Jeans

Blog Prompt - Today is Levi Strauss' birthday. Do you wear jeans a lot or do you have a hard time finding that perfect pair of jeans. If you have found the perfect jeans, pass on the brand name!!

Since I retired, I live in my jeans. I love blue jeans because they are so comfortable. I can wear them with my heels, clogs, tennis shoes, sandals, or flip flops. I can tuck my shirts in or wear them outside. I can put on a sweater or blazer with them. They are so versatile that I can’t imagine wearing much else. I don’t wear a brand name because they are usually more than I want to pay for a pair of jeans and they don’t usually fit me like I want. Many of them are too long or too tight or too ugly on my body. But the best ones I’ve found have been the ones I get at Wal-Mart. They are the right price and the right size for me so I’m happy.

Original image: 'the blues'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/71815015@N00/2824472748 by: Susanne Koch

Carnivals

Blog Prompt - Today is Carnival Day. Do you love or hate to go to carnivals?

I love carnivals! Of course I didn’t go to them until after I was married and had children. I am fascinated by all the lights and the excitement in the air. I love the smells of all the different foods as their aromas drift by my nose. I love the laughter in the air from all the children who are also thrilled with all the sights and sounds. I love to hear the booth operators calling to people passing by in order to entice them to visit their booths. I love the sound of the bell as young men hit a spot with a hammer to show how strong they are. I love to watch young couples as they walk with hearts in their eyes. I love to taste the hot dogs and the cotton candy and the popcorn. I love to observe the ride handlers and see how they dress and what they look like. I try to imagine what life is like traveling with a carnival. Yes, as you can tell, I love carnivals!

Original image: 'Dusk'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48600090482@N01/42095586 by: Julie Falk

Ravelympics

I finished my Selbu Modern Hat which was a free pattern on Ravelry. It was my first fair isle project and I’m so proud of the way it turned out. In fact, I did a better job than I expected to do. It really gave me confidence for doing more things like this in the future.

I knitted the hat to enter into the Ravelympics which means casting on when the Olympics started and finish before the Olympics ended. Since I did I earned my medal and here it is!

Currency Day

Blog Prompt - Today is Currency Day. It was introduced to the US in 1862 by President Lincoln. Do you carry much cash around with you or do you prefer to use a credit or debit card?

I hate to carry cash and I love my credit card. My husband is always fussing at me because I don’t carry cash with me so I have a stash of emergency cash that I hide but I never use. Then when he asks me if I have cash with me, I am able to tell him that I do. It is so much easier for me to pull out my credit card and use it. Then once a month I pay off the entire balance so we don’t pay any interest. I use my card for everything including gas and groceries so I know how much to set aside in our budget to pay the bill. We don’t buy many extra things so our budget amount is usually the same each month. By using my credit card, I don’t have to worry about loose change or digging out cash. On the opposite side, my husband never uses his credit card and only uses cash.

Original image: 'Dreams...'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68422830@N00/120499365 by: Noah Coffey

Dog Treats

Blog Prompt - Today is International Dog Biscuit Day. If you have a dog, do you give them treats and if so, what kind?

I don’t have a dog now because we travel so much but I used to have a dog. His name was Caesar and he was a chow. Boy, did he love to chew things. When he was a puppy, I used to worry that I would wake up and find all the wood furniture in the house chewed up into toothpicks. We would give him big dog biscuits and he loved them. He would also eat table scraps without any problems. But what he really loved were pig’s ears that we would get at the pet store. They wouldn’t last long but he loved them Original

image: 'HomeMade ♥ Cream Cheese & Honey Biscuits ♥ For Dog'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39171970@N00/491449642 by: Tamisa S..

Be Humble

Blog Prompt - Today is Be Humble Day. What is most humbling in your life.

This was a great prompt because it has me thinking pretty hard. I’m not sure that there is just one thing in my life that humbles me but there are many things that make up my life that truly humbles me. When I think about the many good things in my life, I wonder why I deserve all these things. My life is filled with love and laughter. All this love and laughter comes from my family and friends (real and online) who surround me with this warmth. Without this, I would become cold, bitter, and die like a piece of dried up fruit. When times get rough, I remind myself that I am loved and I will get through the tough times. When times are great, I remind myself to give thanks for these moments. I guess the most humbling thing in my life is actually my life and I’m truly thankful that I am alive.

Original image: 'Venustas'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/81036698@N00/2819149938 by: Andrew Beebe

Toothpicks

Blog Prompt - The toothpick was patented in 1872. Besides the obvious use of the toothpick, is there something else you use this invention for?

I have used toothpicks for:

· Testing baked items to see if they are done

· Serving appetizers

· Wedges when fixing something

· Cleaning out small places

· Holder for string when I was beading something

· Applying glue to small places

· Manipulatives to teach math skill

· Science projects

Original image: 'Mondadientes / Escarbadientes / Palillos'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17513020@N00/392671743 by: Julián Rodriguez Orihuela

Random Act of Kindness Day

Blog Prompt - Today is Random Act of Kindness Day. Did you do something kind for someone today?

Since it is too early for just today, I will tell you something I did the other day. I had made a snowflake headband in a class and I really liked it. Then I met with some friends and I decided to give it to one of them. This friend is always doing for other people and is such a caring and giving person that I wanted to do something for her. She is always complimenting me on the prayer shawls that I knit and I thought it would be special to give her something that I had made. She was surprised and really seemed to like it too.

As I go about today, I will look for opportunities to be kind to someone. I really like to practice random acts of kindness whenever I can and not just today.

