Revisting my first blog post

Today is Day 6 of
the
Kickin' it Old Skool Blog-a-thon

today's assignment really made me think.
My first thought was to skip it.
call in sick
make up something like
"the dog ate my homework"


Here it is straight from their blog:

Whether you've been blogging for 5 years or 5 days, share with us your first post. What inspired you to start, what have you've learned or how you've changed since then?

When I first started blogging I wasn't sure why I was blogging.

I had no real goal.

I never intended it to be a soul searching exercise 

but it turned out to be just that.

Through the years I have found out things about myself
 that I don't think would have come to the surface
 had I not been rambling on and on here.

I learned more about me than I expected,
 and less about blogging than I wanted.
I had hopes of being able to design a beautiful blog without help.
I wanted to share tutorials and videos and PDFs.
All of those take time and a lot of work.
I admire bloggers who can do all that.
I am lucky if I finish a project and get a few pics in the proccess.
I share what I can, when I can,
 and my loyal readers
are always here to validate my efforts.

The most important thing I learned is that there
 are real people behind all those wonderful blogs.
I have recently
been able to meet a few of them in person
 and I know that they will
be friends for life.
The part about wanting to meet people and make new friends came true.
I love how the Universe works. State your intentions and step back and wait. 
Little did I know that blogging would open up a whole new world

You can read my first post here 

Thank you Shannon and Jamie for another interesting prompt.

see you tomorrow !

Marianne

 

Every Day during the Month of December I will be linking with 

Kickin it Old Skool  and blogging just for fun and connections.

I have already met some pretty cool people who I have added to my must read list.

I see some new friendships are in my future

You can join in any time here.

10 things about me (again)

Today is Day #5 at  Kickin' it Old Skool

and the girls  are asking us 

to list 10 things about ourselves.

1

 I love About Me lists.

Even though I am an introvert and a recluse

 I am chatty and I do like sharing.

So here we go.

2

I am married to a lifeguard.

I love dogs.

We are trying to not rescue dogs anymore 

because we are getting older.

Today we have four dogs.

 

I am mom to two adult children.

I am a grandmother to one sweet grand daughter.

 

3

I love meeting new people.

I believe the best days of my life haven't been lived yet.

And I have had one awesome life so far.

It makes me excited to think the best is yet to be.

4

I am a spiritual mixed bag.

an earth and nature loving,

 eclectic solitary

person who respects all religious beliefs.

I practice kindness, love, truth and forgiveness.

I respect all living creatures

I do not label my beleifs 

but

I have been called a Pagan, a Christian and a Buddhist all in the last week.

I do believe Love is all we need

 

5

I am an Artist

I am a Quilter

I am a Gardener

I am a Good Cook

6

I love to travel.

I have visited 49 states  

and a few of the Caribbean Islands 

Alaska is on my list.

After that I will travel outside the US

Africa, Australia and Europe ...in that order.

7

I am fortunate to have a home in a forest

and a home on a beach

I love both equally and spend most of my time barefoot.

8

 I am extremely terrified of lightning.

But I am fascinated by storms, hurricanes, tornadoes

9

I am an organized hoarder.

I collect craft and art supplies, kitchen gadgets,

coffee mugs, stars, suns, fairies, santas, plates, 

and

owls

 I  been collecting owls since I was a kid in the 60s

....it's funny how popular they are again

10

I recently lost 75 pounds

I stopped eating sugar.

when I eat sugar the pounds add up.

It's not the same for everyone. 

I had a great time learning about me and my body

while figuring out what I could and couldn't eat.

I am looking forward to reading all of the ten things the other participants sharing.

if you would like to know more about me:

 About Me page

and even more here on

 Ten Ten Ten,

 More More More,

 It's never too late,

 and

 One World One Heart

see you tomorrow !

Marianne

Every Day during the Month of December I will be linking with 

Kickin it Old Skool  and blogging just for fun and connections.

I have already met some pretty cool people who I have added to my must read list.

I see some new friendships are in my future

You can join in any time here.

a conversation with the weather

 Over at Kickin it old Skool we were asked

What's the weather like where you live today?

  

  Today is a good day to decorate the outside for the winter holidays.

  I always have dreams of draping live greens on the fences and

 around the doors and windows.

 Then the price of the garlands stops me dead in my tracks. 

In order for it to be worth it I have to buy miles of the stuff.

 Ok ... not miles....but 300-400 yards That's not going to happen.

 Not for something that will be thrown away.  

 I have heard some people drag their pine roping

 into the woods so it will break down and become a part of nature again.   

Nice thought

 ... BUT .... 

what about the wire that binds it together????  

I don't want to take the chance of an animal getting tangled up in rusty wire.

If it were made with hemp or twine I might consider doing that.

  But then I imagine it would cost more. 

Why don't I make it myself? 

  Well.  Time. 

 I would rather be doing something else. 

This is why I use faux greenery outside.

So today is a good day to decorate outside. 

And that means that first I get to wash my windows for the last time this year.

 I guess today's weather says:

"It's a good day to wash the windows Marianne"

After that you may hang your faux greenery."

 (  yes the weather  spoke  to me with a  light blue-grey whisper.  )

( sometimes it shouts in dark indigo with firey orange flashes )

anyway... 

