Friday Fragments

It's Friday Fragments Day!!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

It's Friday Fragments Day!  

It's Friday Fragments Day!

Welcome to Friday Fragments!  This is the place where we're able to put little snippets of fun or interesting things together without having to stretch that idea into an entire blog post.

Mrs. 4444 is our lovely host and I am so grateful for her continued hosting of this fun carnival.  For more Friday Fragment finds, please head on over to Half-Past Kissin' Time.  Thanks!

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I celebrated my 2000th blog post yesterday.  I really am proud of myself because in the things that I want to do for myself I tend to flake out after a little while (exercise anyone?) and I really wanted to blog.  I had to set a few 365 day goals to get it to be a daily habit, but I did it.  The neat thing is that I still love blogging and can't see ever giving it up at this point. So Happy 2000th to The Goat!! Yay!

 

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Our liver transplant community just had a huge turn over.  Nearly all of the folks that arrived last winter and spring were transplanted within the past six weeks.  Our group went from a group of about 40 (Patients and caregivers) waiting and wondering to a group of 40 looking forward to all of the things they can start doing again and enjoying the new life that they have been given.  We've got about four more pre transplant folks (and their caregivers) that can't wait to join that group of 40.  It's exciting and I can't wait to see them all healthy and heading home, but I'm really going to miss all the friendships I've made.

 

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I have this couch I've been trying to sell on CraigsList.  Here's the ad that listed and the email I received about said couch. 

FOR SALE:
Beige sofa with rust and green pin stripes. The two floral designer pillows are included. The sofa is in really great condition as it was hardly used, but it does have some stains. All offers will be considered.

EMAIL:
What is the condition of the item used or new?

MY RESPONSE:
We bought the sofa new, then we used it.

They didn't send any other inquiries!  haha

I never did get the couch sold so we gave it to the son of the owner for his new bachelor pad.  He probably won't even notice the stains.

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My photo of the day was quite timely.  About an hour after I posted it on my blog, the fire alarm in our condo started going off.   The power of suggestion is strong today.  I think I'm going to post a picture of money next!

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I have to admit that I have taken the smoke alarm off in our master bedroom.  The alarms are SO earpiercing and in our small condo we have 6 alarms, plus one for the building.  At one point when we first moved in, the alarms would go off three and four times a day.  The sun shine was directed to the garage alarm somehow and it would go off.   This went on for weeks and weeks.  I wasn't going to leave the building every time from my 5th floor condo.  So I took off the detector in our bedroom.  The condo is still pulsing with the alarm noise, but at least the ear splitting ringing is muffled a bit in there.  This morning I even grabbed my kitty and brought her in there with us.  Turns out that someone turned the leaf blower on in the garage, which always sets off the alarm.

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The photos are of a gator mural I saw on a local craft store.  He's really cool!

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More cool stuff can be found at Mrs. 4444's place though, as the Friday Fraggers are linking up there.

Have a great weekend!
Kristin

POTD - Viking

POTD - Viking

©2011 Kristin Corlett

I was immediately drawn to the black VIKING cut out on the red cover of the alarm on this particular building.  It's funny how something so little can catch your attention, especially when that something little is on a newly painted orange and blue three story building. 

Enjoy!
Kristin

POTD - 2000th blog post

POTD -  2000th blog post

©2011 Kristin Corlett

The photo is of the Beach Bowl in Jacksonville, FL.  When I saw this part of the building I knew that it would be a great backdrop for some text. Little did I know it would be for my 2000th post!  The colors are fabulously Florida and the palm tree hugging the side of the building was a real bonus.

I can hardly believe that I have written 2000 blog posts.  The very first year that I started The Goat blog I wrote two posts.  The next year, I wrote one.  At that pace I would have never made it to 100 let alone 2000.  I'm so happy to have jumped into the blogging world and met so many great folks.  Thank you for coming by, for commenting, for reading, for looking at my photos and for being interested.  Some of you have even become real life friends.  I am truly blessed. 

Thank you!
Kristin

Lifeguard chair

On the weekdays you can look down the Florida coast in Jacksonville and see the tall orange lifeguard chairs standing silently.  No one inhabits the chairs when the beaches are nearly empty, but they still exude an air of safety. 

It's like they are watching the waters.  Reminding the swimmers of the rip tides and to not swim too far out.

Their size and color make them hard to ignore.

