Starting Another Journal

We had some good storms come through yesterday. Poor Jager stayed hidden in the corner all day. She does not like storms.

Been fairly busy the last few days. The highlights have been finishing up Easter gifts, having to start a new journal, and going through my closet and clearing things out a bit. All exciting stuff right?

I can't show the Easter gifts yet because of course that would be when my family decides to look at my blog, so that will have to wait till after Easter!

Like I mentioned I am having to set up a new journal. And while setting it up I realized I am getting about 4-6 months in each composition book, and redoing all my "collections" each time. So I thought what if I put all my collections in a separate journal? If I don't like it, it's not like I can't do it over again. So I thought I would try it out.

Here is the start of the new journal, all I've gotten so far is the yearly calendar in - and not finished with that either!

This is one of my collections. I am musically challenged, as in I can't remember the names of songs or bands. It is some kind of mental block or something because I just can not remember them. So I write down the songs that I really like while listening to Pandora. This would be one (of many) of the pages I transfer to the new separate Collections Journal for 2017.

I also mentioned going through my closet. First I blame Instagram (I'm on Instagram now! Here is my account) All those gorgeous organized closets. Sigh. Serious case of closet envy. I could care less about the clothes, it's those nice simple arrangements that have me drooling. No using full body weight to squish clothes aside so you can see what your trying to pick out. Or reaching in and grabbing one hanger that somehow hooks five others on the way off the rack/ Drives me nuts.

This is what I am getting rid of, so far. This was just the first pass and grabbing those items I knew for a fact wasn't gonna get worn. I mean seriously, I refuse to wear white. White anything NEVER stays white for long, and yet I had so many white shirts and pants! That was easy, then it was those items that were too small or didn't fit right but kept anyway in case of an emergency. This coming from a woman who happily wears pj's all day? Gone.

43 articles of clothing! Not bad for a first pass. I am not done by any stretch of the imagination. I have a large closet and I guess I felt I needed to have it full. Even with getting rid of all this I still can't slide things aside to see what I am grabbing, but the hangers are almost lined up instead of all tangled and on top of each other. I should have gotten a before pic, but to be honest at the time it was "do this NOW, or you wont do this at all."

Now to figure out what to keep from the things I know I like and wear. I don't go anywhere that often but I don't have too many opportunities to just run to town to get what I need should something pop up. (95% of my clothes came from the thrift store.)

How do you balance the "I like this and it looks good on me, but I don't wear it that often?" situation?

Reusable Coffee Filters

About two months ago I was having my morning coffee and for the umpteenth time, had coffee grounds in my cup. When I am camping I will take coffee any way I can get it; but I am at home. The stupid paper filter fell over. Again.

Fine. I can beat this and make my morning coffee the tranquil event it is supposed to be. I sat down with my chewy coffee and thought about when I worked in a restaurant how the coffee was all premeasured, sandwiched between two filters. No grounds in the cups there! But I can't afford to purchase coffee like that, also I rarely make a full pot of coffee anymore (I had to cut back). So I needed something like the restaurant had but versatile and reusable, and most important, make crunch free coffee.

After several attempts I ended up with this and made 14 of them:

Here are my notes on how I did it:

This is the filters in action. I realize my coffee pot is not the cleanest and I almost stopped to clean everything, but figured "keep it real". So this is as real as it gets.

It works beautifully. Glorious tranquil, commercial worthy mornings. Especially when I remember to get the coffee pot ready the night before and set the timer.

Now I set up a weeks worth of morning goodness and coffee is a breeze now. I can even make it in the mornings! Mornings are and issue, believe me.

Do you see what the coffeemaker is sitting on? There is a method to the madness. Remember I said mornings are an issue? First it's sitting on an old rack from a long ago broken toaster oven, but was the right size to lift the coffee maker up. The baking sheet was a smaller one that came with a set, that was entirely too small for any thing I would do with it (if I'm gonna make cookies, then by golly I make a LOT). Then all that is sitting on an old towel.

