My downsizing and organizing has hit a huge snag. For the past while I have been trying to clean, organize, and dust the cookbook shelves. I am having this huge mental block. I know what it is, but it doesn't make it any easier to work through. The last time I was orgaizing shelves was last summer when our Rufus died. I didn't manage to finish the shelves then and I still haven't gotten them all finished. I think I might be about half finished this time.
I have, however, in spite of everything, given away quite a few cookbooks. I must confess, I love cookbooks. I have been collecting them since I was first married. I read them like novels and for bedtime reading. I look at the lovely pictures. I even cook out of them. But I have over three hundred cookbooks. Some of them I have not even tried a single recipe. So after some serious soul-searching and a huge conversation with myself, I managed to give away a few of my cookbooks. One stack went to live at my oldest son's house and another stack went to live at my youngest son's house. I know where they are, and if I'm suddenly smitten with a irresistable urge to cook out of one of these cookbooks (nevermind that I haven't used them in twenty-some years), I can run over and copy the recipe I want to try.
Naturally, I felt the need to reward myself for this accomplishment, and I got myself a new cookbook...This one more in keeping with how I actually cook. I recently read Life Is A Verb, by Patti Digh. It's an amazing book and I enjoyed it very much. Somewhere toward the end she recommended trying out the cookbook Veganomicon. So after checking it out online, I actually ordered one (from our local bookstore). The recipes are as good as they were purported to be. Of the few things I have made so far, every one of them was fairly easy to prepare, did not have weird ingredients (OK, my idea of weird ingredients might not be normal), were mostly inexpensive, and tasted good. AND I have to finish cleaning the cookbook shelves because there still isn't space in the vegetarian cookbook section for a new cookbook...
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
Midsummer Madness
July is invariably the month where money becomes extremely tight. There is a lull after spring work and before harvest. Naturally this lull translates into less work and less money. I have already been off work for a month and so my income is also seriously curtailed.
This year I have decided that I am not going to spend undue time stressing about the situation. Instead, I am looking around for projects that I can do that require no cash outlay. Looking for projects to do that require no money has kept me diverted for quite a while. Some ideas are easy--weed ALL the flower beds. I have some that are nothing but weeds. I know what I want to do with them and getting them weeded and prepped this summer is a good start. And I want to make some new flower beds as well.
I want our property to look clean and more attractive. Again--easy. I am going to start at the gate and start killing the weeds and preparing the roadside strip for maybe lavendar or wildflowers. I have plenty of "scrap" 2 x 4's to edge my raspberry bed. I have a small sitting area in the front yard with a "spool" table and two adirondack chairs. I want to have it look neater and more appealing. This one just requires elbow grease. Kent brought me home a stack of pallets and I am going to construct a deck out of pallets. I plan to put dirt between the slats and grow a high-traffic ground cover in the cracks between the slats. I have also started to make a pallet deck in tha back yard where the barbecue is. So far, I have one in place...
I also have fabric on hand and patterns. This week I completed one shirt and started and finished a second one. I still have fabric for at least three or four more shirts. And since I am in dire need of new shirts, I will get started on their construction.
I have plenty of glass to play with, so I will start doing some more experimenting with my glass. I started making disc flowers that I then pinched with pliers to look like poppies. I start making discs and then I quit and then when I start again I cannot remember why I quit making discs the last time. Well, THIS time I remember why I quit. For some reason I have great difficulty keeping my discs warm. As they cool they tend to shock and I have little bits of hot glass flying around. Very disconcerting...I have decided that I'm just going to keep practising until I can manage to keep my beads warm enough that they don't shed bits of themselves everywhere!
I also ordered some silver leaf some time ago and I'm quite certain that it is now ripe enough to use. I, just this week, found all my little mini punches to use with my silver leaf, so I have that to try out also.
This has been rather an exhausting week. The guys are all out of town--leaving just us "girls" behind to keep everything together and to also dogsit Brent's two dogs. The night before the 4th we thought that maybe we were going to have a relaxing and not too stressful time. There were few fireworks and the only dog upset was Kent's and I was able to keep him fairly calm. Well, this was a fond misconception. There were plenty of fireworks on the actual 4th and ALL the dogs were distraught. It took three attempts to get them to bed before they finally settled down (at 11:30). There were no fireworks last night and everyone still didn't want to go to bed. However, the humans were rather tired and became slightly more insistent that they go to bed much earlier. They did under great protest and retaliated by insisting that it was time to get up at 6:00...
