I've been trying...

to enjoy this wonderful weather we've been having, so I haven't been inside much these days.  Can you tell  I'm trying to make excuses why I haven't been blogging or scrapbooking!  My chemo was cancelled last week due to very low white blood cell count, so I had an extra week of feeling close to normal.  It was nice to putter around in the garden, do a bit of running errands, and just sitting outside reading.  I've just come back from my chemo an hour ago, so I figured I should post something before I need to lie down.  I'm onto a new cocktail of drugs this round, so lots of different side effects and not sure how I will be affected yet.  So far so good, keeping my fingers crossed.  Unfortunately, my veins in my arm have been fried enough, so they are going to have to put a pic line in my upper arm that goes in all the way near my heart and stays there until my treatment is done.  Not sure how I feel about this, but I know my arm has been aching and something that is called "cording" is happening with my veins, so I will be going to physiotherapy to help with this.  But on the good side, I have only two treatments left and then I will be having a month of radiation.  If I can say one thing about this all to anyone;  it would be - If you are not eating properly and not eating a healthy diet, if you smoke, don't do exercise, are overweight - then change something, TODAY!  Breast Cancer takes almost a whole year of your life to get through if you have to have Chemo.  Could you afford to lose a whole year of work, have you and your family go through this for a year?  Normally, I'm a healthy person, I can't imagine how hard it would be if you weren't healthy or already having other health problems.  That's all I'm going to say about this, (you blog hop to escape not to get depressed!) that's my advise if you want to avoid cancer, and trust me, you do not want cancer!!

On a more happier note, we went to my in-laws lake last weekend, it was so peaceful!  I managed to take this photo of a hummingbird at their feeder on the deck.

I used a couple of actions on this photo from "JoesSistah".  Those little birds are hard to photograph, by the time I could focus on him, he was gone!  He would come back every 20 minutes or so, but by the time I realized he was there, he was gone again!

This poppy bloomed in my garden last week, I couldn't believe how big it was, I'm sure it was 7 or 8 inches in diameter.  I find red flowers are hard to photograph, their color doesn't look the same as in real life.  I was trying to fix it and the next day on Pioneer Women's blog in her photography section, she had a post about the same thing!  She has the same problem (good - it's not just my bad photography skills!)
and lots of people commented and gave different ideas on how to fix, so some great advice there for anyone with the same problem!

I did get my layout done for the next monthly challenge at Urban Scrapbook.  We had to use the word "Time" in our layout.  The papers in July's kit are from the new company "Echo Park" and are very summery so check out what the design team has done, kits are for sale starting July.  I love what everyone came up with!  Here's mine,

My kids were always looking for something to do during summer, so one of things they loved doing, was have a lemonade stand.  My daughter is the one looking after the money and in charge, as usual.  I think she was only 4 here and my oldest son( he was 6) is the one with the goofy hat.  His grandfather gave him that sailor hat and I don't think he liked taking it off very much.  Don't know why he has it pulled right down, though!  Lol!  In each kit there is a bottle of smooch to use, and a mask.  I used the inner part of my mask, the dotted circle, with green smooch.
This photo brought back memories of our summers trying to find things to do at home.  We used to go for long walks, and our mission on these walks, was to find flat rocks for the kids to paint on.  Something so simple, yet they loved it and spent hours painting pictures and patterns on these rocks and then on another day try and sell them at their little table in the front yard.  We would make puppets and they would have puppet shows for all the kids in the neighborhood.  They even make a miniature golf course on our long driveway with wood from our woodpile.  All the kids came for days to help set it up,
and then after it was done, they all paid a nickel to come play!  We had to park on the street for a whole week, but it was worth it. They had such a good time planning out the course.  My husband never knew what he was coming home to in those days!  On rainy days, I would let them set up a fort in the basement, with all the blanket and chairs, tables they could find.  We would all eat our supper in the fort, even my husband and I.  If any of you are looking for ideas, try some of these!

Here's another layout for "The Color Room".  A layout of my dog; who, as some of you know, doesn't mind when I dress her up and make her sit there for photos.  She actually liked wearing these sunglasses!
Everytime we put the cushions on the lounge outside, she immediately jumps on there and lies down before we get to.  I used my new diecut and quilling kit from Cuttlebug for the orange and pink flowers. Love this kit, the flowers are addicting!  There are three different flower kits to choose from and "Urban" has all three.

I loved this palette:  Sun Room

I even followed the sketch this time.  There's always a sketch with each palette, so even if you aren't interested in the color schemes, the sketches are great for layout ideas.
That's it for me today, have a great week. Hope you enjoy Canada Day, July 1st and for Americans out there, July 4th!