Just a Quote for Friday

This is my nephew {Stone} at his swim lessons, but this is not my photo.

"Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Looking Up, Looking Down - In Our Backyard

Today I join in with blog friends from around our planet and link to Helena

for her Looking Up / Looking Down series.

♥

Sitting on our patio, looking up at our sun-faded red umbrella and the tallest eucalyptus tree in the world neighborhood. Gosh, I wish somehow I could capture how tall that thing is! And messy. And shady.

And looking down at a goofy little dog who proves that there's truth behind the phrase "a face only a mother could love." Haha. But what a sweet and happy and funny little dog he is. And a great friend too.

Is it any wonder why we love hanging out in our backyard?

Happy Thursday, everyone!

♥

Hummingbird Cake ~ It's a Keeper!

Me: "I'm trying a new recipe this weekend, Doug. It's called hummingbird cake."
Doug: {looking a little shocked} "Hummingbird cake!?"
Me: "Yeah, but don't worry, dear. I'll chop 'em up really little..."

♥

Last week, for the first time in my life, I heard about hummingbird cake. And then, I heard about it again on my friend Karen's blog - that was twice in one week!

 

{word art is from A Beautiful Mess photo app}

I had pinned the first cake I saw. It was a recipe from Bakerella and after reading through it I thought it sounded a lot like carrot cake, but with bananas, pineapple, and toasted pecans instead.

There were some ripe bananas left in my work kitchen at the end of last week, so those came home with me and made their way into hummingbird {cup}cakes to be brought back to work on Monday morning.

This is random, but I loved that the bananas in this recipe were chopped as opposed to mashed like you do for banana bread. Not only did they look better, but it gave the batter a little more chunk.

 

 

This cake recipe was a big hit {at home and at the office!},

and the frosting was really yummy too.

This one will be made again someday, for sure.
So, what about you?
Have you ever had hummingbird cake?

♥

Painted Rocks ~ Camping Craft

 

 

 

Rocks, acrylic paint, brushes, magazines, a pair of scissors, and mod podge.

It's how we roll at camp.

♥

This Weekend, In My Craft Room

Greetings, blog friends.

♥

 

Friday night at dinner, I told Doug, "Tomorrow I'm doing nothing but art. All.Day.Long."

 

"Good for you," he answered {knowing he'd be playing in a golf tournament most of the day and I would be home and happy in my craft room}.

 

 

I had a mental list of the things I wanted to make over the weekend, but first I needed to get my craft space organized before I could begin. Well, one thing led to another and instead of creating art all day on Saturday, I proceeded to clean out my craft room closet instead.

 

I really should have taken some before and after photos of the closet, but in my defense I really hadn't planned to completely empty, sort, purge, and re-arrange the items in there - I was supposed to be creating something! By the time I realized where my day was going, I was knee deep in it, my camera was buried and I was on a roll. No time for photo taking...until later.

I ended up with a full box to donate {and/or swap}, another box of garbage/recycle, a small stack that I think Carrie will want, and a nice and tidy craft room closet {all except for the very top shelf  because I ran out of steam}.

And although I didn't necessarily create something tangible, my day was spent surrounded by my stuff. All those things I've been collecting to use on a project someday. All those things that inspire me and call to me. I loved every minute of Saturday.

So many tools...so little time...

There's something about being freshly organized that's so inspiring. Later, I found myself standing in my craft room, just soaking it all in and enjoying the sights. That's when all these photos happened - in the afterglow of ~sigh~ "The closet is organized and I'm so inspired but now I don't want to make a mess..."

 

So I took a bunch of photos of shelf space and called it a day.

 

{cross stitch piece made by a dear old friend of mine...squirrel belonged to the mom of another great friend...} 

 

And on Sunday? We mostly took it easy around here, and I made cupcakes to take to work today.

 

It was a lovely weekend, friends.

Simply lovely.

♥

Just a Quote for Friday ~ The Challenge

We interrupt our regularly scheduled "Just a Quote for Friday"
to bring you this photo...and a challenge.

This is one of those photos that I knew I was going to like as soon as I snapped it. I love this red umbrella that lives on our patio and shades Doug and I in the early evenings as we enjoy an after-work beverage and talk about our day. Perhaps I love the photo more because of what the umbrella symbolizes to me.

I've been doing "Just a Quote for Friday" on my blog for over three years now {wow, right?}. Occasionally I get comments from readers asking where I find all those quotes. Well, in the beginning I pulled them from a little book of quotes that I'd collected over the years, and I would just randomly match the quote with a photo I wanted to share. When I ran out of those quotes, I started searching the Internet for quotes that either a) fit the photo I wanted to share, or b) didn't necessarily fit the photo but really spoke to me in terms of what I was going through at the time.

Now, about that challenge. When I uploaded this photo my very first thought was that if I was Cheri or Helena I would pull that baby into Photoshop and slam some filters and pretty finishes on it - change it up a bit and take it from a basic red umbrella photo and turn into a work of art. It's screaming for something more...

So, I was wondering if anyone would like to do just that. Take my photo, play with it, put a quote with it, and join me for a link up "Just a Quote for Friday" on May 31.

If you'd like to join in, email me at paperturtle{at}cox{dot}net and I will send you the original, unedited photo. Feel free to modify the photo in anyway you'd like and then find a quote or words that speak to you and post it on your blog {or Facebook for my FB friends} on Friday, May 31.

I would love to see a few different versions of this photo, as well as

reading the different words that others feel compelled to put with it.

What do you think?

Would you like to play along?

♥

On Making a Teardrop Trailer

There's something really cool about the process of putting something together - of having an idea in your head and thinking and planning about it long enough that the thoughts come together to create something that turns out to be just like you imagined it. I've had the experience myself on a small scale - making quilts or mini-books requires some forethought and planning about the order of things and how the whole thing will look when it's done.

Today I want to share the story of my brother-in-law Michael's teardrop trailer.

Doug's brother, Michael, is a carpenter by trade. He's a smart and creative guy, and he's been known to design and build a few things over the years that require that creative thought process - planning and figuring out what needs to be done to reach the end goal.

An avid hunter and camper, Michael decided a few years ago that he'd build his own teardrop trailer. He spent hours searching through information on teardrop trailers - how they were made, specs on measurements, designs that worked well or didn't work so well, wiring, molding, making the thing... And he took all those bits of information and worked them over in his mind and then he made his own teardrop trailer!

Last month was the first time Michael's trailer was brought along on a family camping trip. The trailer holds a queen-sized mattress, and Michael and his wife {my SIL, Janet} enjoyed a cozy night's sleep inside while the rest of us slept in tents.

The back of the trailer is designed to open up, creating a counter top for a cook stove if needed, and also some handy storage in the rear. Michael made his own curtains too, and the trailer has all kinds of handy little features - vents, windows, storage spaces, and even solar powered lights.

I can only imagine what a sense of pride and accomplishment Michael feels when he looks at this trailer. And he should! We're all pretty proud of him too.

How wonderful to have an idea, think it through, and make it happen.

Do you know someone who can do this?

And I don't mean build a trailer!

Michael's the only one I know who can do that. ;o)

♥