So today has been one of those days...I feel like I'm moving in slow motion and I haven't even attempted to accomplish much at all. And with the temperature heating up, there may be no more work done; we might just spend the rest of the afternoon in our pool.
This year I have decided that I am not going to spend undue time stressing about the situation. Instead, I am looking around for projects that I can do that require no cash outlay. Looking for projects to do that require no money has kept me diverted for quite a while. Some ideas are easy--weed ALL the flower beds. I have some that are nothing but weeds. I know what I want to do with them and getting them weeded and prepped this summer is a good start. And I want to make some new flower beds as well.
I want our property to look clean and more attractive. Again--easy. I am going to start at the gate and start killing the weeds and preparing the roadside strip for maybe lavendar or wildflowers. I have plenty of "scrap" 2 x 4's to edge my raspberry bed. I have a small sitting area in the front yard with a "spool" table and two adirondack chairs. I want to have it look neater and more appealing. This one just requires elbow grease. Kent brought me home a stack of pallets and I am going to construct a deck out of pallets. I plan to put dirt between the slats and grow a high-traffic ground cover in the cracks between the slats. I have also started to make a pallet deck in tha back yard where the barbecue is. So far, I have one in place...
I also have fabric on hand and patterns. This week I completed one shirt and started and finished a second one. I still have fabric for at least three or four more shirts. And since I am in dire need of new shirts, I will get started on their construction.
I have plenty of glass to play with, so I will start doing some more experimenting with my glass. I started making disc flowers that I then pinched with pliers to look like poppies. I start making discs and then I quit and then when I start again I cannot remember why I quit making discs the last time. Well, THIS time I remember why I quit. For some reason I have great difficulty keeping my discs warm. As they cool they tend to shock and I have little bits of hot glass flying around. Very disconcerting...I have decided that I'm just going to keep practising until I can manage to keep my beads warm enough that they don't shed bits of themselves everywhere!
I also ordered some silver leaf some time ago and I'm quite certain that it is now ripe enough to use. I, just this week, found all my little mini punches to use with my silver leaf, so I have that to try out also.
This has been rather an exhausting week. The guys are all out of town--leaving just us "girls" behind to keep everything together and to also dogsit Brent's two dogs. The night before the 4th we thought that maybe we were going to have a relaxing and not too stressful time. There were few fireworks and the only dog upset was Kent's and I was able to keep him fairly calm. Well, this was a fond misconception. There were plenty of fireworks on the actual 4th and ALL the dogs were distraught. It took three attempts to get them to bed before they finally settled down (at 11:30). There were no fireworks last night and everyone still didn't want to go to bed. However, the humans were rather tired and became slightly more insistent that they go to bed much earlier. They did under great protest and retaliated by insisting that it was time to get up at 6:00...
So today has been one of those days...I feel like I'm moving in slow motion and I haven't even attempted to accomplish much at all. And with the temperature heating up, there may be no more work done; we might just spend the rest of the afternoon in our pool.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Spring in Summer
It's been a while since I posted any pictures. I haven't done much with glass for the last little while. My garden has not allowed me time to do anything else. Yesterday I actually took a little break from the garden and finished sewing two new shirts for myself. I still haven't replaced all the clothes that no longer fit, so this was actually necessary.
This is one of my projects that I completed some time ago. I called this piece "Spring Equinox". I think I actually started making the beads for this right around the spring equinox. It is a graduation gift for a daughter of a friend.
This is a close-up of some of the beads. The flower beads are a new style for me, and I have been experimenting with "pixie dust" for a while now. I love the subtle shimmer is gives to transparent glass.
This is the center pendant. The entire necklace is 24 inches long. I tend to wear my own necklaces fairly short, but I try to make longer styles for other people.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Of Raspberries and children
This has been a crazy, busy week. After the cherry circus of last week, the raspberries began to ripen. They have required picking just about every day. I have made about 35 pints of raspberry freezer jam to keep the batch of cherry jam company. There has also been fresh raspberries with homemade caramel sauce, raspberry cake, and raspberry crisp. And for variety--rhubarb dream bars.
