January 10, 2019 – “Would you like a cup of tea?”

         I’ve said that often in the last few weeks during the holidays when friends arrive.

         Trust me – I break most of the rules of proper tea etiquette.

         I use my china Christmas Mugs instead of a teacup and so far the tea police haven’t come to handcuff me.

         I love the individually wrapped foil pouches that are prevalent in the market place these days from Bigelow, Twining’s and Constant Comment. Not like years ago.

         I remember my husband introduced me to Constant Comment and it came in a tin with an oval cover on the top that you pried up with the edge of a spoon or knife to get to the incredibly fragrant tea bags.  Gosh, I loved those old tins and suddenly they disappeared.  They were great for hiding a handful of grocery cash in the kitchen for those “skinny” paycheck weeks. 

         I am partial to Earl Grey and Lady Earl Grey tea and opt for decaffeinated tea now.  But, I do keep several brands and flavors in the house now that most have the freshness foil pouches.  My husband picks up different flavors than I do – so we always have a wonderful assortment. Usually around the holidays, I get one of those variety packs.  It is always good to have lemon,  mint, or chamomile in the house for cold and flu situations.

         Even with guests in attendance, I have an incredible habit which has been named the “Raccoon Sniff” – See November 4, 2016 blog for more details and a good laugh.

         When I open mine or any of my guests individual tea pouch, I pull the tea bag out, place it in the Mug and then pop the pouch open and raise it to my nose and give it a deep inhale – a ‘raccoon sniff’ to relish the aroma on the way to the trash can where I pitch the empty pouch. 

         The next thing in my tea making ritual is emptying the hot water kettle and re-filling it with fresh water and put it on to boil.  I don’t want water that has been previously boiled or sitting, I am not sure why, maybe I read that somewhere.

         I drape the tea bag into the mug or cup and when I go to pour the boiling water I press the tea bag tag to the counter top with a fingertip so that the string and tag don’t flip in from the movement of the water.  I have no idea where I came up with that technique – from a movie or seeing someone doing it in years’ past.  But, it suddenly became my technique and I don’t waiver from it.

         My husband on the other hand, he flips the tag through the handle loop in such a way that you can’t seem to “untie” it easily later.

         I have one friend who likes honey in her tea and I pull out the plastic honey bear I keep for just that reason.  I like a bit of sugar, and depending on my mood, I sometimes add cream too.

         Some people dunk their tea bag up and down to quicken the process, me I usually leave it patiently to steep. Sometimes I even cover the mug to keep the liquid hot.

         And, one friend, she uses one tea bag dipped into two cups always predicating it with, “One bag can make two good cups of tea”.  It makes me smile at her frugality every time, and the tea is always strong enough, so she has a good point.  I haven’t the chutzpah to pull that off down here in the South.  I do pull that trick when I make a potful of tea.  I put in only three quality tea bags for a 6-cup pot.

         I had another friend introduce me to exquisite pyramid shaped silk teabags as a gift.  What a delight they were and occasionally I will buy some.  Aldi’s usually keeps them in stock at a reasonable price. Those are the ones I shared with guests recently.

         The week before Christmas, I was at a restaurant and ordered hot tea and the little waitress brought me a cup of hot water and three Twining’s tea bags on the saucer.  That raised my eyebrows, yet no individual pot of hot water as I usually get at that restaurant.  She must have been new and didn’t know how the restaurant usually served the hot tea.   Why give me three bags if she isn’t going to offer to get me more hot water for tea when I’ve drunk the first cup? Trust me, those two other unused teabags I slipped into my purse and came home with me. I tossed them in my teabag chest. Yes, my frugality kicked in.

         I am still unsatisfied with Celestial seasonings tea as they claim “tea bags without strings, tags or staples” – or individual foil pouches – “keeping tons of material out of landfills each year.”  I find the interior fold over seal really doesn’t keep their teas that fresh. However, the first few cups of tea are wonderful, it is the latter ones I don’t find so delightful.  I am a good girl folding down the interior fold, but my husband isn’t – so I feel the tea goes stale.  Probably just a false assumption on my part – but that is how I see it.

         But, that brings me to the tea etiquette I ran up a few weeks ago – “never pick up a tea bag by the string – always use a spoon – so Celestial is “on point” in the etiquette arena.

