Enough to make me feel pampered, not enough to make me sick.
Archives
328/362/2015 Lisa Has Great Ideas
She called this one a manmosa.
316/364/2015 In Review
155/364/2015 Good Stuff, Local Vineyard
12/365/2015 Move Over, Paula Deen. We’re Done.
12 to 18 months ago (I think, it might have been longer), I bought myself a set of red Paula Deen pots and pans. Because I love red in the kitchen and I thought PD would be a good pan. Let me tell you from experience, Paula Deen is some expensive cheap-ass junk. The pans warped; they aren’t supposed to go in the dishwasher; the teflon scratches if you look at it; AND the final straw occurred a couple weeks ago: I picked up a pan I had boiled pasta in, BY THE HANDLE, and got a blistering burn on my finger. Hell to the no. I replaced those dishes today with this set. I’m sending the three usable pieces of PD to Goodwill, and moving on. I am a cook. I will have good tools in my kitchen. These new ones have a nice thick bottom for even, no-warp heating. They aren’t teflon coated, but ceramic. They are RED. They are dishwasher and oven safe. And they cost less than I paid for the PD. They will be in the dishwasher this evening, and ready for use tomorrow. (I’ll keep the one pot we make tea in. Everybody needs a thin, cheap pot to make iced tea by the gallon in.)
In less fiery news, I was talking about love on the facebooks this morning, commenting on a link a friend shared. I like what I had to say so much that I am repeating it here:
I like choosing to love, because then I can continue to have a loving heart toward someone whatever happens. In the past, I found that If I accidentally fall in love, I can just accidentally fall out of it, too.
If I want to love someone, I choose to act lovingly towards them. In my case, feeling follows action. Infatuation, lust….those are different matters.
Since I have understood and applied this concept, ALL of my relationships have been successful, whereas before none of them were.
Now we have to look at how to define success. I choose to define it as a relationship that gives me positive feelings and personal growth both of which I retain in the case of the relationship itself ebbing. Am I a bigger, better person? If yes, then that was/is a successful relationship.
P.S. Does not only apply in romantic relationships.
Now for the bad news. I took three kids to the dentist today. One needs to see an oral surgeon AND an orthodontist. One needs an extraction and three fillings. The other just needs three fillings. I reckon the next time I tell them they need to brush their teeth, they still won’t listen. Because I’m only Mom. Sigh.
I took a big bite outta the Big Apple
Wise Craft by Blair Stocker
So, yeah, I know I am in seclusion this weekend and in theory should not be making a lengthy post. Truly it has been wonderful to step away from the computer for a bit and focus on some other (inner) work. I have gotten a good number of things done, and will have to visit the idea of making this a regular occurrence. My lists of things to do continue to multiply, which should have ceased to surprise me long ago. Sigh.
Anyway, one of the tasks I assigned myself was clearing my desk. Again. And one of the things on my desk was a review copy of Wise Craft.
Perhaps the most effective endorsement I can give this book is to tell you this: in a time when I am looking to downsize my everything, I am glad to have this book, and I will be taking it with me when I move. The projects in it are not overly complicated or fussy. Few of them are costly or overly time consuming. Most of them can be varied to use what you have on hand or are able to find easily. Many of them will find themselves in the rooms of my new home. I am quite fascinated by the crocheted net enclosed glass fishing floats on p.87 and the knitted swatch blanket on p. 167. I am so enthralled, in fact, that I am willing to forgive Miss Stocker for suggesting that one might use books as hot pads by intentionally desecrating them (p. 22 for the infidels among you).
Anyway, if you consider yourself to be a crafty sort, you might want to give this one a look. Unfortunately, you will have to order it, or visit your library/bookstore. You can’t sample the kindle edition or “look inside” the print version on Amazon. In my mind, that’s a serious omission in today’s book world. OTOH, the book is relatively inexpensive as far as crafting books go, so there’s that.
So then: The Art of Beadwork
Some years are just like this, you know? Busy. Distracted. Lately, I have been finding it difficult to concentrate on anything. I’m still doing well in school, and still enjoying my internship, which I realize I haven’t said “boo” about on here. Part of that is because I am writing about it in my field journal instead, but also…….I’ve just about giving up on blogging. Again. And I don’t like that, so it’s time to come back.
It’s especially time to come back because I just ordered business cards that say “Custom Crafter, Fiber Artist, Blogger” and give this web address. Oops. Actually, I think I did that to me on purpose, so I would have to come back and start talking to you again. I’ll start using those cards in January at Marscon, and I need to have regular fresh content by then. So, there ya go.
Let’s talk about a book. I happen to have this one in my hands. I love it. And let me tell you why. You see that image in the front, and how it has the tiny beads all through it? The whole book is like that. Now, just as I prefer to spin and knit with very fine yarn, I also love tiny beads. And I have a slew of them. I have so many of them that I was actually considering giving them away–UNTIL I got this book to review. I couldn’t figure out what to do with them besides just string them together, and really, how many ropes of seed beads does one girl need? But this book goes beyond that, with designs that use the small beads to create some amazing pieces. And even though the front of the book shows some large beads as well, not all of the pieces use those, or they just use a few, which I have.
Now, I do have to admit that the first thing in here that I fell in love with does not have instructions in the book. It’s “Strawberry Garden” on page 13. After looking at the rest of the book, though, I am confident that I can figure out how to make something similar. And I plan to do so. In fact, one of the things I did yesterday was to set up a second work area in my living room because my used-to-be-current desk is too small to hold much beyond the laptop. (Yeah, that means I can’t do homework on it either, LOL.)
I think I haven’t told you that I now have a wall of crafting bins in my bedroom. Because I pulled them out of my closet to find something for my cousin and then decided not to shove them back in there, right? So, yay me, I now have space to craft again. Yeah, the bins have been sitting there in the way since mid-September. Yeah, it’s the end of October. Sometimes I am a bit inefficient. But, hell, my intentions are good, right?
Speaking of the end of October, I decided to do the OctPoWriMo this year. I’ve written 19 poems so far, and I don’t think I will actually make it to 31, but some poems are better than no poems. It’s progress. If you read me on facebook, you’ve seen most of them there.
I think that about sums up what I meant to say. At least I hope so. I got distracted answering angry texts from my daughter. I just love it when one of my kids tells me, IN WRITING, that I am a crazy person.