They are exclusive chairs, only for a lifeguard.  Not even the birds sit on them. 

I really don't think I've ever seen a bird stopping for a rest. 

Maybe it's the color.

Have a great day!
Kristin

POTD - Curled Up

POTD - Curled Up

©2011 Kristin Corlett

I'm starting to get excited about going home to Michigan.  My nieces are growing up so fast that this photo I took six months ago is way out of date.  They have both gotten taller and their chubby kid features are getting more and more refined.  Zora, in pink, looks like she has a very soft face here and the photos of her I saw the other day she looks a lot more lean and grown up.  Stella, in the aqua pants, looks so much older than just a six month span.  Scarlett, who isn't in this photo is keeping up with the big kids I hear.  I can't wait to see them.  I just hope they don't take too many days to warm up to me.  I've only got two weeks with them instead of the month I've had the previous two Octobers. 

I have always enjoyed seeing kids piled into chairs.  These two look so uncomfortable and yet they hardly moved.  I'll try to get all three of them together this next time.  I can just imagine a squirming Scarlett tossed in the middle of this mix!

Enjoy!
Kristin

Daytona Beach

When my husband and I lived in Daytona Beach we pretty much moved there without having been a tourist there first.  At least I did anyway.  We had been to the speedway for the races a few times, but never actually stayed in Daytona Beach.  When we moved down there, there really wasn't an opportunity or a need to stay in a hotel on the beach.

Well this past weekend my husband had his Monkey Bars Garage Storage System booth at the Daytona Beach Home Show for three days.   It was a great excuse to get a room on the beach, across from the convention center, and enjoy being a semi-tourist.  The beds were comfy, too!

I only went down for one night, as I had quite a bit of things to do that weekend in Jacksonville, but it was nice to hang out there again.  We had only lived in the Daytona area for three years, so we've actually been gone longer than we were there.

This was view outside our window.  It was the city view.  Pretty neat sunset.

Saturday, Tom and I had breakfast across the street from the hotel and then he went to the home show and I drove a curvy, non direct route through town to the expressway to go home.  Taking photos as I went along.

Skips is a Western Wear store.  I do believe it's been around forever.

I've always liked this particular building.  I can't remember what used to be in there, but it looks like it's still in great shape.  Daytona Beach has (had) a lot of cool 50s - 60s buildings, hotels and homes but in an effort to get rid of of the run down look that was happening to a lot of these places, they have been systematically torn down.  I can understand because a lot of the old motels were pretty seedy or scary looking - the old Florida look though, with those places gone, is just not there as much any more.  I'm so happy to see that some of the buildings, even if they aren't occupied, are kept in good condition. 

When I lived in Lansing, Michigan, I lived above a fur shop.  You don't see too many fur shops anymore, so I was happy to see this one was still around -- and yet thought it was quite odd that there would be a fur shop in Florida.  Since we are known for our long winters here! (Ha!)

This house is on a pretty great piece of land about a mile from the beach, but I'm pretty sure that this place needs to just be razed.  It was in a pretty sorry state, but I liked that someone painted the windows on the plywood. 

Daytona Beach has a little arcade/amusement area - Very Touristy and I don't mind saying - It's a bit cheesy.  I did like the Ferris Wheel all lit up at night though.  That was cool.

I would like to go back again and stay at the beach when Tom and I can stay the whole weekend and just be a tourist.   He got enough estimate sign-ups at the home show to make it worth it the trip, so that's all that really mattered this time.

Hope you have a great day!
Kristin

POTD - 1970 Ford

POTD - 1970 Ford

©2011 Kristin Corlett

1970 Ford Pickup - Funny story... I was driving in Daytona Beach when I saw this truck and I wanted a picture of it. We kept stopping side by side at light after light. I turned to my husband at one point and said, "Can we ask this guy to come have dinner with us? I really don't want to miss taking a picture of this truck!" My husband just laughed and said no. Next thing I know I am getting out of my car at the restaurant and the guy driving the truck was walking in, in front of us! I asked him if I could get a picture of his truck and he said sure. He told my husband that he gets asked about his truck several times a day.  I just wish it wasn't so dark out, but I got a great story!

Enjoy!
Kristin

Gift Card Holder

I've been on a crafty kick lately and my spare bedroom shows it!  It's scattered from end to with paper, drink cups, magazines, newspapers, ribbons and junk mail.  I've been making journal pages, usually one page a night, but a few nights ago I just wanted a small project. 

