' going on.
So here we are, in my first house bought as a resale. A house I love. A yard I love. A neighborhood I love. But a kitchen, that while awesome in layout, will be seeing a lot of updates in the next few years. First stop: The Pantry. As you can see from the above photo, the stationary shelves made this 24" deep pantry almost a waste of space. I kid you not when I say we lived out of a lot of grocery sacks scattered around the perimeter of the dining area, at least until the new roll-out shelves were installed.
(click photo to enlarge)
And I knew exactly who to call - I'd worked with many master craftsmen in my previous life as a Selections Coordinator at a custom home builder. Marty Erlien (reachable at (612) 644-9007 if you're in the Minneapolis area) came out, measured, talked about spacing requirements, and his assistant returned a few weeks later to retrofit the cabinet and install some custom made shelving. As you can see - it's a perfect solution. Amazing what these guys (and some full extension glides) can do to make a space SO much more functional. It's now finally fully utilized and a pleasure to use every time we open the pantry doors. I'm loving it!
If you like this, just wait until you see what they did for the new tub in our remodeled bathroom!
p.s. don't forget about the free Box of 12 Note Cards giveaway, just leave a comment to automatically be entered. Just a few more days until a winner is drawn at random.
Jim and I are using the same furniture we had in our last house, but have managed to infuse this home with different backdrop colors and accents. Getting away from deep burgundy and sage greens walls, we now have buttery yellows to brighten our days. And with the purchase of our new dining area rug, we have many more colors to use in our future decorating - for chair covers, additional pillows, and other fun accents.
This rug is one of my favorite things. It never fails to make me smile. I think that's what decorating should be all about. The two pillows help pull the palette together. And the coffee mug? When our french exchange students were out for a visit, we did "paint your own pottery" and I couldn't resist doing up a mug in the same vein to add even more smiles to my day.
Just a few of my favorite things.
p.s. all comments this week receive an entry in the Giveaway!
Boxed sets of A Dozen Art Cards, in my Etsy shop. This is a pre-selected mix, but if there are some designs in the shop you would prefer, simply select your own set of 12 notes for the same price. A great gift idea for a teacher, relative or friend. These boxed sets also make excellent hostess gifts. Before designing my own note cards, I always had a stash of assorted notes on hand for last minute emergencies.
Have a favorite design? I'd love to hear it. And this week we will have a giveaway contest - one person selected randomly from comments left on ANY blog post this week will receive a FREE boxed set. Announcement next weekend. Love knowing what designs people like - so please share.
And a special holiday gift to all readers - here is a Coupon Code to use during Etsy checkout for 20% off your BeeDazzles shop order (CODE is "Holiday20") and is good through December 5.
Hope your holidays are bright!
Bee
