Buy new fibers? Or use what I have? While on vacation in Arizona, I found a needlepoint store - Old Town Needlework & Framing. Shocking! (If you know me, you know that I always try and find a needlepoint store where I can buy a souvenir). I did get a really cool canvas for my Arizona momento, but I also found some other cool things. One was a frog paperweight/bean bag, one was a heart for my wall-o-hearts. And I got this really cool 3D pear. After I finished stitching, it will be finished in the shape of an actual pear. It’s by Little Shop Canvas Company. Getting back to the subject of this post, do I stitch with what I have (perle cotton) or do I spend some money and get Vineyard Silk? I really, REALLY wanted the Vineyard Silk, but I’m trying to embark on a month (or two) of Use What You Have so it didn’t seem right to buy something new. I shared my dilemma with Bill who is just so sweet and says, “well, I could buy it for you and it would be a gift.” I like how his mind works. Anyhoo, Mom was visiting so we went through my Perle Cotton and my Vineyard Silk and the VS won out. I had the perfect colors in VS but not enough. Believe it or not, I walked into the needlepoint store and only got what I went in for. Probably a first! I started stitching Monday night and Oh Mama! Was it the right decision. The VS is so vibrant and rich. I am loving it.

I am starting a month (actually, going to try for 2 months) of Use What You Have to try and pare down my stash and make some space for storage. Will see how it goes. Of course as soon as I resolve not to buy anything I suddenly realize all these “needs”. It will be a good lesson in figuring out genuine needs from impulse wants. I’m also hoping that it will help me start to live simple, an ongoing goal of mine.

I’m also planning a garage sale for May 10. I guess the blog title applies to this too. We have a rather large stack of stuff for Purple Heart but when my mom saw it, she thought we could make some money. On my slow, rainy drive to work on Monday I decided that a garage sale was the way to go. Then I catch up on my blogs and this post at Creative Organizing made me nervous about my decision. Easy tax deduction vs. work for cold hard cash. And maybe not even a lot of CHC. Still, Bill agreed to help me so the decision has been made. Last night I cleaned out my closet and armoire, and I’m going to go through the stuff to Ebay and will put most of it out. Some stuff will sell better on Ebay. We’ve already identified most of the stuff to sell at the GS though I know I can go through the house and find more. I need to be ruthless with my stuff. I will try to be a little easier on Bill. I’m also trying to be optimistic and think of it as fun! Plus, it’s an excuse to make myself a little apron for holding cash, pens, etc. Of course only using fabric from my stash. Anybody have any tips for having a successful garage sale?

Tags: life; projects

Bill discovered a new brush at the Pet Smart last weekend. With 3 cats and a dog, I have my fair share (and probably yours too!) worth of animal hair in my house. One of my cats is particularly hairy. She’s full-figured and has trouble cleaning herself so her hair is greasy and has more dander than the other cats. She does love to be brushed but I am most allergic to her so I don’t do it often. Bill tries, but he’s busy and so it just doesn’t get done. Anyhoo, at the pet store, Bill saw a new tool and decided to give it a try: The Furminator. It’s available on amazon for $22 (for the small, more for the medium and large) and change which is less than we paid, admitedly a lot for a brush for a pet. But let me tell you. The amount of hair that came off of her, and the other cats which we didn’t really think of as big shedders, was amazing. AMAZING, I tell you. That’s a picture of CJ and her hair, after only half of her had been brushed. We do have other brushes we use on CJ and get a lot of hair off, but I think this does a better job. For the cats, hands down it is better than anything we’ve used. For the dog it is as good but probably better, than other tools.

