Hut Hut Hike

Ok, maybe not the kind of hike you thought you were coming to see. 
But, it was such a pretty day.  And honestly their is nothing in the world like a walk in the woods with my dog and husband to clear my head, refresh my energy, and put a huge goofy smile on my face!
This was a the path which started us on our mini adventure!  Just look at those cliffs!!

Couldn't resist the tree twins!

Of all the times I have been hiking at Sam's Point.  I have taken a million and five pictures of these signs and this is the first one that I absolutely adore! 
Good sunlight.
Good contrast of colors. 
Bright beautiful sky in the background!

This was along the way of the loop that we were doing.  It was a bit on the wet side, but this is one of the places we take Katie to play in the water. 
She was a bit bummed that we weren't taking her, but quickly got over it!

Doesn't this look like a mini bonzai tree?  I know I have seen this tree a million and five times, but for some reason it really stood out to me this time. 

So lush and green again the naked trees?

Or maybe it was the azure color of the water which made the difference?

Either way... it's inpiriring and flat out gorgeous!

I have a few more pictures coming, but couldn't resist getting these posted as quick as I could!

Enjoy!  Be inspired!  Talk a hike!

Paint me in love

Lately, happiness has come to me in strange forms.  Well, not strange, but different.  Which is ok since it doesn't really matter what form happiness takes, right?  Just matters that you have a whole huge gob of it in your life.  Well, and you have to stop to enjoy and appreciate it... a lot!

So, what does happiness look like?

Well, a few days ago it looked like this:

Yup. 

Paint! 

After so many years of renting and many years before that of not really being able to paint my own room I have painted my first room in my house.  It's a magical. no wonderful. even maybe a fantastical thing!

The first room ended up being the kitchen.  Which is good stuff, since that's the heart of the home. 

The color picked was Natural Wicker. 

Not very daring.  Not very out there... but man it warms up the room.  And my kitchen has very intense and saturated red tiles for the floor.... which means I couldn't do anything too crazy on the walls.  (wait till you see the art work I find! -- going to be a whole other story since I haven't found it yet.)

I may have goofed off a little...

But you can't blame me, can you? 

It's funny too... since Mr. Happy walked in while I had this on the wall and I thought for sure I was caught.  But, I don't think he noticed it.  Heeheehee.  Sneaky of me, right?  Now that wall will say I love him... forever!  Romantic!  Happy!

I am lucky to have a husband who goes along with my crazy ideas.  He's pretty cool too!  

I think the color came out nicely and now that my arms don't feel like noodles any more I am ready to paint some more.

I think the next room will be the master bedroom. 

Bet you didn't think you could find happiness in a can?

Oh Deer

The country life is suiting us rather well so far.  It's been two months now in the new house.  And it's moments like the one I am about to share that make me very happy.  We have the privilege of sharing our property with lots of guests. 

Squirrels. Birds. Chipmunks. Skunks. And yes, deer.  (oh and I still think we may have coyotes... but Mr. Happy doesn't encourage my talk of coyotes.)

Ok, so I know the deer prance through our yard often.  Katie tells me so.  And, in the early morning I can sometimes see them having their breakfast. 

Look very closely in the middle of the photo -- they really blend in -- but you can see here this deer is looking right at me. 

In this one you can see the silhouette of two deer... a mom and baby... standing at the top of the rocks with the sky behind them.  Again, it takes a bit of focus, but well worth the patience to see them!

Alright, last one.  Here the momma is the only one standing now at the top of the rocks. 

It's incredible how trusting they were.  I initially saw them from inside and was amazed to see four of them roaming around.  They lingered, so I decided to try and quietly open the door to try and get a picture or two.  I opened the door... ever so slowly... and they didn't budge. 

I quietly tiptoed to the edge of the railing so that I could get a close up... and they didn't budge.

I watched them for a good 15 minutes in awe... and they didn't budge.

At this point Katie was inside demanding to come out.  demanding.  So, I decided it's ok if I make a bit of noise to move along the deer.  After all it is Katie's yard and all she wants to do is sniff them.  

So I clap a few times... and they don't budge.

I'm thinking, these are some crazy brave deer! 

