Sunday, May 31, 2015

PRETTY PURPLE

What a nice, quiet, lazy weekend it has been. I did a couple of loads of laundry, and that was the extent of anything even slightly resembling "work". After last weekend being so hectic, it was nice to have absolutely nothing that had to be done.

I spent a whole lot of time watching hummingbirds and taking pictures of hummingbirds. Yesterday was windy, gloomy and cold outside which made them very active at the feeders. I rarely looked up at the window without seeing at least one.

At one point I came out of the kitchen and noticed a little fluffball on a feeder, so I grabbed the camera. As I watched her, it became obvious that there was something wrong with her. I took some video and posted it in some hummingbird groups to confirm my worst fears. Unfortunately, it looks as though I was correct. Somewhere she must have gotten the bacteria or fungus that they can get from dirty feeders. I'm assuming since I haven't seen her since yesterday afternoon, she probably did not last through the night. 

She was a pretty little thing, and my heart is broken.
I post this depressing bit of news because I feel the need to inform anyone who either feeds them or is considering feeding them. If you put up feeders, do not buy store bought nectar. Take a few minutes and make it yourself, using one part regular white sugar to four parts water. In this prime season, I will mix 2 cups sugar with 8 cups of water. I stir it while I heat it just until it starts to boil. Once it cools, I fill my feeders and store the leftover in a sealed container in the fridge. It can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 weeks using this method. 

Your feeders must be kept clean and the food replaced every few days, daily if the weather is hot. If your food is starting to get cloudy, it's going bad and will make your birds sick. They won't recover. Absolutely do not, under any circumstances, add anything to make the water red. It's unnecessary and unhealthy for them. They are attracted simply by a small amount of red on your feeder.

On the other hand, if you do want to start feeding them, get a window feeder for whatever room you spend the most time in. It is so much fun to watch them all day. Even though I needed a winter coat to do it yesterday, I did go out and hold the feeder twice yesterday. I got a lot of fun action. Over the past two days I've had a lot of them feeding while I held the dish, and several of them stopped and sat on my finger for the longest time. 

It's just the most amazing thing to feel the breeze from those little wings and to feel those tiny little feet standing on my fingers. They are amazingly inquisitive and brave and will fly up in front of my face to get a closer look or stop eating to cock their heads to look at me. It's one of my favorite feelings in the whole world. Seriously. They are miraculous little birds.

Sorry I rambled, but once I get in hummingbird mode, it's hard to knock myself out of it.

I did this mani right after I got my Mundo de Unas stamping polishes and was just dying to try the light purple. Photographing this mani I think was the most difficult one I've ever done. It took me two days to finally get both purples to show their true purpleness.
Cult Breakwater, Mundo de Unas #16 Lilac, Bundle Monster BM XL03  stamp
I started with Cult Breakwater and used the Bundle Monster BM XL03 plate and Mundo de Unas #16 Lilac for the stamp.

I love purple. I love light purple. I love Bundle Monster. I loved this mani.

The only thing I didn't love was trying to photograph it.

Friday, May 29, 2015

ALMOST TOSSED THIS ONE

This has not been the best week here. The weather is rainy and pretty chilly, and the weekend doesn't look any better. So far today I've done exactly nothing. Kev left at 1, and I promptly dozed off for an hour. It's just that kind of gloomy here.

My Hydrangeas are sitting outside still unplanted, and it's really bugging me that I can't get those darn things in the ground where they belong. Of course, even if the weather was good, I still wouldn't be able to plant them because Kev hasn't had a chance to dig up the area in front of the house where I want to put them. It's frustrating. I just want everything done. The weather really needs to be more of a team player. We are leaving on June 12th for a family vacay, and I certainly hope I can have it all finished before we leave.

This mani has been sitting in my drafts folder since mid-April. Every time I look at it, I don't like it and consider not even showing it.

But, as usual, I'll show the crap as well as the gems.
Color Club Disco's Not Dead, Colour Gossip Nature Girl, Bundle Monster BM-XL03 stamp
Pretty much the only thing I like about this one is the base yellow, Color Club Disco's Not Dead. This was done before I had my Mundo's, so I stamped with Colour Gossip Nature Girl, which when used as a normal polish, is a really great true green. As a stamping polish, it just looks faded out. Maybe I would have liked this better if the green was bolder. The design is from the Bundle Monster BM-XL03 plate, and I'm not super excited about that, either.