         Another one is “don’t dunk the tea bag up and down.” Ooops I’ve done that a few times when I am in a rush. I’ll try not to do it in front of company in the future!

         Always have a saucer or tea bag plate available to your guest for their “spent tea bag.”

         Never use a Mug and never drink tea with the bag still in the cup.  OH, gosh, another of my faux paus.  I’ve been known to leave the bag in when my husband has “magically” looped around the handle and I can’t easily undo it.

         And, my favorite “don’t do” which I swear most tea drinkers do – Don’t squeeze the bag or wrap the string around the spoon.  When I see this done, I smile to myself knowing they are trying to get every morsel of essence out of that tea bag to enjoy in the hot steamy liquid in their cup.

         I honestly partially squeeze  my spent tea bag on the inside of the upper cup with my spoon so the spent bag doesn’t drip on the way to the compost pail, but I am too lazy to spiral the string around the spoon. 

         I get a kick out of the well-practiced ‘dexterity’ of the gals doing so – as I’ve never tried it myself.  Me, I’d probably be half way through the spiral, slip and end up flicking it across the room, much like the scene out of Pretty Woman with the escargot.

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Discussing Tea always brings me to a favorite childhood memory:

I had a birthday “Tea party” when I was a child.

         I was in grade school and was probably 8 years old at the time.

         My mother had a large table set in the living room with lace tablecloth, napkins, flowers and fancy teacups and saucers all around.  The guests, class mates, neighbors and one relative, were asked to bring their favorite doll for a fashion show and competition of which doll was the prettiest and each guest was asked to wear a hat and/or gloves. We had little tea sandwiches and homemade Petit Fours.  My Mom made those kinds of things all her adult life.

         I have only one dog-eared black and white photo of the birthday tea party, showing little girls in their mother’s going-to-church hats, and white gloves holding their favorite dolls.  I remember two of the young ladies were neighbors [I am still in contact with them] and one was a distant cousin I haven’t seen in years.  

         My Dad was enlisted to pick the prettiest doll.  I don’t remember which guest won and I don’t remember if there was a prize involved. But, we all lined up on the front steps and had our picture taken as a group. My Mom loved parties so I am sure there were party favors and possibly prizes.

         I do remember that my Mom borrowed fancy bone china teacups and saucers from her Mom’s teacup collection.  All different patterns and nothing was broken.

         I wore Mom’s open crown straw hat that had bronze netting over half a crown of silk flowers.  Until the day Mom died that hat was tucked into the top of her vanity mirror for safekeeping and displayed when she wasn’t wearing it to church. That hat was perfect on my Mom.

         Many times when I visited, I would try it on and admire myself in her vanity mirror, usually she’d catch me at this little ritual, and I’d return it to its rightful place.  When I cleaned out Mom’s house only days before she died, it was still hanging out on display a bit dingy from decades of dust, but still a lovely sight – Of course, I tried it on and admired it for a last time.  I left it for someone else in the family to enjoy.

         I think I’ll have a cup of tea and locate that tea party photo.  I bet Mom wrote all the names on the back of it in pencil, as she was known to do.

        

January 9, 2019 – Am I in a fog, or what?

         I’ve had a series of days where I think I am trying to do too much and not accomplishing much of anything.  Or, other things are at play and we don’t even realize it.  Or maybe, I am just not eating enough for my brain cells?

         Example One:

         We are shocked at our reaction to real sunshine after weeks and weeks of rain.  Saturday we were enjoying the sun – outside and inside.  We smiled, we had a bounce in our step.  I even opened the windows to air out the house for a few hours - thinking fresh air would make everything nicer somehow.

         The windows in the living room were recently washed inside and out in early November and it was such a pleasure to see the sun finally shining in.  Sun beams cascading in the window onto the table and the floor. 

         Oh SUN, how simply beautiful you are after such a long absence.  It seemed like it was last September that I remembered actually seeing sun glinting on anything inside my home.

         We were relaxing and then suddenly I thought – it must be coming up on 3:30 p.m. and we needed to get ready to go to church for 5 p.m.  I glanced up at the clock and was shocked – yes absolutely shocked.  I stated,

         “Well – I guess we won’t make Mass at 5 p.m.”

