365/46 End of February

This is what the end of February looks like around here. Puddles everywhere and muddy. Sorry you had to miss this Meghan, Ashley & Audra.....



Although it has a beauty (sort of) of it's own, it also has an ugly side. And it certainly doesn't mix well with a nearly white dog.



Poor Danan does not like bath time. As you can see her with all her hair wet she really is a slim and trim dog.




At bedtime she gets a little special treatment in case there's any dampness left we don't want her to catch a chill.

365/45 I Love Black & White Pictures

A couple days ago I received a book through Paperbackswap.com and it's called Photographing Children in Black & White by Helen T. Boursier. It's a great book. There are many, many pictorial examples and she tells you all her tips and tricks for composing and taking the greatest shots.



I always thought it didn't matter what you wore when you shoot black & white because the colors don't show, but the tones do she says. Think of the colors on a scale of one to ten, with the lightest being one and the darkest being ten. White and light colors like cream, yellow, pink & powder blue are one. Black and dark colors like navy, deep purple, maroon, hunter green & red are ten. She says all people in the photo should wear either all light, all dark or all medium. It's okay to have all dark tops and light bottoms (or vice versa)but don't mix them up. Example: some people having dark on top and others with dark on the bottom, because it will make the portrait look all choppy.

Here are two of my all time favorite black & white photos of Michael. The first one was taken at the Polish Club in Hamilton at Michael & Ava's christening reception.



Mozart wasn't this cute when he started playing piano. Doesn't he seem enthralled?




And here at two of my favorites of Ava:

Watch out, whenever Gramie LaLa is left alone with the kids there's a photo session.





Doesn't this picture just say it all? LOVE!

And last but not least Sydney:


A Fourth of July picture.


Her First Birthday picture. She's so cute in pigtails!

Try some black & white pictures next time your trying to photograph a loved one.

365/45 Audra's Collection

What do you collect? Audra's godfather & wife started buying Audra snow babies when she was just little...can't remember exactly when. We started adding to her collection and eventually she started buying them too.












The little snow baby poking it's head out of the wrapped present box is her very first one. I took these pictures after an ice storm, so the glass in the bay window looks really cool.









And the wedding cake one we bought her the year she was married. I love the Mr. & Mrs. Penguin on top.








The moose one is from Rick this year.... I LOVE IT!





A couple of years ago, I started to realize how much I was going to miss putting out the snow babies when Audra finally moved away, so I started collecting them myself. Smart thinking on my part, because now all those snow babies are in transit to the other side of the United States.

365/44 Longing for Spring

While outside playing Frisbee with Danan, I noticed my butterfly garden and wished I'd finished working on it before winter hit. I laid newspapers on all my other flower beds and applied new mulch with my husbands assistance. We made the butterfly garden smaller (it's over the property line anyway), but that's as much as we accomplished. Plants and rocks were moved and we weeded it, but I didn't get things trimmed back or the mulch laid. Now it's covered under a layer of snow. The vine you see climbing the tree stump and trellis is a trumpet vine.




Here are some of the beautiful blooms I took photos of last summer. It was just loaded with these beautiful trumpet shaped flowers. These flowers attract hummingbirds and yes I've seen ruby-throated ones near my vines.

Before you get too excited and run out and buy some, a word of caution. These creepers can be invasive. I will once again have to weed them out of the bed, because they multiply like wildfire, especially when you fail to trim them back in the fall. Oh! Well! I took a trip to Maine instead, it was well worth the weeding I will have to do in the spring and summer.

And a bit of trivia for you gardening buffs. This vine is also sometimes called "Cow's Itch", because the leaves have a toxic substance (they belong to the night shade family) which can cause itching and rash. I always pick some and bring them in the house, and they've never caused me any grief, but I'll be more careful now that I know it could.

Almost No Post Today

Everyone talks so sweet about their husbands on their blogs. How thoughtful they are, how charming, how they are their best friends etc. etc. No one talks smack about their other-halves. Well I was about to....

Since the last two girls have now flown out of the nest, my husband decided we no longer needed remote access for just one computer at our house, so he started unplugging things. I suggested he leave it be, until he had some help, but oh! no! He decided to do it yesterday morning and guess what? It wasn't as simple as he thought. So no Internet yesterday. No problem, I read a book and crocheted. But I couldn't add anything to my blog this morning or check my email, or mark my books mailed or received on paperback swap, or pay my Capital One bill, or to check the status of something I was bidding to buy on EBay, or order a baby gift for a friend, or.... Do you get the idea?