In the midst of my raspberry whirl has come Vacation Bible School. Every morning from 9:00 until noon, I have been ushering fourteen eight and nine year-olds to their various activities (somewhat like trying to herd cats...) I was originally scheduled to assist with the pre-schoolers, but there was some staffing shortages, and I was given a group of older children. The first day there was a certain amount of misbehavior as I learned their names. But it seemed that as soon as I knew their names, they behaved much better...
I had thinned the apples not so long ago. I'm convinced that they are already twice the size they were when I thinned them. I seem to have missed a few spots; the ladder refuses to stand straight, and standing on a ladder that is tilting the wrong direction causes me some concern. Kent was suggesting that perhaps I could get to the last of the thinning this week. Knowing that my schedule was going to be hectic until late Friday I informed him that I didn't think there was much hope that the apples would be thinned until later.
My raspberry patch is overrun with weeds and the canes have overrun their boundaries. I am hoping for a slight break in harvesting in order to do some major weeding and transplanting. I also want to place a 2 x 4 border between the raspberries and the lawn to try to curtail the tendency of the raspberries to take over my lawn.
In the midst of my raspberry whirl has come Vacation Bible School. Every morning from 9:00 until noon, I have been ushering fourteen eight and nine year-olds to their various activities (somewhat like trying to herd cats...) I was originally scheduled to assist with the pre-schoolers, but there was some staffing shortages, and I was given a group of older children. The first day there was a certain amount of misbehavior as I learned their names. But it seemed that as soon as I knew their names, they behaved much better...
I had thinned the apples not so long ago. I'm convinced that they are already twice the size they were when I thinned them. I seem to have missed a few spots; the ladder refuses to stand straight, and standing on a ladder that is tilting the wrong direction causes me some concern. Kent was suggesting that perhaps I could get to the last of the thinning this week. Knowing that my schedule was going to be hectic until late Friday I informed him that I didn't think there was much hope that the apples would be thinned until later.
My raspberry patch is overrun with weeds and the canes have overrun their boundaries. I am hoping for a slight break in harvesting in order to do some major weeding and transplanting. I also want to place a 2 x 4 border between the raspberries and the lawn to try to curtail the tendency of the raspberries to take over my lawn.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Bird "Music"
We have two pie cherry trees in our yard. Fairly young and quite small trees yet, but they are growing. Last year they faithfully produced a small crop of cherries--of which I did not get a single one. The birds stripped the trees long before those cherries were close to ripe. I was somewhat less than happy.
This year we again got a crop of cherries. A larger crop than last year and I REALLY want some cherry jam and at least one cherry pie. What to do! I didn't want to put out the money for bird netting this year, so instead I put some old computer game disks in the trees. They spun and flashed and were actually quite pretty. The robins were most unappreciative and stayed away from my cherries. They began to ripen.
Well, this has been one of those years with a LOT of wind. I no soonoer put those CDs in the trees than the wind blew at gale force and pretty much tangled up the strings with the branches. I will hang them differently next time...But the wind also discouraged most of the birds from sitting in my trees and making a meal of cherries.
The wind died down some time late yesterday afternoon. My cherries were close to ripe and I could hear a lot of bird conversation outside. Every time I looked out the window the trees were unmolested. However, Kent said that some of the cherries were looking brown. Translation: something had snacked on them. This morning the birds were chattering and clacking quite loudly outside and I actually saw one lovely wax-wing variety sitting on the top of the tree. While the robins didn't care for my CDs the blackbirds and other birds were completely unconcerned with them. So fairly early this morning I rushed outside and picked all my cherries...
The trees will get larger and eventually I will have enough cherries to share with the birds, but in the meantime, I think that I will have to invest in some bird netting. The CDs will be moving to the apricot tree. It is also young and I want a pie...
We appear to have a bumper crop of raspberries and I spent most of the morning picking raspberries. I DO have enough raspberries to share with whomever chooses to dine on them. We had some for lunch with left-over homemade caramel sauce made with coconut milk. It was a spur-of -the-moment experiment and was very good.
Of course, all this harvesting leaves little time for glass and beading. I do still have some things to photograph. My latest experiment has been to try making wings. They resemble angel wings. I wanted to make them sparkly, but dunking them in pixie dust was not very successful. I may have to see what I can do with dichro.
This year we again got a crop of cherries. A larger crop than last year and I REALLY want some cherry jam and at least one cherry pie. What to do! I didn't want to put out the money for bird netting this year, so instead I put some old computer game disks in the trees. They spun and flashed and were actually quite pretty. The robins were most unappreciative and stayed away from my cherries. They began to ripen.