I was standing in line at a store and noticed the not-so-cool gift card envelopes on display and a lightbulb went off in my head.  I could make some that would be fun and interesting and for a great price.  The gift card envelope I saw was $4.  I think that's a great price for mine, too! 

So I came home and immediately started playing around with making a gift card envelope.  It took me a few hours to get this one made - so at $4 each I wouldn't be making much money per hour!  BUT now that I've put one together that I like, I could certainly make them a bit faster.

The best part of the gift card is that I incorporated a portion of one of my photos on the back.  For the recipient, I bet the best part would be the gift card!  I just hope that the gift card holder gets passed along for years and years. 

This specific holder was made from a security envelope, scrapbook paper, a photograph, a cut out image from a soft drink cup,  a scanned image of a baggage tag and a cut out from an aviation map.  Oh and lots and lots of sewing thread.  I think a velcro dot will be placed on the tab so that it can be kept closed.  I  can't quite decide if I want it to be fastened closed or just left as is.

When I get a few more made I'll put them for sale on Etsy.  I think a dozen would be a good start.  Better get back to the sewing room!

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I went to Daytona Beach this weekend with my husband, that's why I have been absent so many days in a row.  It was nice going back.  I do miss Daytona.  More on that later! 

Hope you have a great day!
Kristin

POTD - Dive!

POTD - Dive!

©2011 Kristin Corlett

This is one of my favorite Jacksonville signs but the only photos I have of her are on cloudy days. I could never seem to get the timing right to get a blue sky as I was driving by.  This weekend I was able to make all my dreams come true, if only I would have noticed that I clipped off the a in Florida.   So, here's a repeat, but a new shot, with blue skies.  I like it.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Friday Fragments

It's Friday Fragments Day!!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

It's Friday Fragments Day!  

It's Friday Fragments Day!

Welcome to Friday Fragments!  This is the place where we're able to put little snippets of fun or interesting things together without having to stretch that idea into an entire blog post.

Mrs. 4444 is our lovely host and I am so grateful for her continued hosting of this fun carnival.  For more Friday Fragment finds, please head on over to Half-Past Kissin' Time.  Thanks!

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If you are a Facebook user you might have noticed a change in your page the past couple of days.  If not, that change is coming.  If you aren't happy about the new changes, get ready because it's changing again!  If you'd like to see a video about it, click here.  That will take you to a few videos on Mashable that explain things.  It looks cool! (even though I'm never crazy about change.)

Thursday (Sept 22) is day number 265 in the year 2011.  That means that there are only 100 days left in this year.  100 days!  What are you going to do with your last hundred of 2011?  I've got 100 more photos to take, one per day.  I think I will also  do some kind of exercise for the next 100 days.  Maybe one minute of leg lifts or sit ups or maybe I can just make it a minute of general moving.  This will hopefully lead me to doing more than a minute, but won't be scary to start if it's just a minute.  I have a minute a day.  I've already got my photo taken today and about 5 minutes of intentional exercise, so I'm good for day 265.

I was involved in putting together Big Fun Boxes that are being delivered to children around the U.S. who have been hospitalized.  I wrote about it the other day and it really made me think about how easy it is to create a small gift to take to someone in the hospital - little kids and big kids, too!  (You know, those adults in your life.)  I think several of my liver transplant friends would have liked to have something like this, too.  The squeezable stress toy is truly a great idea to have in your hand when getting a procedure done that makes you nervous. 

I "liked" the Facebook page MyPublisher a few weeks ago and because I did that I was given the opportunity to order a mini book for free.  This included free shipping, too.  All it took was my time to figure out what 21 photos I wanted in my mini book and to get them in the exact order that I wanted.  That took me a few hours, I have to admit.  The free mini book is only available for three days after you like their page so I did have a deadline.  The book arrived today and I love it!!   You can see what it looks like from the photos I interspersed in today's Friday Fragments post.  I now want to make one of my nieces for sisters and mom.  I want to make some for our transplant friends who come to Mayo Jacksonville.  I have so many ideas for that little mini book or even the bigger books, too.  I am just shocked at how much I liked the mini book.  I was just sure it wasn't going to be worth the effort, but the pages are thick enough and the colors are great.  I'm sold --- as I guess MyPublisher thought I would be, that's why they wanted me to get my free mini book!