There really isn't anything "wrong" with this one. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

And now that it's almost 9 p.m., I should probs go scrounge around the kitchen to see what, if anything, I'm going to eat for supper. Right now it's looking like frozen pizza since I didn't think to take chicken out of the freezer until just now. 

And now I'm hungry for chicken, but I don't really want to make a full dinner this late at night. Dammit.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

I WENT OLD SCHOOL

I'm happy to report that no cooking was involved with my evening. Hubby happily agreed to take me out for dinner. From there my initial plan was to go home and take off that striping tape mani, but our car drove itself to the casino instead of making the turn to go home.

We had fun but came home losers. As usual.

When I was getting ready for work this morning, I looked down at my left hand, and to my horror, a huge chunk of the polish on the right side of my middle finger is gone. How crazy do you think that has been driving me all day?? It's sooooo bad!!! I don't know what I knocked it against, but it sure did some polish damage.

Now I have no choice but to do them tonight. Well, I already knew I had to, but now I can't weasel out of it. I have a doctor's appointment out of town, and obvi I need something impressive, especially since I've never been there before.

This mani from a couple weeks ago was a "just playing around" thing. Back when I first got stamping stuff, the first set I bought was a Bundle Monster set of 25 plates. One of the plates has this flower. Of course, those plates don't fill my finger, but a lot of the XL Bundle Monsters are just larger versions of their original plates. That's why I bought 'em.
American Apparel Coney Island, Loreal Crazy for Chic, Cult Los Feliz, Bundle Monster BM XL05 stamp
I did my light pink with American Apparel Coney Island. When I stamped, I put Loreal Crazy for Chic and Cult Los Feliz in little blobs on the Bundle Monster BM XL05 plate so the colors would kind of smoosh.

While this did work out the way it was supposed to, it was only "meh" for me. I don't think I really care for those flowers as whole-nail coverage. I've used one or two in the past just for accent purposes, but to me this looks juvenile. In fact, the photo at the top of my blog on the far right has this flower from the original plate as a French tip accent.

It's probably why I didn't bother doing both hands. It just looked like a mani for a little kid on a grownup's hand. I bet I would have liked it better if I'd stamped with a really dark color.

I doubt I'll ever know because I probably won't ever use this image on my entire nail again. I may, however, at some point recreate that French tip mani using it as the accent. I still like that little mani. My friend had posted it when I first started doing my nails and kind of challenged me to do it. I was a real beginner then, but I was happy to try. After that she got all hooked on nails, too! LOL

I kind of enjoyed being able to say I was just a beginner at nail art. It gave me a built-in excuse for anything that didn't turn out very well. I'm guessing at 3 years in, I can't use that one anymore.

Now if I mess up, it's straight up incompetence. And that sucks!

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

A BIT OF STRIPING TAPE

Oh, man....it is going to be very, very quiet at my house when I go home. Seven the pup went home last evening, and my daughter headed back to Illinois with Zero today.

Last night I had Seven's owners and their kids, and then my two "almost" daughters came over with their kids. That's a whole lotta' people and dogs crammed into my living room. Everybody seemed to be having a nice time even though the dogs were wound and so were the kids. I'm not used to so much activity!!

At least I won't be completely alone this evening because Kev got home last night, too. I'm pondering whether or not I should see if he wants to go out for dinner. I'm so exhausted from not great sleep over the weekend that cooking does not appeal. Not that it ever does.

I did manage to sneak in a mani on Sunday night, and I even managed to not have anything disastrous happen with the puppies running around. Those 10 months olds are quite a bit bigger than their momma now so when they play, you never know what'll get knocked over.

It's been quite some time since I did anything with striping tape.
Sally Hansen Color Foil Sterling Silver, Darling Diva Queen of the Night, BEWBS!!, Nightbird, striping tape, holo
I began this with two coats of Sally Hansen Color Foil Sterling Silver. I did topcoat it before applying striping tape, and in each section I used a Darling Diva holo, Queen of the Night, BEWBS!! and Nightbird.
 
