Trip to PEI: Day 1

Hey everyone! Yet again, it's been months since I've blogged. I'm so sorry! This summer I've been busy hanging out with friends, working on projects and trying new things. Things began to slow down last week, so Skye decided to take us to...

PEI, or Prince Edward Island!

Prince Edward Island is in Canada, and is the smallest province. There are SO many beaches, all of which are SUPER awesome! We drove all day on Tuesday and arrived later that evening. We were camping at the national park in Cavendish. Our campsite was right next to the water!

 When I woke up the next day, I put my bathing suit on and ran straight to the beach. After walking along a little ways, I got to an area full of these deep red rocks.

 And when I say full, I mean FULL.

I sat down and began inspecting these brightly colored rocks. They looked just like bricks!

Ahead of me on the beach were some amazing dunes, and you could see around the curve of the island and the beet red sand on the cliffs.

On some of the beaches, the sand is the same color as these rocks or redder. That's because it has high levels of iron that's been oxidized. In other words, it's rusty!

These rocks were almost like sandstone. I could break them in half with my bare hands! I felt like The Hulk.

I was looking for flat rocks in particular, which there were plenty of. I was going to try my hand at skipping stones.

I carefully lined up my shot, and with a flick of my wrist...

...it landed in the water with a sploosh. I tried it a few more times before giving up. I got one of them to skip three times, but that was the best I ever did.

By this point it was about 10:30 in the morning, and it was already starting to get pretty hot. I moseyed over to a little pool and waded in. 

To my surprise, it wasn't cold at all!

After acclimating my legs a little to the water in the tidal pool, I decided I'd take a dip in the ocean. Bracing myself, I ran towards the waves...

...and was shocked to find that it felt like a bathtub! Back home in Maine, at Popham Beach, the water is freezing, and feels like ice. The water at PEI was more like lake water (except for the fact that it was really salty)!

We spent our entire first day on the beach. As the sun began to set, others gathered to watch. I had never seen such a beautiful sunset in my life! 

The colors were so intense, and the sun itself seemed ginormous! The clouds were really cool shapes too, and seemed to absorb the color.

After the sun had set, we went back to the tent and got ready for bed. We stayed up playing cards and reading, until we finally went to sleep, listening to the waves crash on the beach right outside our tent.

My first day on Prince Edward Island was awesome! It felt good to relax and play on a new beach away from home. Stay tuned to hear about what I did on day 2!

This has been Dani, dabbling on PEI. Over and out!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter guys! I woke up today to find the Easter Bunny had left a basket full of goodies on the table.

The chick I made yesterday was in there, accompanied by a new little rabbit friend! There were also a bunch of Dove chocolate eggs, and a Reese's Peanut Butter rabbit!

It was so nice outside, too, I went out to play with my new critters. I also decided to wear the same dress I wore yesterday. It's so springy, I think it's perfect for Easter!

When I came back inside, I dug into my Reese's rabbit. Reese's are my favorite type of candy–the Easter Bunny knows me so well!

For the rest of the day, I hung out in a sugar-induced coma. Skye made carrot cake cupcakes, too, and I probably polished off two or three of those, in addition to more than half of my chocolate eggs. I just love sweets, if you couldn't tell. Do you celebrate Easter? What were you up to today? What's your favorite kind of candy?

This has been Dani, dabbling in Easter excitement. Over and out!

Chicks!

Hey guys! Since Easter is tomorrow, I figured I'd show you a cool craft. You don't have to celebrate Easter to do it, though. It's just a fun spring thing!

We're making puffball critters!

You'll want to have some yarn, probably in yellow for a chick or white for a rabbit–but you can use whatever color you want! Get creative! You'll also need some felt to match, as well as pipe cleaners, seed beads, and a small piece of cardboard, or the plastic pom-pom makers from the American Girl kit. 

If you're using the plastic pieces, you'll want to begin wrapping the yarn around the two pieces. If you're using a piece of cardboard, for a chick, it should be about and inch and a half long, but you can decide how big or small you want it to be. Wrap the yarn around the piece of cardboard.

The more yarn you use and the tighter packed it is, the fluffier your pom pom will be. I always try to get mine to be as tight as possible.

Now, for the plastic bits, slide the two halves together. Cardboard users, you have just a rectangular piece, so you can skip this step.

Plastic people, cut around the edges of the plastic, so you create a bunch of little strands. Cardboard people, cut the top and bottom of the wrapped strands, so you're left with a bunch of cut strands on either side of the board. Put both of these piles together so you have one big pile. Now, take a long piece of yarn, and tie the strands together really tightly in the middle. Like, really tightly. As tight as humanly possible. Knot it multiple times.

If you're using the plastic, gently pull off the plastic pieces. Cardboard users can skip this step.

Now, you have your pom-pom, but it still needs a little work. Both plastic and cardboard users should now trim their puffball and make it a little neater. 

Most of the pieces should be the same length, but it doesn't have to be perfect.

Now it's time to cut the beak and wings! Trace two wing-shapes on the yellow, and a little triangle on the orange. 

You'll need two little seed beads for the eyes. Mine are black, but you can use whatever color you think looks best.

An orange piece of pipe cleaner will work for the legs.

