This week, even though I keep falling behind on the days, I'm playing with the sits girls in their Stop the Summer Slump Blogging Challenge.
Today, or two days ago, the challenge is to make a bucket list of thing you must do this summer.
I have a thing about lists. I don't make them. Because when a list is made, then things have to actually get done. And in a timely fashion, or they fester and cause so much stress that life becomes nothing but getting things done to cross off a list.
I had a friend in college, well I guess I still have this friend so that isn't really an accurate statement. I have a friend who, in college, would spend inordinate amounts of time making lists. Hours were spent on the list, perfecting the list, making the list look good and putting insurmountable numbers of things on the list. And, SURPRISE, very little on the list was ever done and she was constantly very frustrated and didn't feel like she could do anything fun because she hadn't finished her list.
The only lists I make are shopping lists.
And packing lists.
And both of those are only done just before I leave, not weeks in advance.
Because if I write down my plans or even say them out loud, they become etched in stone, in my mine, and then I worry abut getting them done.
For me, summer has always been a time of relaxation and no plans. I didn't realized for the first 1/3 of my life that we weren't a "normal" family because we never took summer vacations. Owning a campground that is only open in the summer meant that we took vacations during other times of the year, or not at all. Or we ran away for a few days but my parents were worried about leaving the park in none other than Aunt Mildred's hands for more than a couple of days.
I thought everyone had carefree summers that were spent with the tourists coming to them, instead of going off and being tourists.
Even in college, when I worked as many jobs as I could, I still felt like summer was still a break because it was a change in the routine.
When people ask me if I have plans for summer, I get very cagey. I still teach my class at the gym and do my French group for adult and I work for my parents but because I live right on the property it doesn't feel like work, but it's hard to explain that to people. So I usually don't really answer. When they start telling me all of their summer plans, I start to sweat. I can't imagine ruining my summer with week by week plans of all that must get done before school starts. When people mention how many weeks of summer we have or how many days are left until school starts, I sneak away and hide somewhere.
I am so on the go from September to June, if I were to make serious plans and lists and expect to accomplish them in the summer, I would never get to recharge and my life would be nothing but a whirlwind of must get it done.
So, I can't share my bucket list for summer or any other time because I have no plans. Except to plan not to plan every single day of my life.
Oh and I usually plan to have one day a week in summer when I don't get sweaty, which is really hard when I have a garden, mow grass, ride a horse and spend a lot of time outside. Even on the non-sweaty days I still usually end up a tad moist, but that's OK because I never write down my plans to have a sweat free day.
Linking here too:
http://www.myturnforus.com/2015/06/freedom-fridays-with-all-my-bloggy_18.html
Friday, June 19, 2015
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
This Is Summer
I'm playing with the SITS girls this week, in their Stop the Summer Slump Blogging Challenge.
Yesterday's theme was to step outside the usual routine and write in a different way, so I wrote like the reporter I will never be.
I'm actually a day behind, but let's pretend I'm not.
Today, the task is to write about the simple things.
There is no greater joy of summer for me than particular smells native to where I live. First, it's the roses. In my yard, we have rosa rugosa (below) and some other rambling and invasive white rose (above). They bloom around the same time, right in the middle of June, and I can hardly describe the way they smell.
There isn't a much more enjoyable smell, to me. They are pretty strong and I can't imagine being in a a closed room with them, but here, near the beach, the smell is just part of what I grew up smelling.
Both roses have just shown up, with no help from me. I don't water them, I am really mean to the white ones and cut them down all the time, and here they come, year after year, thumbing their noses by tantalizing mine. They are untamable but in sandy conditions like we have here, plants have to adapt and once they do, good luck ever getting them under control.
And speaking of sand...
Another smell that is mostly prevalent in summer and a truly blissful smell because it means summer, is the beach itself. I don't live on the beach, but I can almost see it from my house and often, I can smell it. There's the low tide, hard boiled egg smell that isn't pretty, but mostly doesn't bother me because it means I live near the ocean and I like that.
But in the summer, there's another ocean smell that we sometimes get when the wind is just right. If I am in my yard, smelling the roses and possibly another bush that has come into bloom which I can't name, my mind goes to every summer I can remember.