I thought it might look kinda' cool if I did sections with holos. Turns out I was correct. I've been doing so many light colors lately it was kind of nice to play with these.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again; if you don't have any of the Darling Diva holo polishes, get 'em! They really are nice, and I only needed one coat for these. I'm a fan of anything that only needs one coat. Such a time saver.

Although I am usually more than willing to spend a ton of time on a mani, sometimes it's nice to have a smidgeon of a shortcut.


Sunday, May 24, 2015

SIMPLE, BUT NICE COLORS

I'm super happy my daughter, grandson and Zero came home Friday to visit for a few days, but having Zero and Seven here at the same time for an entire weekend is really knocking me on my ass. They play to the point of obvious exhaustion but fight sleep like little kids.

Last night they both slept with me, but it makes me sleep much lighter because I'm listening for them with the ears of a mother of newborn. Every tail thump woke me up. And as is pretty standard when Tyler is here, I didn't get to bed until around 4 a.m. The brats woke me up at 7:40. If Baylee pulls that nonsense, I can just tell her to go lay down, but since these two are only 10 months old, I'm not so brave with trusting them completely. So I got up, let them all out, fed them and then went back to bed to get another couple hours of off and on sleep. 

And they haven't stopped playing since then. The little buggers sure are adorable, though, and for the most part are very well-behaved. They simply have too much energy!

I did this mani at least three weeks ago.
China Glaze More to Explore, Cult Laguna, Bundle Monster BM XL05 stamp
The lighter color is China Glaze More to Explore and I stamped with Cult Laguna and the Bundle Monster BM XL05 design.

The Cult polish stamped really well, and it was the perfect color to stamp with. 

For the holiday, Cult is doing their Buy One, Get Two Free deal again. I jumped on it but only got two of their new colors and another white. If you decide to check it out, use the code MEMORIAL to get in on the deal. With shipping, my three cost $16.95. Even if they hadn't any new colors I wanted, I probably still would have hopped on board and just got three white.....love 'em.

I hope I can find some time to do my nails soon. I'm still sitting here with that gradient on, and I am SO over it at this point. I can barely stand looking at them.

If I get stuck wearing a holo or a multichrome for this long, at least those are still fun to look at on day five.

That gradient, not so much.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

I DO LOVE A GRADIENT

I feel like my long weekend has gotten off to a productive start. Yesterday after work I got the house cleaned, washed sheets, our pillows and our blanket. I bought a new blanket because the other one, which is also fairly new, wouldn't stay tucked in at the foot of the bed. We have a high profile queen size Tempurpedic bed which has given me nothing but trouble in finding blankets. I have a couple of super expensive down quilts that weren't really wide enough, so I had bought a really nice blanket from Kohl's. I thought I'd be clever and get a king size. All that did was hang down too long on the sides but still come untucked.

I've been searching for awhile and finally found an oversized queen blanket, and I'm finally satisfied. As I was putting it on the bed, Kev informed me that the other one kept coming untucked on his side because he's been untucking it. When I asked why, he said his feet get too hot. So all this time I've been swearing at it in the morning, and he was doing it on purpose. I have now told him to knock it off and learn how to put his feet out without untucking the blanket. That's what grownups (like me) do. I was happy to see the blanket still firmly tucked this morning. Of course, the extra 10" in the blanket length should make it a little more difficult for him to get out. 

Then today the guy came to clean the living room carpeting. I've been waiting to have that done since last spring. I didn't want to do it before we had the ceilings redone; didn't want to do it when the puppies were still here; then it was early spring and way too muddy outside as the snow melted. Finally all of those things went away and they were able to come and take care of it. 

I also cleaned out and refilled all of the hummingbird feeders which made them very happy. After that I had a doctor's appointment, and then we went off to buy flowers for the garden. I'm hoping to get a start on that tomorrow. Damn things were expensive! We spent over $400, and I'm still trying to decide what else to get for the front of the house. 

Tomorrow will be my only chance to play in the garden this weekend because from Saturday to Monday I'll be puppysitting Seven so her owners can go off and have a nice one year anniversary. 

Done boring you!