Cut two little pieces. Fold over a small bit of the bottom so the sharp bit isn't sticking out, and fold the rest upward so it looks like a foot and leg.

It's time to plan out where to put everything before you glue it! I think hot glue works the best to stick everything together.

And this is the final product! I didn't get the eyes in exactly the right spot, and the glue made them look kind of messy. I think I might pull them off and try again. It's ok if you don't get it right the first time–it might take a little practice!

I'm so excited about Easter! And spring! I'll probably post tomorrow with my Easter activities. Do you have any plans for tomorrow? Are you glad spring is here? Do you like to craft?
This has been Dani, dabbling in crafting critters. Over and out!

Dog Walking!

Hello everyone! This week has been so sneaky. It was in the 40s (º Fahrenheit) for the latter part of this week, and just when I thought spring was really here, it snows today! Most of it melted when it hit the ground, but it was still pretty discouraging. Anywho, everybody around here has been getting pretty restless, being all cooped up inside during this cold weather, so when it's warm outside everyone bolts for the door. Saturn and I are no exception!

I decided we should both head outside and get some fresh air. 

After all these warm days, some of the snow is finally melting, and you can see grass! Only in the areas where we had shoveled paths through the snow, though.

Saturn's obedience has really improved since we've been training him. Since I knew he wouldn't run away, I let him off his leash!

And of course, he immediately ran off into the snow, jumping and rolling and woofing like a crazy person--or dog, as the case may be.

"SAAA-TUUURRRN!" I called, waving a stick to get his attention. He immediately trotted right over.

He came very close to me and whined as I continued to wave the stick, begging me to throw it.

The moment it left my fingertips, he jumped up to catch it in the air, missed it by an inch, and continued running until he grabbed it and brought it back to me. This continued for a solid half hour before my fingers were so cold, I could barely hold the stick anymore.

Just as my fingers were getting numb with cold, it started getting dark outside. I put him back on his leash, and we both headed back inside.

I'm so glad I can finally go out to play without putting on 3 million layers of clothing! Saturn can actually run around without having to jump through 8 feet of snow, too. I love dogs! I guess it's a good thing we have three of them, then. Do you like dogs? If you could have any breed, which would you choose? Can you see any grass outside yet?

This has been Dani, dabbling in the delights of dogs. Over and out!

Spring has Sprung!

Hi everybody! Today is officially the first day of spring! We still have quite a bit of snow, but it's melting and definitely headed in the direction of warmer weather. It's been so long since I've seen grass or a living green plant, I decided I'd do something about that...

...plant flowers! 

Before you begin a messy project, you should always cover your workspace with newspaper or something to catch any spills.

I decided I'd plant some flowers, daisies to be exact. I picked up this cute little kit in the dollar section at Target.

You can use any type of pot or container you want. Basically, it just needs to hold dirt. I'm just using this regular ol' terra cotta pot. 

The first thing you're probably gonna want to do is put some dirt into your pot. We had a little pail of dirt leftover in our shed, so I decided I'd use some of that.

Once your dirt is all ready, you can take out your seeds.

 I actually got this kit last year, so I'd already used some of the seeds. It's ok, though, because I still had quite a few leftover.

Look how tiny these seeds are! The packet says to only plant 6-7. You want to leave plenty of room for each little plant to grow. 

Now, poke little holes in the dirt with the tip of your finger. You want to leave a dent, but don't poke them too deep. After that, drop a seed in each hole. Gently cover up the seeds with dirt.

Now that your seeds are all tucked in, it's time to water them! You only have to sprinkle them lightly and make the dirt damp; you don't want to drown them.

Now all you have to do is wait! Make sure the dirt is always a little wet. I'd water them at least once a day. Also, you should put them in a really sunny spot. Near a window or on a windowsill works the best. 

I hope my little seeds start growing soon! I can't wait until I have little baby plants. I hope they have really big flowers! Once it gets warmer outside, I want to plant more seeds in the ground. I think I'll start a little flower garden. Are you excited for spring? Does it feel like spring where you are? Have you started planting flowers yet?

This has been Dani, dabbling in fresh new beginnings. Over and out!

Long, Long Overdue!

Hey everyone! After a very long hiatus, I have returned to my blog, hopefully to stay! I'm so excited. It feels good to be back! Hmm, where to begin...I suppose I'll give you some updates:

I got my braces off!! I had them on for two and a half years, and finally they came off last month. 

A new girl arrived at the Midcoast MTTB (that's Maine Time Traveling Base, in case you were wondering! I know it's been a while!)

Her name is Khadija Jadid, and she's from Morocco. 

Morocco is in northern Africa. It almost touches Spain! 

I love her hair! Her curls are so shiny and springy. Her eyes are also really pretty–they have so many shades of brown!

She's a few years older than everyone here, at 16. She's also a little taller than most of us.

Unfortunately, my friend Azalea had to leave the MMTTB. She went to a different TTB, but she might still visit here sometime. 

I'm so excited to be blogging again! I already have a few more posts planned and in the works. What have you been up to in the last year (yikes! has it been that long?) that I've been gone? Do you have any interesting stories to share? I'd love to know!

This has been Dani, finally dabbling again. Over and out!