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Hope you have enjoyed my fragments this week.  Oh and all the hype I gave about My Publisher - they didn't pay me a thing to write that review.  I was compelled to do so when I received my mini book.  :0)

More cool stuff can be found at Mrs. 4444's place though, as the Friday Fraggers are linking up there.

Have a great weekend!
Kristin

POTD - Vintage Sea Oats

POTD - Vintage Sea Oats

©2011 Kristin Corlett

These aren't exactly vintage oats or even a vintage print, but the look sure is.  The wispy looking stem at the bottom of the photo reminds me of the cracks and scratches that happen on old photos.  I went down to the beach yesterday.  I've been spending so much time running around that I thought it might be nice to just take a walk along the waters edge.  It was indeed very nice.

Enjoy!
Kristin

I'd like to unkink my spine please

 The Spine.

You know it's there when it hurts, that's for sure. 

Something happened to me over the weekend and I pulled, pinched or tore something around the C5 - C7 area of my spine.  I have bent and twisted and tried to get the kinks out, but there's no unkinking it.  My problem is that I have this spot of pain that doesn't go away no matter what type of pain reliever I take and my arms have been going numb intermittently.  Today however, my right arm has been numb all day. 

I've never been to a Chiropractor and have always been very nervous about anyone touching me - anything more than a hug and I'm freaked out.  I don't like my shoulders rubbed, my back scratched or my feet worked on.  When I realized that I needed to go to the Chiropractor, I swear my heart started beating out of my chest.  I'm such a pansy sometimes.

I went for the evaluation, a few xrays and consultation.  Tomorrow (Thursday) I'm going back to see what the xrays showed and hopefully something can be done.

I'm used to being the caregiver - I'm not liking this "being the patient" kind of thing.  Here's to hoping that it's purely temporary and that within a few days the kink can be unkinked.  I'll surely let you know!

Have a great day!
Kristin

POTD - Blue Cars

POTD - Blue Cars

©2011 Kristin Corlett

A pile of stress toys or as I would call them, stress reliever toys, at The Big Fun Box volunteer event.  We put these squeezable toys into the boxes that we filled to send out to children who have had an extended stay in hospitals.  These boxes don't just go to a local hospital, but are sent out around the country.  I don't know how the recipients are determined, but I bet these little blue cars are going to really help a lot of kids.

Enjoy!
Kristin

The Big Fun Box

I hinted with my Photo of the Day early this morning that I volunteered to help in The Big Fun Box project.   We mentioned the project at one of our transplant support group meetings and I thought it might be fun to do a little "bag stuffing" that would be going to kids who were hospitalized.

Little did I know that I would be moving quicker than I have in years! 

My first assignment was a sit down job, no hurry really.  We were to put 11 bug stickers into a little glassine envelope, then put that bag into a larger glassine envelope with a door hanger in it.  Fold the top over and put a sticker on it to keep it closed.

After we finished the bug project, it was on to filling little brown lunch sacks.  The sea of empty bags looked daunting.

Each bag was filled with the same items - a pack of colored pencils, a deck of playing cards with dogs on them, a pencil sharpener, a folding ruler and a stress toy.  The stress toys were either a cow, a pencil or a blue car.  Those toys were specifically chosen so that if a child needed to hold on to something when getting a procedure done, or while being given a shot, they could squeeze on it and hopefully be comforted by it.  They toy could also be played with when not in need. 

Filled bags covered over half a dozen banquet tables.  My favorite part was seeing little cow heads sticking up out of the bags. 

The Big Fun Box starts off being a red plastic box, but with the addition of bright colored stickers, put on by volunteers, it becomes a gift. 

More volunteers gathered all of the items to be placed in the boxes from the banquet tables around the room.  The first item in the box is a packet of brain games, a big pad of colored paper, a plastic stencil with circles, numbers and other shapes.  Next the door hanger bag with the bug stickers goes in and lastly, the paper sack contents are placed in the box. 

The boxes are then checked to make sure everything is included, the box is shut, bagged in a plastic sleeve to make sure it arrives unscathed and large cartons are filled ready to be mailed to their hospital destination.

I was part of the bagging process.  For a few hours I grabbed the closed boxes from the checkers, bagged them and handed them off to the guys filling cartons.  I think we filled well over a dozen cartons - hundreds of The Big Fun Box - in a short time.  When it was all done I could have collapsed.  We were all moving so fast!  It was crazy and it was crazy fun. 

