Happy Easter everyone!
Take time to remember the true meaning of this incredible day and to give thanks. Then go forth and have an awesome day with your family and friends. See you tomorrow!
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Friday, March 29, 2013
The Happy Wanderer - Part 1
Spring is here and once again I turn into "The Happy Wanderer." It's time to strap on the hiking boots, grab my backpack and hit the trails. If you follow my blog then you know that I like to combine hiking in the woods with geocaching and that's just what we did this week. We headed for Kentucky and decided to grab some trail time before the trees leafed out and the ticks and mosquitoes emerged. How beautiful is this??
(photo courtesy CAS)
One of the first caches of the day took us through a meadow to a beautiful pine forest. We brought Petey the geocaching dog along for the day. Ever since our black Lab died in January, poor Petey has been despondent. We decided to start taking him hiking with us when we can. He's still learning to stick close to us, so we keep him on leash when we're near a road...
and he had a great time chasing Chablis across the meadow....
The cache is hidden someplace in the left of this photo....
The next cache was an interesting container and also holds partial co-ordinates for another cache in the series....
We passed close to an area of old Iron Furnaces but didn't take the side road to get to them. Maybe another day...
One of the highlight caches of the day was this one hidden near an old Fire Tower. I had found this cache on the geocaching website and bookmarked it for our first Kentucky caching trip this spring. I love it when a geocache takes you to a really cool location.
The bottom set of stairs had been removed, but come on, you cannot take me to a place like that and tell me I can't climb it. We found the cache and then I circled the bottom once or twice and declared "I think I can climb that." So off we went. Pardon the butt shot of Chablis. LOL!
We can see the lake way in the distance in the middle of this picture.....
That's Louie on the ground pleading with me to "Please come down." Actually he was screaming at me "Will you stop climbing and get off that damn thing??" He hates it when I climb stuff and truth be told, this tower wasn't in the best of condition. So safety over-rode desire and we only climbed 3/4 of the way up and called it quits. Better to be safe than sorry I say.
We employed the 3 quarter rule while climbing up and down - that means 2 hands and 1 foot all touching something solid at the same time while the 2nd foot checks stability. I actually employ this method while climbing trees as well.
The hardest part was actually sliding down the last 8 feet, but Louie gave me a helping hand and a hug when I returned to solid ground...
I have more caches to show you as well as "My favorite cache of the day" which I thought was even better than this one, so come back on Monday for Part 2. In the meantime, please have a safe and blessed Easter. I'll leave you with the lyrics to one of my favorite songs ' The Happy Wanderer." I learned this song when I was a Girl Scout and it always plays through my head whenever I'm hiking. It really sums up the way I feel when I'm out on the trail!
Frank Weir - The Happy Wanderer Lyrics
I love to go a-wandering
Along the mountain track
And as I go, I love to sing
My knapsack on my back
Chorus
Val-deri, val-dera
Val-deri, val-dera,
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
Ha
Val-dera
My knapsack on my back
I love to wander by the stream
That dances in the sun
So joyously it calls to me
Come join my happy song
Chorus
I wave my hat to all I meet
And They wave back to me
And blackbirds call so loud and sweet
From ev'ry green wood tree
Val-eri, val-dera
Val-deri, val-dera
Val-deri, val-dera
Oh, may I go a-wandering
Until the day I die
Oh, may I always laugh and sing
Beneath God's clear blue sky
Chorus
Songwriters: MOELLER, FRIEDRICH WILHELM / RIDGE, ANTONIA
One of the first caches of the day took us through a meadow to a beautiful pine forest. We brought Petey the geocaching dog along for the day. Ever since our black Lab died in January, poor Petey has been despondent. We decided to start taking him hiking with us when we can. He's still learning to stick close to us, so we keep him on leash when we're near a road...
and he had a great time chasing Chablis across the meadow....
Entering the pine forest....
The cache is hidden someplace in the left of this photo....
The next cache was an interesting container and also holds partial co-ordinates for another cache in the series....
We passed close to an area of old Iron Furnaces but didn't take the side road to get to them. Maybe another day...
One of the highlight caches of the day was this one hidden near an old Fire Tower. I had found this cache on the geocaching website and bookmarked it for our first Kentucky caching trip this spring. I love it when a geocache takes you to a really cool location.
The bottom set of stairs had been removed, but come on, you cannot take me to a place like that and tell me I can't climb it. We found the cache and then I circled the bottom once or twice and declared "I think I can climb that." So off we went. Pardon the butt shot of Chablis. LOL!