Here's my current mani. 
Cult El Porto, Square Hue Lincoln Road, Color Club Hot-Hot-Hot Pants, Essie No Place Like Chrome, Bundle Monster BM-XL11 stamp
I started off with a white base of Cult El Porto and then used that along with Square Hue Lincoln Road and Color Club Hot-Hot-Hot Pants for the gradient. I used Essie No Place Like Chrome and the Bundle Monster BM-XL11 plate for the stamp design.

I'm a fan of this. It needs to go, though, and it probably will tomorrow night, assuming I can think of something to put on in its place.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

COLORS BY LLAROWE

It's pretty amazing how nature works sometimes. First my hummingbirds show up within a day of last year's first appearance. I caught my first Goldfinches eating within a day or two of last year, too.

Last year for the first time I had seen Indigo Buntings. They are simply the most amazing blue I've ever seen. A friend of mine asked me last night if I'd seen any yet. I told her that I had not but that my first sighting last year was on May 18th. That's the beauty of snapping pics upon my first sighting; it lets me know exactly when something shows up.

This morning when I let the dogs out, I saw a large black and brown bird fly up into the tree across the driveway and immediately grabbed my camera. It was a brown and black Cowbird, which is also something new I'm seeing around this year. I guess they aren't a good thing because they are little jerks that lay an egg in another species' nest, sometimes knocking out one of the original inhabitants so the unsuspecting momma bird will raise its baby. Complete asshats.

In any event, as I let the dogs back in, I looked down at the feeder and saw an Indigo Bunting. Yay!! And how convenient that I already had my camera in my hand. Some days I just get lucky.
My little girl hummers were very busy this morning, too. I love the early morning hours because they wake up hungry, and it's super fun to watch them zooming all over together. At one point there were two little girls at the back feeder and when they flew off, I think it was a third one that went to that same feeder. Hopefully that means I have three girls, and maybe I'll see some babies soon.

Today I've got on my one and only Colors by Llarowe polish, CbL Show Off.
Colors by Llarowe Show Off

Colors by Llarowe Show Off, multichrome, CbL Show Off

Colors by Llarowe Show Off, multichrome, CbL Show Off, MoYou Fashionista 04 stamp
This is one of those multichromes that work best over black, so that's what I did. It's a beauty! Another one that makes driving a hazard. In the car it showed a straight up bright coppery color.

As pretty as it is, I didn't feel like wearing just another mani with nothing on it. I didn't want to cover up the whole thing, and I went with the MoYou Fashionista 04 plate for the design using the Mundo de Unas black stamping polish.

I liked this one enough that I'm wearing it for the second day, but I did a ton of typing yesterday so I do have a smidge of tip wear. I'll have to take it off tonight.

I'll now spend the rest of the day trying to decide what to do with them tonight. 

It's hard work!

Sunday, May 17, 2015

THERMAL FOLLOW-UP

It has not been a great weekend for a couple of different reasons. Some sunshine would have been nice to take my mind somewhere better, but today was damp, gloomy and kind of misty. The mist made the 60 degrees feel warmer but muggy.

While this is obvi not my favorite kind of weather, it does make the hummingbirds more active. So that I like. Today was the first day I heard some chatter and discovered that I have at least two females because they were jockeying for position at the window feeders.

This evening while I was talking with my daughter on the phone, I grabbed my new Hum-Dinger feeder and just went and stood on the front porch, phone in my left hand and the feeder in my outstretched right hand. The porch is right by my picture window with the two feeders, and since I was talking I didn't really expect to get any bird action.

I think I had been standing there for maybe 30 seconds when one of the females flew right up and ate from my hand. It thrills me every time as if it were the first time. That prompted me to get off the phone so I could make an actual effort with the birds. I then turned to go inside, slipped on the porch in my slippers and promptly fell on my ass. 

After glancing around to see if anybody saw my failed acrobatics, I went to the back deck to see if the birds would come to me out there. I didn't even care that the lawn chair was wet. I sat there for about 20 minutes. I had a couple fly-by's but no takers. I decided to grab my folding chair and head back out to the front. I probably sat out there for about 1/2 hour, and both little girls stopped by and ate from my hand. My night was made.

Here's one of the little darlings I snapped earlier today. I just love it when I get lucky and catch them with their mouths open.
I'm so anxious to just be able to sit out there every night, but the weather hasn't really been too great for that. I will say it is nice that the mosquitos haven't shown up yet. I have to keep reminding myself that it's only May; I have several months of hummer season and don't need to be in a panic that they'll be gone.