Well, this has been one of those years with a LOT of wind. I no soonoer put those CDs in the trees than the wind blew at gale force and pretty much tangled up the strings with the branches. I will hang them differently next time...But the wind also discouraged most of the birds from sitting in my trees and making a meal of cherries.
The wind died down some time late yesterday afternoon. My cherries were close to ripe and I could hear a lot of bird conversation outside. Every time I looked out the window the trees were unmolested. However, Kent said that some of the cherries were looking brown. Translation: something had snacked on them. This morning the birds were chattering and clacking quite loudly outside and I actually saw one lovely wax-wing variety sitting on the top of the tree. While the robins didn't care for my CDs the blackbirds and other birds were completely unconcerned with them. So fairly early this morning I rushed outside and picked all my cherries...
The trees will get larger and eventually I will have enough cherries to share with the birds, but in the meantime, I think that I will have to invest in some bird netting. The CDs will be moving to the apricot tree. It is also young and I want a pie...
We appear to have a bumper crop of raspberries and I spent most of the morning picking raspberries. I DO have enough raspberries to share with whomever chooses to dine on them. We had some for lunch with left-over homemade caramel sauce made with coconut milk. It was a spur-of -the-moment experiment and was very good.
Of course, all this harvesting leaves little time for glass and beading. I do still have some things to photograph. My latest experiment has been to try making wings. They resemble angel wings. I wanted to make them sparkly, but dunking them in pixie dust was not very successful. I may have to see what I can do with dichro.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Just Do It Already!
I have this little problem--make that a huge problem. I overthink things. I had a friend point this out over the weekend, and it's true. I absolutely do this.
Here is the latest "for instance"...I have a couple orders that I need to get beads made for and make some bookmarks and jewelry and send the whole thing away soon. Several of the things in the orders are going to need metallic black beads. I am running a little short of matallic black and one of the orders needs a metallic black monster. Monsters tend to take a lot more glass than I normally use. Then I need to make about sixteen small metallic black beads to finish the other orders. So do I get started on this? No, I do not. Instead I worry...
Summer is here and I'm off work, so I don't have a lot of fun money. I KNOW ordering glass isn't frivolous--it's a necessity. I know this perfectly well. If I don't have glass, I can't make beads. If I can't make beads, I can't make jewelry and other doodads to sell. However, as much as I know this, I don't FEEL it. Ordering glass still feels like a silly self-indulgence. So I'm working on this problem.
Today I sat down with my torch and started to make my metallic black beads. Not only do I not have very much metallic black, but it is a fussy glass that likes to shatter if I'm not careful. So I started with a small rod and set it on my torch marver (a flat graphite surface to roll hot glass on) to preheat. Then I very carefully melted it in the cooler part of the flame, so it wouldn't shatter. I made several beads with this small amount of glass. I looked at my larger glass rod...and looked at it some more. Finally I said to myself, "OK! Just do it already! Make the monster and stop stressing about it. That way you'll know how much glass you have left and if you need to order any more."
I made that silly metallic black monster. He has gooseberry green eyes and non-metallic black toes and fingers and a bright red heart. He is adorable and will make a great bookmark.
And after all that stressing out, over-thinking and worrying, I still have plenty of metallic black glass. Enough to finish all the beads that I need and probably some left over.
Here is the latest "for instance"...I have a couple orders that I need to get beads made for and make some bookmarks and jewelry and send the whole thing away soon. Several of the things in the orders are going to need metallic black beads. I am running a little short of matallic black and one of the orders needs a metallic black monster. Monsters tend to take a lot more glass than I normally use. Then I need to make about sixteen small metallic black beads to finish the other orders. So do I get started on this? No, I do not. Instead I worry...
Summer is here and I'm off work, so I don't have a lot of fun money. I KNOW ordering glass isn't frivolous--it's a necessity. I know this perfectly well. If I don't have glass, I can't make beads. If I can't make beads, I can't make jewelry and other doodads to sell. However, as much as I know this, I don't FEEL it. Ordering glass still feels like a silly self-indulgence. So I'm working on this problem.