Let me show you a picture of what we now call The Widowmaker. Originally named The Divorcemaker, this little organizing tool let to a few arguments in my house. We bought it a few years ago because we didn’t have a good place for our foil, saran wrap and wax paper. (We need to stock up on parchment paper.) It’s one of those relatively easy jobs that never gets done. The roadblock was probably the disorganization of the garage which made it difficult, or at least very frustrating, to get to Bill’s tools, and I believe he did need a drill and a screwdriver. When we cleaned the garage last week, we came across The Divorcemaker. I asked Bill if we should just get rid of it. I joked about it’s name and we laughed and then he came up with the new name. He also said that he would put it up and I think we both knew if it didn’t end up in a cabinet soon, I would be a single woman. Good news, he’s still alive, and our little organizer is up. Isn’t it doing a good job?

Lastly, I thought I would share one of my favorite meals with you. Last week, on Admin’s Day, we had a special breakfast for our secretaries. Donuts. Bagels. Cinnamon Rolls. Fruit salad. Donut holes. Ugh. Of course I showed no resistance and came home from work feeling like garbage. I needed something nutritious and light. Perfect time for my tomato-mozzarella-basil salad. It’s very easy, simply spiced and tastes very “fresh” to me. I once ate this at a little cafe in Switzerland so when I have it at home, it takes me back. I get a container of cherry or grape tomatoes and slice them in half and put them in a big bowl. Slice up a hunk of fresh mozzarella cheese and put it in with the tomatoes. Chop up some fresh basil, add to the bowl. Coat with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Let sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors set. I serve it with a hunk of crusty bread. It’s all to taste, there are no measurements. An optional ingredient is balsamic vinegar, but I usually don’t put it in. It’s got calcium, vegetables, good fats. It would probably be healthier without the bread, or with a whole grain bread.

Well, that’s all I have for today. Hope you enjoyed your weekends and that you have a good Monday!

Tags: recipe, kids, organization

I like to make gifts for the secretaries in my office for Administrative Professional’s Day. This years gift is courtesy of Martha Stewart - business card holders. My mom bought a bag of leather scraps and gave it to me, knowing I would come up with a use for it. And I have ideas, but when I saw this segment on Martha, I found a use for some of my leather.

These are super easy and they look great. The only hard part of finding the button stud with screwback also known as a Sam Browne screw. Good thing I bought them right after the segment.

We’ll see how the ladies like them. But if you are looking for a simple elegant gift, this I recommend.

Tags: projects

The weather on Friday and Saturday was amazing. Unfortunately, Friday was spent indoors at work, but Saturday was mine. Friday night I suggested we do something fun and outside since the weather would be nice. (We had previously planned on doing some cleaning/organizing inside.) Bill wakes up on Saturday and gets on the internet looking up local hiking trails. I get up and decide that I feel like cleaning the garage. This is much to Bill’s disappointment. And now Bill is flashing back to previous garage cleaning experiences, all of which ended with much yelling, someone throwing something and many hours of the silent treatment. Great way to spend a glorious Saturday.

It was actually great. I only got mad at Bill once and it was brief (a miracle!). We tossed, we put away, we swept, we rearranged, we created a goodwill pile, we made 2 trips to the dump and then we rewarded ourselves with some delicious and refreshing Rita’s Water Ice. There is actually space on the shelves (gasp!). There still is some work to be done. We have one set of shelves that is for stuff to Ebay as well as extra pantry storage. The stuff to Ebay needs to be gone through, organized and Ebayed. There is a rogue box that isn’t in the Ebay corner than needs to be addressed and a box of Bill’s stuff to be gone through. But all in all, a huge improvement and a relatively pleasant experience.

After Rita’s, we decided we had to do something for the pups as she had been cooped up inside all day. It was a perfect day for her first swim of the year.

