A Little Bit O'Nature and A Peek A Some Goodies

After work today, I took the scenic route home so I could be a good girl and take a walk on the canal. It was a glorious day, and it would have been a shame to go straight home and begin my usual slugness so early. So I got there and started to walk. So far, so good.

This is one of the first things I see when I head from the parking area to the canal. This is run-off from the lock. The canal contains a series of locks that used to be used to help boats navigate the canal, which runs from Georgetown (DC) North 187 miles to Northwestern Maryland. This particular lock is around mile 19, which is how far North of DC I live. Isn't this purty?

This is the tow path, where the mules used to walk while they towed the barges. There are two or three locks still working with mule-towed barges for the tourists. It's fun, and if you are ever in DC, you should check it out.

Anyway, this is the path that runs along the side the canal, which parallels the Potomac River. People come here to walk, bike, run (with or without dogs), or ride horses. One of my best photos ever was the rear end of a horse. I'll dig it out of the archives and show it to you this weekend. It is a hoot!

So this evening I started my usual walk, and since I am a fast walker, I broke out into a sweat at about 100 yards, I kid you not. I am soooo out of shape. Plus it was buggy, so after about 10 minutes I bagged it, turned around, and headed back.

To get back to the parking area you need to cross back over the canal, so I took the opportunity to show you this particular lock in the closed position ...

... and the other side, which is of course open.

And because it was there, this is the former Lock House, where the Lock Master lived. Some of the lock houses along the canal are open to the public and you can take tours. If you look waaaaay off in the distance, you can see the Potomac River. One of these days I'll get back out there and take some better pics.

Enough with the nature stuff already! Wanna see some goodies? I am working on collecting stuff from The Other Room to have as give-aways in May. First of all, you need to consider that I am not famous, and I do not have any sponsors, nor do I have people giving me things, so don't expect things like whole sets of Nestabilities. Okay, now that we've settled that, let's check out what I have in the stack so far.

We have:

*Three (3) packs of 12x12 papers, which shall be cut into 4 6x6 stacks each. I'll keep one of each to scratch my itch, and the other three will be given away.

* Cork letters. Yes, they are lame, but I have three of them, and maybe one of you can do something cool with them, as I cannot.

* 4-packs of stickers. These are very cool. You can use one on each of 4 cards, like I did. ;-)

* Packs of paper flowers. Lotsa potential here.

* Paper napkins. Yes, paper napkins. I have a whole pack of these. I used one to make 4 cards, and heaven knows I do not need ALL of these. If you peel apart the layers so all you have is the top colored layer, you put plastic wrap between the napkin and your card stock (with lots of scrap paper under and over all of it) and you iron the whole thing. The plastic wrap acts like the glue, and it looks VERY cool.

* Ribbon. Surprise!

* Buttons. I have a gazillion buttons, so I plan to share.

* See that pack of City Cards on the left? Yep, you'll get those, too. Now I am not dim enough to think you'd want note cards that say "Gaithersburg, MD", but each winner WILL get a pack customized with their own town's name. Or a made-up name. I really don't care, but you'll get to pick the name.

I reserve the right to add more stuff as I find it In There, but this is the stack so far. NOW, if anyone has a good idea for what kind of contests or challenges I should have to give this stuff away over a three-week period in May, please let me know. I am certainly open to suggestions. If you guys don't think of something fun, you will be at the mercy of whatever evil plan I devise, so consider yourselves warned!

Okay, I'm off to stamp! Thanks for stopping by!