These smells are better than any perfume or food smells and for me, they are the reason summer is the best time of the year.
Yesterday's theme was to step outside the usual routine and write in a different way, so I wrote like the reporter I will never be.
I'm actually a day behind, but let's pretend I'm not.
Today, the task is to write about the simple things.
There isn't a much more enjoyable smell, to me. They are pretty strong and I can't imagine being in a a closed room with them, but here, near the beach, the smell is just part of what I grew up smelling.
And speaking of sand...
Another smell that is mostly prevalent in summer and a truly blissful smell because it means summer, is the beach itself. I don't live on the beach, but I can almost see it from my house and often, I can smell it. There's the low tide, hard boiled egg smell that isn't pretty, but mostly doesn't bother me because it means I live near the ocean and I like that.
But in the summer, there's another ocean smell that we sometimes get when the wind is just right. If I am in my yard, smelling the roses and possibly another bush that has come into bloom which I can't name, my mind goes to every summer I can remember.
These smells are better than any perfume or food smells and for me, they are the reason summer is the best time of the year.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
National Fabric and Craft Store Requires Customers to Have PhD
"I'm not sure if this is on sale but I think I can get 40%"... "I can't tell what the price is and what I will actually pay at the register"... "Can I use a coupon on this, I can't tell"... "Wait, what was the price on that?"
Have you recently been in a certain national fabric and craft store and heard these very phrases or muttered them yourself? Have you walked in with a fistful of coupons only to find that every, single thing you need is exempt from the coupons? Are you frustrated that when your bill comes out of the register, you can't tell what you were charged?
Recently, customers were observed leaving the store in utter frustration, waving their receipts in the air, not sure if they got a bargain or had just been had.
It seems that the receipt that prints has so many numbers on it, a customer would need a high degree in mathematics to understand their total. There's the original price, the sale price, the price that a coupon might have reduced and the percentage off that you possibly received because you have a value card.
The cashiers don't seem to know much more than the customers. When asked if items are on sale, the cashiers can't answer until it is scanned. When asked if a coupon will work, a cashier can't answer until the item is scanned as well as the coupon. When asked why sales tax was charged on some fabrics and not others, in a state where clothing isn't taxed, no cashier could explain.
The cashiers are very good at telling people how to text headquarters to get an on the spot coupon on their smartphones, keeping everyone in line busy until it's their turn. However, when customers try to use their on the spot coupons, they often don't work because everything was already on sale and everyone looks like fools.
The signage in the store is also incredibly misleading. Currently, there is a sign for a bag for $14.99. But then it says free gift with purchase. This reporter believes that means that with a purchase, the $14.99 bag comes along for free.
Apparently, the free gift is a little fake flower on the bag that comes along when you pay $14.99 for the bag.
A few weeks ago, there were wreaths on the wall with prices. A customer tried to purchase one of the wreaths for the price indicated but according to the register and the cashier the prices on the wall were not correct. In a state where the price written is the price the store must honor, it still took the customer quite a while to convince the cashier to follow the rules.
What's a frustrated customer to do? When crafting needs to be done and the choice of stores is limited, it seems the only option is to return to school for a degree not only in math, but also in business and possibly English. Reading the rules on the coupons and understanding the signs in the store proves to be just as difficult as understanding just what percentage a customer has just saved. A law degree would also prove helpful for negotiation purposes.
Until those highly coveted degrees come through, customers can brace themselves for the worst by pretending they will pay full price for everything they want. If they can afford everything at full price, imagine the joy they will feel when coupons and sale items reduce the price. If they cannot afford everything at full price then they can practice buying in moderation and deal with the disappointment of not getting what they wanted.
Or, they can take a gamble and bring it all to the register, coupons in hand, ready for the glares of customers in line behind them as they say "no thank you" to half of their items.
I'm playing along with http://www.thesitsgirls.com as we Stop The Summer Slump and try writing in different voices and styles. Today's post was my newspaper reporter voice.
Have you recently been in a certain national fabric and craft store and heard these very phrases or muttered them yourself? Have you walked in with a fistful of coupons only to find that every, single thing you need is exempt from the coupons? Are you frustrated that when your bill comes out of the register, you can't tell what you were charged?
