muddy creek market & other things i love...{warning...there might be photos}

September 3, 2017 Arlene Giddings

so i know i have talked about
muddy creek market
on here before and on facebook
but i finally remembered to take
my camera on a recent visit
out there.

i know this doesn't have to be said...but...i totally want that tractor.

but first...
meet apples
the most adorable big bunny
i have ever met.
he lives at the muddy creek market.

jenna has stocked up on tons
of beautiful items since the last time
i visited...so many talented artists
and crafts people...
it always amazes me what people create.

and i always feel this tiny shocked surprised
feeling when i see some of my own
doodles nestled in among the rest...
it's like i forget sometimes that
something is mine.
it happens every now and then
when someone posts a wedding or family photo
and i think...awwww...that's so sweet
or that's cool
and then i'm like...oh...heh.
i took that.
and it kind of surprises me
in a good way...
well...unless i'm losing my mind...
that might not be such a good surprise.

after muddy creek market
(and i am not going to lie...
i am fighting myself not to spell it crick..
i think i have always spelled it that way in my head)
i took a drive to ch'town (to buy tombow markers,
but that is too long and far too sad/pathetic a story
that only emphasizes how cheap i am, to share here)
and ate at the chip shack!!!
and got a hug from the queen of fries
(and from her mom, too!)
fries are soooooo damn good.

the prettiness on the drive...those clouds...sigh

i found some cute little shops :)

and some old favorites...

such a great day...
(well..except that i got home
and INSTANTLY regretted being
too cheap to buy the tombow markers, heh)

annnnnd....one more of the tractor...cause look at it..so cute and red...sigh.

rainbows and watercolors

August 8, 2017 Arlene Giddings

the other night
i was working on a new watercolor...
(and when i say working on, i mean struggling with...)
when i happened to look
out the window
and see this bright & shiny rainbow
over my neighbors house.

i really need to reconfigure my workspace...it's better than it was but i think i need more space.

i grabbed the camera
and ran outside
barefoot in the spitting rain.

sometimes
it's good to walk away
from what you are working on
and
get your feet wet
while looking for
end of the rainbow...

when i came back in,
i felt like my frustration
with feeling like i don't know what i am doing
with these brushes, this paper, this color...
why doesn't anything on the paper
match what is in my head,
why do youtube videos
make it all
look
so damn
easy.

anyway.
i felt better when i came in
and was able to finish what i was working on
with fresh eyes
and less eff words.

although...
i tried doing her feet different
and now she looks like
she is suspended in air...
sigh.

and one last photo...of the cat...cause...look at his cute little nose! :)

playing tourist at home...

July 23, 2017 Arlene Giddings

friday morning
i got in the car with
my camera, my wallet,
a can of bug spray
and a can of diet coke...
and just drove.

i had no real plan, no timeline
no map and no compass...
i just followed the sun,
looking for pretty light
and maybe a little bit of mist...

i ended up in hunter river
where i walked a bit of the confederation trail
(until honestly, i thought there was a
bird murder happening...there was shrieking
and trees shaking and sudden flocks of
birds over head...but the shrieking...my gawd....it was chilling.
i have a video but i can't share it
because i was so freaked out
i said the f-word)

i saw a real live beaver!

i stopped at a shop that sell honey candles
and for lunch at by the river cafe...
the chicken salad sandwich was
seriously ginormous...there is NO other way to
accurately describe it.
i had to take half home...
i most likely would have died
if i tried to eat it all at once...
(and it was so good).

my lunch time view...can't beat that. :)

which means
i was too full to try their ice cream so
i don't get to add that one to my bucket list,
boo.
(just means i will have to go back!)

i have always wanted to stop at this little greenhouse
so this time, i did!
it's so sweet! and they have lots of stuff inside
for your garden, too.

and then...i saw a strawberry u-pick
that was open RIGHT THAT MINUTE.

ummmmm....i took zero pictures of the strawberries...
i had good intentions...but i ate them.

so i thought...THAT is definitely on my list
and i am DEFINITELY running out of time on that one
so i pulled in...
i got a little confused on where i was
supposed to be going
cause i didn't see any people and
felt weird driving onto someone's property like that
but then i found people...
and realized i had no cash
(like that's a surprise...i never have cash on me...)
or bowls (which i didn't know you should bring yourself)
but the very nice woman
gave me some boxes
and took the 3.05 i found in loose change in the car
(even though it came to 4.25)
and even showed me where the most berries
were most likely to be found...
it's pretty picked over by now.
BUT
one more thing off my list!

next up...stock car races (ideally...i'd like to drive one)
heh.

the worst thing about a great weekend

February 19, 2017 Arlene Giddings

is that you hate to see it come to an end.

yesterday i played around with
the watercolor paints a little bit more
and then we went to visit family and
i got to hold the sweetest teeniest tiniest baby!
i wish i had thought to take a photo
but i was just so absorbed in that sweet-brand-new-baby-smell...
:)

DISCLAIMER: i am certain that this was not my idea and feel like it was inspired by a photo i had seen on Pinterest, however, I couldn't find it. If i can find it, i will link to it here...

today has been all about sleeping in
and catching up on tutorials online,
a little of this, a little of that...
trying to make myself do laundry...
but damn it, i just don't wanna.

OH! and adding my new smurf members to the family!
a sweet friend showed up on the doorstep of the
big old orange house yesterday
with more smurfs...including a papa smurf that
I DID NOT HAVE!
and red from the fraggles...driving a radish, i think!
soooo excited!!!
thank you Elise!!!!

there are so many things i SHOULD have done today...

February 17, 2017 Arlene Giddings

i totally was going to
clean out the area
where we keep our recyclables
and
put away the mountains
of laundry
teetering on the edge
of mayhem
and mess...
i was going to do yoga
and get my 11000 steps in,
sweep
and pick up the vacuum
that i left in my brothers van
over 2 weeks ago
or more...

but instead
i got wrapped up in videos
on how to do html and css
(and can i just say
i got SO excited when
i made a webpage open
and ask "what is your name"
that i might have squealed
and taken a photo of it
and sent it to S)(i'm sure he was not
nearly as excited...heeheehee)

i broke out the watercolors
and ate a chicken nugget kids meal
just so i could get the
lego batman toy
drank copious amounts of diet coke
listened to the lumineers
and rose cousins
and stared out the window
at the snow
for long periods of time.

i stayed in my pajamas
and wore 2 different colored socks.
my hair is a nightmare
but i did moisturize.

i didn't make my bed though.

and that, in a nutshell, has been
friday...now it's chicken wings & nachos
with that guy i love best,
guitar playing (not me) and diet coke (me)...

a perfect start to the weekend.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