Journal

2012-02-17T10:20:00.001-08:00

I colored my hair black. :P

My natural hair color is light brown or dark blonde. When I need to do touch ups...I've always match my natural hair color. This time I decided to use one of my mother's old boxes. Wow...my hair is very black. Doubt it will be as black after washing my hair for a week. Because after the first shampoo, you can see brown high lights.

Kind of funny when looking into the mirror, I think " oh yeah...I got black hair"

2012-02-13T16:17:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I went to the dollartree store, because my craft store is apparently closed on Sunday. I purchase 4 regular coca cola glasses and 2 coca cola mugs. I checked online and they go for way more than I spent. I've seen them before at two different stores a few years ago, but didn't get them due to the fact that I'm a non-soda drinker. :P

So....water, tea, and maybe juice is what will fill them up.

Saturday, I finish one side of the purse. Already connected the strap. That was a huge process to decide how to connect it or should I wait and do the connection a different way. You can see on the left side : I join the end of the strap loops with the main section loops during the b/o.

steampunk

2012-02-10T20:20:00.000-08:00

I watched two Dr. who x-mas episodes. One was very steampunk setting and the other wartime England.

Love....love Dr. Who :)

social media etiquette...please?

2012-02-10T15:51:00.000-08:00

This is one of the most odd behavior ever....

I uploaded some photos on my mom's facebook. One of her friends tag every single photo (it was just my mom in the photo). Then this person download the photos and upload them into her photo album so people on her friend list can view them.

I untag every photo and ask her to delete the album. Really....the hold point of posting them on her facebook, was to control who can see them. If we wanted strangers to view the photos, the file would have been set to public.

Do I have to make a youtube video about photo etiquette?

This is one of many reasons why I unfriend people on my facebook. I hate tags. I don't like people sharing my stuff with strangers (when it's clear it listed for just friends only). That's why I now use facebook like a online storage site. I can access links quickly, and never post anything important.

*again this laptop cursor was jumping around as I type. Is this common issue for samsung?

2012-02-09T12:13:00.000-08:00

On facebook, someone is posting how to knit a heart pattern. Hmm....
Her pattern c/o with 2, but totally follows everything I do in my youtube video. Hello??? It would have been nice if she would have given me credit for the pattern. Guess that was bound to happen. Whatever.... :P My video was uploaded a few years ago. So.... Knit away people!

After uploading some pics online, I decided to look at my 2009 folder.

V-day sweet plate

bee pics in March

Better pictures for my craft

2012-02-08T15:35:00.000-08:00

Finally I have found a way to take some pictures of seed bead jewelry that I've made. On JTV, they had a very expensive kit to take picture of your jewelry, so I came up with a very cheap way (using items I had) to make my own light-box.

Now I want to create a way to take better pictures of my pets, myself, and bigger craft projects. Some people make a bigger light-box/ tent. I really don't have much room or space to store huge items, so it has to be made out of something that will compact.

*again....this laptop keeps jumping around the cursor as I type. (grrrrr....)

Oh, saw "exit smiling" not long ago. Beatrice Lillie only made one silent film. Wow....even though the plot was kind of lame. Beatrice did an amazing job. I had to search online to find out who was the actress in the film.

Really don't know why I have a fondness for 1880 to 1940.

My february project

2012-02-02T11:53:00.001-08:00

This month I am knitting a purse. The pattern is called "sandy twist." I want the purse to hold more items. So I will knit the front and back and add two sides and a bottom. The pattern wants you to sew a front and back panel together. That design will not hold much.

One thing I don't like is that you have knit a lot of stitches through the back loop. Also, seed stitch takes a lot of time. Kind of slow.... :P but looks pretty.

go to http://midgart.blogspot.com/
to stay up to date

2012-01-28T12:27:00.001-08:00

January is almost over. So far, I have done the pic a day project. Think I will create a movie file for each month, so it will be easier to create a movie at the end of the 12th month.

I saw a new crafter kit two days ago on HSN. It's called the knook. The knook is similar to tunisian knitting. Think you could use a cable tunisian hook instead of buying a crochet needle with a hole at the bottom.