Isn’t she a good girl, carrying her own towel. When she got tired of waiting, she started to whip it around and it became all unfolded and I’d roll it up again and she’d sit for 10 seconds and then start to whip it around. We have a lake about 10 minutes from our house and as we get close, she can smell it and she starts to cry and get all excited. Was she a happy girl. We took her leash off and she ran to the water, but surprisingly didn’t jump right in. Normally, we don’t let her swim here which might have been why she hesitated. But it didn’t take long for her to realize that she could get wet and we wouldn’t yell. We threw some sticks for her to retrieve. Sometimes they came back, sometimes not. She’d run back onto the shore and then throw herself into the dirt and leaves and grass and roll around. Bill wanted to correct this behavior but I said that it’s what dogs do. He let it go, pointing out that if we were getting into my car I’d probably be singing a different tune. (How true!) After about 20 minutes, CJ looked to be done and we got her leash on her before she had a chance to get dirty. She trotted happily to the car, let Bill dry her and we headed home. Once at home, Bill tossed the towel on the stairs to be taken up to the laundry. He went to the kitchen and I headed upstairs. I walked past the towel (not really seeing it otherwise I would have picked it up). Behind me, CJ paused on the stairs and then ran past me, towel in her mouth. What a good girl, putting away her towel. Actually, she stood on her bed whipping it around, but at least she brought it upstairs.

Dinner was boneless chicken wings. Bill went out to pick them up and I thought that I could fit in a quick trip to Michaels. Of course he gets back, I’m not home, there’s no note and now he thinks that I have been kidnapped, never to return again. Mental note: there is no such thing as a “quick” trip to Michael’s. Especially if they don’t have what you need and you decide to run into Hallmark for a quick look-see. Relived to not be a single-father, Bill set up dinner in front of the tv and we relaxed with some Eli Stone.

Sunday was not quite as beautiful but very pleasant. Bill and I thought we could get a quick walk in before the rain started. We were very, very wrong. We cut our walk short but still got caught in the storm and made it back to the house soaked to the skin. We were so wet we took our clothes off at the front door and carried them to the laundry in a bucket. It was worth a laugh. I showered and decided it was the perfect morning to curl up on the couch with some tea and my book (Laurie R. King’s, The Moor). One of the cats joined me and CJ was at my feet while Bill did chores around the house. Bill made a run to Costco and I did get up to flip laundry (our term for moving the clothes from the washer to the dryer and starting a new load). And I brought down the mini vac to clean out my car from one of our trips to the dump. But Bill returned to see me on the couch in much the same position as when he left. Once I finished my book, I puttered around the house while watching the Cubs. I started a new book, Baldacci’s The Camel Club. We had dinner, I picked up my craft room and then we sat down to catch up on Galactica. I worked on my lizard ridge afghan and Bill balled up some yarn for me and then it was time for bed. Another weekend over.

Tags: knitting, kids, random thoughts

I apologize for my brief hiatus. Things have been busy on the weekends and work has been exhausting. But I’m back now, if you’ve missed me.

In the meantime, here are two of my lizard ridge squares, obviously different sizes. What you can’t tell from the pictures is that they are really different sizes, about 2 inches different. And there’s a third size, in between the two. Obviously this means that I have other personalities. Gertrude is a stressed out, tight knitter who can’t count rows. Rachel drinks after two glasses of wine and is an incredibly relaxed and loose knitter.

I have had to rip out 3 squares knit by Rachel and 4 knit by Gertrude. I have 15 “good” squares, 7 to redo and then 2 left to finish. Bill has been helping me rip out the “bad” squares while we catch up on Galactica. (So good!)

Let’s hope that Gertrude and Rachel leave me alone for a bit, or at least long enough to finish this project.

Tags: knitting

Don’t my babies look peaceful? When Sabrina (on the left) sleeps like that, I always want to rub her belly. Sometimes, she sleeps so that I can see her pink belly and then I MUST touch it! She doesn’t really mind; she loves the attention. The black pile of fur is Cheli. He’s the baby in the family. He will let you pick him up like a baby. Actually, sometimes if you ask him “do you want up?” he’ll put his front two paws up, asking to be picked up.

Anyhoo, the weekend was very nice. Bill’s birthday was low key. We watched Galactica and it was soooo gooood! Do they know how to get you hooked! We did get some extra special birthday ice cream from Cold Stone. We’ll have a bigger celebration with Bill’s family next weekend.