This is because I can not see. When I pour water into the back reservoir I have been known to just about miss it entirely and short out my coffee maker. And that definitely ruins a morning. The whole contraption is now where if I miss, the water is caught in the tray and the coffee maker is not sitting in water. The other benefit is when I am in my wheelchair I can pull the whole thing closer to me to be able to reach to make more or get a refill. My coffee maker has lasted my attentions for about three years now, and that's a record.

Back to the filters. Once the coffee is made the used grounds get dumped into an old coffee can for composting, the filter gets a rinse in the sink with the dishes and then thrown in the laundry to be washed. I don't want to wash clothes in coffee.

So what do you think? Is this something you would try?

In The Craft Room

I am in the craft room today sewing up some gifts for Easter.

Makes things so much easier now that I have "filed" all (most) of my fabric. I just used either foam board or boxes to wrap the fabric around. The different sizes lets me know about how much I have. It keeps it nice and fairly neat. I can also put notes on the board to let me know what kind of fabric it is. 

I have to admit, sometimes I will just sit and stare at the fabric hoping for inspiration of what to do with some of it! About 90% was given to me, and I can't stand to have an idea of something I want to do and then have to wait because I don't have the supplies. Or money. So I treasure my fabric stash, and use it the best I can.

What are you doing this weekend?

Meal Planning

I am trying out this layout for my meal planning.

I did an inventory of my freezer (a good thing too - found some scary stuff! I have cooked for 6 to 8 people for so many years that I have a hard time cooking for just one. So I cook maybe 2x a week and put several meals into the freezer. Homemade TV dinners. It works very well for me, the freezing meals part; the planning, not so much. 

So the system I'm trying out: 

1. inventory freezer so I don't plan something I don't have. 
   
2. Figure out 6-8 meals to cook for the month. 
3. I wanted the plan to be flexible without a lot of scribbles and cross offs, which using post it notes is a beautiful idea (probably got it from Pinterest). I wrote the meal down on the post it notes and placed them into the corresponding week I thought would feel like cooking it. 
   
4. When I do my weekly layout I pull those appropriate post it's and place them in  the box "In The Kitchen" part of my weekly. I have changed my mind on what to cook 3x!
   
   
   
   
5. Once I have cooked the meal I place the post it note back in the meal plan spread in the box marked "Cooked"
6. Add the meals to the freezer inventory and how many is available. 

So far it's working.  As I have changed my mind so many times on weeklies on whether I felt like cooking and what I felt like eating, the use of the post it notes have really helped. No more scratching off, migrating, or ignoring it. 

What do you do for meal planning? How do you keep track? Please let me know! Any ideas or tips would be GREAT!

Keeping Up With My Critters

My memory is awful. Seriously. I will try to remember that I have done something and think I have not realizing that what I remember was DAYS ago. Now for some things that can fly under the radar, not so much with taking care of my animals. Sure, they let me know if the food bowl is empty, some fairly vocal about it! But they need consistency, reliability, and deliberate care.

So I keep track. Of everything. If they have been fed, when I cleaned their bedding or cage, disinfecting their bowls, flea meds, allergy meds, when we have gone for a walk and how far (Jager has a weight problem, plus she loves it).

Here is how I keep track in my Bullet Journal:

I also keep track of Birthdays or Home Days. All of my critters were from a shelter, except Sweety, my bird. Actual birthdays are not known but their ages are estimated and I KNOW when they came to live with me. So we celebrate Home Day. This month Sweety has been with me for 15 years! Mr. Chubbs, cat, for 5. My other cats, Boo and Maui have their own days too, and last month my dog Jager and I celebrated our first year together, she is now 9 years old.

So fun.

New Craft Room

We are finally able to get our craft room together!

This will be my third craft room, and with each move I lose some of my craft supplies (DS calls it garbage), but I did not lose as much this move as I did the last! It is going to take some time but I am excited :) This time my Dear DIL and Grand-Daughter will be crafting with me - it is so fun to have a co-conspirator ;)

It is a large room, wonderful space and lighting! The challenges are several because of hardly any wall space, a fireplace, and odd angles. But all that means is a chance to get crafty for our craft room...