So, I hoot and holler, and clap, and stomp.  I'm talking serious crazy mayhem type noise! (side note.  the neighbors must have seriously gotten a kick out of my show if they were around to watch.)... and yes the deer continued to ignore me. 

These aren't the skiddish fearful deer I have known growing up. I think I have a lot to learn about country deer. 

Almost seems like I can learn a lot from country deer too.  Maybe crazed hooting and hollering isn't the best manners in which to welcome a neighbor in my yard. 

Oh.  And just imagine the story the deer is telling.

Frosted

So, you know the drill by now.  I look around me constantly and try and find the happy things going on.  I snap a picture and then bring them here to share.  Well.  Once in a while I catch a picture just right and I think I blow my own mind.

Check out this dying mum flower from the morning I took pictures of the frost.  whhoooow.

We live in an ahhhmazing world, don't we?

This first one is by far my favorite, but these just make my jaw drop.  Something about the detail of the little crystals against the beautiful sunlight and the brilliant colors of the fading flowers.  Sometimes I truly just get lucky!

Promise you'll look around you next time your out and about?

Leaf monster

It's that time of year. We've been busy finishing up the yard work in preparation for the winter. It's a duty that comes with a house. But that's not to say that there is not fun to be had.

We've been doing things like picking up sticks, cleaning gutters, stacking firewood, raking and picking up leaves.

Hey.... What's that in the leaves there?

It's a bird? A plane?  Nope... it's Katie dog!  Yes indeed.  Katie is the perfect reminder that big piles of leaves are meant for hiding in. 

Have you played in the leaves lately?

Where you may find it

It's a bit out of the ordinary for me to grab a cup of Starbucks. But it's hard for me to resist the pumpkin spice and other holiday flavors this time of year.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the new holiday cups that my hot festive drink came in. I mean just look at these positive happy messages! [insert gigantic smile here]

Even the coozy (that's what those cardboard thingy's are called, right?) had a sprinkle of cheer on it.

It really made that cup 'o joe that much more delightful! 

You really never know where you might be surprised by a pinch of cheer!

 

A good read

I can usually be found toting a book around and last week was no different.  I don't have a new book to dig into, but that wasn't a problem.

I dusted a favorite off the shelf and was sucked right in!  The Princess Bride.

Adventure, swords, giants, action, a princess, and dashing hero!

But reading through it again I noticed this line, "He was fantastically happy."

It's a great way to start a Monday... thinking about what it would take for you to say you are Fantastically happy. 

I'm not 100% sure what that would mean for me, but I think it captures what this blog is all about.  Capturing all those things (not matter how small) that make my day brighter!

A happy Monday to you!

Thank you!

I don't have a lot of words for today.  In fact, I have been putting off writing this.  But as I gathered my thoughts through the day I am feeling very strongly that it can all be said with Thank You!

Thank you for being there.

Thank you for teaching me.

Thank you for loving me.

Thank you for accepting me.

Thank you for shaping who I am today.

You are more brave than I can ever be.

You are more strong and courageous!  In short.  Thank you!

Standing under that huge American flag in Grand Central yesterday reminded me why I tear up every time I sing the national anthem and why hearing taps or a gun salute make me burst out in tears.

Thank you for giving us a country we can be proud of!

I know we don't say it enough.  Thank you!

Must interrupt this broadcast

I twittered... or is it tweeted....

well what I mean, is that I have mentioned that I was going to NYC for a class this week and I have to interrupt what I was planning for you this evening for something much more important.

You guessed it.

I am that predictable.

Cupcakes!


Crumbs to be specific.

Not the crumbs left after I gobbled a cupcake down.

but Crumbs the Bake Shop.

Here is a shot of how beautiful it looked!

I was practically tickled silly when I found out there was a cupcake palace on the way back to the train station!

Yes, cupcake Palace!

It was a bit more difficult to pay super close attention... all my class breaks were spent day dreaming about what flavors I should get!

Here are sweets that had me absolutely salivating...



Ummm... yes I'll have two of all of them! Seriously how the heck do you choose with all these crazy flavors?



Nope, no clue how to choose... how many should I get... Ahhhh! I want them all~



Please can I have them all? I think I can carry about 42 of them pretty easily! And I can surely eat about 15 of these a day!



SCREAM!! Margarita? Shu-up! Nu-eh. Must have one of these....

