Blogger's Block and Methane in a Can.

Help! I think I have bloggers block! Lately, I have had absolutely nothing to write that I think others would want to read. But then, I read my favorite blogs everyday and enjoy the everydayness that they sometimes blog. i know I need to post regularly-afterall, I don't want to lose my "readership". I have now had an entry with 6 comments! That's a record for me.

It's January and cold, so mostly I am just cocooning. Knitting, sewing a little, reading, that kind of thing. I've also spent a great deal of time cleaning/digging out my "studio" (sounds so much better than sewing room). It's a large room and I have it filled to the brim. Some of it isn't sewing or craft related tho. Because of its size my family has often mis-interpreted it as the junkroom/camping gear storage room/miscellanious stuff room. After Christmas it is a disaster from all my creating and it becoming the repository for all the shipping boxes that arrive during this time of year. So I've been cleaning and tossing and organizing. Guess what I found? 3 cases of baked beans! Yep. My husband brought them home (he works for a bean company in their logistics department), and not knowing what else to do with them he puts them in my sewing room. He calls it that I think because he doesn't feel as bad sticking them in a sewing room as he would if he were putting them in a studio. I won't touch a bean so he has to eat all that he doesn't give away. Global warming? Blame it on my old man and his gift of beans to all he knows. Talk about methane production!!! Stinky. Whenever we are with friends and family, at some point he steers the conversation to beans by saying, "Before you go, let me give you some samples of our new bean creations. After you try them, tell me what you think." I know what I think. I'll be glad when all those shiny cylinders of potential methane are taking up space in someone else's studio.

We may get snow!!!

 

I'm so excited! We may have snow! The last good snow we had was 2 years ago. This picture was taken then. I'm glad I got pictures of it, since that is the only way I see snow around here lately.

I just love a good snow. I love the way it makes everything so quiet outside, like a blanket has been thrown over the earth muffling all sound. While it slows everything down, it energizes me and I turn into a whirling dervish of activity. I don't know whether to head for the kitchen and cook, drag out a quilt project, the knitting needles, or scrapbook supplies. Sometimes I settle for a good book, stretched out on the couch under a FINISHED quilt and a fire blazing away in the fireplace. I wish there were some way to do all of it at once...

A conversation with a five year old.

I had one of the most enjoyable conversations I've had in a long time today. Today when Jasper, the very big very exicited dog and I went for our walk we were joined by my daughter B. and my granddaughter Hilary who is 5. If you really want to know what is important in life, talk to a 5 year old.

Surprisingly, she can walk a pace brisk enough to keep me on my toes and all the while she is walking she is talking. Telling me about her school day, about the Cheetah Girls (I'm not real clear who they are), about Morgan and Jayden and Laura and the other 20 or so kids in her kindergarten class, about the books she is learning to read. This is one kid who when you ask, "How was school today?" you are gonna hear all about it.

She got a ukulele for Chrsitmas from her Aunt Peach and Uncle U. and now she is heavy into stringed instruments, pretending it is her guitar. At one point she said she wanted to learn to play the violin. I asked her what she knew about the violin. Her answer? "Nothing, you just play it with a stick."

Yep, it was the best conversation I've had in a while.

I bet you could smell the smoke for miles.

 

From the money that was burning a hole in my pocket that is. It was only a small sum, probably left over from Christmas, but when I found it hidden away in my wallet I was thrilled. I intended to be disciplined and save it for an emergency (of the crafty kind that is), but almost immediately after placing it in my pocket, I began to smell smoke. What to do? Spend it. Where? The yarn shop? Nah, I already have a few projects on the sticks. Fabric store? Are you kidding? I have a lifetime supply. That left The Scrapbook Supercenter. Quickly, I jumped in my car and roared down the drive-way, fanning the flames as I went.

I spent the next hour happily browsing amongs paper, die-cuts, rubberstamps, and other goodies saying to myself, "I can buy this, or this, or maybe this..." I sorta had a plan. I subscrbed to Teresa Macfayden's Winterbella E-zine and was working on a project from there. Red seemed to be the predominate color in my basket. I did find one lovely piece of green that I had to have. I also got some really, really cute chipboard buttons from Elsie. K&Co had a lovely package of Valentine-themed cutouts I had to have. I also got a souffle pen. When the ink dries, it is sort of shiny and puffy. Not real puffy, just a little. A few other bits and bobs and I was broke. As I drove home, mused over my purchases and occasionaly checked my pant's pocket for smoke. Nope, no smoke. But I need to remember next time put the money in the other pocket to avoid the hole. Or maybe something fireproof?

Happy 100th to "this old house'" !

Not the television show of this name, but my house. 2008 marks the 100th year that this house has sheltered a family from whatever storms life has sent roaring over the earth, the 17 my own little family.

I wish I were a better photographer. I would showcase the beautiful chestnut oak boards that are a feature of every room, or the 3 fireplaces set into corners giving each room 6 vertical surfaces and the decorator any number of conundrums when it comes to furniture placement. I would show my readers that funny little alcove built into our livngroom. It looks a cross between a room and a large bay window. In our years here, it has served as a stage for any number of productions performed by our children and their friends. All the children are gone now but it still houses memories of children in the form of a too-big dollhouse that I long to get rid of but never quite can bring myself to do. Then there are the beautiful chestnut oak floor-to-ceiling cupboards in the kitchen and on the opposite side in the family room glassed in shelves filled with books. upstairs I might show you the huge hallway flanked by 6 doorways leading to 7 bedrooms. It truly is an amazing house.

I sometimes think about all the events in history that have occured since 1907 that have resulted in so much human drama and how this has "lived" through them all offering safe haven to its occupants. I remember it was the only place I wanted to be after 9/11 and I wanted all my family here with me. Is that how others who have lived here felt during WW1, the 1918 flu epedimic, WW2, and all the other disasters of the past century?

Now that is only the man of the house, a dog, and me here anymore, we really don't need all this space and my husband would like a shorter commute to work, so a move is in the future for sure. I've never lived anywhere as long as I have lived in this house and I do love it, but I don't really mind change that much. For now, I will continue to enjoy its sheltering walls and say, "Here's to another 100!"

Renenber these?

 

Way back in the day when I was in highschool, these were all the rage with the girls. I always loved these pens and owned one for years and years until I wore it out. Used to you could buy them in any variety store or discount store. I recently got a hankering to have one again and searched everywhere with no luck. I found a website that sold them but they were pricey so I sort of forgot about it. Well guess what? My husband found one for me! I love it so much. It makes writing the most mundane of things feel so special. I like to sit at my desk and write in my journal with it. Maybe this year I will actually keep a journal for longer than the first two weeks in January all becasue of this pen!

The Jasper smile-o-meter

 

Well, I took Jasper out today wearing his "Doggles" for the first time. In my rear-view mirror I saw the faces of many people smiling ear to ear as they enjoyed the spectacle of a happy dog enjoying one of his favorite things-riding down the road with his head out the window. When I pulled into the drive-thru at the bank the teller was positively charmed by the sight and called everyone in the bank over to her window. After admiring and laughing at him, they gave Jasper a treat and one teller proclaimed that he should be in a movie. Price of Doggles: 22.95. Price of making so many people smile: priceless.