2 photos, 4 links, a few words.

Hi!

I'm leaving for another week of camp this weekend - highly excited.



Before I go north . . .

. . . here are some pretty cool things . . .

Fennec foxes.

Will, Kate, and Canada. ♥

Classical music and how it's incredible.

Levitation self portraits. From Tokyo. ♥ ♥

And . . .



Prints of romantic paintings for $5.

Life is good in summertime.
~M

Yard Sale

Today, for the first time in recent history, this family hosted a yard sale.

It was, like so many of our decisions, an impromptu one. Earlier this week , mom announced her intentions and asked us to gather up the items that weren't thrilling or riveting or useful to us anymore. There was quite the accumulation, not too surprisingly. :)

This morning, my sister and I made a sign and everyone helped haul the stuff out onto the driveway, where tables were set up. Toys on one, clothes on another, and tools, books, and miscellany had their place too. We even had some fine second-hand pool lane dividers up for grabs, free of charge! Getting stuff like that is one of the fringe benefits of having a brother who's a lifeguard. Meh. ;)

It was a grey, chilly day. I hunkered down with Jane Austen and mugs of tea, and people did end up coming.

No one wants my old EasyBake oven. I wish they would. ;)

Shoes were a rather popular item . . .

We're the family that a lot of other families give their grown-out-of clothes to. Jeans especially, it seems!

Someone paid $3 for the Yamaha keyboard I grew up with. I almost told him he couldn't have it after all. But I'm glad I didn't . . . he seemed pretty pleased by it.
Friends from church gave our antique dining room chairs a new home.
Someone else, who might be an angel, offered to recycle those useless and pesky pool dividers for us. I was thrilled to see them go.

And it was fun! A change of pace, a way to cast off the unneeded, and a way to meet people in the neighborhood.

We really should do this more often!

Have a lovely weekend,
M

It's Monday. Have some cuteness.

Corgis are small dogs the color of foxes. They have short legs and no tails. They are enchanted.
~Tasha Tudor

And I really, really love mine!

I'll get back to more serious posting soon. This past week has been a busy one, preparing for Easter and such. All of this spring weather is really making me . . . well, 'giddy' is a good word to describe my happiness.

Having a beautiful April,
Margaret
PS--Random question: Is anyone reading any good books right now? Please share . . .

Happenings

1. Violin.

Okay. I like violin. But my recital is in three days, and my piece is not recital-ready, and that is stressing me out a bit a lot. Ugh. But on a funnier note, here is a story: I was just doing my normal stuff the other day when my little sister, Ruth, emerged from the hallway carrying her little violin. "You should name your violin, Margaret. I named mine Susan," she announced. Leave it to her to apply names to instruments at random times. :) So we thought of names for my violin, looking for the perfect one. It needed to be elegant, because I am a classical violinist, and down-home style, because my violin is a fiddle. Now we can't decide whether it should be Clara or Johnny. It's not that bad of a predicament, I guess!

2. Thumbdrives.

I was going to add more to my NaNo novel on Sunday, but to my small horror, the thumbdrive I the keep the file on had disappeared. A mad racing over the house ensued, with me asking everyone, "Have you seen a tiny silver colored thumbdrive? No? Are you sure?" It was awful, but as I continued to search, I started to realize that losing the first draft of the novel wouldn't be that terrible. That made me feel like a traitor, for some reason... But I eventually found the thumbdrive in the pocket of my vest and of course was very glad to have it back. :) Remember this: USB thumbdrives are devious little implements of matter that will disappear if given the tiniest chance. Do not give them that chance.

3. Tangled.

Have you seen it yet? It's really great. Rapunzel makes a lovable heroine, and the details added to the story are just perfect. Good movie. :)

Not my image

4. Flickr

It's so fun! I started one the other day and have really enjoyed it. But I still have stuff to learn about it, too. :) Click here to see my photostream!

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Well, I am off to do algebra, bake cookies, and prepare for a busy weekend. Have a lovely winter day and thanks for reading!
~Margaret

It's a happy day

Today has been special. I went to a Write-In for the first time ever with some very fun, wonderful, writer friends. I loved that. And it was at Borders. I love being there! And while writing NaNo novels, with friends I haven't seen for a while, exchanging funny sentences from our stories? It could not be more blissful!

Then it started to snow. Thicker and faster it came. I love snow.

And my college-student brother is home for a few days! It's so nice to have him back. Today, he took me out to Burger King for lunch, just because he's nice. I love him.

Then some other friends we hadn't seen for a good amount of time unexpectedly dropped in for tea! It was a very nice impromptu visit.

Then I did a bit of enjoyable school (algebra), taking a break to write down a piece from random story idea that has been in my head for a few days. Loved that! I am thinking that it has to do with Italy...

