Dishpan Hands

I absolutely HATE HATE HATE unloading the dishwasher. I'd rather do my taxes while on the treadmill after a 3 day cleansing fast.

But it's kind of a necessary evil, isn't it? Or is it. I've discovered, much to my very great surprise, that I enjoy doing the dishes at night by hand. Who knew that dishwashing could be a peaceful Zen moment kind of activity?

But, there are some rules. First, I must use some yummy dish soap. Yes, the price is ridiculous, but it is very concentrated. Truth be told, I don't have this $50 per gallon dish soap. I just want it. I'm using the lower octane Mrs. Meyer's Lavender scented dishsoap. Next dish gloves. Not just any dish gloves. Look at these cute gloves from the blog Little Birdie's Secrets. Check out their blog. So many cute things!

And lastly, drying the dishes with good quality cotton dishtowels. 

Result- clean dishes, clean kitchen and some quality quiet time. 

How Many Topics Can I Fit Into One Blog Post?

I have a touch of ADD, so you will have to forgive me while I flit around completely unrelated topics.

My de-cluttering and purging of STUFF continues. I have a tall laundry hamper in my kitchen where I deposit items for donation. It's a bit ironic that my de-cluttering efforts have caused a big ole piece of clutter in the kitchen; but it's temporary so I am ignoring it.

I spent last weekend with some friends at their mountain getaway in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.  The beauty and peace of that corner of the world is amazing. Their home is bordered by the Appalachian Trail on one side with woods and a creek that literally bubbles as it flows over the rocks.

The trees are thick and beautiful all four seasons. Even in winter sunlight streams through the leafless tree branches and creates an incredible show of color and light and movement.

The ice and wind have brought down a lot of branches- huge branches. The locals call the "widow makers".

There was a little proof that spring is coming...

It was a great weekend with time for knitting, reading, napping and a painting lesson. We went out for an incredible dinner and slept late. It really doesn't get any better. 

A little knitting took place a few weeks ago.  I made a hat for the son of one of my friends. He's 7 and a Steelers fan. 

The hat was easy. Picking the cat hair out of it was a part time job! On the needles now is a pair of pink leg warmers for another young friend. She's 4 and all girl and must have a pair of hand knit leg warmers for her ballet class this fall. 

We painted at the mountains. My friend Sue is an amazing painter. She uses acrylics like watercolor. I love painting, but I've struggled a lot with it.  I think my biggest problem is I don't let the paint dry between layers. What a shock. Me. Impatient! We painted greeting cards. I don't expect Hallmark to recruit me any time soon, but it was fun! 

Next topic- meal planning. I am always in awe of people who can plan their week's menu of meals, thereby saving money on groceries and eating a healthy and balanced diet. For some reason, what comes so naturally to some is totally overwhelming to me. I've tried dozens of systems. I've over complicated the whole process every step of the way. I think I've hit on the answer. I found a planning calendar at Target that fits my thought process. It's a tablet with 52 sheets of a weekly schedule. On the right side there are several pads of sticky notes. The sticky notes fit onto the calendar. Brilliant. 

First, I've decided that I need to simplify my meal plan. Stop with the major recipes slated for every night. After working all day and playing bumper cars on the beltway the last thing I want to do is sear, chop or braise. Much better to plan something simple and quick. I write seven simple breakfasts, lunches and dinners on sticky notes. Then I arrange and re-arrange until it feels right. No more lists that get complicated, convoluted and ultimately, ignored. White stickies are breakfast, yellow are lunch and green are dinner. I haven't done snacks for the week yet. I love this system. Hopefully I'll love it enough to use it. 

And finally, Juli in her nightly meditation pose.  She got this toy for Christmas. Nightly she cuddles up to it staring at things that aren't there. She is in full Zen mode. 

The Great Outdoors Part 1

I have a sweet little patio outside my condo. Up until now it has been a total under achiever in the charming department. I had it repaved last year, and the charm level definitely went up. But it's still been rather a bleak corner of my home.

Bleak.
Furniture in need of paint.
But nice new pavers and lovely windchimes = potential.








So, armed with lots of potential and not a lot of pesos I challenged myself to create a charming, warm and welcoming back yard space with as little money spent as possible. Time for a trip to Target.

It doesn't look like much yet, but here's a pile of even more potential.

A tablecloth for next to nothing.

Kitchen towels to cut up and sew back together as colorful pillows and cushions.

Working on the arrangement of the furniture.

The grill ended up way more to the right.

The table cloth ready to be trimmed down to the right size with the left overs planned for a big cushion on my red adirondack chair.

One pillow is sewn. Several more in line.

You are seeing 2 dish towels cut up to make one pillow.

Look at these cute chair pads that go with the table cloth. $5.99.