         “Huh,” my husband asked.

         “It’s ten minutes to five now.”

         We both looked out the window with the sun shining in and then back at the clock.  We were both thinking the clock must be wrong.  Then we both realized – we had been fooled by the bright sun and hadn’t realized how late in the day it really was.

         “I guess we’ll go in the morning.”

         What a surprise on us that we were fooled. Sunshine had been all but vacant for weeks and most afternoons it looked and felt like 5 p.m. at 1 p.m.  I guess that is called conditioning.

        

         Example Two.

         Some days I don’t think I can chew gum and walk at the same time.  One day last week I was loading the clothes washer and my cat nudged me.

         “Yes, you are hungry.”  I answered her as she swirled around my ankles like a shark.

         I measured the laundry detergent into the big cap on the bottle then poured it in the washer soap drawer and pushed it closed.  Next, I opened the jar of cat food kibbles -  we keep a couple of scoops from a big bag in a jar out in the laundry room to keep it fresh and close to her cat bowl.  

         In the middle of pouring a handful of cat food kibbles in my palm, I reached around the corner into the kitchen and answered the ringing telephone.

         It was only one of those irritating ROBO calls you can tell by the “bonk” on the other end of the line and a deadness before a voice comes on. 

         I hung up the telephone, stepped back into the laundry room, opened the washer soap drawer and poured the cat food kibbles into the drawer.

         Luckily, I paused again as the cat re-nudged me around my ankles reminding me that I needed to feed her and I was just about to shove the washer soap drawer in and noticed cat kibbles where the laundry detergent should be.

         Talk about a darn mess. Took me over 5 minutes to scoop out the kibbles. I finally had to use a long ice teaspoon from the kitchen to lift up the rubber flap and drag the balance of the soap filmed kibbles out from the deep recesses of the drawer.  [I never have been able to figure out how that soap drawer comes out.]

         Example Three:

         I have a rectangular tart pan that is perfect for making brownies or a packaged pound cake or nut bread.  It has a removable bottom that I wrap with a piece of parchment paper and then I only have to butter the sides.

         I made corn bread in it yesterday and it is nice – you can cut a 1-inch wide piece.  Brownies are wonderful cut in 1-inch by 3-inch slabs.

         When I washed it, I put it in the sink dishpan to drain – the bottom – long flat metal piece separated from the fluted edge piece.

         When I got home from errands, the husband had put the fluted edge piece on the center bar – he didn’t have a clue where it belonged.  But, didn’t know what the long flat metal bottom piece was and he put that somewhere else.

         I searched every surface of the kitchen, I opened doors and looked in many of the cabinets and then I asked about it.  He answered,

         “What do you mean?”

         I failed at describing it for him for he told me he hadn’t even seen it.  If he hadn’t seen it – why is it no longer in the dish drainer?

         “It is completely useless without the bottom!”  I looked in the trash bins. I looked in the recycling.  I looked in the oven, then the cookie sheet cabinet. I looked in the refrigerator – why I don’t know – but I did. I was simply running out of ideas.

         “Where could you have put it? There were only 4 items in the dish drainer and now one has disappeared?”

         He searched and found it about 3 minutes later on the top of the microwave – it has the same color as the top of the microwave.

         “Why there?”

         He shrugged his shoulders and went back to his TV.

         Is it just cabin fever? Gosh, I hope so – I can’t take too many more days of these miscues or lapses – they are exhausting.

        

        

January 8, 2019 – Ever thought of “detailing” your refrigerator?

        Much like when you wash your car and keep it clean – every so often you have to do a “deep clean” or a “detailing” is what the auto buffs call it.

         We’ve just finished the holidays and if your refrigerator is anything like mine, it has seen a lot of traffic and not all of it was “neat and tidy” traffic. You know what I mean – rush, rush, rush and push, push, push more in causing a mess.

         One day last week opening the bottom crisper in the refrigerator for something, I noticed something had spilled from an upper shelf and a dreadful puddle of red goo was under my crisper.  Oh, yes, someone must have nudged that bowl of leftover beets, and its red liquid spilled and ran down the back of one shelf onto another, then another and kept on going – gravity will do that you know – eventually puddling in the bottom under the lowest crisper drawer.