Then I made spaghetti for dinner while singing along to my parent's choir's CD. Fun!

Then I blogged, something I haven't done in a long-ish time. I realized this: when I tell you that I won't be posting for a while, I get this sudden onslaught of post ideas and go right back to it. But when I give myself to freedom to do it, I simply don't feel like it. Funny how that works.... But I still love reading all y'all's blogs. You guys are the best. :)

Now I am going to have movie night with my family. A vintage one from 1939 and Robin Hood are on the itinerary! And of course, movies mean knitting. :)

And tomorrow is Thanksgiving! My family is heading to grandparents house for the feast. What are your plans for the big day?

And then on Friday, it will be..... Black Friday! I can't wait for the insane shopping and people watching. :)

So tonight, I am very, simply, happy. Thank you, God, for giving me happiness!

The Lord is good to all, and His mercy is over all that he has made. ~Psalm 145:9

And for your viewing pleasure, here is a picture I took last November. :)

What are you happy for today?

Tagged!

Nela at Beloved Star and Marie at Marie Loves tagged me! This is how it works: I answer the eight questions the person who tagged me wrote, then make up eight more for those I tag to answer. Here are my answers for Nela's questions: :)

1. If you're writing a book what would be the title, plot, and characters?
It would take me a few posts to fully answer this one! The temporary title I have given my book is The Pace, the plot is... uhh, moving on, it has three MC's. :)

2. What animal would you prefer to be for a day?
My little sister asked me this just last night! Haha, I told her I would be a raven. Flight, oh, flight....

3. Did you ever have a baking disaster? (like the cake didn't turn out right, or the cookies were too thin, etc) If you did, what happened?
Ohhh yes! Read about it here. :)

4. Whose you favorite Christian singer?
Hmm, I am not a big Christian music fan, but I don't mind Britt Nicole.

5. Tell about your favorite birthday celebration that you've personally experienced.
My fourteenth birthday was fun; I went to the zoo with my family and had DQ, then my friends and their parents came over in the evening. Simple joys. :)

6. What is something you've done that you never thought you'd do?
Made it down the double black diamond at the ski resort my family always goes to. I was scared stiff and basically snowplowed the first half on the my first time, but now I can do it with relative ease. My friend and I always told each other we would never attempt so frightening a slope. But somehow we got dared or talked into it or something and we did it. And now it's so fun! (I am really getting ski fever right now, can you tell?)

7. If you could add any person to Mount Rushmore, who would you add and why?
Well, since they are all presidents, I would say George W. Bush. He was our president during some of our toughest times ever and handled everything very well. Sure, he made mistakes, but he's human! Why couldn't people give him some slack? Okay, I'll stop before I start ranting. Politics don't agree with my conservative self. :)

8. If money were no obstacle, what would be the perfect birthday gift to receive?
A Nikon D3100 and plenty of lenses to go with it!! Or my own really nice set of skis, boots, and bindings. *Sighs blissfully*

And Marie's questions:

1. What is your favorite Winter accessory?
Tasteful hand knit lovelies! I love my scarves and mittens. :)

2. How do you like to spend your Winter weekends?
In the piles of snow, having cookies with friends, and being cozy at home. Mmm, I love winter. (And it's almost here!)

3. List your top 3 favorite things about the Winter season.
1. Skiing
2. The cold
3. The SNOW

4. What is something new you'd like to try this year?
I want to solidify my new crochet skills! It's lots of fun, but I need to, um, get better. granny squares are my highest aspiration.

5. If you could spend your Christmas abroad, where would you go?
Scandinavia. It may not be home, but at least it would have the chill of my wonderful Northern home.

6. Your favorite historic monument and why?
The Washington Monument. It has the the words Laus Deo carved onto the eastern top, so the first rays of sun that hit our capital light up the words Praise God. How sweet is that?

7. What museum would you most love to visit?
Well, I have been to NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art once already, but it was a very short visit and I would love to go back and really, really look at that art.

8. If you won a shopping spree tomorrow, which store would you want to spend it at?

J. Crew. I have never bought anything from this store, as it isn't in my price range, but I love their stuff. Or maybe I would choose Toast, if I could figure out my Euro sizes!

Here are my eight questions:

1. If you could be rich or famous, what would you be?
3. How do you feel about The Lion King?
4. When did you begin blogging?
5. Do you like bonfires?
6. If someone gave you a pet monkey, what would you name it?
7. Which continent would you most love to have a nice, long, wonderful tour of?
8. Pens or pencils?

