another NEW photo of Jenny Lake and a Sunday message

Posted on August 6, 2023 by explorenewness

Happy Sunday!

I realized I didn’t include this peaceful shot of Jenny Lake when I posted most of my other photos from our trip to the Tetons. Isn’t this lake beautiful?

Also, I listened to an old audiobook from author/speaker Jim Rohn recently and appreciated the message below. I hope you like it too:

The Gardener and God

There’s a story about a man who took a rock pile and in two years, turned it into a fabulous garden. And people came from everywhere to see it.

One day, a man came by and saw the garden and thought it was fabulous, but he wanted to make sure the gardener did not take all the credit. He had this deep feeling inside that a lot of people leave God out.

So the man toured the garden to have the chance to meet the gardener. He eventually found the gardener, shook his hand and said, “Mr Gardener, you and the good Lord together have made this beautiful garden.”

The gardener immediately understood his message and his point. So he replied, “I think that’s true. If it’s not for the sunshine and the rain, and the miracle of the seeds and the soil and the seasons, there would be no garden at all.”

And he continued, “But you know, you should have seen this place a couple of years ago when God had it all by himself.”

Have a peaceful Sunday and I hope you do or learn something NEW!

Miscellaneous Monday…NEW stuff i gotta share

Posted on June 25, 2018 by explorenewness

Happy Monday!

It’s been a while since I’ve randomly rambled off some miscellany on a Monday, so here’s what’s up:

I rented the macro lens from the library again, and this little bee posed for me this morning. A macro lens for my Nikon is definitely going on my Christmas wish list!

I’m loving a gardening YouTube channel called Garden Answer. This YouTuber is knowledgeable without being overly talkative (aka wasting my viewing time with a surfeit of blah blah blah). Laura just comes across very “real” – very genuine. She’s a sweet young gardener who has worked at her parent’s nursery for a lot of years and has picked up a lot of knowledge that she shares with her viewers. I like her a lot.

I sometimes listen to Gretchen Rubin’s podcast on my way to work. I had to laugh at a recent episode, when Gretchen challenged her listeners to make something that they’d normally buy. I laughed because if my family would have been listening with me, they would have yelled “Don’t encourage her!!!” I have family members that tease me about trying to DIY a lot more things than I probably should. Doing a lot of DIYs means having my fair share of FAILS – thus the teasing! Ultimately, I’m just a cheapskate and know I can make most things for a lot less than I can buy them. The trick is balancing time expended with how much you actually save, right? I enjoy this podcast and wish Gretchen would record more than one episode a week, but oh well – I’d probably get behind if they did.

I made this really, REALLY easy cookie recipe call Oreo Pan Sugar Cookies, Did I mention they were quick and EASY to make? I took the entire batch to work on a day I only worked a couple of hours, so I’ll have to ask around and see how everyone liked them. Personally, they were a bit too sweet for me, but then when has “sweet” been a terrible thing? I have a son who loves Oreos, so I’ll have to make these again and get his review.

Lastly, we’ll be renting a camping trailer later this summer and camping at a lake, so I need to get to get planning. I need fun activity ideas, good, but quick meal ideas, and generally NEW fun family together time ideas. If any of you have some good ones for me, please chime in!

Have a fabulous Monday. Do or learn something NEW!

Miscellaneous Monday…NEW stuff i gotta share

Posted on March 19, 2018 by explorenewness

Happy Monday! So what’s NEW with all of you? I wish the NEW thing with me would be something exciting like traveling to somewhere I’ve never been, or learning something fabulous. However, the NEW thing at our house is lighting fixtures – now that’s exciting eh? :o) Don’t get me wrong…they were a long time coming and I’m thrilled we finally got them in! Although once you get one light fixture, you have to update the fixtures in the adjacent rooms too, and before you know it, you’ve shelled out $900! That could’ve been an airline ticket somewhere exciting! Oh well!

Another miscellaneous item: I really, REALLY, would like to start a photo-a-day challenge like Connie at Basildonkitchens. BUT could I keep it up? That’s quite the commitment! Would I? Should I? Could I? I’m still debating. I’ll let you know.