When I came home from work today, he was on the computer with a computer geek friend for over an hour, but to no avail. Then he called SBC technical support and another hour passes. I was so stressed out I popped some popcorn to snack on, my comfort food. Finally, he was able to get a connection and we were back in business. Can you believe he had the nerve to to check his email, print some stuff and take his time on the computer, before letting me have a turn? I could have spit nails. What a bugger! He'd better walk the straight and narrow or you guys will hear about it.

On a much happier note, my friend had her baby this morning. She named her Ella Rose and I believe she weighed 7 lbs. & 4 oz. I'm so happy for her, she's one of the most awesome moms that I know. They've wanted a second child for a very long time. Her big brother will make the best big brother ever.

I have tomorrow off, so hope to be on blogging at some point.


***UPDATE*** Next Day

He's out of the doghouse. My husband made me coffee and an Egg McMuffin sandwich this morning and brought it to me while I was blogging. He's the greatest, most thoughtful (and now that every ones left).... my best friend. Just Kidding! Couldn't resist taking a jab at those wives with the perfect husbands. I wouldn't trade mine for anybody I've met yet.... Have to keep him on his toes.

365/43 What's on Your Fridge?

Do you think refrigerators are suppose to look nice and neat?

I bought these cool frames on Kodak Gallery and I just love them. But... it seems to be a never ending vicious cycle; the more frames I have, the more pictures I want to display, so there are always strays tucked in here and there. Do you have a solution? And pl-e-a-s-e don't tell me to get a scrapbook. I want them there right in front of me, so I can see them everyday and change them easily and cheaply.



Who's Who on Dorsey's Fridge.

Well there's my girls & their hubbies & soon to be hubby, Miguel
Michael, Ava & Sydney - La La's Grandbabies
Our dog, Danan
G.T. & Kalli (very important kids)
** oops I've got to get Bryce up there.
Allison with the dolphins
Branson her brother
Grace - Ava's best friend - Love that Picture!

Get Your Groceries Cheaper

As money gets tighter & tighter around my house, I'm continually trying to improve my shopping skills to save more and more money. I've posted our savings so far this year, below. I tried to post it in a chart format, but it doesn't recognize the spaces and so it was all a jumble. This is the best I could do.

In Jan. we shopped three times.

1/3 Spent $31.18 Saved $19.27 Of which $17.27 was in-store savings and $2.00 coupon savings. That was a 61% Savings!!!!!

1/14 Spent $165.22 Saved $75.27 Of which $47.44 was in-store savings and $27.85 coupon savings. That was a 45% savings.

1/31 Spent $198.05 Saved $82.69 Of which $59.94 was in-store savings and $22.75 coupon savings. That was a 41% savings.

In Feb we shopped twice.

2/7 Spent $133.36 Saved $36.72 Of which $34.42 was in-store savings and $6.30 coupon savings. That was a 27% savings. Not so great. I was sick, Gary went alone, we were desperate for food, saving wasn't top priority.

2/19 Spent $227.04 Saved $97.75 Of which $56.40 was in-store savings and $41.35 coupon savings. That was a 43% savings.

By in-store savings - I mean we shop for what the ad says is on sale and make our menu off of it for the most part.

****My goal is to always save over 50%.


What Tools Do I Use To Save Money:

Sunday Paper Inserts

Member of the Grocery Game I also took a Webinar class from this site on basic couponing.

I recently started using this website Be Centsable They also have classes that you can take, but I haven't tried theirs yet.

I have used two different coupon clipping services. You chose the coupons you'd like and they clip and send them to you for a fee. Here is the link to one of them. Coupons and Things The other is a part of the grocery game. Sign in and go to the The Coupon Master page.

Another blog I've found valuable information on is Sharp Scissors Lady She actually teaches you how to use coupons, at coupon parties. There's one coming up in Brighton the first part of March, that I want to attend.

I buy coupons on EBay

So yes, I spend money to save money, but as I increase my skills, the spending money should decrease and the saving money increase.

If you want to save more money, check out these sites. And share with me if you have some of your own favorite sites for tips on saving money.