Author Archives: Dianne

About Dianne

Domestic goddess, wife, mom, gardener, paper and collage artist, geocacher, local traveler, cross stitcher, baker, crafter, Facebooker, blogger, decorator and photographer.

Apr5

Flower Girl ATCs

Posted on Thursday, April 5, 2012 by Dianne

Standard

I’ve been enjoying making ATCs for swap-bot.com as many of my Flickr art groups are no longer trading. I am doing a flower series, though I missed a few at the beginning of the swap. I just sent off ‘Iris’-2 different ones to 2 different people. The next one is Daffodils.
So I was thinking how girls have flower names and thought an ATC series was in order. I can think of a few more and will make them too. I have to make Iris again, since she was traded. I think they look cute. I realize I used ‘was’ instead of ‘is’ as these are ephemera and I’m looking as them as in the past.
I’m taking an antibiotic for the root canal I had on Friday. I had a bit of a sore throat yesterday morning, but am sneezing and blowing my nose a lot, so thinking the allergies are acting up. I wish we would get some good rain to clean up the air! I see where a sore throat may be from the antibiotic too.
I took my mom to the eye doctor on Tuesday as she was getting the shot in her good left eye and she said it took until the next day to clear up. We went to a diner and I had the best turkey BLT salad. I’m doing the MyFitnessPal again as I’m not happy with my weight and how I look and feel. Too much sugar! I hope to get walking more. I signed up at Walgreen’s to monitor my walking. It’s something I enjoy doing on a regular basis. Also took mom to Trader Joe’s. Love getting their goodies.

Apr2

Seeing one of my favorite artists

Posted on Monday, April 2, 2012 by Dianne

Standard

There’s a special exhibit going on down at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It’s one I didn’t think I’d get to see like so many I thought I’d go to and then the show was over and moved on. Well, I said to Brian, this would make an awesome 28th anniversary gift if we could go in the first Sunday of the month when it’s pay what you want (seriously?-just say it’s free, we are buying food and gift shop items). But, it did cost admission to see the Van Gogh exhibit. And lookie here:

We weren’t allowed to take photos in the actual exhibit, but I saw people using their phones and the guards didn’t say anything. It was amazing to see one of the Sunflower paintings and the Flowering Almond branch he did for his namesake nephew when he was born. He applied the paint so thickly on many of his pieces making them very dimensional. He died at a young age of about 38.

We did go through the European artists and we also saw some local artists from Bucks County, PA. in another gallery. We were allowed to photograph these without flashes.

Mary S. Cassatt was born in Philadelphia, but lived in Paris. She loved to paint mainly women and children.

Family Group Reading

Woman with Pearl Necklace in a Loge
Have you ever seen a Picasso like this? So beautiful!

One of my favorites was by Perrier called Evening in Spain

And Brian checking out some local artists from Bucks County, PA

When we left the Van Gogh exhibit, we went across the street to check out a meandering park near the old Waterworks for the Schuylkill River. When I went to junior college, my friends and I went to a few St. Joseph University’s frat parties on boat house row there on the right.

The Water works building is a swanky restaurant now!

The city! I grew up only about 11 miles from here!

Happy to pose outside. We forgot to go see the Rocky statue. The stairs that he ran up were on the other side from where we were.

Yes, I bought some souvenirs, 3 of those lovely bags were only $1 each. I got a double light switch cover of ‘Starry Nights’ (I had seen that painting up in NYC in Feb. ) I got my mom some pens-she collects them. I hope we can come here again in the future, but not through the neighborhoods where the GPS told us to go. These little daytrips do us the world of good!

Mar30

Photo Hunt-Fresh

Posted on Friday, March 30, 2012 by Dianne

Standard

Bunch of Fresh Rosemary, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

I love to grow fresh herbs. Not sure if these are out of my herb patch, but they surely could be. I do try and grow Rosemary every year. This year I see Fennel already sprouting. I have Catnip in a pot (for many years) for Cosmo, but he likes it dried.

Mar29

Bunny invasion!

Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2012 by Dianne

Standard

I decided it was time to dig through the oodles of Easter stuff I have and get some decorating (and cleaning done). I got about half way done in the living room before my back started to complain. It’s been annoying off and on since I worked at the store. So these are close-ups and taken with the phone. More to follow. I really need to do more tidying around the house. Did I mention my teeth/gums are still bothering me too? Poor Brian wanted to squeeze in the dental insurance before the 31st and had 6 fillings yesterday. I went with him and the dentist said it appeared that just my gums were inflamed and by the way, since you are here, let’s do a filling-oy. We were there 2 hours. Tomorrow I go to the GP to get a BP check and I should really mention my back, but we won’t have coverage after the 31st until we find some.