I thought it was going to rain on Saturday but it actually turned out to be pleasant. I spent most of the day indoors though. I am teaching a friend to sew and she came over and we worked on our pillows. I set up my two sewing machines on the dining room table, brought down the iron, set up my iPod with 80s music… We caught up on our vacations and then got to work. She finished her first pillow (no photos, dumb!). I made a good start on my pillows.

Sewing Saturday continued to Sunday. I worked on my pillows some more and also made a trip to a bead store. I had a 25% off coupon and some real needs. I bought some stones in Sedona and Phoenix and I need to get coordinating beads. I didn’t feel like going out, but the trip was worth it. I got some good stuff and saved lots of money! After the bead store, I went back to my pillows. I was actually able to finish them this weekend. I did 3 18×18 pillows and 3 14×14 pillows. I may go back and adjust the smaller pillows because the case is about a half inch too long. I think it will be worth it to undo the seams and make the adjustment. We spend a lot of time in the room where those pillows are going so I don’t want to be annoyed everytime I look at them. The photo is a picture of the room with the old pillows.

In addition to replacing the pillows, I bought a new clock and some frames for that room. I pulled out the pictures on Friday night and will hopefully get them in the frames this week. We also bought a huge glass bowl for a desert terrarium which will be the centerpiece of our coffee table. I’m worried that the opening isn’t wide enough and that it will keep in the moisture. Bill thinks it will be okay, so we’ll give it a try.

I’ll post photos once I get everything in place. My concern is that the new pillows will make the couch look even rattier than it is, but oh well. New furniture is not the budget (even though I know exactly what I’d get!).

How was your weekend?

Tags: none

I arrived home last Friday after a fabulous vacation with Bill and my mom. We went out to Arizona to visit family in Phoenix and do some hiking. It was awesome. The family was great, the weather was perfect and the hiking was amazing. I’ll have more info on my trip in a couple of days, once I get my photos straightened out.

I’ve had a really hard time getting back in the swing of things. The cats most definitely missed us. For the first 48 hours they were all over us (and by us, I mean me). The dog was thrilled to be home after her week at the vet’s. We got started on laundry, went grocery shopping, and relaxed. I made some new jewelry - mostly fun chunky necklaces. Some with turquoise (shocking after my trip out West). I’ve been home for almost a week and I’m still in a daze.

I came home on Wednesday and was just wiped out. I wanted to do something relaxing but I just couldn’t decide what to do. Bill came home and I was in the middle of not making a decision - needlepoint or knitting. Yesterday I was a little more decisive. I made a quick pillow for my new desk chair. It was a simple thing, but nice to accomplish something. Then I finished my sock and cast on the next one. I’ve made some jewelry, made a pillow, finished a sock and yet I’m still blah-sy.

Obviously, part of it is because I still want to be in Arizona, sipping a Margarita after a wonderful hike. But the other part of it is due to the economy and my job. I won’t talk about the work thing, except to say that we spend so much time at our jobs that it really has an impact when something is not right there. Then the economy has me down. Like most people I am concerned about money, and looking for ways to put aside some extra dough. Then, talking to my mom last night bummed me out. She told me about a news report on the rising number of pets being given to animal shelters because the owners can’t afford them any more. That just breaks my heart. But I GET it. You need to put food on your table for your family and if you can’t afford to do that, then you just can’t afford the luxury of a pet. But what breaks my heart is that for so many people, pets are the only family they have. I’m just disgusted that the economy is breaking up families and nothing is being done about it. Oh, wait, we’re getting $300 to go out and spend to boost the economy.

Well, I’d better get out of my funk because Bill’s birthday is tomorrow and he deserves happy wife and not sad-inside wife. Our big plans for his special day - Battlestar Galactica at 10pm! We’re so excited!!!

Tags: none