I am tagging:

Kaley Grace
Izori
Charming Elephant
Jessica
Polka Dot
Lily

Have a beautiful Friday, lovelies! I have some good news from my life: NaNo is once again looking amazingly fun to me! It had lost its appeal for a little while there, and that scared me. But that's over, thankfully. And my brother is coming home from college for the weekend! I haven't seen him since August! Eeee! Okay, those were a lot of exclamation points. I am going to give us a breather and sign off for now! :)

Signed with a few grins,
Margaret R. :) :) :)

What's up?

My brother left for his freshmen year of college a couple weeks ago. I was watching him pack up the car on the morning of departure. He lifted into the car a bin full of assorted essentials that used to be filled with toys- building blocks, to be exact. The tag was still on it. He ripped it off saying, "Well, I won't need this anymore." A few minutes later, I hugged him hard and watched him drive away.

That really struck me- the tag you see above had been on that Rubbermaid that held our childhood toys for a long over a decade. Now the bin is filled with the stuff someone needs for life in a college dorm room, not passing the playtime hours. Things really can change.
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Credit

Being the dedicated (yeah right!) fan that I am, it took me a few months after its release to get Celtic Woman's newest CD! But I did get it, and I think it's fantastic. If you are not familiar with these singers, I will say that their performance style is not exactly my favorite (big and showy), but the music is wonderful. I was amazed at how much Celtic Woman has changed since their original CD from 2004; Chloe especially, but I still like her a lot. And I am delighted with Lynn and Alex, the two girls that I hadn't 'met' until this week.
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Check this out: my roommate [sister] and I got new coverlets! Simple pleasures, right? :)

The tree one is mine. I love trees! Sister has one with colorful hills on it. She loves it, as you can see below:
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I turned fifteen! My birthday was very nice, thanks to my wonderful family.

Aren't pictures that are so obviously taken my the subject great? :)

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Okay, I have caught IBS (Insecure Blogger Syndrome) and have a request to make of you: I would love it if you could tell me your opinion of this blog, and suggestions for it if you have any. I have allowed anonymous comments if you don't want me to know who you are, but you can still be as nice as normal when you comment. I also have a poll up, so please vote.
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Thanks so very much!
~Margaret R.

Guin is having a party!

This should be fun! Did I mention the prizes from some ah-mazing blog design sites? I am definitely interested...

1. What has been your favorite part of summer so far?
The evenings spent reading and writing.

2. What is your favorite part of autumn?
The cool air and color.

3. Raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens?
Whiskers on kittens- it would make a more unique photo!

4. Describe your dream house.
Lots of room, windows, and big trees in the big yard.

5. What's your favorite movie?
Lord of Rings. The books are great,too, if you didn't know...

6. Quote something from the book you most recently read:
I went out to the fields to sleep under the stars; there were no stars. -Jean Valjean, Les Miserables (I haven't finished it yet, which isn't a surprise, as its super huge.)

7. What do you like/not like about my blog?
Your theme, Guin! It's beautiful! And I have not followed you long enough to see what I don't find fetching.

8. Rain or shine?
That is a hard question, but I am going to have to say rain. My brother once said that rain is girly, and I almost agree with him- do you ever see boys itching to go dance in it? But I like what is does to my imagination, dancing in it is just a perk.

9. The worst grammatical mistake, in your opinion:
Funner. Is. Not. A. Word!!!! But even spellcheck thinks it is!! Argh!

10. If you had a choice, would you want to live: in the mountains, in a rainforest, on a prairie, or by the beach?
Easy: Mountains.

11. What character from a book would you say you are most like?
Ummm... perhaps I am a mix of many....

12. Be constantly talking the rest of your life or not be able to communicate in any way for the rest of your life?
I could probably handle being mute for the rest of my life, if a hermitage in Alaska came with it and I could still use pencil and paper. But I would hate to have to constantly talk for the rest of my life.

13. Owl City or Switchfoot?
Owl City, hands down.

14. Taylor Swift of Selena Gomez?
Taylor Swift, I guess.

15. Your pet peeve?
Aforesaid funner. Something about that word really bugs me...

16. What's your favorite font?
Baskerville old face

17. How are you educated? (i.e. homeschooled, public schooled, private schooled)
Homeschooled and wild. ;)

18. Do you consider yourself tomboy-ish or feminine?
I like to think of myself as feminine.

19. What's your favorite song?
Vivaldi's four seasons, Anywhere Is by Enya, Symphonic Dance by Phil Keagy (I am not loving the name for that one, but the song is spellbinding.) Vida la Vida by Coldplay, and lots more. Why and how could I limit it to just one?

20. Did you enjoy answering these questions?
Haha, yes. Who doesn't find TMI interesting? :)

Discoveries

I have discovered two wonderful things today:


First off are these little chocolate covered clouds of goodness- Mallow Bites! Oh, are they good. The serving size is 24 pieces.... I am not sure if I have exceeded it yet.


