It's a Good Day...

Today is a good day... I have an amaryllis about to bloom, I won a Blog giveaway last night, and I got a special delivery this morning.... how could one not be happy? First the amaryllis- I had brought it out of it's "resting phase" a while back, and it put on nothing but leaves. No buds. Well, I thought, it just needs a break. So the leaves grew, I watered and loved it anyway.. I guess one can't expect a stellar performance every time... Eventually the leaves started to die back and I was preparing to put it away again for a few months of rest, when I noticed what looked like the tiniest of green bud tips peeking up - I waited a few days, and sure enough- a bud was coming. That was about 3 weeks ago I think.. I now have two stalks, about 17" and 20" high; the first one will be in bloom in another two days or so, I'm thinkin'. I guess she is just a "late bloomer"... They are such fun to watch grow- it's amazing the speed with which they shoot up- some days it might gain two inches or more! If you have never had an amaryllis, treat yourself to one. I'm sure you'll enjoy it...
 The Blog giveaway...  Yippeee! I won't "give away" what I've won... I'll wait to share that once the package arrives, but I will tell you- it has something to do with two of my most favourite things.... and it's from one of my new Followers! How lucky is that?! Thanks Janet!
Finally- the delivery. I was excited when the doorbell rang as I knew it was going to be the FedEx man with a parcel for me. Back in November I purchased a coupon from TravelZoo for My Publisher. I decided it was time I tried printing a book of my photos. I just got around to doing it a few weeks ago, and I must say, it was FUN!! It wasn't without some frustrations though, as some photos which I really wanted to include, just wouldn't load. I finally figured out (after many tries and finally a chat with Laura) that when you crop a photo, the resolution is decreased and it would not accept many photos because the resolution was not high enough. I was frustrated and disappointed that some of my most favourites would be left out, but I guess that is better than being disappointed in the quality of  the photos. Now that the book is in my hands, I have to say I am VERY happy with it. The high gloss paper is top quality, the color is excellent, the linen finish cover is very nice indeed and my photos look great! I had decided the first one would be a learning experience and I now know I could do a better job next time around, but for my first effort, I'm extremely happy!

 My class from Saturday has been rescheduled for March 10 and I have enough students interested and available for it to be a "go" so that's another good thing.. sometimes rescheduling is difficult...
 Tonight is my Embroiderer's Guild meeting so I'd better go gather my things to get ready. Tomorrow I hope to show you my last two TAST challenge samplers. I have fallen behind, but am just about caught up again...

Peace,
Linda

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."  ~Abraham Lincoln