         Today I tackled the refrigerator – it was not just a wipe down – but a deep down cleaning – a “detailing”.

         I took all food items out of the refrigerator and checked for dates. I tossed stuff out.  Then I wiped the bottoms on all the good items and set them on towels on the kitchen table – where they would have condensation from being warmed up during this process.

         Next came out the plastic bins and all the shelves for a scrub down. I stacked them up in a row on the floor in the kitchen and went to the trouble of taking off the door shelves.  The shelves pop off when you nudge them from the bottom.  I keep these in the same exact sequence I take them off so that they go back on without much effort. I don’t usually do the door shelves this rigorously – but today “detailing” was the objective.

         Let me share a few tips here. 

         No matter how neat you are trying to wash the shelves or the plastic trays at a sink – you will get lots of water on the floor. 

         No matter how you wipe out the inside of the refrigerator – you will get crumbs, drips, or a mess on the floor in front of the refrigerator. 

         And, once you’ve washed them – you want the shelves and trays to be absolutely dry before putting everything back in.

         How I proceed:

         The cleaning fairies recommend that once or twice a year you should move the refrigerator out to clean and dust under and behind it – especially the coils on the back – on the older models.  With the refrigerator empty – it is easier to do.  Pull off that front kick plate at the bottom and give it a good brush scrub and set it aside. Check the drip pan if it has one and clean it out. It is splendid if you have help doing this – you sort of wiggle the unit back and forth to get it to come out of the slot. Once the outside has been cleaned, push it back it and start on the inside.

         I use three beach towels for this – one in front of the sink to catch the inevitable water splash that makes the floor slippery, one in front of the refrigerator to catch any drips, spills, or mess as I am cleaning the inside and the door interior shelves. And, one more I set near the kitchen sink to use as a drain pad when I have finished washing and rinsing the shelves or crisper bins to let as much water run off them before I start to dry them.

         I use whatever takes the gunk off.  But, usually it is hot water and dish soap that I liberally use on the gunk and let it run down into dry towels in the bottom to soak it up.  The door shelves seem to catch tougher dirt – icky bottoms to condiment jars, etc., that is where I use a Brillo of SOS pad judiciously.

         Once I have scrubbed with soapy water and wiped that out, I go over the entire interior with fresh cleaning towels and a homemade cleaning spray I make with orange skins that have been soaked in white vinegar, then the drained solution is diluted with water.  It makes the interior smell fresh and clean and removes any stickiness from soapy water.

         I next clean the dust and grime off the top of the refrigerator.   Then, I use those eraser sponges on the sides of all the doors along the gussets. Eraser spongers are extremely flexible and get the job done.  Next, I do the front doors and handles.

         I put all the shelves and crisper bins back where they belong and don’t forget to put the plastic grill plate on at the bottom front. 

        

         Lastly, I dry the condensation from each item as I set it back on a shelf or in a crisper.

         Then I take all my cleaning rags and beach towels and run them through the washer and dryer while I make myself a lovely cup of tea to relax and congratulate myself on a job well done.

         One more word . . . . advise the rest of the household to be “neat” using the refrigerator. Caution them to “be sure to wipe the bottoms of jars and bottles that you use before you put them back in the refrigerator”. . . the refrigerator cleanliness might just last a little bit longer.  Well, I am hopeful about that anyway.

Note:  One of many recipes for Vinegar orange peel cleaner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA8JhHTUPZQ

January 7, 2019 – Hearts have it hands down

         I recently returned to sewing and as part of my process I cleaned out my kraft boxes – reducing two large ones down to one.

         In that process I found quilt squares I had cut out of old wool that had been “felted”.  I don’t have enough to do a lap quilt yet, but they are safely tucked away waiting for another coordinating color.

         Some may say, what is felted wool.  This type is by taking a 100% wool jacket or blazer purchased from a re-sale shop or thrift store.  The garment is then taken apart at the seams and the fabric is washed in hot soapy water then dried to become “felted” wool.  Wool doesn’t take to rubbing, hot water and hot drying very kindly so it shrinks up and becomes soft and thick.  You then have fabric to cut out “felted” squares of wool for quilting that are soft and thick.

