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.

Yep, I'm Back

I'm back. I am not going to promise anything, but my goal is to be more consistent with my blog. Thinking on it, I just lost interest. But it was, and still is, my only link to the outside world. So to keep posting I need to make it interesting for ME. If it's interesting for YOU too, FANTASTIC!

To catch up on what has been happening for the last year(?) would be way too long. And boring. But the upshot is I moved. Again. I am back in the original house I had moved to when I first came here to mom's property. Thankfully, everyone has agreed they are now in the home they wish to stay in, so no more moving! Maybe.

Now on to content. I have been journaling for years. Mostly boring, all written, nothing to grab your interest (or mine). Then I came across "Bullet Journaling". Wow. You can make it fun, who'd a' thought that? What caught my interest were:

• The INDEX! OMG such a simple thing but so needed for me! What an amazing concept.
• Can make it however you want, "minimalistic" or scream in your face rainbow.
• Collections. I would write lists upon lists and inventories and ideas all the time. Then I would lose them. Sigh.

The "Bullet Journal" concept incorporates all this and it was things I did already, just in a more organized way.

I am not going to go into how to start a Bullet Journal or any of that. What I am going to show you today is one of my "Collections".

 I was having to go through multiple storage containers to find what I wanted... which always seemed to be on the bottom. So I labeled the containers "A, B, C..." etc. and wrote down what is in them. I labeled them ABC so when I have multiple containers emptied (Christmas) when I put things back up or get rid of stuff, I don't have to relabel, just update the inventory.  Now I can just look in my journal when I need to find something and know exactly which container I need to get to, and my containers don't look so messy with different labels, which may or may not apply!

The numbered boxes is from when I moved and just haven't found a home for it yet or it's my daughter's. Yes, when I moved every single box was numbered and a short inventory listed as to what was in it. THAT was a huge help! I could then unpack what I needed (or asked my daughter to find box #? to finish up what we were doing)

It's all in my journal. I am so happy with it. Now I know which container I need.

As you can see, my journal is a simple $0.50 composition book. You can go all out and spend $10 -$50 on a journal, I don't have the money for that. Same for special pens and so on, I use pens from the Family Dollar and regular Crayola markers and colored pencils.

Valentine Banner

Well, he got the little valentines notes, and I had worked on them for so long that I did not know what to do with them, I really did not want to throw them away. I had been seeing all over the internet little heart banners and such and decided to turn mine into one also!

All I did was chain-stitch and when I wanted to add a heart I used a triple crochet stitch, but the hearts were made from plastic canvas so I had to use a very small crochet needle. That was fun switching back and forth - I had the dropsies! Then on the second row used my favorite shell pattern (there are so many), but mine is basically *3dc in 1ch, sk 1ch, sc in next ch, sk 1ch,* over and over. That went much easier!

I think it turned out quite well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Am at moms for Thanksgiving and wouldn't you know, our family does the craziest things.

We had our annual Nerf Gun Fight. It really helps working up an appetite! Not that we need it ;)

Serious Business!

Now Grandma is getting in on it ;)

Then after a wonderful dinner everyone looked like this....

Haha!!!          Happy Thanksgiving Blogland!

Hanging Bed Caddy

Here is the bed caddy my daughter mentioned in the comments section of the Gift Giving post.

I didn't have a pattern for it, just a picture, so I made it up as I went along. Also, my daughter's room has maniacally cheerful colors - you cannot be in her room and be sad :) Her bed sheet is the polka dots and the wildly colored strip of cloth you see is what goes under the mattress to hold it in place.

all I did was use the back side of an old pair of  jeans, sewed it to a strip of cloth and used that same cloth to make a "belt", and then she had a place to put her books, remotes to the T.V. and D.V.D./V.C.R (even though she could have just leaned over!) or whatever into the pockets. She had a very small room and for several years shared with our other "adopted" daughter, so any space saving storage was invaluable!

Jeans are wonderfully versatile! I did something similar for my wheelchair and walker, though didn't try to make it pretty like her bed caddy, but I can honestly say it is most useful!