Last night I did decide to try out the other four thermals I won from KPT.
KPT Spring Around Me (green), KPT Roses for Juliet, KPT Delilac, KPT Kiss Me Before Sunrise (orange), thermal, color changing
The green is KPT Spring Around Me, the pink is Roses for Juliet, purple is Delilac, and Kiss Me Before Sunrise is the orange.

I think all five of these colors are really nice. I'm especially in love with the purple, which oddly enough, actually photographed perfectly. What the hell?

I suppose I should have put the blue one back on my thumb and just worn this as a skittle mani, but of course I didn't think of that until just this second. 

Of course.

Saturday, May 16, 2015

I'M A WINNER!

A couple of weeks ago I kept getting Instagram notifications with people saying congratulations to me. I didn't know what the heck was going on, and every time I would click to see why, I'd come up with a blank picture.

I don't even remember how, but I finally managed to get to a spot where a picture of five polishes showed up. A few clicks later I discovered on the Nail It magazine's Instagram that I had won a set of five thermal polishes from KPT. Awesomeness!!!

Then I got even more confused because it looked like it was actually an Instagram contest, the kind where you post the pic, tag them, yada-yada-yada....and I hadn't done that. Of course then I was afraid it was a mistake or that somehow I had not really even been qualified to win. Thankfully there was also a way to enter on Facebook, and that's how my name was chosen. Whew!!

I received the five polishes last week, and now I understand the fascination with these things. I received the five from The Basics collection. If you look, you'll find that they also make other colors besides the blue, purple, pink, green and peach that I received.

Not only are the colors really pretty, their hot/cold reaction is pretty dramatic.
KPT Living on a Breeze, thermal, color change
This blue, almost periwinkle, is KPT Living on a Breeze. In heat, it's almost white with just a hint of the blue. In cold, it's a really vibrant blue. I wore it for two days and had a pretty good time playing with the color change aspect.

When I first put it on, I thought I'd wear it on its own for a day and then stamp on it with white the next day, but I ended up just wearing it naked the entire time.

I wasn't really sure how the whole temperature thing would work since I have Custom Nail Solutions nails. I thought that maybe my natural body heat might not get through as well, but this was not an issue at all.

I'm a fan. And since I don't have anything to do right now, I think I'm going to go paint four fingers of my left hand with the other four colors just to see all of them swatched.

That's my excitement for the weekend.


Wednesday, May 13, 2015

IS IT JUST ME???

Does anybody else find it disturbing how lazy people are? It seems like so many people just don't think they should have to work for anything.

I've noticed this a lot over the years in my job, as we certainly come into contact with most of the local criminal element. We see the same people over and over again. I'm not sure if shoplifting or drug dealing actually counts as a job, but if it does, they apparently aren't very good at it.

An owner of a local restaurant has a terrible time finding employees that will actually show up when they're supposed to and that will actually do the work once they get there. If they do that and then manage to not steal from the employer, it's pretty much a bonus.

One of our larger local stores was hiring recently. Over one-third of the new hires didn't bother to show up for their first day of work, and I don't mean 2 or 3 people; I'm talking 20 didn't show.

What the hell is that?? Where does this attitude come from? They're the first ones to take advantage of the system unjustly and are also the first ones to bitch if they feel like they've missed out on some handout that the rest of us working stiffs would have to pay for with our hard-earned cash. I don't understand who raised these people; farm animals?? 

Don't piss and moan and complain about how it's impossible to find work. I'm calling bullshit because I see help wanted signs around town all the damn time. You're lazy, you're whiney, and you are a self-entitled drain on society. 

My final thoughts are: get off your ass, take a shower, put on real pants instead of the pj bottoms I just saw you wandering around the grocery store in and get a damn job like a real grownup. Hopefully you have enough smarts to fill out an application in English after all the time you've spent using text-speak on that latest smartphone you can manage to afford while the government pays your rent. And if, by some miracle, you do manage to get the job, try actually doing it the way it should be done.

I am so over you.

I feel the need to point out that this rant is not aimed at those who actually do need and deserve assistance. I have zero issues with that.