Recently, customers were observed leaving the store in utter frustration, waving their receipts in the air, not sure if they got a bargain or had just been had.
It seems that the receipt that prints has so many numbers on it, a customer would need a high degree in mathematics to understand their total. There's the original price, the sale price, the price that a coupon might have reduced and the percentage off that you possibly received because you have a value card.
The cashiers don't seem to know much more than the customers. When asked if items are on sale, the cashiers can't answer until it is scanned. When asked if a coupon will work, a cashier can't answer until the item is scanned as well as the coupon. When asked why sales tax was charged on some fabrics and not others, in a state where clothing isn't taxed, no cashier could explain.
The cashiers are very good at telling people how to text headquarters to get an on the spot coupon on their smartphones, keeping everyone in line busy until it's their turn. However, when customers try to use their on the spot coupons, they often don't work because everything was already on sale and everyone looks like fools.
The signage in the store is also incredibly misleading. Currently, there is a sign for a bag for $14.99. But then it says free gift with purchase. This reporter believes that means that with a purchase, the $14.99 bag comes along for free.
Apparently, the free gift is a little fake flower on the bag that comes along when you pay $14.99 for the bag.
A few weeks ago, there were wreaths on the wall with prices. A customer tried to purchase one of the wreaths for the price indicated but according to the register and the cashier the prices on the wall were not correct. In a state where the price written is the price the store must honor, it still took the customer quite a while to convince the cashier to follow the rules.
What's a frustrated customer to do? When crafting needs to be done and the choice of stores is limited, it seems the only option is to return to school for a degree not only in math, but also in business and possibly English. Reading the rules on the coupons and understanding the signs in the store proves to be just as difficult as understanding just what percentage a customer has just saved. A law degree would also prove helpful for negotiation purposes.
Until those highly coveted degrees come through, customers can brace themselves for the worst by pretending they will pay full price for everything they want. If they can afford everything at full price, imagine the joy they will feel when coupons and sale items reduce the price. If they cannot afford everything at full price then they can practice buying in moderation and deal with the disappointment of not getting what they wanted.
Or, they can take a gamble and bring it all to the register, coupons in hand, ready for the glares of customers in line behind them as they say "no thank you" to half of their items.
I'm playing along with http://www.thesitsgirls.com as we Stop The Summer Slump and try writing in different voices and styles. Today's post was my newspaper reporter voice.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Making Do For Free
Living in a very old house, the biggest frustration is lack of closet space. The space we do have is pretty small, so storage is really a problem.
Until a couple of weeks ago, this is how the sheets and bedding were stored.
Piled up in a window, getting covered with dust and pollen, falling over on a pretty regular basis. And that little table full of drawers it's sitting on? Utterly useless because the drawers are really small.
When we moved into this house, the house I grew up in, the former tenant had left some things behind. One of them was a bureau that we had used and must have left behind when we moved next door, into a new house that has plenty of closet space.
It was a 5 drawer bureau but try as I might, I never found one of the drawers, so it sat upstairs, unused. I was convinced that some day I'd find that drawer.
After the millionth time the pile of bedding fell over, I decided to get creative. It occurred to me that we might be able to cut the top off the bureau and cut it down so it was a 4 drawer bureau and then glue the top back on.
I'm not picky about storage, just desperate.
But where to put it? Another issue is space that makes sense. There's a lot of space in this house, but things like windows, doors, fireplaces that don't work and radiators that do really put a cramp in any kind of decorating style. Finding a place for a bureau was going to be a challenge.
There's a useless fireplace in the bedroom, complete with a mantel. If we cut that bureau down to 4 drawers, it was going to fit perfectly on the bricks in front of the fireplace and it wouldn't be tripped over.
It took some convincing, but while I was out one day, k-ster cut it down for me.
You only see 3 drawers? That's because he thought I wanted to put it IN the fireplace, and 3 drawers would fit in.
But, I had plans for the top of that baby, so out it came. It now stores all of the bedding and on top, I've made use of the space to put other things that had random locations beforehand.
It's not ideal but really solves a problem!