        

         This project started out with four wool blazers from a thrift store – all 100% wool.  In the process, my husband noticed two of the blazers were nice, one a herringbone and another a plaid and he tried one on then the other and he walked off with two perfectly fitting blazers for his closet. 

         HMMMMMMMM – down by one half of what I had been expecting.  I can’t blame him, they were quality blazers with little wear and that is that.  So, my quilting project got put on hold a bit until I could get back to the thrift store to snag a few more wool blazers. And, I didn’t have a chance to hunt down any more – so the project was put on hold.

         Where am I going with this . . . well, one of the two blazers I felted was a women’s bright red wool.  I cut out the squares and all the little scraps around the edges I didn’t want to waste so I pulled out a heart shaped cookie cutter and marked a couple dozen hearts and cut those out as well.  I thought I would applique those red felted hearts around the edges of the finished lap quilt.

         Recently, I noticed many of the You-tube sewing tutorials are using “pattern weights”.  I can see how useful they are at laying things out and moving things around quickly instead of using pins.  My problem was I didn’t own any and I must admit I am too darn cheap to buy any – 4 for $12 or more isn’t in my frugal budget.

         Researching pattern weights to buy I noticed some were filled with beans or rice and that turned me off as I am here in the south and no matter how much air conditioning you have – beans or rice in a fabric pouch or square would eventually pick up humidity and probably mold or attract insects.   YUCK! Again, I was too cheap for washers – as I had already purchased a supply of those for the bottom hems of many of the draperies I have made in the past and they can get rather pricey very quickly.

         Then I put on my thinking cap – what is heavy and what can be poured into an opening that won’t attract insects or mold?

         My husband has a BB gun to chase the squirrels away from the bird feeder, and I’ve moved his container of BB pellets from one spot to another on occasion and I noticed how heavy it was.

         A few days ago, I groveled a bit, “Pretty please with Maple sugar on it” type grovel and asked if I could have the container of BB pellets he had and I would replace it in a few days when I was out and about shopping.

         If you’ve never experienced sewing with “felted wool” you have no idea how tactilely soft and luxurious the wool feels and how slippery the needle and thread moves through the fabric.  It is a sheer pleasure to hand sew.

         Thus, I fashioned heart shaped pattern weights in one evening during the commercials of my favorite news programs. The cost for me – about $5.99 for a container of BB pellets, the felted wool was free – and I ended up with 25 heart shaped pattern weights. I’d say that was rather frugal – don’t you think?

January 2, 2019 – Organizing and a few craft/sewing tips

         It is after Christmas and you may have a flotsam of perfume display boxes and plastic blister packs you are tossing out.  Maybe you want to re-think some of that tossing – or at least salvage what is usable.

         I find that once the plastic form section of the elegant perfume display boxes are removed, the hard box – usually pretty or glittery – is well worth keeping around for a project box.   They are substantial and can take years of use. The small ones are excellent for beading projects where you need to keep those little beads together as you work on your project.

         The midsize ones are good for small embroidery projects – I use them for keeping all the crewel yarn and heart shaped felt pieces neat and clean as I hand embellish them with designs then fill them with lavender buds to make lavender sachets.   I give these as gifts to dear friends – what woman doesn’t enjoy the smell of lavender in a bit of a heart with some hand embroidered whimsy to shove in their lingerie drawer.

         In fact, last weekend after Christmas I dug through my craft supplies in search of the last of my lavender buds to make sachets.  After those, I then turned my attention to making sachets out of the rest of the balsam pine [ground bark] for men with that wonderful pine sent.  Now, I have ready hostess gifts or little gifts for those days when someone is lower than a snail’s belly and needs a gift for no reason.  See, I am finishing up or using up my supplies – one of my New Year’s resolutions.

         Now those blister packs – that plastic that is so difficult to cut off items.  If you have flat pieces and you embroider . . . cut the rough edges off and keep a small supply on hand in one of those nice boxes.  They are clear and you can put them over a design, easily trace it, then punch holes through the plastic at strategic points with a small nail or awl in order to copy a design.  Once you’ve copied the design you can place the plastic over your material and with a fine tipped pen make little dots that will later be covered with embroidery.  You can use them for years unlike cardboard or tracing paper.  Very doable for any age.