We can see the lake way in the distance in the middle of this picture.....
That's Louie on the ground pleading with me to "Please come down." Actually he was screaming at me "Will you stop climbing and get off that damn thing??" He hates it when I climb stuff and truth be told, this tower wasn't in the best of condition. So safety over-rode desire and we only climbed 3/4 of the way up and called it quits. Better to be safe than sorry I say.
We employed the 3 quarter rule while climbing up and down - that means 2 hands and 1 foot all touching something solid at the same time while the 2nd foot checks stability. I actually employ this method while climbing trees as well.
The hardest part was actually sliding down the last 8 feet, but Louie gave me a helping hand and a hug when I returned to solid ground...
I have more caches to show you as well as "My favorite cache of the day" which I thought was even better than this one, so come back on Monday for Part 2. In the meantime, please have a safe and blessed Easter. I'll leave you with the lyrics to one of my favorite songs ' The Happy Wanderer." I learned this song when I was a Girl Scout and it always plays through my head whenever I'm hiking. It really sums up the way I feel when I'm out on the trail!
Frank Weir - The Happy Wanderer Lyrics
I love to go a-wandering
Along the mountain track
And as I go, I love to sing
My knapsack on my back
Chorus
Val-deri, val-dera
Val-deri, val-dera,
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
Ha
Val-dera
My knapsack on my back
I love to wander by the stream
That dances in the sun
So joyously it calls to me
Come join my happy song
Chorus
I wave my hat to all I meet
And They wave back to me
And blackbirds call so loud and sweet
From ev'ry green wood tree
Val-eri, val-dera
Val-deri, val-dera
Val-deri, val-dera
Oh, may I go a-wandering
Until the day I die
Oh, may I always laugh and sing
Beneath God's clear blue sky
Chorus
Songwriters: MOELLER, FRIEDRICH WILHELM / RIDGE, ANTONIA
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Tie Dye with Acryllic Paints
Have you ever tie dyed anything? I haven't because I never wanted to mess with the dyes. But the other day Chablis found instructions someplace online for doing tie dye with acrylic paints. Yes, you read that right - acrylic paint!
We gathered the necessary materials
Lightly sprayed the front and back of each shirt with some water...
Squirted acrylic paint into margarine containers and diluted it with some water....
Then take each tee shirt and start to twist it into a circle....
Take rubber bands and stretch them over the round bundle....
Re-spray your bundle to make sure its slightly damp....
Start drizzling paint over different sections of your bundle...
Be sure to thoroughly cover the front, the back and the sides with the paint. This part was fun!
Then I took a large garbage bag and opened it up and spread it out on a table. I took the tee shirt out of the bag and spread it out over the trash bag. I actually set mine up on a table in my office, underneath my ceiling fan to help it dry faster. I kept it like that for several hours and then flipped the tee shirt over and let it dry overnight. If you don't have table space, lay it on a trash bag in your bathtub overnight to dry. The trash bag is important so the paint doesn't stain whatever your shirt is laying on!
Ok, the next morning we tossed the dry tee shirts into the dryer and let it run for about half an hour to set the dye. We didn't do this step the first time we dyed a shirt and when we washed it, the colors faded. This time we set the dye for half an hour and then we washed the tee shirts in the washing machine on a quick wash cycle, re-dried them in the dryer and they were finished!
But we decided to take it one step further and decorate them a little more. We took my quilt cutting tool and cut some slits across the back of the tee shirts, cut out the neck holes a little and also cut off the sleeves. Make sure you place a piece of cardboard inside the shirt before you do this!! This is what my shirt looks like....
Chablis did 2 shirts. On this one she also cut strips along the bottom hem and then tied knots into them....
And on this tee shirt she got really fancy. She cut slits across the top shoulders and along the sides and then tied each strip together....
Aren't they cute? They are perfect to wear with jeans or shorts or as a beach cover up. They were a little time consuming, but very fun to make. I would definitely do this again. The best part was that we had everything on hand except for the tee shirts and we just bought some cheap mens tee shirts at Wal-Mart. If you're looking to do a fun project with your kids, give this a try!
We gathered the necessary materials
- clean white tee shirts
- spray bottle with water
- assorted acrylic paints
- gloves
- margarine containers and plastic spoons
- rubber bands
- newspaper and tin foil
Lightly sprayed the front and back of each shirt with some water...
Squirted acrylic paint into margarine containers and diluted it with some water....