The wood is scratched and I know plenty of people out there who would paint it but I don't like that look, so I'm leaving it as is. Well, not with all of that dust. I cleaned it, at least!
Linking here:
http://www.thesitsgirls.com
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2015/06/clever-chicks-blog-hop-143-featuring.html
http://www.flamingotoes.com/2015/06/show-and-tell-link-party-15/
Until a couple of weeks ago, this is how the sheets and bedding were stored.
When we moved into this house, the house I grew up in, the former tenant had left some things behind. One of them was a bureau that we had used and must have left behind when we moved next door, into a new house that has plenty of closet space.
It was a 5 drawer bureau but try as I might, I never found one of the drawers, so it sat upstairs, unused. I was convinced that some day I'd find that drawer.
After the millionth time the pile of bedding fell over, I decided to get creative. It occurred to me that we might be able to cut the top off the bureau and cut it down so it was a 4 drawer bureau and then glue the top back on.
I'm not picky about storage, just desperate.
But where to put it? Another issue is space that makes sense. There's a lot of space in this house, but things like windows, doors, fireplaces that don't work and radiators that do really put a cramp in any kind of decorating style. Finding a place for a bureau was going to be a challenge.
There's a useless fireplace in the bedroom, complete with a mantel. If we cut that bureau down to 4 drawers, it was going to fit perfectly on the bricks in front of the fireplace and it wouldn't be tripped over.
It took some convincing, but while I was out one day, k-ster cut it down for me.
But, I had plans for the top of that baby, so out it came. It now stores all of the bedding and on top, I've made use of the space to put other things that had random locations beforehand.
It's not ideal but really solves a problem!
The wood is scratched and I know plenty of people out there who would paint it but I don't like that look, so I'm leaving it as is. Well, not with all of that dust. I cleaned it, at least!
Linking here:
http://www.thesitsgirls.com
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2015/06/clever-chicks-blog-hop-143-featuring.html
http://www.flamingotoes.com/2015/06/show-and-tell-link-party-15/
Monday, June 8, 2015
Bo, Luke and Daisy
It's been exactly 6 months since Gwennevere went off to mousier pastures and k-ster finally agreed it was time to get kittens.
I've been looking for about a month but we have this weird situation around here where kittens aren't very plentiful. Usually, May is the high season for kittens, but there were none to be had at any of the shelters for the entire month. I'm willing to pay for kittens from a shelter but I draw the line at driving more than an hour to get one.
My sister has fostered a lot of kitten litters through a shelter but for most of the winter, she didn't have any litters. Again, a really strange thing. I really wanted her to get a litter so I could go and play with them often to make my choice more based on how well we got along instead of who was the most demanding that I take it home, but she never got a litter and time was marching along.
We went to the only shelter that has kittens right now last Tuesday but there were only two and I didn't like the dopey look of one of them. And the other was pretty scared. So, we made an appointment to go back Sunday to look at two orange litters that were coming.
Call me picky, but I have some requirements when it comes to cats. I don't want pure black. I've only met one solid black cat that was tolerable. I don't want long hair or Persian smooshed faces.
I wasn't too crazy about getting orange cats because my experience with orange cats hasn't been great either.
And, I've always had a theory that male urine smells worse, so I want females.
I knew I wanted to get two kittens from the same litter or at least from the same age group who already knew each other. I always felt bad that Gwenstopher was alone for the first few months I had her and then I got another kitten but they never were really best friends. When Bandit vanished, Gwennevere became a whole new cat and was tickled to be alone.
This time, I wanted a pair from the beginning so they'd play and sleep together.
K-ster has been ambivalent about getting a new cat. He kept saying it wasn't time. I told him I'd wait until May and when we went looking and came home empty handed, I think he was relieved. He had made a mountain out of a molehill in his head and had envisioned that kittens are a lot of work and destroy things.
I've had cats my entire life, and I don't recall anything I would call "work" with kittens. Not like puppies that need training and constant walking. Kittens are pretty self-sufficient, though when they are small, they need to be watched so they don't get stuck in small spaces.
We went back to the shelter on Sunday and were greeted with no orange cats, but a trio of kittens by themselves in a room. This group was super friendly and came right out and played with us. I knew which two I wanted but both of us were sad to leave one alone. K-ster said we should get 3.
