A Fun Family Visit

My mom, aunt and sister stayed with us for a few days as part of their exciting road trip. It was perfect weather and we had lots of fun. We ate a lot, shopped a lot, walked a lot, and just enjoyed being together. I love you guys!

Jess, me and Mom at Fearrington Village

Jessica and Kara in front of a cool barn/reception area

Oreo cows at Fearrington Farm

Me and Jessica just testing out the different features of my camera. I believe this was our attempt to test the "Smile detector", but I were having a hard time not smiling.

Hanging out and resting our legs while shopping at the outlets

Giant chessboard at the NC Botanical Garden

Venus Flytrap

Giant asparagus - wish I had this in my garden.

Anna Karenina

I recently finished reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. I knew nothing about the book and read no descriptions, reviews, or opinions on it before reading it, but I knew it is considered a classic and that I would like to read it. It is quite a long book, at almost one thousand pages, but it is very well-written and interesting. I was amazed throughout the book at how well Tolstoy describes many various human emotions and so accurately describes the realistic feelings of the characters in so many varied situations.

Tolstoy puts forth many ideas on the characters relations to Russia, to agriculture, to religion, to morality, to society, to government, and to the purpose of life. There were many times when I thought I should copy down or underline this or that sentence, but I was too busy reading to stop and do that. In all, there is too much food for thought in Anna Karenina to read it only once. I think I will probably have to buy Anna Karenina for my collection so that I can reread it someday and take more notice of the eloquent truths that Tolstoy points out. I give it five stars.

Picnic in the Park

We had a very lovely Saturday afternoon at the park. Even though it was overcast and stormed both Friday and Saturday night, it was pleasant enough to allow us to have a cookout at the park with some friends.

After eating, we played a little Kubb. For those who don't know, Kubb is a Swedish lawn game where you throw wooden dowels, attempting to knock over wooden blocks. Wikipedia describes it as a combination of bowling and horseshoes, which I think is pretty accurate. We had a good time and it was definitely nice to be outside at a time when it isn't too hot or too cold.

I'm still getting used to my new camera. It is definitely a vast improvement over our 7 year old cameras that it replaced. These probably all would have been blurry and out of focus before, instead of just the one that Jeran took! :)

The boys team

The girls team

Adam was cold, having come straight from a basketball game without a jacket, but the blanket did not hinder his throwing.

Jeran attempts to knock down some blocks

Random Thoughts

I have the weirdest dreams. And sometimes I have the weirdest ideas while I'm sleeping. And I'm quite good at remembering both the dreams and the ideas. This morning I woke up and, still half-asleep, told Jeran that I had an idea to improve organ donation process by making a machine that you would hook the donated organ up to that would pump blood through it so it can be transplanted later, instead of immediately. I have no idea where this came from and once I woke up I realized it was a ridiculous idea disguised as a logical-sounding idea. On so many levels.

But still, the fact of the matter is that my mind is going a million miles an hour while I sleep. Sleep is amazing! How often have you gone to bed trying to figure something out and woken up with the answer, or at least a possible idea? Happens to me all the time.

On another note, I went for a good long walk today (with a little jogging for good measure). The weather was perfect (sunny but not hot). It was nice to be outside and active, and until it gets too roasting hot I will try to do it more. I like to look at all the houses and yards.

We have a few carrot sprouts coming up in our new garden. It's exciting. We also planted marigolds, corn, and green onions, but no signs of life there yet. We're also going to do some tomatoes, bell peppers and jalepeno peppers when they get the starts at the garden center.

I'm reading Anna Karenina. It is long but interesting. I'll post more on it when I finish.

Anyways, this is getting boring. Sorry.

Tick Tock

I have recently been working on a fun project. It is a large wall clock (22"), designed and created by myself. I should have documented the process better but I didn't.

I bought my piece of wood and decided on paint colors. I watched YouTube videos and practiced a parchment-looking painting technique. I ordered an oversized high-torque clock movement on eBay. Jeran helped make a router jig to cut a circle and helped me cut the circle shape. After I sanded and primed it, I painted it with my new technique. It didn't work out quite as good as my practice piece, but it looks decent.

I debated for a long time on how I was going to paint the numbers because I knew I could never freehand them and make it look good. I finally decided upon using a Cricut scrapbooking machine to cut out number stencils (thanks, Lindy, that was fun!). Then I positioned them and painted them on and they worked pretty good! Last, I installed the movement, which involved chiseling out a section in the back because the shaft wasn't long enough to go through the entire thing.

Now, I think the clock looks all right, but a little plain. I've been debating if I should add something to it in the middle. I could use any advice or ideas anyone has! Some ideas I already have are to stencil: our last name, a flourish, an interior circle, or some other word/phrase (but what?). Any opinions out there?

Busy bookworm

I have been fortunate lately to have plenty of time to read and listen to audio books, so I've got quite a long list of books from the last three months. I'm afraid I haven't been keeping notes on what I've read and our library doesn't track what you've checked out previously, so I think I've forgotten some of the books. In no particular order:

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See - 4.5 stars

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See - 4 stars

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova - 4.5 stars

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - 4 stars

Catching Fire By Suzanne Collins - 4 stars

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - 4 stars

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer - 3 stars
The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer - 3 stars
The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer - 3 stars
The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer - 3 stars
The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer - 3 stars
The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer - 3 stars
Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen - 2 stars

One Good Dog by Susan Wilson - 3 stars

A Bride Most Begrudging by DeAnne Gist - 2.5 stars

Adrift by Steven Callahan - 2.5 stars

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - 4.5 stars

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie - 3.5 stars

Whispers of the Bayou by Mindy Starns Clark - 3 stars

The Help by Kathryn Stockett - 4 stars

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux - 4 stars

Animal Farm by George Orwell - 3 stars

At this rate, I'm going to smash last year's goal! I'll try to remember to write down what I've read and make some notes next time. Any recommendations are always appreciated!

Waiting

I'm waiting patiently... my new camera should be delivered today. I was going to take a picture of a current project and blog about it this morning, but then I thought, "Why not just wait until the camera gets here so you can use it to take the picture?" So I'm waiting. And now you're waiting with me.