I have a lot of things I want to do this year.

1. Get music program for PC. Things slow down since going from Mac to PC.

2. Get a bike or manual treadmill

3. be more creative...paint, music, etc

more stuff is on the list.

*Teddy doesn't let me sleep. Last night from 12am to 6am....I would let him in the room and out of the room....many times. His sleep pattern is off again. Hope he gets back on my schedule soon. Tired :P

2012-01-23T10:21:00.001-08:00

Just review my daily pic for this month...so far 23 pictures of a moment during the day and a 16 face pics. Reviewing them actually made me more motivated to continue on with this project.

Teddy and Leo have been something else....

Teddy has a hot spot. This is probably food allergy or weather related. So I clean it and put some Vaseline to protect the area.

Leo got catnip in his eye last night. Thankfully I saw it happen and quickly grab eye wash to rinse it out of his eye. He seems ok. I checked his eye before going to sleep and then later in the morning.

Seems that what I plan never happens due to having to always stop and fix some other thing. Really annoying.
Just wanted a Zen life....

Just can't.....

2012-01-15T12:24:00.001-08:00

A few days ago, my mother wanted me to apply some fake nails for her to wear. She didn't feel like going to the salon. The box had a lot of leftover nails...so I decided to use some of the leftover nails. I had them on from 7pm to 4am. Some how I manage to remove them without nail polish remover at 4am . The length was to long for me. I couldn't do things as fast as I normally do them.

Might try them again, but I will file the down to a shorter length.

with fake nails:

without fake nails:

photo a day project for 2012

2012-01-07T15:46:00.000-08:00

This is a sample of day 6. I was going to mow the yard to get rid of the leaves, but the mower wouldn't start. Think it needs a new spark plug.

Doubt that I will post every single picture online for strangers to view. It more for me to get into the habit of taking photos of myself. Then again...at the end of 2012, I might post them in a slideshow. So far...it's just boring snap shots of a moment during the day. Haven't done anything exciting.

*This laptop is so terrible. Typing is a nightmare. The cursor jumps all over. Wish I could remove the shortcut thing on it.

2012....wow!

2012-01-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe it's 2012.

I fell asleep around 10pm on Dec. 31, 2011 and woke up at 12:42am Jan 1, 2012. I totally miss it, but I was tired.

My first meal for 2012 was corn bread veggie muffin, can of black eye peas, and spinach. Yum! :)
I took two pictures with my old polaroid digital camera. I've decided to take a picture every day this year. I could use my newer camera to take pics, but it's a better idea to use the older camera for that project.

Not sure if I should upload them onto flickr or photobucket. Maybe I'll post them online. For now on...one picture a day. :P

I swear this laptop is so annoying. The cursor jumps around and makes typing a nightmare.

that's my 2012

Wish Manual typewriter make a come back

2011-12-23T12:16:00.000-08:00

This week was something else.

Monday: plumbers came to fix water heater line.
Wednesday: I got onto the roof to repair some shingles. Never thought I would ever do that.
Thursday: another plumber came out to change old bathroom faucets with new ones. They were way to old to remove without breaking a pipe.

My old jeans got some tar stains from repair the shingles. Now they are just work jeans. :( Really hate messy up clothing.

I knitted 3 beret hats. Still feel like doing something creative, but life keeps blocking me with all these distractions.

*Typing on this laptop is not fun. The cursor jumps around....it's some stupid shortcut thing. :P

That's my life.

Oh, I found an old manual typewriter in the closet. I love typing on the old typewriter. Might get some carbon paper, so I can use it again. Doubt if anyone sells spool ribbon for them anymore. It's kind of said. Wish Manual typewriter make a come back.

HK cake

2011-12-08T15:21:00.001-08:00

Just uploaded video to youtube.

2011-11-23T19:56:00.000-08:00

listening to pandora radio.