Whew! On to a mani!
Orly Glam Rock, Uber Chic 1-02 stamp
I've had this sitting in my drafts folder for so long I'm not even sure when I did it.

I used Orly Glam Rock with my Uber Chic 1-02 plate for the design.

I like this even more now than when I actually did it. I wonder how long I wore it. I'm hoping it lasted at least a day. Actually, I'm kind of wondering if I had even done both hands. 

It's sad to watch my mind go......


Tuesday, May 12, 2015

WOW, THAT IS PINK



Thought I'd pop in just quickly with a mani since I really didn't have a chance to do it over the weekend. It was quite a busy one with the extra dog, the relatives, the other extra dog that came for a playdate and Mother's Day. I always feel like I need a day all alone just to feel normal again.

At any rate, I did do my nails on Sunday night. My original plan was to do a bright pink with black stamping but hated the stamping designs I tried.

After a couple of frustrating fails, I opted for white instead.
Orly Fiesta, Mundo de Unas white, Fab Ur Nails FUN 13 stamp
This very intense pink is Orly Fiesta, stamped with the MdU white and the Fab Ur Nails FUN 13 plate.

Not a whole lot to say about this one. I only left it on for a day because it just didn't make me happy. I can't even give you a reason why, but it simply didn't do it for me.

I also am getting the feeling that my camera might be thinking about dying on me. I'm having more and more problems with lighting and color with it, and that's just making me more and more frustrated.

If I do my blogging from work, I have already put the manicure in a blank post from my home computer. Then when I get to work, I just have to fill in the post. Lately when I've been doing this, once I open it up, my pic seems darker and my hands are a weird shade of not really my skin tone and not even really my "beginning of a tan" skin tone. 

And since I can't save the pic from the draft onto my computer, I can't edit it before I publish. What that means is now I've been publishing the post, saving the pic to this computer, editing the shot and then revising the post by removing the original pic and replacing it with the newly edited version. If that sounds like a pain in the ass, it's because it is. And it still doesn't really fix things as much as I'd like.

I'd love to get a new camera, but I haven't got a clue what I should get. I have absolutely no knowledge of how to work the damn things when I get them, and as some of you are aware, I have been unable to figure out that mother-friggin' lightbox I just had to buy. I also can't really justify anything outrageously expensive just to take pics of hummingbirds and manicures.

I'm kind of needing that ship to come in so if anybody sees it, send it my way. Then I could buy whatever I want!

That would be fun!

Saturday, May 9, 2015

THIS IS VERY, VERY BLUE

My hubby messaged me shortly before I was leaving work Wednesday. It was a pic of a hummingbird, hanging out on my front window feeder. I was so excited to go home!

The little brat never showed up again until around 8 p.m. I just happened to look up at the window while I was sweeping the kitchen and there he was. Made my night. 

Since then I haven't seen a whole lot of him, but I was pretty happy when I looked out the kitchen window this evening and saw 2 males in the back yard. I'm glad I had Kev hang 3 of the garage feeders. So I know I have at least 2 males. Now I just need them to be a bit more active, have the girls show up and then have weather pleasant enough to sit outside.

I was also happy to see my first Goldfinches of the year, and I found what I believe is probably a robin's nest in the shrub. It's sitting just high enough so I can't see if there are eggs or babies, but I just like knowing it's there.

I did this mani on Monday night and didn't take it off until last night. This blue got a bit sickening by day three.
Wet n  Wild Putting on Airs, Mundo de Unas MdU Turquoise, MoYou Sailor 07 stamp
I had gotten the light blue in a lot on eBay. I like these newer Wet n Wild polishes, and I got 7 of them for 4 bucks. This one is Putting on Airs. And of course I used another MdU stamping polish. This one is Turquoise, and the design came from the MoYou Sailor 07 plate.

I almost wish I hadn't topcoated this one. I stamped with the Mundo de Unas polish, and when it dried, the way it dried made it look like the old-time flocked wallpaper. I wasn't clever enough to even get a pic of it, and of course I've been kicking myself about that. But it was late, and I just needed to be done.

I'm definitely calling this one a success. It was a very bright manicure considering it wasn't neon. Like I said, by day 3 it was starting to grate on my last nerve.