And look closely... it has salt around the rim. I could just drink one up right now!

So, I narrowed. and narrowed. and himmed. and hawwed.


I ended up taking six... count them;

one, two, three, four, five, only six cupcakes came home with me.

*sigh*

too many cupcakes, not enough room in the fridge!

My lovely six new friends and I skipped on down to the train. (ok, we didn't really skip, but I think I was surely skipping inside!)

And we had a lovely ride home.

The whole time I was thinking about how much I wanted to gobble them all down all at once.

It's hard enough picking out which ones to take home.. how the heck am I going to pick which one to eat first?To be honest, I'm just proud that all six made it home -- so I can share with Mr. Happy.

I'm so lucky to have a guy to share my cupcake obsession with! More to come on how they taste.

(uh huh, I just ate one. you knew I wouldn't last much longer. I split the the Reeses PB cupcake with Mr. Happy... and WOW the frosting is fluffy, the cake is moist, it all compliments each other and I'm thinking it's the best cuppy I've had yet. Do you think the other 5 will survive the night?)

Have a tail waggin' Tuesday

I hope your tail is 'a wagging and you having oh so much fun! 

I have lots to upload and share but won't be able to get a start on it until tonight.  Katie-saurus will have to keep your spirits up till then!

Coming up... frosty pictures, bridal shower, digging in the dirt, my newest project and I am sure their is more that my brain just isn't thinking of now.... spend some time with you soon!

Till then, Happy Tail Wagging Tuesday!

Fall festivus

Lately, I have been a huge sucker for textures in my pictures. 

Hee hee... that rhymes... textures in my pictures!

Where were we?  Texture, right?  Just take a peak at the fantastical little bubbles on this leaf decoration.  So tiny and delicate.  So many all lined up looking reflective and orderly. 

Until yesterday I wasn't really sure what the bubbles represented. 

Were they something imaginative or were they inspired by something real in the world? 

Well, yesterday I unexpectedly got my answer.  I believe the bubbles are meant to look like frost on the leaves.  Yes, we had frost yesterday morning.  It covered everything.

Twigs

moss

grass

rocks

and... leaves!

When you see frost, in the sunlight, on a leaf... it looks like a million tiny orderly bubbles.  Just like the pictures.  And speaking of pictures.  I took some.  Of the actual frost.  I have to download them and load 'em up here so we can do a comparison.  I think you will see what I mean. 

And even if you don't.  Well you can still enjoy the texture today.  And think about coming back tomorrow to see the frost pictures. 

Hope you decided to come on back! 

Hope you are having a bubble tickling Monday!

All that we nose

I'm hoping you don't mind more Katie pictures.

I know I sure don't, but then again I am a little biased. 

Something about seeing those little tuffs of hair on her feet that make any day ... even the most amazing days... better.  Picture the most amazing day you have ever had and then picture it getting better. 

Whoa, that's some good stuff isn't it?

 

Look in to those chocolate eyes.... I'm not sure I could believe you if you said you still don't feel anything short of amazing.  Katie has those kind of powers which in the wrong hands could really do some damage. 

But Katie promises that she will only use her powers for good.

 

Ok, so looking into her eyes did nothing for you?  How about those delicate rabbit like whiskers?  Those must put a tiny smile on the corner of your lips.  

At least a tiny one, right?

If nothing else I have to thank you for indulging me once again.  I LOVE this dog and can't think of a better way to put me in to a happy state of mind. 

And that is all we nose!

 

Nom nom nom

If you've been hanging out on the blog with me for some time now, then you know that I've been getting cupcakes from my local farmers market.

Well, sadly, the season for farmers market cupcakes has ended for me.  I will have to go back to my ways of baking my own sweet cakey happiness.

As a warm farewell... here are some lingering pictures of delicious mini cupcakes to nom nom nom on.

Till next May!

Coconut pictured above and berry below.

 

We've SUPERSIZED!

For some reason I came to the blog today and felt the need to give you bigger pictures.  So bigger pictures you get! 
(Thank you updated Blogger editor)

Pictures used to be like this:

And now... we've SUPERSIZED!! 

I mean how awesome is it to see a BIG Katie with a muddy nose?

Personally.