Love the 80's music. :P

http://www.pandora.com/#!/profile/activity/melindanotebook

leo sweater

2011-11-14T15:17:00.000-08:00

It's a bit longer....so next time I will delete a few rows.

new cat sweater

2011-11-09T15:00:00.001-08:00

made a new cat sweater pattern for teddy. Currently knitting another one for leo.

This is teddy peach sweater. Leo will be in lavender.

2011-10-30T11:29:00.000-07:00

This October feel like a blah for Halloween. You would think a few days before Halloween, TV channels would put all their ghosts, vampires,etc shows....but no. Last week was a hunt and search for something that claims spooky....and you get a huge flop of sad zombie films. Even the history channel did a thing about zombies. Think it was Zombie apocalypse. Hmm...is 2012 going to be a zombie year? Odd are zombies will be the last thing I have to worry about in 2012.

*I do love the series "walking dead"....the writers actually make zombies entertaining.
And I do like "dawn of the dead" ....but how many times can you watch it....before blah.

I want a white noise machine or mp3 file

Turkey vulture

2011-10-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

saw some Turkey Vulture up close yesterday...eek!

2011-10-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

here the pet sweater

2011-10-18T10:19:00.001-07:00

Brother gave me a samsung laptop to try this week. Don't make a terriable mistake of doing partition in the hard drive. It kept doing the lowest partition for the main one. And there is no reason to even do a partition. Had to reinstall windows to fix that. (nightmare) :P

So that's what's going on this week.

2011-10-16T08:54:00.000-07:00

Not much to update:

Haven't purchase a computer. Nothing good in the local stores.

The good side is that I have remove online distraction from my life. :)

The bad side is that it prevents me from posting some of my projects and not being able to print coupons. :(

Well...at some point I'll find something worth buying.

2011-10-03T09:18:00.000-07:00

Still typing on old computer. Been checking every week for something that might work for me. Guess I want more for what I'm willing to spend. :P

Last week got my favorite soap at Walgreens on sale....lavender is the best from Yardley.

I stumble onto a site about a challenge for people to only use 6 items of clothing for a year. Ok...that's not going to happen here. :P Other people did the challenge for a month. Like a lady did the following: click here for the website
1. a black jacket
2. black top
3. black jeans.
4. brown shirt
5. jean short
6. black dress.

for one month she only wore those 6 items+ accessories.

I wouldn't be able to do that challenge. I tend to get into the habit wearing the same weekly outfits. But, this month....I'm really trying to break that habit. So far, the last three days I have been wearing at least one new item. My bad habit is saving my new clothing for some special event. Like I got something special coming... :P
So, no more save my outfits. My challenge this month is to wear my new clothing and not save them.

2011-09-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

This month I have knitted a pet sweater for one of my cats. The pattern was so bad. I was having to do a lot of correction while trying to make it. So...basically....it's now my pattern. :P I really not kidding....It's my pattern of how to knit a pet sweater. Everything from a well known craft company knit book was so wrong from the collar, to the legs, to the length. I might come up with a pattern for circular needles after I make two more straight needle sweaters.

My main computer is broken. Currently using a real old computer to type. I can't do much more. So, I am looking for a good computer at a fair price. I have the feeling once I buy a new computer....a better computer will come down to my price point.

If you are on my facebook...or was on my facebook friends list. I decided to unfriend everyone. So, don't be upset...if you noticed. :P

I don't really use facebook much, and the new changes that are coming seem even more pointless to me. So....at this time I won't add anyone ( unless you really need me to ). I will keep it, but not sure if I will ever use it in the future.

My b-day is coming. Not that I ever celebrate it. So....I'll be getting older and closer to death. :P
Thanks a lot life.

Now you're updated!

*I took pets to get their yearly shots this week. One of the ladies in the office said that I was a very overprotected pet owner. Is that a bad thing? Better to be very overprotected than neglectful.

rude greedy shopper

2011-08-31T14:44:00.000-07:00

shopping yesterday,and some rude greedy female shopper was reaching over to get clothing in front of me. I was like....wow...really? You got the wrong person. I stood my ground and made her calm down. She did. :P

Internet still cuts off. ;(

I need the doctor

2011-08-27T20:07:00.000-07:00

Now I'm hooked on Dr. Who again. I wasn't going to watch any of this new Dr.......but it's to good. So, now I need to watch his 1st season. You better not go to soon Dr....or else.