Original image: 'Random Acts'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8628862@N05/2300235407 by: John

Fleece

Blog Prompt - Today is the day Nylon was patented in 1937. Is there a material that you love and could never live without or hate and wish it was never invented?

I love fleece! I have two fleece lap blankets. One of them I take with me camping so I can wrap in it at night around the fire. I have a couple of fleece jackets that are warm and soft. I even have a pair of fleece pants that I wear around the house or at night when we are camping. I just love the feel of fleece and how it keeps me warm!

Original image: 'Check out the paw ...'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/92949075@N00/3170837522 by: Alison

A Day Off From Work

Blog Prompt - Today is Presidents Day and a holiday for most. Tell me what you would do on a day off from work.

Since I am retired, every day is a day off from work. Yet, I have certain routines that I have developed for specific days of the week. I do a certain household chore on a certain day instead of trying to do them all at one time. This has really worked for me. I also like to go weekly grocery shopping on Monday mornings since I have the menu for the week planned out. In the mornings I like to walk on the treadmill for an hour and then spend a couple of hours reading the blogs in my Google Reader and responding to emails. I also have certain days where I work on blog posts for my Successful Teaching blog. When the weather clears up and gets warmer, I plan to spend a couple of hours in the morning working in my gardens. It feels like I am busier now that I’ve retired than when I worked!

So, if I had a day off from “work”, I would visit with friends and knit during our visit. Of course, the visit would involve lots of food too!

Original image: 'Whilst Most Daleks Are Out Conquering The Universe, Someone Has To Stay Behind To Do The Housework'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/95492938@N00/360684955
by: Alan

Year of the Tiger

Happy Chinese New Years!

Inventors Day

Blog Prompt - Today is Inventors Day. Is there an invention out there that you know you could sell?

I would invent a machine that would exercise my muscles while I sleep that would burn off enough calories so that I could lose weight. I could plug in the amount of weight I want to lose and while I sleep, my muscles would be working away. Yet, I would wake up in the morning feeling refreshed, not sore, and energized. I think if I invented that, I would have no trouble getting people to buy it!

On a different note, I went to a knitting workshop last weekend and learned how to do fair isle. This is my first attempt and I think the snowflake headband came out pretty good. I will be working on a hat for myself tomorrow for the Ravelympics on Ravelry.

Original image: 'I lose water weight during the week and gain back over the weekend'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10856561@N00/1921693664 by: Victoria

Umbrellas

Blog Prompt - Today is Umbrella Day. Do you have that special umbrella that you would like to tell us about?

I think umbrellas are beautiful but I hate using umbrellas. Let’s just say that I’m umbrella-challenged. All of the umbrellas I’ve ever had usually end up broken. If I decide it is raining hard enough to use one, by the time I get it out and open it up, I’m usually soaked anyway. A strong wind will inevitably turn it inside out and breaks it. If it isn’t broken, when I put it in the car, it gets everything wet. So, needless to say, I don’t have a special umbrella. In fact, I think most umbrellas quake in their covers when I get near them.

Original image: 'rain man'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23749336@N03/2322435576 by: enrico

Living with the Ingalls

Blog Prompt - Laura Ingalls Wilder's was born on this day in 1867. Do you think you would've enjoyed living in that era of time?

I know without a shadow of a doubt that I would not enjoy living during those times. I love to travel and can’t imagine traveling the country in that covered wagon. I also love my washing machine, dryer, refrigerator, computer, treadmill, and hot tub which didn’t exist during that era. I also think the quality of life was very hard in those days and people died at a much earlier age than now. Teachers had a hard life too and had to heat up and clean up the one room school house. Now that I write this, it makes me even more thankful that I live in today’s world.

Original image: 'Rodeo Trail Ride 2008'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16057786@N00/2304140183 by: Gary Hunt

Computer Clean Up

Blog Prompt - Today is clean out your computer day. Do you need to clean out some files and straighten up a bit?

I have lots of scrapbooking files that are taking lots of room on my computer. I don’t like to move it to the external hard drive until I have tagged them in Picasa. Unfortunately these files have piled up and it is so overwhelming when I look at it and then I just move on. I keep telling myself that I will come back to it later. I keep my picture files pretty well organized and moved to the external hard drive. Other than those files, the rest of my computer files are pretty neat.

Original image: 'Literary cat'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37996600126@N01/32454407 by: Suzi Duke

Buddy Holly

Blog Prompt - Today the Music Died - On this day in 1959, the plane crash claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson and the pilot, Roger Peterson. Do you know their music and if so, what song would you sing right now?

My two favorite Buddy Holly songs are Peggy Sue and That’ll Be the Day. Even though the plane crash happened before I was born, I grew up hearing these songs. I also love listening to oldies radio stations and these are usually played on them. Now I’ll be singing them all day long!

Original image: 'Recordz'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35377857@N07/4275862715 by: David GALLARD

Winter

Blog Prompt - Today is Ground Hog Day. How has the weather treated you lately and are you ready for 6 more weeks of it?

It has been really cold here this year. Last year it wasn’t this cold. The other day there was a snow/ice storm and in the upper part of the county had snow while my area had lots of ice. I would rather have snow than ice. Thank goodness, it only took two days for most of the ice to melt.

Bird Feeding

Blog Prompt - February is National Bird Feeding Month. Do you feed the birds and if so, tell us about it.

I love to feed the birds in my back yard. I have several bird feeders and bird baths. It is so relaxing to watch the birds come to my water garden to eat the bugs and drink the water. I remember when my girls were little and we would go to Furman University’s lake to feed the swans. As young girl in Girl Scouts, we coated pine cones with peanut butter and bird seed to feed the birds.

Original Image by Pat Hensley