Oh! And another NEW thing. My hubby finished up the picket fence and arbor that is supposed to keep my son’s great dane dog out of my garden area:

I should have got a pic of the picket fence too, because it’s cute, but I can’t wait until I have greenery growing around it. Hopefully, eventually, it’ll look more like this:

arbor

There’s many, many, many NEW things I want to try, learn, do…so many! I need more hours in a day! I’ll try to get to a few and update you all next week.

Have a great day!

Miscellaneous Monday…NEW stuff i gotta share

Posted on November 21, 2016 by explorenewness

Happy Monday!

I recently had a a photo shoot with my old baseball mitt. Yes, it’s my very own mitt that my hubby bought me either shortly before or after we were married – can’t remember. It’s lookin’ pretty old and weathered these days. I can’t say I used it much, but I keep it because…well, just because. Actually, I did use it quite a bit. Not because I played in very many baseball games, but I played catch with my four boys, quite often, when they were little. :o)

Other random stuff:

I was introduced to a NEW word and a NEW blog recently: Tesserology. I didn’t know there was an actual word for those bits and pieces that I’m dreaming will grace my garden soon. I’m slowly working on my ‘Mosaic Garden’ (previous post about that HERE). It’s on it’s way! I’ve got the drip system installed and the large flagstone pavers in place. Now I’ve got to fill in all the spaces with my mosaic designs…and buy/plant the trees, bushes, flowers etc. Unfortunately, the weather decided to turn chilly (well, ok, it IS November). This project might have to wait til spring, but it will happen! Yeah!

Another NEW thing…I’ve bought two NEW maids.

One’s name is Vicki:

The other maid’s name is Molly:

I have a feeling I may feel a bit guilty if they’re working and I’m not. So I’ve resolved to make sure I’m always doing something productive whenever either of them is working. I’d hate to feel like a lazy mama if they’re doing the work and I’m just sitting around. So I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen! I always have plenty of items on my to-do list, so that shouldn’t be a problem.

So, that’s it for today’s miscellaneous randomness. Have a great day! Do or learn something NEW!

a NEW recipe…to use up my basil with

Posted on October 3, 2014 by explorenewness

Happy Friday! I kind of, sort of…pretty much forgot about the basil that I planted early this summer. It didn’t seem to be doing all that great in the heat, but my hubby brought in some last night and said there was quite a bit more. So, I tried this NEW salad dressing recipe. The recipe called for 2 1/2 cups of chopped basil. Normally, that might be a bit much to harvest all at one time, but we had plenty of it!

Here’s the Recipe:

Have a terrific weekend! Do something NEW!

Miscellaneous Monday…NEW stuff I gotta share

Posted on May 19, 2014 by explorenewness

Happy Monday! I’ve been busy, busy, busy! My son is getting married in less than four weeks….(yeah, yeah, I know I’m not the mother-of-the bride, but I still have stuff to do! :o) I’ve also had fun watching my other son play baseball {yup, that’s a photo of the goof-ball above…lookin’ soooooo….ummm what?….like a goof-ball!!!} High School tennis is just recently done with, which gives us a bit of breathing room, and then just regular life has kept us busy. It’s all a good busy. But I just wanted to share a few random NEW things that have crossed my virtual path lately:

Why have I never heard of Sweet Potato Pound Cake?…..***OR*** Manure Tea? Both are NEW to me!

Also, I’ve been on an organization kick lately….or at least getting geared up to be organized by watching a few organization tutorials on YouTube. This one amazed me…could I really be that obsessive with my fabric stash??? Check it out HERE.

Have a great day! Do or Learn something NEW!

a secret garden….my NEW ideas, plans and dreams

Posted on May 10, 2014 by explorenewness

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Happy Saturday! So….ever since I read this post about making a secret garden, I’ve been having NEW ideas, plans and dreams about doing the same thing. We have a section of our yard that ~~would be~~ WILL BE perfect for a secret garden! It was formerly our vegetable garden, but we moved it when our neighbor’s trees got so big that our vegetables were too shaded. There really is no outlet in that corner of the yard because of the fence, so it’s just a perfect spot for a NEW secret hideaway. Yes, there’s lots of other projects that may be higher on the priority list, but I thought if I posted my plans…somehow the universe would make it happen…eventually. :o)

Here’s a few things I really want in my secret garden:

#1 Mosaics!