         Lastly, the button box. Many years ago when Tanner Corporation was in business– a high end fashion design house that manufactured fine women’s clothing here in the county [now out of business] - they had a remnant shop.  Trust me; it was like a candy store to a seamstress like myself.  Back in the 1980s I made fifty percent of my dresses and suits.  How could I not with the quality fabric like merino wool jersey or silk de chine available at pennies-on-the-dollar pricing?  One year for Christmas, I bought all my sewing friends a one-pound bag of Tanner’s assorted classy buttons and sent them as gifts.  I keep mine in a fancy cookie tin and have been adding to it over the years.

         I am also the type to keep every one of those little buttons in those little zip lock bags that come with your quality clothes.  First, they get shuffled from the jewelry drawer to the sewing box.  Well, today I fished all those little zip lock bags out of my sewing box clutter and cut all of the buttons out of the plastic bags, put them in an empty mint tin, and snapped it shut.  I tossed that mint tin on the top of my hoard of buttons and snapped on the lid.  They are now segregated, but still easily accessible and take up a fraction of the space.

         Two tubs of sewing gear organized and straightened into one Tub giving me a perfect container to store my treasured 12-inch tall Nut Crackers which usually summered in a book cupboard – but I need that now for books.

         One other thing, when you see those glittery shoestrings in the dollar store and think they are cute – keep in mind – they make wonderful garland on a Christmas tree – You get two 54 inch laces – that makes them 50 cents for each.  Cute, cute, cute on little trees for low, low cost.  I have cobalt blue glitter garland on my little trees – makes a statement.

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         While I was making pine balsam sachets my husband wanted to know, “Those going to the church or what?”

         “No, they are for us.”  I tossed one to him calling,

         “Quality Control,” and smiled at my retired plant manager adding, “they have balsam pine bark in them – for men’s sock drawers.”

         “You should give some of these to Father Burke, he’d like them.”  It was Christmas Eve – and we had a gift bag waiting to go to church for our local Priest.

         [My husband always does this – gives away things I make as if they can be plucked off the sidewalk like a stray leaf.]  Once he gave away two jars of fancy ginger pickles when a friend dropped in for a visit – they were cooling on the countertop as they had just been taken out of the hot water bath – eight half pints in fancy jars. He grabbed two of them and handed them to his friend.  I made an audible gasp – but didn’t make a stink – because I am supposed to be gracious . . . . but my mind said, “A lot of work went into those pickles and you don’t give them away to any Tom, Dick or Harry, without asking my permission . . . . I let it go – but I remember that incident as if it was yesterday . . . with the air conditioning on the blink and me sweltering in the kitchen. I remember brushing back the wisps of hair from my sweaty face when the guest arrived . . . .

          . . . . back to the present . . . I threw caution to the wind and wrapped a few heart shaped pine sachets in tissue paper and tucked them in the top of the gift bag – with an explanatory note of what they were and what they would be used for.  I bet he raised his eyebrows when he opened that package – embroidered HEARTS being given to a Priest- might be considered shocking in polite circles.

         As I have done for years, when I finish a sachet I toss it at my husband who is watching TV for him to sniff it and then set it aside.  I let him admire my handiwork.

         The next afternoon he asked,

         “Are these all for me,” as he sniffed the latest sachet and piled it with the others on the end table.

         I paused at first, as that was not my intention.  But, then I gave in and said,

        
         “Sure, go on – put them in your drawers.” Instantly, he grabbed the bounty and went off to his bedroom and came back and announced, I’ve got them in all my bureau drawers  . . . .

         “I need two more.”  He said matter-of-factly and this little sachet manufacturer took care of his wishes.

         The picture below is what is left of the end of the pine balsam sachets I had intended for little gifts this coming year.  I’ll have to order in more supplies. [I will add picture later. I'm not sure why my pictures won’t come through.]

Happy crafting to you during these cold dreary winter days.

        

          

        

        

December 31, 2018 – The cure for a rough year.

         I tore out a recent article by Liz Pryor from the Family Circle entitled, “The Cure for a Bad Year”.  All good advice especially the phrase:

Most important, reload your hope for what’s ahead.

         I read the article and tore out the page  with the intention of sending it on to someone in need of good advice. It is floating around somewhere on this desk.  [Again, my desk is a mess.]