No clue if I'll do another post over the weekend. Razzie is here and so are Kev's brother and cousin. My friends are bringing Seven over to play with her brother tomorrow evening, and then Mother's Day is Sunday. So painting nails or blogging may be taking a back seat for a few days.

Here's the latest bunch of cuties for what is hopefully the start of summer.

This fuzzy little babe was chillin' on the front porch for the longest time this evening. He's so cute!!
I haven't been lucky enough yet to get good shots of my hummerboy.
 And here's my cute little Goldfinch couple.
I sure do love when the birds come back. They simply make me smile.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

THE OTHER HALF OF BORED

What the hell is going on in my house? This morning I was standing at the bathroom sink, and water started coming out of the shower. WTF. Not just a couple of drops, either; it was coming down like when you don't turn the shower off all the way. And it was off all the way and had been since yesterday morning. After it ran for about 30 seconds, it stopped.

So imaginary things falling and a shower that starts spewing water all by itself? I'm starting to think I'm going crazy or something. I even woke up in the middle of the night dreaming about being in some hotel that was actually some kind of psychiatric hospital. It was so warped I finally had to get up and stay out of bed to snap myself out of it.

I long for the first 52'ish years of my life where I never remembered a dream or work up from a nightmare. Is this also one of those fun "age" things? Nightmares almost every night? If I ever were to write them down every day and somebody found it, they'd commit me for sure. Seriously effed up stuff that makes me wonder what kind of brain it takes to come up with some of it.

Since I'm still obsessed with playing with those Mundo's, I just had to try stamping over a dark color. This was just a left-hand mani I did before the one from yesterday's post.
OPI Suzi Skis In the Pyrenees, Mundo de Unas 69 Tutti, DRK-A stamp
I didn't want to use black, but in the end it didn't really matter because OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees is such a dark grey it might as well be black. I used Mundo Tutti and my DRK-A stamp. Speaking of DRK, they have all of their stamping plates in stock right now so if you've been wanting them, hop to it before they vanish again.

I would consider Tutti to be a purple/fuschia mix. This pic shows it very true to color over the dark grey. Of course I had to yellow-up everything else in the pic to show it. I had fun trying this, but I'm not a big fan of the actual mani. It was just a little practice session to test stamping ability. It was a success.

I fully planned on doing my nails last night, but after lunch yesterday I just started progressively feeling crappier. My stomach was mad at me for something, so I took about an hour nap, watched some tv and was in bed just before 12:30.

The plan was to be in bed by 11:30.  I swear I looked at the clock at 11:00 and figured I'd make it right on time. By the time I ate a yogurt, washed my face and put on my jammie-jams, it was after midnight. I don't know how that happens.

It's like a fall into a time warp of some kind whenever I try to get to bed at a normal person time.


Tuesday, May 5, 2015

I WAS BORED

Where are my damn hummingbirds! Rumor has it they have arrived 7 miles away, and the migration map shows them up here since the weekend. I'm so anxious and worried my little boy didn't make it through the trip down south or back up here.

When I got home from work yesterday I was surprised to find the water part of my kitchen window feeder in the middle of the yard. So weird. I've had them fall before because the suction cup let go, but the cup and the cover part were still attached to the window. I cannot imagine how that bottom part unhooked itself and flew across the deck into the yard. That part actually screws onto the cover. Like I said, weird.

I'm also tired of hearing what sounds like things falling down in my house. I'll hear what sounds like something fall in my bathroom or laundry room but can never find anything that actually fell. And this morning I was in the living room when I heard a loud noise of something falling from behind me. I went into the two spare bedrooms and the bathroom....nada. I knew before I even went to look that there really wasn't anything that could fall. Again, weird. 

I went to the tanning bed for the first time yesterday. I was only in for 12 minutes, and today my face is on fire. Evidently they put in new bulbs. I knew I should have asked about that. I always buy a one month unlimited in May to get the season started, but I guess I'll have to cancel today's appointment. Looking like the color of a toddler's spanked backside does not appeal to me.

On Saturday I was undecided on what I wanted on my nails for work yesterday, so I did a couple of one hand mani's, and this was one of them.
Cult El Porto, Mundo de Unas 71 Nabu, Fab Ur Nails FUN 13 stamp
I did my base with Cult El Porto and stamped with MdU #71, Nabu. I loves me a good coral, and this is a really pretty one for stamping. The plate I used was Fab Ur Nails FUN 13.