This is from the sliding glass doors as you walk into the house: you can see the fireplace on the left and then the hallway going to the back of the house and a small corner of the breakfast bar that leads to the kitchen.

This is to the left of the doors, you can kinda see a sliver of them on the left , but see the big window in the middle, and then the fireplace to the right. This is the largest wall space we have to work with.

a better view of the fireplace (it is caddy-corner)

Here is to the right of the sliding glass doors... as you can see leads to another room (which is our sitting room) and the breakfast bar... which also sits caddy-corner. (and my embarrassing messy kitchen)

Here is the sliding glass doors on the right and the "Cat Area" on the left. If you look at the picture above you can see how the wall does not go all the way to the ceiling and a "bridge" across the gap to the other room. We call this the "catwalk" and our cats LOVE it. So in the effort of not having cats on our kitchen counters trying to get up on it, we made them a play corner that gets them up there... and down :)

All the junk you see lying around is somehow related to crafting (except for the motorcycle helmets! - wait.... hmmmm!) 

Plus what I have in my room and the garage! Haha, the garage:

Such a lovely space, and I can't wait to get it together enough to really start CRAFTING again and not have to put it up out of the way to go to bed! WOOT!

Anyway, between that and watching my granddaughter, I have been so busy that I have not been able to crochet! The kids got done at work early and came home, so I thought I would take the opportunity to update you on what's what here; now off to crochet!  :D

EW

I absolutely LOVE comments, and appreciate you taking the time to let me know what you think!

Scared of Art Journal's?

Remember this week's Challenge is to make a Crochet Journal. Which I have started, but there are many kinds of Journals.

Recipe Journals (I touched on in this post)
Craft Journals (like my Crochet Journal)
Art Journals
Daily Journals
Bible Journals
Garden Journals
Nature Journals
Bird Journals
Health Journals
Science Journals (Leonardo Da Vinci)

Do you get the idea? I know I will probably hear about this; but, to me, Scrapbooks, Journals, Smash Books, etc are all Journals of some sort :)

Well, Art Journals SCARE me. I love them, but was always saying "no, I can't draw a straight line" Stick figures aren't exactly considered "art"! And then I came across this free e-course

Kristal Norton

I am only half way through the course and I am enjoying it immensely! Each lesson is short and to the point and doesn't take more than 10 minutes to read or watch.  And the e-course is FREE!

Check it out and give it a shot! Especially if you are wanting to make a Journal but feel you don't have the time or talent to make one!

If you take the e-course please let me know what you think too! I have placed the Badge to the right in my blog or click the image above for the information and sign-up page.

EW


P.S. I am not receiving any kind of compensation for this post, these are my opinions only and want to share what I find and enjoy.

Gift For Son

This weekend I have been at mom’s and it has been a fun weekend J Daughter came down from college also, just in time to inspect breakfast fixin’s

It’s great to see, too, that some things never change!

And Son’s gift is finally done! Woot! Daughter and I have been working on it, and it’s been on my WIP list for a year? But here it is:

Zombie Dice! It’s actually a fun game! Fairly quick, and if you have the sense of humor that leans in that direction, this is a game well worth purchasing. I found the game on the internet here, but we cannot afford a whole lot so I thought to make it, it was a bit more involved to make than I anticipated (because used only what we had), but the laughs generated are priceless, so well worth it J. 

Valentines Day

I made these for hubby... actually I have BEEN making these for hubby for about four - ish YEARS!!!! Finally finished them in time to be able to use them - WOOT!

So this is what is in his lunch today. He will probably think I forgot what today is, and to be honest we don't normally keep up with these, birthdays, or Christmas. There is just too much we NEED all the time to worry too much on these commercialized holidays! But sometimes just a little something can make all the difference in the world.

The shiny thing on the key is actually a gold heart shaped button.

The big heart and key was a pattern I found on the net http://www.freepatterns.com/detail.html?code=FP00180&cat_id=406  it's hiding in the bottom left corner! The rest of the hearts I just made on my own :)

The Weekend

Dear Daughter came home this weekend and we got to do a lot of crafting together. It was great :D It was also moms birthday - "Happy Birthday" Mom!!!!! We visited with her over the weekend too. It was a very nice visit, and gonna have to stay longer next time!

