So, a post every three or four months? Is this my regular blog schedule now?
Here I am, up at 2am. The last month of school. (That's enough reason to be up at 2am)
I want to blog more.
I want to sleep more.
Toss a coin. I'll sleep now but this week I will blog about Mr. Rochester & Jane Eyre and I really want to try my hand at making Bacon, cheddar and thyme popcorn.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
Words About Living Lean
Over three months it's been since I've blogged. I'm sure I've lost the small handful of occasional visitors, but c'est la vie! In that time I've married off my daughter, started a new year at school, had the first Christmas alone with just my husband in 24 years, had a colonoscopy and endoscopy. So, yeah, I've been a little distracted.
But I miss blogging and taking photos and boring my little band of readers with whatever comes into my convoluted mind. So, I hope I can get back into the semi-regular habit that I had developed before.
My first incursion back onto the blogging scene will be for my friend Brittany. She asked me to come over and help her have a "clear out" as the British would say. I told her that I would, but did she want to have a clear out? She said, "No." So, I said, "Then there's no point in coming over, we would just argue." She said she wished she could get to the point where she wanted to.
So, Brittany, the following are some thoughts and quotes that have shaped me into a "thrower outer" instead of a "keeper." Maybe they will inspire you to have a clear out.
1. Tornado Threat - In the Spring, when tornadoes are common in our area, and I see the news reports I am always in shock at all the junk that is thrown all over the yard. Even if I shove something to the back of the closet I think: if we have a tornado, it's going to be thrown onto the front lawn and somebody's going to have to pick it up. I get unnerved thinking about all my junk all wet and strewn on the front lawn. So, I try to keep things trim so I won't have so much to pick up in case of tornado.
2. Resentment & Guilt- I have never liked housework. I have always felt that it was an activity that sucked up way too much of my time and effort. But I always felt guilty if my house was filthy. So, I was always on the lookout for ways to streamline, make easy and/or eliminate the job of housekeeping. After reading Walden by Henry David Thoreau, I became interested in a more simple way of life, a living with less. A favorite quote: "I had three pieces of limestone on my desk, but I was terrified to find that they required to be dusted daily, when the furniture of my mind was all undusted still, and threw them out the window in disgust." There are more important things to do in life besides dusting and vacuuming and moving our junk from one place to another.
3. Selfishness - I have always felt a pang of selfishness when I just keep things and they are not in useful employment or not out to be enjoyed. To have a beautiful thing in the back of a drawer is a waste of beauty. Let someone else enjoy it!! My sister told me once, "You don't have to own a thing to enjoy it." To keep something and not use it, keeps someone else from the benefit of that thing. Let them use it!!
4. Can it fit on the back of a camel? - "He said that it would be a nightmare for him to own more than he could fit on the back of his camel, thus inhibiting him from the nomadic life that he loved." You have to read the whole article to understand what I mean. http://amomknowsbest.com/2011/05/can-it-fit-on-the-back-of-a-camel/ Does our junk keep us from the life we want?
5. Everything has a place and every place has a thing - and when a thing doesn't have a place, it goes away to find a place somewhere else.
6. To me clutter = work (dusting, cleaning, sorting) and I don't like to work at home. I like to rest and be at peace at home. So, I want the clutter gone!
7. A monkish life appeals to me - to be unencumbered by stuff frees us up to think more, pray more, study more, worship more, do more, breathe more.
On The Other Hand....
There are reasons to keep things:
1. You have kids and you will pass the things down to the next one.
2. You are involved in a situation where you often have people in your life in need so you can share with them.
3. You are passing down family heirlooms and such.
4. You have a good reason to keep it.
5. It has a place in your home and you love looking at it and it's in a place where you can see it and/or use it.
These are just my thoughts on the subject. And I know everyone is different. So, maybe it's inspired you, maybe it just made you mad. From what I've said, take what you can use and throw the rest away. Haha, that's a start!
But I miss blogging and taking photos and boring my little band of readers with whatever comes into my convoluted mind. So, I hope I can get back into the semi-regular habit that I had developed before.
My first incursion back onto the blogging scene will be for my friend Brittany. She asked me to come over and help her have a "clear out" as the British would say. I told her that I would, but did she want to have a clear out? She said, "No." So, I said, "Then there's no point in coming over, we would just argue." She said she wished she could get to the point where she wanted to.
So, Brittany, the following are some thoughts and quotes that have shaped me into a "thrower outer" instead of a "keeper." Maybe they will inspire you to have a clear out.
1. Tornado Threat - In the Spring, when tornadoes are common in our area, and I see the news reports I am always in shock at all the junk that is thrown all over the yard. Even if I shove something to the back of the closet I think: if we have a tornado, it's going to be thrown onto the front lawn and somebody's going to have to pick it up. I get unnerved thinking about all my junk all wet and strewn on the front lawn. So, I try to keep things trim so I won't have so much to pick up in case of tornado.
2. Resentment & Guilt- I have never liked housework. I have always felt that it was an activity that sucked up way too much of my time and effort. But I always felt guilty if my house was filthy. So, I was always on the lookout for ways to streamline, make easy and/or eliminate the job of housekeeping. After reading Walden by Henry David Thoreau, I became interested in a more simple way of life, a living with less. A favorite quote: "I had three pieces of limestone on my desk, but I was terrified to find that they required to be dusted daily, when the furniture of my mind was all undusted still, and threw them out the window in disgust." There are more important things to do in life besides dusting and vacuuming and moving our junk from one place to another.
3. Selfishness - I have always felt a pang of selfishness when I just keep things and they are not in useful employment or not out to be enjoyed. To have a beautiful thing in the back of a drawer is a waste of beauty. Let someone else enjoy it!! My sister told me once, "You don't have to own a thing to enjoy it." To keep something and not use it, keeps someone else from the benefit of that thing. Let them use it!!
