Synonyms for Adorable

In the midst of the crazy heat wave on the East Coast, I'm falling in love with knitted and crocheted baby clothes.  Confession: I made the denim blue blend hat and booties, but the rest are gifts from friends.  How can you not fall in love with these even if it is over 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside?

Which one should Ramlet debut first once autumn arrives?

To Fix, But How?

 

As Husband & I pack boxes, the recycling container fills and the donate pile grows.  One item resists those fates:

The Cafe: Our Bedroom Breakfast Nook.

A few years ago, when Husband & I moved into our first apartment with an outdoor area, family members gave us a beautiful patio set.  The box called the table and two chairs something like "Bistro;" I loving christened the metal and ceramic mosaic set "The Cafe."  It's served us as a lazy afternoon hang out spot on one porch, as my outdoor desk on a different apartment's porch, and most recently as our breakfast nook in our bedroom.

Unfortunately, The Cafe is beginning to show some wear from years of love.

The cardboard fix.

First, one chair's ceramic mosaic tile abruptly popped out and shattered.  Armed with glue and determination, I tried to piece it back together.  After a half hour of creating two more shards every time I reconnected one, I opted for another approach.  I took a careful up-close picture of other chair's unbroken mosaic.  Guestimating the size, I printed a non-glossy color copy and glued it onto cardboard circle.  Presto.  An indoor fix that lasted well for about 10 months before it began to fade a little.

Then the other chair dropped its mosaic.  Luckily it only broke into a few pieces and was easily repaired.  Unfortunately it fell out again last week.  While the piece remained whole, I doubt another glueing will last long, especially if exposed to humidity and temperature fluctuations.  The cardboard solution, too, is about to expire.  Our new apartment boasts a porch so The Cafe will take up residence once again in the great outdoors (read: elements).  I need a new solution.  

With moving preparations eating up my mental energy, I'm not sure what to try next.  Your thoughts? 

Construction Complete

Take a second to test your street (sign) smarts with yesterday's pop quiz.  Solution forthcoming.

It's not every day iPhoto asks you a question like this:

Um, yes, OK!  For the second time actually .... 

Since March, Husband & I weeded the photo collection-- originally @5873 pics plus rediscovered kitten photos (@200) and this Spring's snapshots (@350)--by 53.4%.  It doesn't matter now the digital photo project finished up a month behind my arbitrary deadline.  Our collection looks amazing!  Now only the most meaningful photos await the next step: scrapbook selection.

What accomplishment, little or large, are you celebrating today?

Under Construction

I'm currently remodeling the digital photo collection.  This project started partially because of my own craving for order and partially because of inspiration from one of my favorite blogs (Rachel Meek's Small Notebook).

I hope to finish the overhaul by the end of April, but I've encountered a few road blocks.  First, finding time to sit down with my husband when we both have enough energy to focus (photography is one of his hobbies so I don't want to accidentally delete anything).  Second, correctly dating mislabeled photos which is equally confusing and boring.  And, finally, discovering that a few albums have been lost when the previous computer went into meltdown.  Looks like I'm going to have to cobble together a "Kitten" album via random sources.  

Regardless of the hurdles, I delight in rediscovering our memories each time my husband and I work on this project.  (The above picture is from our trip to the UK a few years ago.)

What's the story of your digital photos once they're downloaded off of your camera?