         My husband has an extremely bad habit of putting mail on my desk and he sorts it into two piles – his and mine and mine gets spread amongst all the paper clutter of my life. [I’ve this dreadful habit of cutting out articles, or recipes or reading letters and putting them on my desk to savor again, and then there are the newspaper articles where I plan to write a rebuttal editorial and then after my steaming anger has subsided, I decide not to – that sort of clutter.] The clutter of paper sometimes gets about 3 inches deep covering three corners of my wrap around desk and then I set it right.

         Today I was starting to set it right again when lo and behold what do I find, I find a few Christmas cards that didn’t get opened amongst some junk mail.

         Is it any coincidence that someone sent me the same above captioned article?  What is even more interesting is that I had torn out the article to send it to her.  She notes that her sister sent it to her and she enclosed it in her Christmas card to me with a note: My sister found this article for me. I think it fits for you as well.  Spot on!

         So, now in turn, I am sending it to all the women I know.

         A perfect line:  “When a hell year hits hard, your goal for the next year should be to kick hard back.”  I agree fully.

         “No one get through life without a bad year, and there’s no way to weigh yours against anyone else’s.  Yet, it is so common to hear about someone else’s seemingly even worse year and think, ‘I shouldn’t complain.’  Wrong.  Complain away; you’re allowed.  Hate it, shout at it – but remember that you have weathered it, endured, prevailed.  You battled the beasts and made it to the end.” – Liz Pryor

         After I read Liz Pryor’s advice a few weeks back, I spent a few days thinking of my blessings, and also thinking of my foolish pet peeves. Example: My lovely cat jumps on my lap for a pat when I have just sat down before church in my best black pants and she fuzzes me up with gobs of cat hair.  Yes, the cat loves me, I love the cat, and I must say I love my lint roller that much more.

         There is a phrase - What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.  One day I tossed that phrase out to friend and she retorted – “I am strong enough to move mountains, but, I just can’t move my life in the right direction.”  I knew her pain – it is a universal pain. Spinning your wheels and getting nowhere, sound familiar?

         And, another time, I was commiserating with a friend while she was sorting through some old photos. We were sitting on her bedroom floor as she dug through a bottom bureau drawer.  She was recently divorced not just once, but twice, and I saw brief flickers of delight as she flipped through the treasure trove of photos from the past. I understood most of the emotions flitting across her face and mentioned – “I know there were some really good times mixed in with all the bad.”  She replied something to the effect – not everyone can understand that.

         If you need the cure for a bad year – go to the website below for Liz Pryor’s full article at: https://www.familycircle.com/family-fun/cure-bad-year/

         Me, I have a new saying I’ve polished up these last few weeks after I read Liz Pryor’s article in order to start 2019.

No one is going to tell me what to do.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Hopefully, 2019 will be an exciting new year.

         

December 30, 2018 – The end of the year wrap up.

         First, I want to say thank you to all my blog followers.  You’ve been so kind to keep returning to “slim pick in’s” when it comes to new blogs these last six months.  But, if you are new to my blog site, you’ve 462 blogs to wade through and some of that wading is a bit of fun.  I love comments . . .

         Well, I’ve done it again – I bashed my two small toes on my right foot dodging the cat running between my feet as I am carrying bed sheets to the laundry room.  I wrung it good on the leg of a chair.  Of course I am bare foot! Have I moved the chair?  Not exactly – but I have pushed it in further.  What will I do differently?  I am not certain – probably just stomp on the cat instead of busting up my toes.  I limped yesterday and today it is the ghastly shade of blue and green.  I can at least walk on it today. It has slowed me down a bit – but not stopped me like that hamstring pull did.

         I have already started some of my New Year’s resolutions in the last few days.

         Drum roll please . . . .

               I plan to finish all the craft projects I have half started and tucked here and there.  Once I get those complete – it will empty up storage space so that I can “breath” when I am putting things away.

               Less is more is my new mantra – and that is not in the diet or dress size quarter.  It is in the house – less plastic containers for leftovers.  I shall cook drastically less so that I don’t make left overs.  I am sick of eating leftovers and my husband turns his nose up at them.  My dress size does not require me to be a member of the “clean plate club”. So, I am done with leftovers for several reasons.  They clutter up the refrigerator and they clutter up the cabinets with those plastic containers. I tossed out all the plastic containers except for a few I have that are ½ cup size – which I find are the only ones I really use.