Gift Giving

When making homemade gifts it is important to think about the recipient more than anything – which is true for all gift giving! Many years ago I began reducing our purchased Christmas gifts, so most of the gifts are homemade now. Some of my homemade gifts didn’t go over so well and some were huge hits! But isn’t that true of purchased gifts too? How many times did you purchase that “OMG I gotta have that $30 doll!” for it to only be played with twice?

Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, Birthdays, etc. does not have to, and should not, break the bank! I realize kids want the latest and greatest $80 video game or that new cell phone that’s $200. But do they NEED it? I feel we are not teaching our kids the difference between a want and need, and what it takes to fulfill either! At the same time parents tend to feel guilty as if they are depriving their children if they do not get them “the latest and greatest”. IF that is the case and it really gnaws at you, purchase only one or two high dollar gifts and supplement the rest.

Many people ask for ideas on what they could make and or at least not spend a ton of money and here is a small list of ideas:

*A travel game made from felt, one side checkers and the other tic-tac-toe. (can be for boy or girl) This is a no sew project, just use the “wonderunder” or “stitchwithcery” stuff, all you need is an iron.

*A poncho made from a fleece blanket (more girly ;) )

*Sew pj bottoms, either pants or shorts (boy or girl – can even use a fleece blanket too!)

*Make a book for the “String Game” you can find many of the directions to make the different shapes and print them out (remember “cats cradle?”)

*crochet or knit scarves, face warmers, gloves, socks

*Make up a board game (small wooden pieces can be purchased at a craft store for very little)

*crochet, knit or sew an mp3/Ipod/Cell Phone cover

*sew up some dress up clothes and props, one year made daughter a “fairy” skirt, headband with ribbon and tissue paper flowers, and “fairy” wings made with two hangers with the hook duct taped together and the “arms” of the hanger were the wings. I covered it all in cheesecloth, ribbons, and more silk and tissue paper flowers and used elastic to put around the shoulders.

*for all my kids (have two and two others who were not really mine but in my heart they are) made a binder with their favorite recipes in it and old family recipes with who they were from – and if they were handwritten I photocopied them along with any time we had “special” recipes or traditions (is: cabbage rolls with a foil wrapped dime in one roll for New Years with Black Eyed Peas etc and why we had them) Now every year I send them new recipes I think they may like to add to their book. This is a wonderful example of what you can do http://crafted-love.blogspot.com/2011/03/spring-cleaning-recipe-journal.html

*Sew a bucket buddy from fun material or made from old jeans for tougher users. This is great for those adults who have tools – and don’t just think of it as just for the guys with hammers etc, does anyone in your family go to Bingo Halls? I am sure they would love to have a bucket buddy for their daubers! Or your crafter in the family, a bucket buddy works wonders for being able to craft on the go! BTW a coffee can makes a great "bucket" :)

*macramé plant hangers (all it is is tying knots!!!) Maybe start rooting some cuttings now to put into pots for the plant hangers!

*crocheted sponges (work GREAT)

*Sew lap quilts from the kids old clothes for the grandparents (“rag” lap quilts can be done in a day)

*sew “doorags” (my crews favorite) or scarf coolers. The polymer beads you can purchase online; here is just one source http://www.watersorb.com./

*sew/knit/crochet up some doll clothes or furniture

*Make a “Fort Kit”. You can get all kinds of ideas from the net on different “forts”. Or you can go simply with a sheet and clothes-pins!

Stocking Stuffers:

*brushes / combs / hair ties / toothbrushes

*special shampoos / soaps (even homemade!)

*the mp3/Ipod?Cell Phone cover!

*fruits or granola bars to tide the kids over till breakfast is ready

*coupon books (ie: extra hour of video game, or skip a chore, etc)

*small games. Do you remember Jacks? How about “Chinese Jacks”?  If you have a Gibsons, they carry the small plastic rings used to make them – if not then use colored paper clips! Google it. (a little secret – I still love to play with both!)

There are so many ideas out there and we have such a useful tool now to get the ideas, the internet! Just use your imagination and go "shopping" for ideas on the net, believe me you will find all kinds of nifty suggestions!

Do you have any other suggestions?