Now because the recipients haven't received their gifts yet, I can only show teasers of what we did. Once they get them I promise to show the whole thing.

 Daughter finding she really LIKES playing with the Dremel!

 Making one of three stamps for brother's gift.

 for my sister

 another for my sister...

 and another...

My sister is loved, cuz there is about five (?) more little bitties left to do.

I cant wait to show what we did, have been working on my sister's gift for a LONG time, and is way past due. The gift for Dear Son/Brother, is just way too fun... gonna have to make one for me!

My Favorite Dinnerware

A fellow blogger friend at "My Simple Life" had blogged about how one of her favorite cups had "mysteriously" gone missing, and then finding a replacement on ebay. I have been trying to do this myself, but evidently mine are hard to find! $50 per piece!!!! HAH and I complained when they were $15 for 2!!! But I love them, and they make me laugh, and really - wouldn't this make a fun table???

Bolded words are the links... I gotta play with this some more! The links didnt show at all before!!! I prolly should quit messing with the "advanced" settings and just go for the template...

Giraffe bowl and dinner plate

Hippo bowl and salad plate

The only complete set I have! Elephant bowl, dinner plate, and salad plate

Frog bowl and salad plate

Really, with these glasses, I think would make a wonderful "Tablescape". Sigh, I will get there eventually! Until then I will stay satisfied with having a nice "dessert" table :)

Cleaning the Other Side...

This is the next to get tackled with the cleaning bug...

My table and freezer. So I am told.

 This is right across from the table and behind the couch for the living room.

 This is the wall directly opposite from the sink wall.

 This is the wall with the stove and sink, it is the other side of the bar and it is where my chair is.

 See that bit of beige? That is my chair.

This is the window beside my chair. Hubby had made a shelf for me. I already started with my collection of sand and water from different locations (I ask for that instead of souvenirs) But it was in all kinds of different plastic bottles - this looks soo much better.... except for the mess above it. Yes - that is bits of Christmas decorations I forgot to put up... 2 years ago.

I've got my work cut out for me, but I am only doing a little at a time, basically what you see in the picture is what I tackle at a time. If I tried more than that, well, it wouldn't get done!

The Big Step

Well, I have finally taken the step into "Blogland". For me, that is HUGE. I have thought about it for almost a year (weird huh?) and finally did it! And I have this wonderful lady to thank

The Little Red Hen

She is always so inspiring, calming, and sees the beauty in simple things. And talent??? WOW. Thank you Mrs. L :)

I started this because I have so many thoughts and ideas in my head or that I find that I want to share, from crafts, organization ideas, frugality, etc but I dont really have anyone who is particularly interested in all the subjects! So the way I see it, if your interested in a particular post, GREAT! leave me a message :) If your not interested, well it IS the internet, just skip it :) But mainly, it is for me. To motivate myself to get up and DO something, even if only for a few minutes.

I must warn you though, my writing skills are VERY rusty, so please be kind and overlook improper sentences etc. Sometimes after looking at something for so long - it looks exactly like I think it should and not the reality!

My first goal with this post? Get this ORGANIZED! (OK, organized to the level I want will never happen, but I would like to organize it enough to be able to work on something!)

Pics of my craft room... oops once I figure out where my doohicky is that connects the camera to my computer! ... Found it!!!


I LOVE my craft room, and all this happened in the last 2 (?) months! And there is so much I have to get done!
1. curtains for all the windows in the house (current ones are seriously thin!)
2. a shower curtain fix up (almost blew the surprise!)
3. clothes/sheets mended
4. Christmas gifts made!
5. a friend wants to help me make some money off of the crocheted sponges that I make... which wont happen if I cant find my crochet needles!
6. hah - my sister's birthday present that is now a Christmas present because I only got halfway done with it.
7. Same for one of my son's birthday gifts... now Christmas

The list could go on and on, not including the normal upkeep of the house, which I am barely keeping up with. Lately if there is a path, then we are good.

Do you ever feel like that? You set goals and on paper it seems so simple, then you realize that in order to do this, you need to do that first.