*blame the Dr. Who marathon. ;p

2011-08-26T12:07:00.000-07:00

internet still cuts off.... :(
Really don't feel like dealing with it or cable people.

good thing: rescan tv channels (do this once every 6 months), and now got more channels. Only down side is that it's located on long channel numbers...like 77-163 is bbc america. I got real happy for a sec, then recall torchwood on starz channel now.....of course, don't have that.
Hope new channels will stay, and it's not some stupid free week deal.

that's my week. bye!
*post written on Wii

what a week

2011-08-21T10:14:00.000-07:00

Last week:
1. cable/internet messed up.
*had to reset and secure internet and put a new cable splitter.
2. washer wasn't working right.
*the top of the machine is real sensitive, so it off set the connection.
3. Gave myself a hair cut....not a very good one. :P
*it will grow out and I'll keep fixing it every few weeks.

just a sample of some wonderful things that happen last week. Also, I'm having to monitor Teddy. He gets earache easy and has a bad tooth that has been an issue on and off. I wanted to fix his tooth in May, but the vet didn't think he would awake up after surgery or wouldn't survive the surgery. So, thankfully I got some medicine for his ear and tooth. Of course, I am still worry.

One thing I heard this week about worry. Worry is a waste of time, cause you might waste all your energy on something that might not happen. Also, Worry is torturing yourself over and over.

Well...I think being concern with a bit of worry about an old pet is OK. :P

That's how my week went. Hope things will improve. :)

*apparently my typing is off today too....just add that to the list.

cut my hair

2011-08-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

I've been trying not to cut my hair, but it's way too hot in Texas. Ponytail gives me a headache. So, today cut it short. :p

Might need to fix it a bit tomorrow, but so happy to be free from hair bands and hair clips,

Given up on kennel garden. To hot....nothing growing. So, my focus is on container garden and orchid.

*written on Wii.

♫ Something so simple can stop everything ♫

2011-08-14T20:39:00.001-07:00

The last time I was on my computer was earlier this week. I try to log onto popular email sites and other online sites, but couldn't do so this Saturday and again Today (Sunday). Turns out that the internet security for WiFi some how got unsecured. That is why I could go to some sites and not access other sites. Amazing how something so simple can stop everything.

*Almost had to go old school and get some stamps to pay my bills. (I don't have stamps) :P

♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫

Trying to stay positive....but things keep happening to me. Why?????

Guess that's all for now. Beep! (robot for Bye!)

love coupons....

2011-08-09T19:57:00.000-07:00

Today I got some real good deals. I got two pair of jeans for free with my coupons. Thank you. :)
Also, I got free crayons, pens, and 2 pack of gum. Thank you again. :)

This is why I love coupons. Not only do you save money on regular items, but if that item is on sale or clearance.....wow watch the price fall. I'm now to the point where I don't want to shop without my coupon folder.

Other news:
I feel like painting this month. Might do a self portrait.

That's all for now.

Feel like I need to do some serious meditation. The last few weeks have been something else. I like to go with my gut (intuition). Sometimes it's very quick and other times I need to think about it for awhile. If it's meant to be .... it will flow towards me. If it's not....than I believe another path will open up.

Fingers cross that whatever it is...will happen....soon. If it happens the way I visualize, then it would be amazing.

My meditation this week: ( might do this for longer than a week )

*Everything in your life is possible. You must believe it to be so. Trust it to be so & allow your possibilities to be changeable in the flow.

2011-08-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

This morning pics after watering the kennel garden. Things are not looking to good for the plants. The summer heat (100 and up) really makes it hard to grow anything. My baby watermelon is gone due to ants and rolly polly bugs. Did take a picture of a lizard near my tomato plants. So, here August 8,2011.