THREE? Do you know what 3 cats using a litter box is like? He said it can't be worse than 2.
THREE? Do you know how much 3 will cost? The lady said we could have the third one for a song.
THREE? Do you know how much kitten hell that will be? It can't be worse than 2.
Daisy and Luke are tigers. Luke is a soft grey tiger and the colors are just gorgeous. Daisy is more of a brown tiger, but she looks unlike Gwennevere enough that it's not creepy to have another tiger in the house. Plus the white paws are so cute and different.
Have you seen that new trend where women get their ring finger fingernail painted a different color? It's called the sparkle nail? Well, Bo has that!
I've always been a big believer in "putting the cats away" at night. We have a bathroom just for that purpose. Eventually, Gwennevere and Bandit weren't locked in the bathroom anymore, but we did close off part of the house so they didn't bug us at night.
With these guys, they will spend a lot of time in the bathroom until they are big enough to be allowed all over the house during the day. The bathroom is a fine size, but not big enough to really run around. When we let them into the living room last night, they tore around like maniacs, racing, jumping and playing and finally wore themselves out a little bit.
Putting away three cats for the night is no easy feat and really, not a one person job. ONce two were away, the third went on his own but I know they will figure out that trick really soon and I'll have to come up with something to lure them in.
As I write this today, they are racing through the living room. They do a lot of talking and Daisy especially does a lot of chirping and grumbling. When one goes into another room, he will start calling the others to come join him. They are so ridiculously cute and funny.
And have you ever heard kittens racing on the rug? The herd of horses at the barn has nothing on them. For such little creatures they make a stupendous amount of noise. If we didn't put them away at night, they'd keep us up!
Three kittens. That's a lot of litter box cleaning.....
Linking here:
http://www.lovebakesgoodcakes.com/2015/06/freedom-fridays-84.html
Monday, June 1, 2015
Potatoes And Greens Oh My
This is a bunch of Fordhook Swiss Chard, Rainbow Lights Swiss Chard, some other chard I forget the type of and some beet greens. Is there any other chard that isn't Swiss? Do we need to add the word Swiss every time? My rainbow chard never grow anything but red or white. When I buy it at the store with the vibrant orange, yellow or bluish red, I remember that mine never turns out that way.
But, who can complain with beautiful greenery like this, growing away like its destiny was to be planted in my greenhouse?
The other day, a woman told me that she made an Indian dish with fenugreek and potatoes. I don't grow fenugreek and I don't think I've ever had it. She sad it's a bitter green but when you cook, it the bitterness goes away and you throw in some spices. Then she added roasted potatoes.
Did someone say roasted potatoes? I LOOOOOOOVE roasted potatoes and nothing roasts them better than my Pampered Chef stoneware.
I had a bundle of theses little multicolored potatoes just waiting for something new and exciting and I thought maybe I'd try using my greens and add some roasted potatoes.
I chopped up the stems of the chard and some of the radishes that are growing in the greenhouse and sauteed them in some oil with garlic. If I had any onions, I would have added them too, but mine are still tiny in the ground and I didn't have any on hand. I added extra garlic but really, I could have added even more because I never tasted it at the end.
While those were sauteing, I put the chopped potatoes to roast in the oven with some oil. When I roast vegetables or potatoes, I move them around a lot so they will cook well and not stick. That's how I keep an eye on when they are done. I cut the small potatoes in half and then half again so they'd cook faster and be bite sized.
Once the stems seemed soft, I added all of the lush greens and let them wilt. Then I added quite a bit of balsamic vinegar and a little salt. Just now, I realize that I never added the cayenne pepper that I had planned to add. That would have been nice.
While the greens were wilting and the potatoes were finishing, I browned some thin chicken breasts. Nothing fancy or worth showing.
When the potatoes were done, I put most of them in with the greens and mixed them around so the balsamic mixed with the potatoes. I served it with the chicken which ended up mixed in with the greens and potatoes.
I really liked adding the potatoes to all of the chard. It was a nice extra flavor. I think we get tired of the way I usually serve greens, sauteed and topped with vinegar, so this was a nice change.