Then take each tee shirt and start to twist it into a circle....
Take rubber bands and stretch them over the round bundle....
Re-spray your bundle to make sure its slightly damp....
Start drizzling paint over different sections of your bundle...
Be sure to thoroughly cover the front, the back and the sides with the paint. This part was fun!
When finished, wrap your tee shirt bundle in a bag and let it sit for about 6 hours. This is to let the paint totally seep through the tee shirt material and cover it well.
Then I took a large garbage bag and opened it up and spread it out on a table. I took the tee shirt out of the bag and spread it out over the trash bag. I actually set mine up on a table in my office, underneath my ceiling fan to help it dry faster. I kept it like that for several hours and then flipped the tee shirt over and let it dry overnight. If you don't have table space, lay it on a trash bag in your bathtub overnight to dry. The trash bag is important so the paint doesn't stain whatever your shirt is laying on!
Ok, the next morning we tossed the dry tee shirts into the dryer and let it run for about half an hour to set the dye. We didn't do this step the first time we dyed a shirt and when we washed it, the colors faded. This time we set the dye for half an hour and then we washed the tee shirts in the washing machine on a quick wash cycle, re-dried them in the dryer and they were finished!
But we decided to take it one step further and decorate them a little more. We took my quilt cutting tool and cut some slits across the back of the tee shirts, cut out the neck holes a little and also cut off the sleeves. Make sure you place a piece of cardboard inside the shirt before you do this!! This is what my shirt looks like....
Chablis did 2 shirts. On this one she also cut strips along the bottom hem and then tied knots into them....
And on this tee shirt she got really fancy. She cut slits across the top shoulders and along the sides and then tied each strip together....
Aren't they cute? They are perfect to wear with jeans or shorts or as a beach cover up. They were a little time consuming, but very fun to make. I would definitely do this again. The best part was that we had everything on hand except for the tee shirts and we just bought some cheap mens tee shirts at Wal-Mart. If you're looking to do a fun project with your kids, give this a try!
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Getting Ready for Easter
Since Easter is coming up quick I thought I'd share some old family Easter photos taken when I was a kid.
In this one I love the little hat and collared jacket....
My sisters and I....
Does anyone remember wearing white gloves to Church when they were a kid? We did every week - not just for Easter...
In this one I love the little hat and collared jacket....
Check out the ankle socks....
Does anyone remember wearing white gloves to Church when they were a kid? We did every week - not just for Easter...
I love this photo of me holding this giant bunny rabbit. I'm guessing that I was about 3 years old...
And here I am XX years later (you didn't think I was actually going to spill those beans, did you?) holding the same rabbit. She's in pretty good shape except for her lace apron which is falling apart. My husband doesn't like this rabbit any more than he likes the huge stuffed Santa I have either. So of course the rabbit turns up on his sofa or under his blanket from time to time....
Please share some childhood Easter photos this week if you have them!
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Mom Hitting the Trails
Many of you may remember that my mom had her first of two knee replacement surgeries back in January. After intense physical therapy and sheer determination, she is ready to rock and roll! She just got the all-clear from her doctor and guess what? She's back to 100% in her re-built knee. Way to go Mom! She immediately declared that she was ready to get out and hit the caching trail.
We started light, with a visit to the Orchid Farm the other day and a few easy caches that didn't require too much walking yet. She didn't even care that it was only 14 degrees out. She showed us no mercy and growled "dress warm!"
We went to a park near the Orchid Farm......
Mom was at the top of her game - She spotted 2 caches before I did and they weren't easy park and grabs either. I think she was just showing off.....
Her other knee is scheduled for October. Before I know it, she'll be hitting the trails like Emma Gatewood, the first woman to hike the Appalachian Trail. Emma hiked it 3 times and she was 75 years old the last time she did it.
(google photos)
You go Mom - I'm glad you're back!!
We started light, with a visit to the Orchid Farm the other day and a few easy caches that didn't require too much walking yet. She didn't even care that it was only 14 degrees out. She showed us no mercy and growled "dress warm!"
We went to a park near the Orchid Farm......
Mom was at the top of her game - She spotted 2 caches before I did and they weren't easy park and grabs either. I think she was just showing off.....
Her other knee is scheduled for October. Before I know it, she'll be hitting the trails like Emma Gatewood, the first woman to hike the Appalachian Trail. Emma hiked it 3 times and she was 75 years old the last time she did it.
You go Mom - I'm glad you're back!!
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