I am still loving these Mundo's. I've been seeing some people saying how they hate the smell and that they don't dry. I'm kind of confused by that. I don't find the smell to be any more offensive than normal polish, and it's less offensive to me than a lot of Kleancolor polishes. I also find that it dries like gangbusters. To each their own, I guess.

Some people also hate the fact that the maker won't disclose the ingredients, so there is a lot of speculation on what goes into these. As for myself, I figure none of this crap is good for me; acetone, non-acetone, nail glue or polish in general so I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.


Simply Don't Care.


Sunday, May 3, 2015

THIS IS FUN

It was summer today!! It hit 70 degrees. I briefly considered laying out in the sun but didn't have the ambition to either dig out a lawn chair or blow up my raft. I did sit out with the dogs for a bit, and nothing feels better than that sun. Love it.

Right now we are in the middle of our first full-blown thunderboomer of the season. I love a good thunderstorm. It's raining a little too hard for my liking, but I do love watching the lightning. It'll be interesting to see if the waspinators hold up with this driving rain.

I had a hell of a time trying to think of something to do on my nails today. I wanted to do a water marble, but these neons just would not cooperate so I did this instead.
Kleancolor Neon Pink, Neon Aqua, Neon Yellow, Neon Green, Neon Purple, Sangria Burst, Cult Coachella holo topcoat, Fab Ur Nails FUN 13 stamp
I did one coat of white and then dabbed on some of the Kleancolor Neon collection I bought on eBay. Kleancolor Neon Pink, Neon Aqua, Neon Yellow, Neon Green, Neon Purple and Sangria Burst. 

It was a very bright blobbified mess, and I decided to mute it a little by putting Cult's holographic topcoat, Coachella, on top of it. From there I used my Mundo de Unas black stamping polish and this floral pattern from the FUN 13 plate.

I'm digging it. It has a very groovy vibe, I think. I think any self-respecting hippy from the late 60's-early 70's would approve.

Okay. I'm over it. The thunderstorm can go away and take the rain with it. There is absolutely no way I'm going to find those waspinators in tact in this. It's coming down so hard that if I step out there, I'll come back in with bruises.

So yeah. That's enough, Mother Nature. I don't know who you're bitching at, but let it go.




Saturday, May 2, 2015

PRETTY STUFF

There are few things better than a weekend with nice, semi-warmish, sunny weather. Except for a weekend with nice 80+ degree, sunny weather. For now I'll be happy with the 60'ish sunny weather. This is Northern Michigan, after all. It just feels good to have the front door and the patio door open with all that lovely fresh air coming in.
I was so mad that my waspinator blew away. I told Kev about it, and being the wonderful guy that he is, a little while later he came walking up the driveway with it. He took a stroll down the neighbor's driveway and found it. He also hung it up in the back yard and secured the one on the garage. Those suckers won't be blowing anywhere anytime soon.
He also ran to Menard's for me and got me another shepherd's hook. I decided to get another one and take the bird feeder off of the garage. I don't want to grow bird seed this year. I also needed it so I'd have a place to hang the hummingbird spinner I bought in Mexico last fall, too. I sprayed that so it won't rust and finally got to hang it. It's super cute, and I love it.
It's actually much prettier in person. The colors are more shimmery than it looks here.
I did this mani a few weeks ago. After my usual battle with getting a good picture of purple with my camera, I decided to try my phone instead. It did a perfect job this time around. I'm not sure why sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. So frustrating.
Sally Hansen CSM I Lilac You, China Glaze Tart-y for the Party, Sinful Colors Verbena, Sinful Colors Amethyst, Uber Chic 1-02 stamp
I started with Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure I Lilac You for the lavender base. Then I used my Uber Chic 1-02 plate and stamped over it with China Glaze Tart-Y for the Party, Sinful Colors Verbena and Sinful Colors Amethyst. 

I loved this one. In person, the three different stamping colors showed up much better than they do here. I would for sure do something like this again.

Now I'm off to spend some time playing tv catchup with the hub. He got home yesterday afternoon and is leaving at the ass-crack of dawn tomorrow.

Sometimes being married to a pilot kind of blows. It would be so much easier if I didn't like him.