I just got the Easter Snowbabies in Maryland at an antique store

Mar27

Maryland’s Northern shores

Posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2012 by Dianne

Standard

Blog post 3,330!!

I just had Sean help me with the title of my post. He said that the Ocean City area is on the eastern shores.

Saturday we went downstairs at the inn to a nice quiche, fresh fruit and strained tea (I had to pick out tea and use a tea strainer-they sell a lot of it there at the inn) breakfast and headed to the town of Elkton. There wasn’t much going on, but we found a cute wedding chapel there to admire from the outside. Elkton was famous for being the place on the east coast where you could get married without a waiting period. My maternal grandparents Alan and Ruth got married there in 1921 at the ages of 20 and 18. My sister-in-law’s mom and dad got married there. I thought for sure we had found the chapel were my grandparents got married. When I got home I read the historic marker in my photo and the entire Main Street was dotted with chapels! So if they got married here, it was a hit or miss thing.

I would have liked to see the Cecil County Historic Society, but we found out they are open only one Saturday a month and we missed it. There were ‘corner stones’ in the side yard, so I’m thinking they were just saved from demolitions and put here.

I’m not surprised by this:

This was interesting too:

I bought a lovely handmade purple beaded necklace with an ‘silver’ loop that had an Irish saying on it from a shop in Elkton to remember that I visited here and that I just found out how Irish I was with my DNA test!

“May you always have walls for the winds, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you, and all your heart might desire.”
– Irish Blessing

Our next stop was Chesapeake City where we grabbed a bite in a place called The Bohemia Cafe. The area use to be called that and I’m pretty sure my Mom-mom Ruth’s 1st cousin had a house in the general area. I loved this little area! The homes were so quaint. The vision of the steel bridge over their roof mixed old with new.

This was a gift shop, but they kept the original store’s wording.

This use to be the town bank-another gift shop! The boats can dock and come to town and shop a bit.

Easter is near!

The lady in the above ‘bank’ shop said North East was a nice little town, so we headed down to there. I didn’t take photos here. We went in a few shops and a really neat antique place-it sold other things too, like some Phillies baseball t-shirts that I had picked out of a case and the lady forgot to ring them up! I got a clear glass Easter egg that is etched with violets for mom, a trio of Snowbaby Bunnies and a water pitcher. We’ll have to ride down in a few weeks to actually buy the shirts.
Our next stop was Port Deposit, a little town right up smack up to the Susquehanna River. We didn’t see the restaurant we were looking for, but again, it’s not that far and we can drive down some other time. The restaurant was a Colonial style one.
It was raining, but I at least got a shot of the town clock!

They had terrible flooding there last summer and you can tell that they are still recovering. We did notice some newer townhouses right on the river. Guess they were built to withstand flooding.
We headed down the road, less than a mile to the Hollywood Casino. We had driven by here several times and we thought we’d try our luck with $20 and leave. There were 1 and 2 cent machines-you put $1 in and it gave you 90 bids with one push of the button. We never came close to winning, so we left, true to our promise, about 1/2 hour later.
I had a $20 postcard gift card I had gotten in the mail for a place in Newark, DE. You had to go on your birthday, so we went there and I guess we broke even doing that! We had pasta dishes and I had their trademark gelato. You know when things ‘bug’ you about a place and you just need to complain? Well they had coarse pepper in a shaker with little holes-we unscrewed the lid to get to the pepper. I told the waitress. Then at the end of the meal, I used the restroom and there was a squooshed roach on the floor. Our waitress happen to be going by and I pointed it out. She went in and got it up with a piece of tissue! Hope she washed her hands. I guess she was told to watch for them? She was a bit snooty with me saying we’ll take care of that and the pepper shaker. She had just gotten a good tip on the full cost of the meal, not with the $20 taken off! It was a pretty place and the manager ran out and put more quarters in the meter for us. Too bad I had to see the last thing. We walked around this town. Sean goes here to a few bars once in a while. I found a bookstore and got a few good reads for $5. We headed back to the hotel and they had a small wedding reception going on in the conservatory. They were singing a bit and having fun, but not enough to really bother us.
On Sunday we headed home a little before 11 am and went to church. It was great to go away with the birthday boy. I love to learn about towns and see their historic homes and museums. I hope to keep venturing further away in all directions in the future.