Today I sat down with my torch and started to make my metallic black beads. Not only do I not have very much metallic black, but it is a fussy glass that likes to shatter if I'm not careful. So I started with a small rod and set it on my torch marver (a flat graphite surface to roll hot glass on) to preheat. Then I very carefully melted it in the cooler part of the flame, so it wouldn't shatter. I made several beads with this small amount of glass. I looked at my larger glass rod...and looked at it some more. Finally I said to myself, "OK! Just do it already! Make the monster and stop stressing about it. That way you'll know how much glass you have left and if you need to order any more."
I made that silly metallic black monster. He has gooseberry green eyes and non-metallic black toes and fingers and a bright red heart. He is adorable and will make a great bookmark.
And after all that stressing out, over-thinking and worrying, I still have plenty of metallic black glass. Enough to finish all the beads that I need and probably some left over.
Friday, June 8, 2012
I haven't had much to say lately. I've been busy putting myself back together again and just haven't had anything to say.
Last year, at the beginning of June, we lost one of our dogs. He went to the vet because he was vomiting. He never came home. It was an incredible shock in spite of the fact that he had had epilepsy from the time he was a tiny puppy. I didn't get a lot accomplished last summer.
I read somewhere about "the laziness of grief" and it is very true. Grief will simply sap all your energy and even the most simple of tasks are insurmountable.
Well, on May 20, our beloved dog Sheena was put to sleep. She had followed (with a LOT of encouragement) our oldest son home from church twelve years earlier. We don't know how old she was as she was fully grown when she came to us.
Another summer is here and I really don't want to "waste" it like I have done with some of my past summers. So I have been very busy with mindless cleaning, organizing and furniture rearranging. And this week I also have been spending time every day with my torch. I discovered the hard way that I have to take a break from the torch if I'm upset, or bad things happen. Last year I shut off the torch and forgot to turn off the tanks of oxygen and propane. Fortunately, nothing happened. Now, I double check to make sure everything is shut off.
So my living room is now completely rearranged and scrubbed. The dog hair WAS all swept up...but that is a daily chore, or the floor looks like a blizzard hit. I have gotten all the DVDs categorized, dusted, and put neatly on their shelves. I even pulled out my sewing project today and worked on it.
I have a couple of laundry baskets that sit on top of my dryer. They take up a lot of space--which is at a premioum--and tend to collect cats along with the laundry. Recently, I have been doing one load of laundry a day--sometimes more, but I only worry about doing one load a day. I have been able to keep up with my laundry this way without feeling guilty and everyone has clean clothes to wear. Now I'm wondering if I extended myself just a bit more and actually folded and PUT AWAY that one load if I could dispense with the laundry baskets. I think this may just be my next challenge to myself.
Last year, at the beginning of June, we lost one of our dogs. He went to the vet because he was vomiting. He never came home. It was an incredible shock in spite of the fact that he had had epilepsy from the time he was a tiny puppy. I didn't get a lot accomplished last summer.
I read somewhere about "the laziness of grief" and it is very true. Grief will simply sap all your energy and even the most simple of tasks are insurmountable.
Well, on May 20, our beloved dog Sheena was put to sleep. She had followed (with a LOT of encouragement) our oldest son home from church twelve years earlier. We don't know how old she was as she was fully grown when she came to us.
Another summer is here and I really don't want to "waste" it like I have done with some of my past summers. So I have been very busy with mindless cleaning, organizing and furniture rearranging. And this week I also have been spending time every day with my torch. I discovered the hard way that I have to take a break from the torch if I'm upset, or bad things happen. Last year I shut off the torch and forgot to turn off the tanks of oxygen and propane. Fortunately, nothing happened. Now, I double check to make sure everything is shut off.
So my living room is now completely rearranged and scrubbed. The dog hair WAS all swept up...but that is a daily chore, or the floor looks like a blizzard hit. I have gotten all the DVDs categorized, dusted, and put neatly on their shelves. I even pulled out my sewing project today and worked on it.
I have a couple of laundry baskets that sit on top of my dryer. They take up a lot of space--which is at a premioum--and tend to collect cats along with the laundry. Recently, I have been doing one load of laundry a day--sometimes more, but I only worry about doing one load a day. I have been able to keep up with my laundry this way without feeling guilty and everyone has clean clothes to wear. Now I'm wondering if I extended myself just a bit more and actually folded and PUT AWAY that one load if I could dispense with the laundry baskets. I think this may just be my next challenge to myself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)