4. Can it fit on the back of a camel? - "He said that it would be a nightmare for him to own more than he could fit on the back of his camel, thus inhibiting him from the nomadic life that he loved." You have to read the whole article to understand what I mean. http://amomknowsbest.com/2011/05/can-it-fit-on-the-back-of-a-camel/ Does our junk keep us from the life we want?
5. Everything has a place and every place has a thing - and when a thing doesn't have a place, it goes away to find a place somewhere else.
6. To me clutter = work (dusting, cleaning, sorting) and I don't like to work at home. I like to rest and be at peace at home. So, I want the clutter gone!
7. A monkish life appeals to me - to be unencumbered by stuff frees us up to think more, pray more, study more, worship more, do more, breathe more.
On The Other Hand....
There are reasons to keep things:
1. You have kids and you will pass the things down to the next one.
2. You are involved in a situation where you often have people in your life in need so you can share with them.
3. You are passing down family heirlooms and such.
4. You have a good reason to keep it.
5. It has a place in your home and you love looking at it and it's in a place where you can see it and/or use it.
Stagnant water stinks! To me, money, things, love, breath, water needs to be taken in and then it needs to flow back out. If it doesn't flow back out it gets stagnant and rots.
These are just my thoughts on the subject. And I know everyone is different. So, maybe it's inspired you, maybe it just made you mad. From what I've said, take what you can use and throw the rest away. Haha, that's a start!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
More Engagement Photos
Katie and Michael asked me to take their engagement photos. I was very flattered and honored and so we headed out to some locations that I thought would work. My goal was to get photos that were as comfortable and natural as possible considering they both are somewhat private. I wanted the photos to show how much they really loved each other and I didn't want to embarrass them - especially Michael, because sometimes engagement photos look like their all about the girl and they guy is just a prop. So, I was very pleased with the results of our photo shoot and Katie has posted some of the better ones on facebook. But I wanted to share some that she didn't put up. So, here they are.
I've Been Absent, But I'm Back
It's been 3 months but I'm finally back. I can't guarantee that I will be consistent with the wedding just weeks away. However, don't give up on me!
I was going to list all the stuff I've been doing instead of blogging, but I got about 5 down the list and stopped because it made me tired! Trust me, I've been busy!
Keep checking back, thanks for reading!
I was going to list all the stuff I've been doing instead of blogging, but I got about 5 down the list and stopped because it made me tired! Trust me, I've been busy!
Keep checking back, thanks for reading!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Better Than Brown Sauce
"Something old,
Something new,
Something borrowed,
Something blue,
And a sixpence in her shoe."
I never knew that last line until a few weeks ago when Katie's friend wrote it out in a letter. She had made Katie a little pin out of blue fabrics and beads and said that was her "something blue." Katie loved it and then began to think of the other items she needed for her wedding ensemble. She will be wearing her great-grandfather's pocket watch around her neck as a necklace - that's old. And we continued and are still continuing the conversation.
The sixpence in her shoe got me thinking....so I found a coin dealer in England and contacted him about a sixpence. There were so many to choose from! What year? Whose head did we want on it? Well, Katie really loved the movie, "The King's Speech." She loved it because King George VI was so brave in such a private way. And I feel that Katie is that way, too. No one really knows how much courage it takes for her to do many of the things she does, including getting married. So, I chose a King George VI sixpence, year 1952, the year he died.
Katie was so excited. I was, too! I think I could become a coin collector!!
Another Adventure (albeit small) In British Food
Brown Sauce!
I was feeling a little down about not having any British food adventures lately and as I was watching "As Time Goes By" the British sitcom with Judi Dench...ahem, "Dame" Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer he says he needs to go out for some "brown sauce." He comes back with a bottle with HP on the label. I do a little internet search and find "HP Sauce."
A steak sauce popular in Britain but made in the Netherlands. HP is considered to refer to the Houses of Parliment where it was often served. HP Sauce became known as "Wilson's Gravy" in the 1960s and 1970s after Harold Wilson, the Labour Prime Minister. The name arose after Wilson's wife, Mary gave an interview in which she claimed "If Harold has a fault, it is that he will drown everything with HP Sauce". In 1975, when Wilson addressed a banquet to celebrate 100 years since the formation of the Midlands Vinegar Company, he admitted that it was not HP Sauce that he was partial to, but was in fact Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce. (I straight up stole that info from wikipedia, I read it elsewhere as well.)
Poor HP, didn't get much respect, did it?
Well, Geoffrey Palmer's character, Lionel, wanted the brown sauce to go over "sizzling sausages" so I bought some sausages to try it out on. It was...ok....sort of like A-1 steak sauce. Not remarkable, but pretty good. I ate it for breakfast for 2 days. The bottle will probably sit in the cabinet until I decide it's old and throw it out.
It was fun anyway. Got any suggestions for British food that I should try?
Friday, July 1, 2011
Around The House
The wedding prep intensity is winding down. Remember my to-do list? Well, we've really knocked a lot off. My goal was to get as much done as possible during the month of June and I believe we've done an amazing job! The last 2 "big" things were accomplished this week: choosing a photographer and meeting with the artist who is designing the invitations. We met with her, made decisions and she is sending us a quote. We will still have to make final decision as to which details we can afford, but the major work is done!
So, we've been able to kick back and enjoy the summer a little. Here are a few things we have around the house that I thought were photo-worthy.
So, we've been able to kick back and enjoy the summer a little. Here are a few things we have around the house that I thought were photo-worthy.
Washing up some borrowed salt and pepper shakers.
Washing up some jars to make into candle holders.
The sunflowers are blooming and I cut a few to bring inside. Do you recognize this pic?
Busy bees.
The blueberries are not quite ready.
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