It makes my day.


Hope it makes yours too!

I can't seem to leave well enough alone...

Yes, I am mucking with the blog design again. Bare or is it bear with me. I should have it straightened out by the end of the day.

I am trying to figure out how to get more real estate for posts... and I wonder if I can get these pictures bigger.

Stay tuned!

Wood. A cord. A cord of wood.

About a month ago we were talking about fires. In the fireplace of course. Cheery fires. And we decided we liked having fires and should get some wood. You can re-read about it here: View from the couch.

That led to talking about how wood is delivered. Remember it's delivered in cords? And how I wasn't sure how big a cord was. Was that like 200 pieces? Was that a pile 4ft tall?

Well you might be able to tell by these pictures that we did order that cord. Pieces sized 16-18 inches. I had to measure the fireplace and wood stove to make sure pieces that size would fit.

From there I had nightmares about getting this HUGE pile of wood that was chock full of pieces that I couldn't fit into my fireplace or wood stove to burn. So, in my nightmare I had to chop all the pieces of wood in half. Not a fun time.

But thankfully, we measured and all is well. They delivered while we were at work. Which went something like...

Nice lady at wood delivery place: "Where would you like the wood?"
Me: "At my house?"
Nice lady at wood delivery place: " Yes, but where should we dump the wood?"
Me: "oh.. umm... hmmm.. where will you dump it? Ok, how about to the left of the garage in the grass?"

And the whole time I am thinking we are really in for it. This pile is gonna be HUGE and I am going to have to move each and every piece to the backyard for storing... and stacking. Oh boy.

Hope those fires are worth it!

I had to had to get a shot or two with Katie next to the pile for comparison. The pile makes her look small.
Side note... Katie thought getting a cord of wood was a fabulous idea! Suddenly some nice wood fairy had left her a HUGE pile of toys for her to play with and chew on. Katie had never seen a pile of wood like that before.

Did that scare her?

No.

She marched right over the pile. Nose sniffing the whole time. And proceeded to pick up the biggest piece she could manage and then carried it toward us like she was just going to bring it in the house to chew on.

AD-OR-A-BLE!!!

Back to moving the wood pile.

It turns out that I am really good at moving and stacking wood. And the bonus is that I enjoyed doing it. Felt like good wholesome honest work. Very rewarding!

I think Mr. Happy's story about us moving the wood pile would include things like the pile falling over a bit and me complaining about working in the dark -- but I deny any of that! Yup, deny!

So, the wood is stacked and I feel like we are ready to hibernate in front of the fire for the winter!

Have the fires been worth it? Ohhh Yaaaa!
p.s. Sing the blog title to that Sound Of Music song... too funny!

Knit me a noodle

Ok, so I'm not really knitting noodles, but it sounded good, right?

I have had this itch to knit for months now and finally gave in. I went to the craft store and spent what felt like half a day starring at the racks and racks of thread, how to books, and sticks.

I did my best to grab some supplies to get me started. With the help of this site: KnittingHelp I was able to figure out how to do a basic Double Cast On

(isn't the terminology a riot? not sure why.. but it totally reminds me of fishing!)

I also figured out how to do a Knit Stitch.
I haven't quite figured out how to turn around yet (correctly), but I am just loving how you do a row of stitches... and then on the next row the whole thing goes from one stick (needle) to the other stick (needle). It's darn cool!
I'm still in practice mode so not really making anything yet. And I still have to try my hand at a Purl Stitch. Can you believe there are really only two types of stitches? I think that is what keeps knitting from being too intimidating.
Oh, and I'm not quite sure what I was thinking of making when I was standing in the store and grabbed Texas orange... mossy green.. and that pink, red, brown mix... but I am sure that it will come to me.
I did get a pattern from one of my how to books for fingerless gloves that look rock hot! I bet they would kill in that moss green.
I thought you would be interested to see what crazy scheme I have been up to for the last week.
I have daydreams of knitting gifts for everyone... like hats with matching scarves, fingerless gloves, and sock monkeys.
I think Mr. Happy would like a nice pink knitted sock monkey, right? Although at the speed I knit right now... I will be happy to make a mini scarf for a mouse by the time the cold weather passes.
I'll keep you updated as I get sucked in to knitting land!