So that's where I will be and what I will be doing.

Hope it's sunny and bright where you are.

See you tomorrow.

Marianne

Every Day during the Month of December I will be linking with 

Kickin it Old Skool  and blogging just for fun and connections.

I have already met some pretty cool people who I have added to my must read list.

I see some new friendships are in my future

You can join in any time here.

  

Tuesday, Tea , Turkey and Trees

Just a quick post to say hello to all my friends who link 

up  with Elizabeth and her  T stands for Tuesday   linky party.

Have you had your fill of turkey leftovers? 

Are you getting ready for the winter holidays?

How do you celebrate the holidays? 

 

 

I have been busy decking the halls and

that means pulling out the trees and santas and snowmen and birds and 

glass ornaments and beads and burlap and........ well you get the idea.

I will have a tour for you as soon as it's finished.

I also joined Shannon and Jamie for the month of December 

as a part of their  Kickin' it Old Skool  blog-a-thon. 

I just finished today's homework for them while drinking Lipton's

from an old holiday mug.

(my current post for that meme is here)  

 

Last month I was creative and arty everyday and I love 

the habit that was formed because of it . So this month

 I will try to create the habit of keeping up with my blog...

...and all of the blogs I read. 

Hope you all are having a 

wonderfully warm and happy December so far.

Thanks for stopping by.

Marianne

  

Sharing Colors - a meme

This post falls under the "be careful what you wish for" catagory. I was wishing someone would bring back some fun memes. Well the girls at Kickin' it Old Skool  did just that, and today's meme is a long one.   I wasn't expecting this much homework. and I will understand if you skip to the bottom, fake a quick comment and run.
Anyway ..... here goes.


[ RED ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of red?        roses
2. Closest red thing to you?        a red pen
3. What is the last thing that made you angry?       the string of lights that worked on Saturday but did not work today
4. Are you a fan of romance?       yes. 
5. Do you have a temper?         yes.   but only when I need it. Remember....we must use our powers for good.

[ GREEN ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of green?       money
2. Closest green thing to you?        the ten dollar bill in my pocket
3. What's your favourite green environment?        the forest I live in.
4. Are you jealous of anyone right now?        no
5. Are you a lucky person?        not really .... but I am not unlucky either.   I am grateful for everything that has gone right in my life.

[ PURPLE ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of purple?      old women.
2. Closest purple thing to you?         there is a purple glass bottle on my window sill.
3. Do you like being treated like royalty?         I wish someone would treat me like royalty so I could answer this question. But for now all I can say is I don't know.
4. Do you like mysterious things?        no. I like to know what is going to happen next
5. Are you intuitive?           Um,   yes, most of the time.

[ BLUE ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of blue?        my daughter's favorite color.
2. Closest blue thing to you?      a blue pen
3. Are you good at calming people down?       I think so. Never really thought about it.
4. What's your favourite body of water (i.e. lake, ocean, etc)?      the Gulf of Mexico
5. What was the last thing that made you cry?       I cried when we had to let our DutchBoy cross over rainbow bridge. Putting a dog to sleep is the hardest thing I have ever done.
6. Are you a logical thinker?        no

[ YELLOW ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of yellow?    daffodils
2. Closest yellow thing to you?     the book "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman
3. What was one of the happiest times of your life?       now
4. What's your favourite holiday?      the one where everyone arrives happy, leaves happy and no one gets hurt.
5. What makes you happy?        too long to list....  

[ PINK ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of pink?       baby girls
2. Closest pink thing to you?        I have a big pink eraser on my window sill
3. What sweet things do you like?        chocolate
4. Are you sensitive?        yes
5. What is your favourite flower?        Roses
6. Does you have a crush on someone?         no

[ ORANGE ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of orange?   oranges
2. Closest orange thing to you?       a screen cleaning cloth on my window sill and an orange wired cord wrapped around the neck of the bottle on my window sill.
3. Do you dress up for Halloween?       no
4. What gives you the warm fuzzies?      my dogs
5. What would your superpower be?        I am very good with animals... especially dogs.  I could go on and on about this but this meme is long ....

[ BROWN ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of brown?       wood
2. Closest brown thing to you?      the counter here in my nook.
3. What is your favourite type of chocolate?        currently . . . Hot Chocolate in a warm mug.
4. What makes you feel grounded?  gardening. walking through the woods. nature.
5. Paint the wood or always leave it au naturel?     both. . . it depends on the wood.

[ WHITE ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of white?    freshly washed sheets
2. Closest white thing to you?       paper
3. Do you always try to keep the peace?      yes
4. Do you like to play in the snow?      yes
5. Are you afraid of going to the doctors or dentist?      no

[ BLACK ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of black?   
2. Closest black thing to you?     my phone
3. Are you sophisticated or silly?     neither
4. Do you have a lot of secrets?     yes.  I have alot of my own and I hold many that my friends have told me. I will take all the secrets to my grave. I am very good at keeping secrets
5. What's the new black?     charcoal brown

Well if you read to the end.   You have been added to the list of what make me happy.  This was not as hard as I first thought it would be.  I am almost afraid to see what Shannon and Jamie have up their sleeves for us tomorrow.     I need to clean off my window sill and decorate it for the holidays.

Marianne