Bath time with Joss

This child loves the water more than a labrador retriever. She has found a true companion in her ducky. She likes to suck on his beak. It's so funny! And look, she has hair!

My First Banded Duck

A couple weeks ago I got a banded mallard. This means that someone caught the duck and put a metal band around its leg. If a hunter gets on of these banded ducks they are supposed to call the band in to the USGS. It provides valuable information about the migration patterns and age of birds. Anyway.... To a duck hunter getting a banded duck is like winning the lottery. There are not that many banded birds out there and some people that have huntere their entire life never get one. Needless to say I was excited. I took the duck to the taxidermist and I should have him back in a few more weeks. I plan to put him in my office. Below is the certificate I got back from the USGS. The duck was banded in 2002 and it was hatched in 2001 or proir. That means that he was at least 6 years old. He was banded in Montana. Since ducks are migratory that means that he has flown back and forth for 6 years and covered thousands and thousands of miles. Pretty cool eh..

Resolve for a New Year

Some don't believe in resolutions for the New Year, some don't make them for fear of not accomplishing them, some are so busy surviving day to day that a resolution for change is the last thing on their mind. So I decided to resolve for the new year only to make healthy lifestyle changes. Not lose weight, not to run a marathon, not to climb Everest and not to sky dive out of an airplane. Just to make strides for a better, healthier me, living a more simplistic, uncomplicated life. So here's to a life without caffeine, being organized enough to get my recyclables to the receptacles, eating breakfast every day and going back to school! Raise your glass with me, for I shall need all the support I can get!

On another note: Joss has RSV & bronchitis, so please keep our feisty little pumpkin in your prayers, she just doesn't feel very good. But the doctor says, she's very tough because we're through the worst of it & she is still just so pleasant, bless her heart. But it is highly contagious, hence all the catching up in the blogosphere...we're quarantined at home, so we don't pass our cooties to Jack-a-bee.

Creating a Happy Home Part 3

I think the bedroom should be your secret getaway. We call ours the cave, because its this deep cranberry color & you could literally go in and hibernate for days, which I've done. But I'm in the works of redesigning it, something fresher & brighter. I'm going to have Luke build me a very simple four poster bed like the one posted here. I just love the breezy feeling it gives, like you're not even in Texas!


Alexandra writes the following on bedrooms:

A place to retreat, refresh & renew. Stepping into your bedroom should be like entering a private heaven on earth. Here, you unplug technology without apology; you come together in utter privacy and oneness in love. In this sanctuary you can be restful, sensual, refreshed, revived, and soothed. I adore a four-poster bed that makes me feel sheltered and feminine. What a luxury to have Porthault Linens' hand-scalloped sheets generously dressing the bed. It's always spring!

Source:http://lifestyle.msn.com/homeandgarden/home/staticslideshowcl.aspx?cp-documentid=2137328&imageindex=3

Creating a Happy Home Part 2

Here is the next little installment...

Happiness at home is achieved by your willingness to reveal your personal sense of who you are, what's important to you, and your ability to transform your spaces to accommodate your style for living. The goal for all of us is to be happy and to spread that positive, life-affirming energy as far and wide as possible. Through the environment we create for ourselves and our loved ones, we can increase our happiness up to 50 percent. You can make this happen quite simply: Create meaningful rituals-set a pretty tea tray ahead of time, light a fire to bring loved ones together, or arrange fresh-cut flowers. By your generosity and imagination, you can transform ordinary moments at home into extraordinary experiences. As much as possible, your time there should be a celebration. Your home is the most important place on earth.
A place to gather, sustain & reviveOur living room fireplace is very important to my husband, Peter, and me. We have a loveseat and comfortable upholstered chairs on swivels where we come together, alone or with family and friends. In the winter months, a roaring fire creates a focal point of warmth, energy, and the spirit of the moment. We gather there to sustain ourselves. The purple handwoven throw makes us feel cozy. Here, love is generously shared.

This article is written by Alexandra Stoddard & the link is: http://lifestyle.msn.com/homeandgarden/home/staticslideshowcl.aspx?cp-documentid=2137328&imageindex=2