I don't know whether to spray paint the patio furniture black or white.

The table cloth is trimmed down to size. The chairs are padded and pillowed.

The 60% off lantern is hanging over the table with a flameless candle inside.

This photo is sort of a "mini reveal" of things to come. I hesitate even posting this, as there's much more to be done.

Still in the wings:
Lots more cushions and textiles.
Plants- lots of plants.
Maybe a small water fountain.
Little "B" white lights for the ceiling over the patio.
The wrought iron window frame thing hanging on the wall is going to lean artfully against the fence behind some pots of plants.
I'd like a piece of waterproof art on stretched canvas to bring some color to that wall. I may have to paint it myself as stretched canvas paintings for the outdoors run about $250.

I'm looking forward to using my patio this year. Reading, writing and resting will take place. Maybe a bit a knitting and a glass or two of wine with my neighbor Mimi.

The more I look at the table cloth the more I think I had a bed spread like that when I was in college in teh late 60's. What's old is new again.

I've been in a wonderful organizing, cleaning and de-cluttering mood. A lot of it I attribute to some inspiring blogs I've found. Handy Man Crafty Woman and Organizing Made Fun are full of ideas, projects and inexpensive ideas for your home.  I've been struggling for a while over accessorizing my mantle. I love the clean, crisp look of the new contemporary homes like you see at Crate & Barrel. But I don't love it for me.

I love stuff. I love eclectic. I like layers and textures and places for my eye to travel. I found this mantel on My Home Redux and I loved it:

So, I used the concept, and though I am not 100% happy with my attempt, I do like it and feel like I am on the right track:

I think I want to layer the mirror and picture a bit more, and maybe turn the mirror up the long way. We'll see. It's a work in progress.

I have a funny hole in my drywall where some speaker wire comes out. The home theater system is long dead, and I don't have a TV in this room any longer. So, this funky wire was coming out of the wall. I really didn't want to cover it up with drywall. I may put speakers there oneday. So, I hung some pictures in a rather unconventional way, but I really like it:

I only have 8 foot ceilings, so the one picture is really low. But I am short and it is ok. It's cheaper and more temporary than drywall. Ha! I just noticed that if you zoom on this photo you can see bits of yarn hanging out of the armoire. Guess where my yarn stash is- and no, it has not benefited from my organizing bug yet. 

Next project; I'm going to make small lamp shades out of some left over wall paper for my dining room light fixture. Here's the before:

I'm smitten with my organizing and decorating with zero dollars projects. Now, if I could just figure out how to do groceries, utilities and gasoline on zero dollars. 

My Perfect Saturday

I'm having a perfect Saturday. My cousin came over and picked up the piece of furniture that my TV had been on. I wanted to downsize to a smaller antique dresser. Photos to come. My den is a MESS. It's like I packed it up in 10 minutes. It isn't going back together in 10 minutes. It will probably take 10 days. How does that work?

I'm watching Mad Men- season 1. I love having an afternoon of marathon TV. This show is so well written. The setting is pure 1960. Lots of subtle satire comparing that era to the present day. Pregnant women smoking and drinking. EVERYONE smoking. Kids in no car seats. A little girl playing ghost with a plastic bag from the cleaner over her head and her mother chastising her that her "dry cleaning better not be on the floor of the closet".  The a woman's place is in the homeyness of the scripts would be funny if it wasn't such a true depiction of the inequalities that affected women in the years before the feminist movement.

Women's roles in the family, business and the world have changed and are still evolving. I came of age during that change. It was a confusing time to grow up. There's a part of me that thinks my meals should be perfect and my silver should sparkle. (Apparently so should my kitchen and bathroom!) Then there's the part of me that cannot imagine life without a career. Just as the kitchen sparkles, so should my work life. My oldest daughter gave me one of the best pieces of wisdom I've received in my life. "Mom, your generation thinks you can have it all and do it all. My generation knows we can have whatever we want, but we cannot do it all." 

So, we can pick what we want to excel at. And be gentle on ourselves about all the rest. And be glad that our daughters generation is not nearly as confused as we are!

Chris-entine

This weekend my cousins and I celebrated a combination very belated Christmas, early Valentines Day, Birthdays and any other winter holiday you can throw in. I've kept my little Christmas tree up in anticipation of this, and now I don't have an excuse for not putting it away!

My cousin gave me this beautiful yarn bowl. She got it when we visited the Northern Michigan Lamb and Wool Festival in West Branch, MI last September. I love it. I love knitting and I love pottery.

I will enjoy using it in my cozy little knitting corner:

Speaking of cozy- is there any better feeling than walking into your home after a busy day at work? And the bed is made. (New comforter coming soon!)

And a good book is waiting on your Kindle...

And the queen of the house is ready to come in and snuggle...