Linking here:
http://www.thesitsgirls.com
http://www.myturnforus.com/2015/06/freedom-fridays-with-all-my-bloggy.html
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Fashionably With The Times
I've seen a lot of decorative bed runners online lately. They are basically table runners that people are laying across the foot of their beds for extra decor.
Since decor and making the bed isn't really my thing I have no interest in owning one of these bed runners.
But, just when I think my sewing career might be over, my friend who ordered me to make cushions and a dog bed this winter asked me if I could make "one of those throw things at the foot of the bed" for her slightly bland bedroom. She just bought a khaki spread and had some red, blue and yellow pillows, but she needed something else, she said.
She bought the fabric in the colors she so desired and I got to work.
Since she comes from this strange land called "That Will Do", a place where another friend of mine named j-ster often resides and a where I can't imagine even walking, let alone living, she just wanted me to sew a top and bottom piece together and call it a day. I suggested it should be quilted or the fabric would just shift and bunch and be obnoxious after it was washed. I knew she'd like it better and I could sleep at night knowing she wasn't going to get a balled up piece of fabric every time she washed it.
I also suggested a contrasting binding. She wanted piping but I quickly put a stop to that because I couldn't imagine piping around each of the corners.
It took two attempts because the fabric on the back shifted the first time and I didn't realize just how bad it was until I had finished all of the quilting. Luckily they were big stitches and it's not a very big project.
I thought red quilting on one side and blue on the other would be good in case she was feeling super decorative one day and not so decorative another day.
And, as always, I did my wavy quilting stitch because it's all I can handle with my lack of patience and regular, not long arm, sewing machine.
It was a simple project because she didn't care big it was as long as it fit across the bed. I had her get 3 yards of the blue which was just a couple of inches too long and I folded it in half lengthwise and that was about 24 inches. The binding was about 1 yard and I just cut it for 1 inch binding.
I'm still not interested in one of my own for my bed, but she was thrilled and showed everyone that walked into the office. Most reactions were just raised eyebrows. Either because they thought she was advertising for the Boston Red Sox or because they aren't fashionistas and had no idea what a bed runner is.
Linking here:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.
Since decor
But, just when I think my sewing career might be over, my friend who ordered me to make cushions and a dog bed this winter asked me if I could make "one of those throw things at the foot of the bed" for her slightly bland bedroom. She just bought a khaki spread and had some red, blue and yellow pillows, but she needed something else, she said.
She bought the fabric in the colors she so desired and I got to work.
Since she comes from this strange land called "That Will Do", a place where another friend of mine named j-ster often resides and a where I can't imagine even walking, let alone living, she just wanted me to sew a top and bottom piece together and call it a day. I suggested it should be quilted or the fabric would just shift and bunch and be obnoxious after it was washed. I knew she'd like it better and I could sleep at night knowing she wasn't going to get a balled up piece of fabric every time she washed it.
I also suggested a contrasting binding. She wanted piping but I quickly put a stop to that because I couldn't imagine piping around each of the corners.
It took two attempts because the fabric on the back shifted the first time and I didn't realize just how bad it was until I had finished all of the quilting. Luckily they were big stitches and it's not a very big project.
I thought red quilting on one side and blue on the other would be good in case she was feeling super decorative one day and not so decorative another day.
And, as always, I did my wavy quilting stitch because it's all I can handle with my lack of patience and regular, not long arm, sewing machine.
It was a simple project because she didn't care big it was as long as it fit across the bed. I had her get 3 yards of the blue which was just a couple of inches too long and I folded it in half lengthwise and that was about 24 inches. The binding was about 1 yard and I just cut it for 1 inch binding.
I'm still not interested in one of my own for my bed, but she was thrilled and showed everyone that walked into the office. Most reactions were just raised eyebrows. Either because they thought she was advertising for the Boston Red Sox or because they aren't fashionistas and had no idea what a bed runner is.
Linking here:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.
http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com/
http://www.sewcando.com
http://www.skiptomylou.org
http://olives-n-okra.com/funtastic-friday-27/http://olives-n-okra.com/funtastic-friday-27/
http://www.flamingotoes.com/2015/06/show-and-tell-link-party-13/
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