2011-08-07T08:36:00.000-07:00

This morning was printing and cutting new coupons. I love coupons. :P
Watching Jewel School. Never seen the chain stand. Interesting idea, but I think two clips on either side that holds the chain would work as you add more charms and links to the chain. They always have some interesting ideas for jewelry making.

yahoo has an app for cool fonts... here a sample.

2011-08-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

I took some pictures this morning. To hot for makeup, so.... it is what it is.
:P

2011-08-04T17:11:00.000-07:00

I'm testing Facebook video....because sometimes you don't want to post stuff on You-tube. :P

First, this is just a test. I didn't put makeup on or brush my hair. Oh, my pets were coming in and out of the room. It was like this wasn't going to happen, but I made it happen. Good or bad. I will post it.
In the past, I would post a lot of my performances. Even had people request full audio downloads. I just need to find a way to post online media (song/video) in a more control way.

*update: the video quality didn't improve. I'm not happy. I might repost on youtube.

*Just remove it. Can't believe how bad Facebook's video quality was. Sorry if you didn't get to watch it. :P

2011-07-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

This week I knock off $33.00 from my total by using coupons. That's the highest amount I have ever saved with coupons. Normally it's between 10 to 15 dollars. My next goal is 50 bucks off my total......hope I can do that. :)

This morning I water my kennel garden, and found a small watermelon growing. Not sure how long it will take to grow to full size, but fingers cross that no bugs or wild animals will damage it.

My cats got some cat grass:

My mom's birthday was this week. One of her gifts was some flowers purchase at the local grocery store. I got Daisy. Not just any daisy....they were Fluorescent colored daisy.

(Pic of the flowers)

You can change a white flower colors by doing the following:

Colored flowers

Flowers take up water by a process called capillary action and you can demonstrate this by turning a white flower a different color!

Ingredients

Giant daisy or carnation
Glass of water
Food coloring

Recipe

Place the flower in a glass of water

Add 15 drops of food coloring (Whatever color you want)

Leave for a few days and watch it change color!

2011-07-17T18:26:00.001-07:00

This week I started to teach myself to follow a crochet pattern. So far....so good. :) Hope I have enough yarn in the same color to complete the project. Took a pic of the first 2 rows. I have done more rows, so I'm almost done with the bottom section of the shirt.
The funny thing is that I saw a job posting to teach crochet. I crochet left-handed...but it wouldn't be a big deal to teach right handed people.

Funny....
I crochet left-handed
I knit right-handed.

Leo and Teddy

I been thinking about maybe taking a class at the local community college. So far, nothing really interest me. It would be nice to take a class at my old university, but the cost for a 3 credit class is way to much. So, I am just looking. Sometimes buying a book in the area of interest is better than signing up for a class. You can take your time and the cost is cheaper. The only down side is that it doesn't go on your transcript. :P

Just posted a Workshop section: click
need some students. :)

2011-07-09T21:38:00.000-07:00

Like a lot of people, I have been watching the Casey Anthony Trial. Wow...what happen? So, I haven't been doing much picture taking or doing anything related to the blog. I found a free paint program on cnet.com website. Think Paint net is a good free program.

http://download.cnet.com/Paint-NET/3000-2192_4-10338146.html

quick example

My garden is growing and about to produce some tomato, cucumbers, peppers, pumpkins/watermelons. The weather isn't helping at all. It's so Hot! Seems like every day it gets into 100 to 105, and no rain. Hello? How in the world did people grow anything in the past. It's hard for me to deal with the weather, the bugs. Container gardens are way more easier to do. They don't require much watering, bug hardly get to the plants, the plants are protected from getting damage, you can move the container to get more sun or shade. Even get little critters that protect the plants...like today a saw a baby lizard on a tomato leaf. The kennel garden is a chore. Full sun, bugs trying to eat my plants, have to water the plants every 3 days if I don't want them to fry in the heat. The only positive thing right now....flowering. That's what is keeping me from abandoning the kennel garden. Also, I grow all of my plants from seed. Seems like everyone else buy their plants from the store. So... I will continue on with both gardens.

*If I had to depend only on what I've grown.... I would be dead. :P

2011-06-17T16:50:00.000-07:00

I'm making some changes.... :P