Six Word Saturday

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month so it seemed like a good idea to use this as my inspiration this week.

For this weeks Six Word Saturday I am going to talk about something very important to me.

I have reached 7 years as a survivor. My mom had breast cancer back in 1960, long before
the many advances. But she lived for 25 more years. My goal is to do that as well.

My niece Janet was not so lucky. Her cancer was discovered at about the same time as mine. But three years later she was gone. She was such a sweetheart, it is so sad that she left us so early and we all miss her.

Get your self in for your mammogram!!! It is very important. And support Breast Cancer Awareness events in your area.

Snow?????????? Way too Early

We barely had a summer and now we are getting a taste of winter early and only temporarily (I HOPE.)
We had rain and snow all day and a bit of it stuck on the ground. Even though I wasn't thrilled with the early snow fall it did make a pretty picture. The trees protecting the ground are my apple trees.

A Great Free Zine

I have a lot of different interests as you have probably discovered as you read some of my blog entries. One of these interests is paper arts. I enjoy messing about with paper, ribbons, other embellishments and to come up with some sort of collage. I love it when I have something thing to use for a project. I have been collecting up lots of artwork, fabric, paper, embellishments and such to do a small book of art using Marie Antoinette as the inspiration. At the moment I have been doing a bit of that and while I was checking on the web for inspiration I came across a blog that was new to me.

My Artful Adventures

The blog is loaded with visual goodies and lots of graphic ideas.

AND I learned about a great free zine that will be available shortly.

For those of you who have not heard about it yet here is a little more information. This will be a FREE zine, complete with a FREE Marie inspired collage sheet. Inside is over 50 pages full of Marie related art including: altered shoes, ATCs, theaters, jewelry, cuffs, banners, dress forms and MORE! I know that Cassandra http://myartfuladventures.blogspot.com/ has worked Very hard!! and also is having a giveaway!! so check out her site for more details!! This will be a FREE bi-yearly zine. Inside this issue will be lots and lots of eye candy! Also inside will be a free collage sheet.

It is going to "released" on Oct. 19, just 5 days away. I can hardly wait.

So if this interests you, or you are just curious head on over.

Mystery Ladies

I am going to start a new feature on my blog. On Wednesdays I will talk about some of my favorite authors, books and related things. I was going to call it Mystery Wednesdays because I love mysteries but I read so much more than that so plan to come up with another name. Check it out next Wednesday.

I read a LOT...... I also keep a list of the books I read. I seem to be averaging about 12 books a month at the moment. I always have a book handy in case I have to wait. I would far rather read than watch TV for example. (Hard to believe since I worked in television for many years.)

I love to read mysteries. Especially the "cozy" type. One of my all time favorite authors is Lillian Jackson Braun who writes The Cat Who..... series. I have read them all, twice at least. We now have a Siamese cat so I have a better understanding of those books..... LOL

Another favorite author is Susan Wittig Albert. She writes mysteries about a woman named China Bayles from the hill country of Texas who owns an Herb Shop called Thyme and Seasons.

A few years ago I had the privilege to meet Ms. Albert. She is a fun and interesting lady. If you read any of the Nancy Drew books back in the late 80s you would have read her writing. Her husband Bill Albert wrote the Hardy Boys books at the same time.

In 2005 I was asked to make a centerpiece for a table at the the National Assoc. of Miniature Enthusiasts (N.A.M.E.) convention. The subject was books so I made an imaginary Herb Shop like China Bayles might have had. Although I didn't get to keep it I took lots of pictures. It gave me a chance to combine my love of making miniatures with my love of reading.

Here are three pictures of the shop I made...............

A Toadstool Village and fall scenes

We have had a lot of rain off and on the past couple of weeks and apparently toadstools like that kind of weather. Here is a "village" of them near an old tree stump. I read that they often show up on top of dead tree roots.

They are nasty and poisonous but aren't they cute.

We are getting a bit more color in the yard. The dogwood tree is in full color though other trees around it are not yet.

My garden shed is looking very fall like. However, I need to get out there and do some clean up.