Happy Valentine's Day

Free printable Valentine's Day card original art

Are you a horse lover?

Download and print your free Valentine's Day card from one of my original paintings.

Free horse lover Valentine's Day card

Look Ma, no thumbs!

5 plus 5 equals 10, take away 6 and it equals 4. Why the elementary math lesson?  Well last week my husband was taking down the last of the Christmas decorations and the ladder slipped and he took quite a spill.  He ended up breaking his left arm and wrist and his right thumb.  He also had various bumps and bruises but those are minute compared to the use of his hands, especially the thumbs.

According to the orthopedic doctor thumbs contribute to 50% percent of all that your hands do.  Think about it.  Can you button a button without at least one thumb?  Can you shake hands?  Can you even write a letter, drive a car?

So this past week was quite a change in our routine. And next week appears to be the same. Tuesday he goes for surgery to try and repair a crushed wrist and arm enough for proper healing. 

So as you go about your day, imagine what it would be like to not have the use of your thumbs.  Yes, it’s hard and the hubs complains quite a bit, but I remind him every day that although he will not be shaking hands any time soon, he will still be here to shake hands 8 weeks from now

Fish hooks without fish

My husband.  Gotta love him.  He is very neat, does laundry, vacuums and just loves to wash dishes. He loves to fish as well, but have patience; I’ll get to that in a minute.

 He’s pretty much the perfect guy right?  In a way he is kind of like me.  When he is doing something he doesn’t quit till he’s finished. This Christmas his daughter came over with a car problem. Being the handy, considerate man that he is, he started to work on it right between slicing the turkey and eating the pie.

He went into the garage to get a tool or some such thing and couldn’t find it.  What’s a guy to do but empty the rollaway tool chest in piles around it, looking in vain?

Unbeknownst to me, he put a pile of snelled fishing hooks dead center of the passageway to my car.  For the non-fisherperson’s information, a snelled hook is a hook attached to some form of line or device.  Basically a tangled up group of fishing lines with fishhooks added to the mix.

So, fast forward a few days and I’m heading to work.  I walk smack into something.  It’s a little dark in that part of the garage and I don’t turn the light on.  Something is grabbing me and tearing at my pants.  I reach down and realize what it is.  I pull and tear and relocate a hornet’s nest of hooks in a safer part of the garage, not realizing I was taking a souvenir.

I wait on customers like I always do.  It’s after Christmas so it’s pretty busy.  After a few minutes I realize I have a snelled hook swinging sideways from the bottom of my pants.  One customer snickers.  Another customer nods her head in understanding.  I pull and try to dislodge the unwelcome guest to no avail.  No avail that is unless I want to rip a hole in my brand new pants.

I get an idea.  If I get a wire cutter, I can cut the hook in the middle and slide it out with no damage.  I look in the box of tools we keep for putting up signs and displays and found a rusty old pair of needle nosed pliers with a cutter section on it.

Snip, snip and I am free.  Not exactly what they mean when they say catch and release but at least I am hook free. 

My husband, you gotta love him.  You may ask did he ever fix that car problem?  Well, no, he didn’t, so that my friend is most likely a story for another day.

Peppermint flavored coffee

If you like the flavored coffee creamers they are selling in the grocery stores like I do then you will love this little tip.

What do you do with leftover candy canes?  There are lots of things you can do with them but my favorite is this:

Drop a small candy cane (Or piece from a larger one) in a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and stir.  As you drink  your beverage you will taste a delightful peppermint flavor.  Voila!  Flavored coffee!

If you have any ideas to use those leftover candy canes post them in the comments.  I would love to see them!

Happy New Year!

Gift cards, yea or nay?

What did you buy this Christmas for that tween who acts and dresses like she is 25; or how about the teen that only speaks in monosyllables?  I mean seriously how do you figure out what to buy for someone whose sole communication is limited to yes and no…mostly no? How about Sister June’s tots from Florida that you aren’t even sure if they are 6 or 9?  We won’t even discuss Auntie Bertha from Phoenix who you haven’t seen since you were 6 or 9? 

I bet you opted to buy a gift card. Consumer reports states that gift cards are the worst gift you could give.  Why?  Store cards don’t have fees like bankcards but they are sometimes inconvenient since you can only use them at that particular store. A huge percentage of cards remain unused moldering away in drawers and wallets and some simply forgotten. 

Then we come to deciding which store to get that gift card from. Someone I know loved Bath and Body works and they received a gift card to Bed bath and beyond.  Ok, both have the word, bath in their names, and they are both nice stores. It is just a minor mistake but Bed bath and beyond happened to be 40 miles further than the other store so, yes, it went unused.