         And, the “green earth people” will hate me, but if I must save something for the next meal I need to just slip it into a plastic bag and “toss the dirty bag” the next day. Simple, efficient – done.

               As I go about my daily living . . . . toss out what I haven’t worn or used. Examples just today:  I have a pair of boots that I could save and use in the garden for about 1 day – but I wouldn’t be caught dead in public – and that includes wearing them to the trash dump.  I tossed them.  I felt liberated.  I bought a pair of pajama bottoms last fall – the new fabric, that soft knitted stuff.  They are so hot I can’t stand them. I can wear them about ½ hour and I then have to peel out of them.  I almost think I am allergic to the fabric.  I was putting clothes away and there that miserable pair of PJ bottoms was cluttering up my drawer. Out I tossed them and I was thrilled to the core.

               I have a bad habit of storing things in empty suitcases.  Whenever I need a suitcase for travel, I have to empty a suitcase in order to get out of town.  This morning I emptied one that held my dress making ham among other items.  Now, I am not tossing the ham . . . but the rest of the stuff – a ½ yard of this, a scrap of that, a bit of this, mostly useless stuff.  Out it went.  Suitcase is now flat and put up.  I will tackle one suitcase a day until I can nest all my empty suitcases inside each other.

               Old Christmas ornaments that have no sentimental value.  I had a collection of ornaments – nice ones – that I used on my office Christmas tree when I was out at the big title office.  Clients would drop in and I needed to “deck the halls”. I no longer have that office so I don’t need them anymore.  I have only been shuffling them around from closet to closet for the last decade.  I will box them up and donate them to next Church rummage sale. 

               As I come to a cluttered cabinet or closet – I will take the time to fix it then and there – being retired I’ve no pressing appointments. Yesterday I cleaned out and alphabetized the spice cabinet.  That felt nice.  Later in the afternoon, I was putting away a cookie sheet and I noticed that the darling husband had jammed my jellyroll pan in sideways.  I emptied the cabinet, wiped it out and jettisoned a few rarely used items.  I’m already on my second box for the church rummage and it is only day two.

               This year I will take more time to read down my library of books and then donate them to a resale bookstore.

               And the biggest New Year’s Resolution is that I am sick of not finding anything to wear in the stores. It no longer matters whether I am thin or fat – there is simply nothing I want to buy out there.  I don’t like skinny ankle pants – it makes my fat butt look the size of an armored truck.

         I hate the colors. I don’t like the clinging fabric.  You can have all this “stretch that you want” but having to constantly pull up your pants because the pants stretch too much is irritating. I hate the unflattering neck lines. I find everything is the wrong color or wrong cut or wrong type fabric – forget finding anything that fits.  The prices are ridiculous.

         But – you already see TV commercials for customized shirts for men and now customized t-shirts for men.  So, it is not just me that can’t find anything that fits – it is a universal problem and I know how to solve it.

         I have gone back to sewing clothes – haute courtier sewing.  I have already purchased the McCall’s M7279 Fitted Sheath Dress pattern.  I’ve marked every single line on white muslin and I have cut it out and hand sewed the bodice and skirt.  A friend fitted it for me and now I need to adjust the pattern in one or two places.  Now adjusted, I will create my base pattern template and then I will start to custom sew my own clothes to my sleeve length, to my hem length, to my color and, to my fabric selection.  Then, I can create an entire new wardrobe for myself as I use up the fabric I have in my fabric trunk - my colors, my styles, my necklines.

         I’ve already made a charcoal grey soft knit dolman sleeve top with front bodice top-stitching, three quarter sleeves and it skims my body right where it should and it is “oh-so-perfect” showing off my nice square shoulders.  And, the neckline – right where I want it - up around my neck so that my necklaces look right. It feels perfect on – I don’t have to tug at it or adjust it in any way when I am wearing it.  Trust me, nothing feels better than “custom fitted” clothes.

         The plan for 2019  is to make ten custom outfits that are perfect and then I might toss out everything in my closets – we shall see.  That is a real New Year’s resolution goal!