But wait, what's this? Where is my Kindle?

On the treadmill, as a reminder that there will be no kitty snuggling or reclining with my book in bed until I at least make an attempt to log some minutes.

Minutes are now logged and I'm off to snuggle with a certain Favorite Kitty who desperately needs attention!

Serendipity Strikes Again & Some Family Photos

Every so often life hands us moments that are so serendipitous, they are beyond description. 

I’ve been gifted with two such moments this week. 

I’ve played around on ancestry.com for a few years. Last year I found a 2nd cousin who had lost touch with the family. It was wonderful and is a story I will tell here one day. 

This week I found another long lost cousin plus a cousin related by marriage. 

The long lost cousin is a few years younger than I. She’s the granddaughter of my great uncle.  I remember hearing about her as a child. I so wished I could meet her and we could be like sisters. She was an only child and so was I. I wondered why she never visited the family. What I didn’t know was that her father and grandfather (my great uncle) were estranged. Things like this were not discussed in front of a child in my family. In fact, Irish families seem to really excel at secret keeping. I could write many blog posts about family secrets!

I found my long lost cousin on Ancestry. I wasn’t 100% sure it was her so I sent her a message. When she responded that she was indeed who I thought she was I felt like an important piece of a jigsaw puzzled just dropped into its place. 

The heartwarming  thing is I’ve been able to tell her how much her grandfather loved her. How photos of her were always front and center on his dresser. How he always carried a photo of her. How he talked about her all the time.  She knew nothing of this. 

The cause of the rift in the family doesn’t matter anymore. I hope that she and I will erase the chasm. I know that all parties who were involved in the rift will look down from heaven and be pleased. I am certain the estrangement has been healed in the heavenly realm. I am so looking forward to being part of the healing here on earth. 

The other cousin related by marriage contacted me because she saw her great aunt Irene on my family tree. Irene was my great aunt by marriage. She passed away last year at age 96. She was probably the kindest, most gentle person I’ve ever known. When her niece contacted me looking for information on this branch of her family I was able to tell her that she has another great aunt who is still alive. She’s 101, lives in a nursing home and is sharp as a tack. I’m sure she’ll be a wealth of information. 

I love putting the puzzle pieces of my ancestors together. I wish I had more facts. I wish I had a sharp as a tack 101 year old aunt. I know there were lots of stories that I only vaguely remember. 

Our ancestors shape who we are. Superficial things like eye color, complexion and height can be found in those who came before us. 

But they have gifted us with much more than physical attributes. Their talents, their interests, their personalities all affect us just as much as the gene we inherited that determines eye color. I have ancestors who were seamstresses, tailors,  quilters, knitters, artists, cooks, writers,upholsterers, doctors and homemakers. I come by my love of textiles and crafts and all things homey honestly. 

 We all possess sacred gifts from relatives we’ve never met. Inside each of us are talents we let lie dormant. We don’t delve into the unknown world of painting, pottery or poetry because we doubt our abilities, think we don’t have time or don’t know where to start. 


Below, my grandparents Erv and Loretta Roller. 

We all have inherited aptitude for a world full of wondrous things . All that is required of us is to look inward and decide how we want to express our inherent talent. How can we honor those who came before by taking a risk and delving into a hobby or activity that they once enjoyed? 

My grandmother (below) owned a "letter mailing business" at a time when women did not own businesses. She, of course, gave it up when she got married. It was the lady like thing to do in those days! 

Follow your heart and see where it takes you. 

Some Observations: 
Just Do It! Write a story, write a poem, write a book. Paint a watercolor. Draw a vase of flowers. Take some photos just for the pleasure of it. Visit a museum or a library. Write a journal. Sew a quilt. Sew a pillow. Knit. Needlepoint. Do counted cross stitch. Build a bird feeder. Cook something special. Bake bread. Decorate a room. Sing. Play music. Tell family stories. Bead a bracelet. Keep an art journal.  Work on your family tree. Read a book. Go to a play. Exercise or do some yoga. Make a greeting card. Play baseball. Arrange flowers. Plant a garden. Write a letter. Explore things you want to know about online. Decorate a cake. Play cards. Take a walk. Meditate. 

I’ll stop the list now, but I could go on for pages. The world is rich with things to do and explore. We are just as rich with ability we’ve yet to tap into. 

Some things that are noticeably missing from my Just Do It list:

Get your taxes ready to file. 

Pay speed camera tickets.

File all your paperwork. 

Balance your checkbook. 

Some things do not deserve to be on a Just Do It List!

I know when I am 96 and sitting in a rocking chair I will not say “I wish I’d watched more I Love Lucy reruns.”  Life is what we make it and we can make it really amazing. Or we can play solitaire on the computer. Just Do It.