While Cards from malls and those issued by banks like Mastercard, Visa, and American express seem like a good idea they come with purchase fees up front.  In addition after a year of inactivity they subtract an amount every month so that a $25 card can become worthless in 10 months time!  Lose that card and you will pay a hefty fee to get another or more commonly you are simply out of luck.

The Mall cards I’ve seen literally come with a huge booklet in tiny print of stipulations, rules and limitations.  Personally I don’t even read the manuals that come with electronic equipment so I sure as heck am not going to spend my time reading that!

In conclusion if you want to give a gift to someone and you just don’t know what to get them, give them a check or cash.  There are very creative ways to turn cash into a gift that keeps on giving.  And if you get a gift card be sure to spend it--quickly!

So…your opinions are welcomed –gift cards, yea or nay?

There are lots of ideas to make money a gift in itself...search Pinterest for tons of ideas. This star tutorial is an easy one that you can make in any denomination...

Five dollar star

Merry Christmas

Bank on this?

A multi- cup coffee morning

So, it's raining.  It's raining hard and I'm late.  That not so unusual you say.  I still have one errand to complete before I go to work.  Yes, I got going earlier than usual because I needed to stop at the bank to make a deposit.  I't just a small deposit in my personal account.  Easy, peasy you say.  Just go through the drive thru window right?

Well, It's pouring harder and harder and the windshield wipers are slapping in sync with the music on the radio.  If you know me I'm not a fan of rain.  I know it's necessary and all that, but it's dreary and this kind of rain in 40 degree temperatures is just plain bone chilling.

I get to the bank drive thru and although it is well after 9 a.m. all the lighted signs say closed.  Hmmmm well, I turn my car and try and find a parking space to just go in and be done.  Thrice around the building and I still can't find a space.  Geez, it's only thursday morning , what's up with that?  Finally on the fourth pass I grab a space recently vacated.

I get out and the wind whips my umbrella inside out.  You knew that was coming didn't you?  I toss it back in the car and run to the bank doors.  Wet, bedraggled and frustrated I open the door and the line is almost 7 deep.  Whoa, this may take some time.

Here is the scenario...there are two tellers for four windows.  From my vantage point I can see there are four tellers in the drive in window area milling around.  In the main bank there are three tellers walking behind the two working tellers with one (apparently a manger of some sort) Just staring towards the customers with her arms folded.  Every customer at the working windows are doing some major banking.  I wait, I wait, I wait.  When, I ask, did the bank turn into a Walmart?

From my position in line I can see the large clock ticking away.  Finally after about 30 minutes for a banking job that should have taken three, I arrive at the teller window.  She quickly makes my desposit and I tell her that the drive through window says it's closed.  She tells me she will tell someone to turn it on.  So she calls over to the three standers behind the worker bees.  One of them thanks me for letting them know.  Um, your welcome.

I arrive at work a bit late.  It's just another rainy day in my world. And after all, in the words of Scarlett Ohara..."Tomorrow is another day."

Easy to create a tree top ribbon tutorial with Bowdabra bow maker

If you are making bows this year to top your tree, packages or just about anything, hop on over to Bowdabra.com and check out the many tutorials.  You will be an expert bow maker with a Bowdabra bow maker!

https://www.bowdabrablog.com/2014/12/03/easy-create-beautiful-tree-top-bow-bowdabra/#.VH9qwr64mRs

Parking lot pet peeve

Christmas will be here before you know it and you will be shopping and going in and out of many parking lots.  Beware—because there is danger there.  No, relax I don’t mean someone is out get you. (Although you might be careful there too) I’m talking about your car.  I’m referring to the lazy people who wheel the shopping carts out and then leave them…anywhere. 

I know you’ve seen it.  You enter a parking lot at a strip mall or discount department store and there are carts littered all over the place, left by those who couldn’t be bothered to return it to the store.  Just this morning, I counted 7 carts left on medians, sidewalks and even parking spaces in just one lot.  They are calling for wind today so that is a recipe for automobile disaster. 

Have you ever wondered why stores put up signs that they will not be responsible for any damage incurred in their lots?  It’s not due to graffiti artists or car accidents; the reason is due to errant carts wheeling around without a driver like bumper cars.

The best solution to this lazy problem is what a store like Aldi grocery store does to combat this problem. You place a quarter in a slot for your cart and then when it is returned, you get the quarter back.  If you don’t return it then you’ve paid a quarter for your laziness. You never see any carts sitting around their lots.

So be a doll and protect the cars in the lot, return your carts this season…the car you save may be your own.