Second of all, is the Les Miserables soundtrack. I was cruising the CD shelves at the library and stumbled upon it. Hmm, I thought, perhaps this will be interesting. I settled down in my room with it, planning to read Enna Burning or something while listening, but ended up paging through the booklet, reading the lyrics, and sometimes singing, along with the performers. What powerful music!

I have been planning to read the novel for a while, and I am sure that figuring out the story through the songs will give me a better understanding of the 1000+ page tome.

Have you made any pleasant discoveries lately?
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Would you believe that this is this is the fourth time I have changed the appearance of this blog? I just can't keep away from websites like Shabby Blogs. How do you like the greenery of this new look?

~Margaret Rowena

Disclaimer: The above photos are not mine.

Letters and words

I had a photoshoot- with Scrabble tiles!

Love is only worth seven points?! It can't be!

*Favorite*

I love this one.

Lake sampling

Today, I returned from a delightful retreat at Lake Superior, what I think to be the most beautiful spot on this earth. Here are some samples of the beauty:

I had such a good time and so enjoyed God's stunningly gorgeous creation. I will be posting some other photos from this trip soon, so stay tuned. :)

Also, my friend Ellyn has arrived on the Blogger scene! She is a very cool person who rides horses and writes novels, so you really should go check out her blog.

Sorry about the wimpy length of my posts lately. I am quite busy as of late, but this shouldn't last much longer... thanks for reading!

~Margaret Rowena

Templates and layouts and themes, oh my!

[Sorry, I just couldn't resist that title!] Wowza, hasn't this blog changed? I discovered the template designer thing and, after some apprehension, dived right in. To tell the truth, I rather missed my old template and Shabby Blogs theme, but I have warmed up to this very new one. Who knows, maybe I am not finished with it yet... What do you, as the people that will be looking at this page the most, think? Please tell me, as I L-O-V-E feedback.

This morning, at around 4:30 AM, a huge thunderstorm blew through my area. It was the perfect thunderstorm, as it: had a good balance of thunder and lightning (both very loud and bright), lasted for quite some time, poured rain, and wasn't destructive. Mmm, why can't there be more of those storms? Anyway, after it mostly blew over, the birds began their usual singing, only a little late. I thought that, although the storm delayed their singing and the morning, it did not terminate them completely. There were even some left-over rumbles of thunder and small flickers of lightning, but they sang as soon as they could. I liked that.

Well, I am off to the zoo for the morning with my mom and sister, and I hope that you have delightful day, too!

[I began this post with brackets, and I am ending it with them, too. I probably sacrificed some facts about birds in the paragraph about the storm, but I liked the idea of recovering after trauma too much to alter it.]

Happenings

Hello everyone! It feels like it has been a while since I last posted, and I wanted to write something cool for this newest post, but nothing was coming. So I am just going to tell you all the stuff that has been goin' on with me lately!

1. I had a piano recital tonight. I told myself and everyone that it was just another recital and there was no way I was nervous. Psh, I do these things all the time, right? Right. Well, my number was third to last on the program, so I had all concert to NOT think about my turn. But when the time drew near, I was feeling acute anxiety. I had hoped to play my piece from memory like I could at home, but if I had not had the music in front of me while I was playing, it would have been a disaster. But I did it, and it's done, and I have all year to prepare myself for a butterfly-free recital next time! My friend and I also played a duet of "All I Ask of You" from Phantom of the Opera that we have been practicing for quite some time. It turned out very nicely, I think. Big sigh of relief :)

2. I have been very tired for last few days. The reason? Late night reading. The book Inkheart by Cornelia Funke is the type that you simply cannot put down for at least five chapters. I have been letting myself go for up to ten, which means my light has been on at 12:00 AM on a week night. It's a book about books, and very suspenseful, so I am just loving it.

3. I am very fed up with school. I want it to be done!!!!! Maybe the snow (!!!) that is falling outside right now will help me get into the winter/school year mindset again. But for now it is Friday night, and I will block IT from my mind until next week. Starting now.

4. My delightful friend, Abigail, told a whole bunch of stuff about blogging, so now I know how to mess with the template and fonts and buttons and backgrounds.... Can you tell? How are you liking the new theme? This website has a wide selection of the cutest blog graphics I have seen yet.

5. More recital stuff: I have my violin recital tomorrow, and I am not as confident as I should be about my song. But my teacher (who you know to be very cool) is assured that I will do fine, so I am blaming the insecurity on recital jitters. Which still do exist, as I learned tonight!

Have a fabulous weekend!