Mar25

Weekend in Maryland

Posted on Sunday, March 25, 2012 by Dianne

Standard

Lovely king size bed in our room, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

It was nice to get away with the birthday boy from Friday afternoon until Sunday. Just look at this lovely room. I have more photos to share and will do so. This was called ‘The Philadelphia Room’ (pretty funny-we can’t seem to not get something related to where we live). The ‘water closet’ is through those doors there.

Last August, a Livingsocial.com deal came in the email for the Elk Forge Bed and Breakfast in Elkton, MD. Though not far away, under 20 miles, I thought it would make a great birthday getaway for me. As you may have remembered, Brian was sick with pneumonia and I cancelled it the day we were suppose to check in. I had to use the deal soon, so we went for his birthday this past Friday. Here is the birthday boy under the lovely Magnolia next to the inn. The warm weather was making it fall.

What a lovely place! The original is from the late 1700s and they added on, so they have 14 rooms now.

The ‘back’ of it is really pretty, we didn’t venture around to take a shot-this is from their website:

Our room was spacious and relaxing. Only two complaints-the big window behind the fireplace was back lit all night as there are steps right in that area. They need to camouflage that with something. The water was scalding hot and I did burn the toe I dipped in the tub!

Pretty mural in the dining room

Lovely conservatory

Dove couple-they had a baby!

Sweet common area near our room

Down the hallway

We left this on all night-it threw out heat too!

It surely was the Philadelphia room!

Pretty front door

Gnarly tree out back

Our trip to different Maryland towns tomorrow!

Mar22

Spring has sprung, but it’s like summer too!

Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2012 by Dianne

Standard

I’ve heard that my pals up in Canada and Michigan and getting nice 70 degree temps like we are down here in Pennsylvania! Tomorrow it will hover around 80! We haven’t had much rain lately and the ground is cracking. I had a circle of daffodils out where we planted the tomatoes and zucchinis and I guess us working the earth made them bloom ever so nicely this year. They look like this:

The forsythia are blooming and my PT looks pretty near them. Brian gave her a wash for me this week.

My friend Rachel had a little girl on the 15th of this month and I sent her a few gifts. I couldn’t believe I found an outfit that had a cross stitched bear on it! We met through cross stitching! I said I’d give her one of my passes if she wants to bring her two year old son and newborn for a walk in Longwood sometime. She lives closer to Philly, but to the north more.

Brian and I are off for our trip tomorrow afternoon. It’s about 25 miles or so, but a B&B. I have plans to see a few little towns and there is a casino not that far away. We’ll keep busy! I have to wrap up his gifts after I get off from here. I have only a few, but one was a little pricier than the others. He should like the main gift (from Sean and me). Speaking of Sean, he did Turbo Tax and got his refund in less than a week! How lucky is that? We probably won’t get a refund, but we hope to use the program also.

And to live up to my blog name, the person I sent the poppy ATC scanned it when it got to The Netherlands as I forgot:

Mar19

Sparked a memory

Posted on Monday, March 19, 2012 by Dianne

Standard

What I really love about the iPad more than the games, are the info apps with articles from topics of your choosing. The app ‘Zite’ is one I enjoy reading. I have the ‘Film and TV’ section and there were candid photos of old time Hollywood celebrities and their directors. I guess before I was even 10, I thought the movies showed us how people really lived, like in ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business’-singing and dancing their way through life and everything was peachy keen in the end. And if the movie was in black and white, it had to be real, right? (Thinking home movies were mostly b&w). I mentioned There’s ‘No Business…’ as one summer way before VCRs, Blue ray and on-demand, we had to watch tv and watch the movie when it came on. That movie was shown once a day at say 1 pm for at least a week. My brother Don must have watched it almost every day. It was either too hot or rainy and I remember Ethel Merman singing her heart out.

Anyway, seeing all the old photos like this also sparked another memory for me (Here’s the site with more photos):

They say it’s very unusual to see Joan and Bette smiling so broadly, especially in a movie where Bette is playing a kook.

The game we played constantly off and on for many months called ‘Movie Moguls’

This is not our game, it may be long gone. You were to collect the stars from the different movies on the board-it was like Monopoly. I remember playing it at night down in Wildwood, NJ when my mom and grandmom went to play bingo! My mom always enjoyed movies and celebrities, so I guess it rubbed off on us. We were probably 13 and 14 when we enjoyed this game.

It’s based on 20 movie productions. Players take turns moving around the board and have the option to buy various productions of older movies like Casablanca, High Noon, or A Streetcar Named Desire. There are title cards to represent ownership, with a list of three actors on them. If someone lands on your production they pay “studio fees”. The amount is dependant on the number of stars you’ve collected and any awards you’ve collected.