You can enlarge this photo to read the text.  This is one of the stickers that is placed inside the box cover.  It explains the reason behind the gift and how it came about. 

If you get a chance, please go check out The Big Fun Box website.   I am a big fan of this project and am so grateful I got a chance to work with them and get to see how The Big Fun Box gets put together!  The volunteers that came to work this day were incredible.  THANKS VOLUNTEERS!

Have a wonderful day!
Kristin

POTD - Moo

POTD - Moo

©2011 Kristin Corlett

I spent an afternoon volunteering my time with an organization called The Big Fun Box.  (More on that adventure later in the day.)  I have to say that I would absolutely think anything was a  lot of fun if it came with one of these cute cows in it!  Moo!

Enjoy!
Kristin

POTD - Whiskers

POTD - Whiskers

©2011 Kristin Corlett

Mocha's whiskers were my focus in this photo.  I was on the floor next to her and she was indignant that I was once again using her as my guinea pig.  She doesn't much care for other animals in the house and a guinea pig was just too much for her to take.  Ha!  I was super close to her with some magnifying lenses on my camera.  She stood just still enough for about a minute.  A full minute longer than I ever expected.   I really like the whiskers in back that are so out of focus they look like an xray image. 

Enjoy!
Kristin

Hutch - Before and After

BEFORE:   In January my husband purchased the contents of a storage unit at auction.  One of the delightful items (rolling eyes/sarcasm) was this hutch.  It has two shelves that go in the top, too.  I found those much later on in the sort.

This hutch really needed some help.  The wood wasn't pretty, even after I dusted it off and the screens were all bent up.  I was going to have to do some major work to it to make it desirable. 

Well, after months of letting the hutch languish in my husband's workshop, I finally finished it.

I had some incentive - we decided two days ago to have a garage sale on Sunday (today).  Nothing like having a deadline!

AFTER:  The two shelves never got painted.  I kept forgetting about them, but if someone buys the hutch at our garage sale, I'll give them the shelves and the paint colors I used.

I painted the top Aqua Bay (Behr paint) and the rest in a white called Icicle (from Colorwheel paint) - the top just didn't look right without something painted aqua on the bottom half.  A friend suggested I paint the entire bottom aqua with the little drawers white.  From that suggestion and from the standpoint that I was exhausted, I decided to just paint the very front pieces of the cabinet aqua and leave the sides and drawers white.

It needs new knobs, the screens need to be taken out and replaced with something fun - like a beach fabric and the two upper shelves need to be painted.  I think someone has a really great, easy project, don't you?  I'm offering this hutch up for $25.

I'm hoping it's the first thing to sell!

Have a wonderful Sunday!  I'll be sitting at my garage sale from 9 to 1.  Anything that left at 1pm is going to charity, even the hutch, if it doesn't sell.



That's a Sunday in My City. For more cities, please head on over to Unknown Mami.  It's a nice way to see a bit of the world without leaving home.

Kristin

POTD - Bakery

POTD - Bakery

©2011 Kristin Corlett

This sign wouldn't have been nearly as cool if the windows and the rust weren't there.  However, the part that does it for me are the red flowers and red lampshade in the window that echo the red and pink in the cupcake.   All of these details make this picture a little more interesting.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Spinach Ravioli Bake

Spinach Ravioli Bake from Mrs. 4444 Cooks.  This is a recipe that can be shown in pictures - without any words at all (until the end.)

So here goes!

(I filled mine way too full because I made a much larger batch than the recipe!)

Chop Garlic, set aside
Saute mushrooms
Chop fresh spinach and put into a large mixing bowl
Grate Mozzarella cheese
Put half the cheese in the bowl
Add garlic to mushrooms, stir quickly and put into bowl with spinach and cheese
Add frozen Ravioli
Add in pasta sauce
Mix
Pour into greased casserole dish
Cover and bake
With about 15 minutes left to go, top with remaining cheese.
Serve.



Spinach-Ravioli Bake
15 ounces frozen cheese ravioli
6 ounce bag fresh spinach
24 ounce jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Optional
2 cups mushrooms sautéed in olive oil with minced garlic.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine ravioli, spinach, cheese, sauce and mushrooms in mixing bowl or right in the casserole dish. Cook covered with foil for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and continue covered for additional 15 minutes.

This has been a huge hit at our potluck events.  No matter how much I make, I never bring home a bite.  

Have a great Friday!!!

Kristin