There are several ways to acquire stars. The cards are nice with b&w photos of actors such as Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, and 58 others. Once you’ve completed the production, you are eligible to receive rewards and there are several ways to get those. There are also Production & Publicity cards much like chance and community chest in Monopoly. Bankruptcies occur if you have to pay more than you have. The short games last about an hour and there are three variations.

Regular game is two to three hours. Reviewed by Rex Reed for a finishing touch.

The above description is from Gameboardgeek.com found at the Monopoly link above.

Mar18

Hitting the road

Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2012 by Dianne

Standard

It’s fun to get in the car and drive about 40 or so miles for a day trip. Sometimes we stop off at places on a whim. Like just last week, Sean and I headed up to Lancaster and turned down a road that lead through the towns of Intercourse and Bird-In-Hand PA. The first place we saw was ‘The Old Candle Barn’ in Intercourse, so we stopped. I had fun looking around and bought a few little things. I saw a button bunny design and would like to replicate it.

They wanted $35 for this. I just won 100 buttons from an eBay action for $5, so I think I can make my own.

We went to the Old Candle Barn’s sister store called ‘The Gathering’ where I got my mom a couple of red granite ware metal plates that have 3 divided sections. She has a red kitchen (my brother painted it this color). The lady there couldn’t believe Sean was my son which was flattering. : )

We took a walk up the road and I took a few photos.

This is a neat grocery store with it’s neon ‘meat’ sign and phone booth you sure don’t see much of anymore.

This gorgeous Magnolia was blooming. Pretty sure it’s a month early.

We didn’t go in here, seems many stores weren’t open

Hmmm…the ‘Edged Weaponry Museum’-must have been lots of swords. Built in 1918.

We got in the car and just a few blocks away were many more people and more shopping. I saw the general store and remembered the scene from ‘Witness’ where Harrison Ford slugged the ‘English’ guy for making fun of the Amish. Someone said he was a ‘cousin from Ohio’. Sean was driving and whizzed on by.
There seems to be more restaurants in Bird-in-Hand. Sean said we can drive down that way again some other time.
Today, Brian and I went up to Oaks, PA to the Pennsylvania Expo center. It’s about 38 miles away. We stopped for a bite at McDonald’s and went on up to the Sugarloaf Craft Festival. We had gone up in November and I thought it would be a nice change of scenery and something not too expensive to do. I had coupons to save us a few bucks off the admission price. There were many of the same vendors and it was fun to check out what people make and sell. I saw lots of photos for sale-gorgeous, but since they were framed, very pricey.
I got this as it’s very rare to find my name spelled correctly. I may borrow this idea for my etsy shop, but with my own twist. The people loved this seller as these mounted piece were only $10. I will make a pretty frame for it.

We spent the most $ in a candy booth! They had like 3 for $10 bags of stuff. I got my mom some Black Jack gum she likes there. Then I bought some small tubes of hand lotion-coconut and lime I think.

We were here about an hour. On the way home we were about to drive past the Valley Forge National Park. Brian turned in and we went to the visitor center and saw some neat things like long swords (hmmm…more edged weaponry-lol) and fossils they found in the park from prehistoric animals. The daffodils out front were all in bloom-pretty!

I guess George Washington slept here?? LOL Administration building

We then headed to a Big Lots and bought some food items and then headed to a grocery store to get meat for dinner. All in all a good distracting day for Brian. Tomorrow he will call the main office to find out about insurance and a 401k he had with the company.

Mar17

Happy St. Paddy’s day!

Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2012 by Dianne

Standard

As many of you know, I got my DNA test done and Irish came in second! I am still wrapping my head around that one! So as a ‘newly’ found out Irish lass, I wish you a great green day! ~~I’ll be adding the corned beef to the crock pot shortly!~~

Here I am in my green outfit I wore to Lancaster on a little trip with Sean. The flower is a vintage one from the shop in NYC. I need to make a proper clip out of it.

Which turned out to be probably my last shopping trip for a while, Sean and I went up to Lancaster and we stopped in Intercourse, PA at ‘The Old Candle Barn’. This was a display in one of the rooms which I fell in love with. I am going to try and replicate this a bit (heck I probably have most of the things in this photo, I bought the trio mini vase set but in clear-like $8).

Brian and I are going down to Maryland next weekend. Remember the trip we were suppose to take last November for my birthday? It’s all paid for and we had to use it by next month, so we are going. We get our breakfast, so will have to do a few meals. I am happy to take photos, I don’t have to go to town buying things. He is getting a pretty cool gift I bought last Saturday at Big Lots. I think he will enjoy it as it wasn’t expensive.