House of Shame Progress Report - Shame no More

Well here I am to update my house of shame.  I can't really call it the house of shame anymore.  It is still a work in progress as I have yet to tackle my bedroom and the craft room (that one will be relatively easy as it just a matter of putting things where they belong).

So far, the living room and kitchen areas are clean and tidy and I've been keeping up on it so it stays that way.  Today I finished (well almost finished) the hall and the bathroom.  I think it is time to put the before and after pictures up so you can see what I've accomplished.  To those of you who regularly keep a clean house, you probably think I haven't accomplished much, but those who know me have a much better idea of my success so far.

Living Room

before

after

Kitchen



before

 

after

Hallway

before

after

before

after


I probably won't be posting any more reports on my cleaning project.  I think I've got the motivation to get the rest done now.  The bedroom will be a tough one but I'll take it small bit by small bit and the craft room will be a reward as I enjoy organizing it.

Toodleoo until next time.

If at first you don't succeed, try it the way your mother told you to in the first place.

House of Shame Progress Report - Day 11

I think I've found my mojo again after a few days of feeling pretty low.

As I did yesterday, I restricted myself to small tasks rather than looking at the whole picture.  My kitchen now looks presentable enough that I wouldn't be embarrassed if someone were to come for a visit.

It's not done yet, I still have work to do on the counters and haven't even begun on organizing my cupboards. I really need to get some window treatments.  Until I started taking pictures of the kitchen, I didn't realize just how blah they look without any curtains.  I did buy some a long time ago but never got around to putting them up - I hope I can find them now.

Hopefully I will finish the floors and counters tomorrow then I can move on to the hallway.  I've been moving things around and cleaning it a bit here and there, so I hope that will be done lickety-split.  Maybe I'll even get the bathroom done before the weekend.  Here's to hoping my mojo doesn't run off and leave me again. :)

Just in case you were wondering, yes, I have been keeping the living room tidy (even my end table!)

In the picture you can see Misty patiently waiting for her insulin shot.  If I didn't give it while she was eating, I used to have to hunt her down to give it.  Now if she hasn't had it, she follows me around or patiently waits on her eating table until I give it to her.  I guess she knows that those needles are keeping her alive.

"The only people who never fail are those who have never tried." Kung Fu

Road Block

I haven't posted for a few days now about my house of shame.  That is because I haven't done much at all.  I've been going through a rough patch and have only been getting the necessities done. 
If you know me, you know that I've been depressed pretty much since my hubby died.  The meds are keeping me pretty stable but every once in a while I have a major mood drop.  Thank God for my critters, they make me get out of bed to look after them and give me lots of cuddles.

Funny thing about being depressed is that my brain tells me that if I get busy doing something I will start to feel better but I just don't have the oomph to get started.  Then I feel more depressed because nothing productive was done.  After a couple days of this cycle, I found the necessary will to try to alter, if not put a halt to the cycle completely.  I decided to look at cleaning in a bit different frame.  Instead of looking at the whole job, I instead broke it down into wee jobs like piling my zentangle supplies into a neat pile and putting the dishes away.  By doing small things, I finally got a bit of cleaning done.  I am going to have to continue to make myself do small things until I climb out of this hole I find myself in.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I'll keep you posted.

"The sun will come up tomorrow, there will be a brand new day tomorrow, come what may...."

Orphan Annie

Dreams

I wonder how many people have dreams that they don't remember.  Not those who say they don't dream but those who know they dreamt but don't remember any more than the feeling the dream left with them. I have both dreams that I remember with different levels of clarity and those that only leave me with a feeling.  The latter has been more prevalent in my recent dreams but last night I had one that I remember quite well.  This dream (or series of dreams) involved something bad happening to my friend.  I won't go into any details as I can't think of a way to discuss it without putting identifiers into the story.  The dream prompted me to write this post about dreams in general.

My dreams can be broken into 4 basic types.  Although I don't watch a great number of movies, I'll try to name a few that fit with each category.

The first type is the unknown.  This is the dream that is not remembered but leaves a lingering feeling and as such can not be likened to any movies.  The lingering emotion can run the gamut from terrified to very happy.  As there are no details remembered from the dream, the feeling has no glue so evaporates.  The time it takes to evaporate is usually quite short but can take hold and last for quite a few hours.  Once it is completely evaporated, it only leaves behind the knowledge that it was once there, knowledge that is stored in one of the many drawers in my brain.  These dreams could be divided into the remaining categories but I give them their own category because they are basically only emotions and because the dreams are only assumed to have been.

Happy dreams are the second type I will discuss.  A happy dream is like the movies 'Mary Poppins', 'Patch Adams' and 'Rio'.  These are by far my favourite type of dream.  A happy dream can wake me with the sound of my own laughter and/or leave me with a smile on my face and a good feeling.  Unfortunately, these are the least frequent of my dreams and the amount of detail is usually fuzzy.  As the clarity of details directly relates to the length of time the memory of the details and its accompanying feelings last, the fuzzy details of a happy dream mean that it is gone from memory quite quickly.  But still, a happy dream just before waking for the day gives the day a bright start.  These dreams don't benefit from sharing as they aren't as much fun in the telling as they are in the dream.  I like to keep these ones to myself so they can't be lessened by the narrative.  They are to be treasured as one would a rare gem that you only get to hold for a moment.  Maybe that is why mom only said that bad dreams need to be told (explained later on). 

The next two types are similar.  They are the 'bad' dreams and the nightmares.  Although I imagine some people would lump these two together, I like to think of them as separate types of dreams. 

The 'bad' dream is one that leaves me with a feeling of sadness, anger or dread.  Movies that come to mind to describe bad dreams are 'Old Yeller', 'The Green Mile' and 'Ghost' to name a few.  It may be that someone I love is dealing with a family problem, that someone is sick and/or dying or any of a wide variety of topics.  The amount of detail varies so the length of the resultant feelings vary as well.  It is in this category that includes the dreams that result in my calling the person involved.   Bad dreams are the most frequent of dream types that I experience.  I have to wonder if I have these dreams because I'm depressed or if the dreams cause the depression.

Nightmares are the horror movies of the mind.  As I don't watch horror movies, my comparisons are wanting.  Something like 'The Birds', 'The Ring' or possibly 'The 6th Sense' might fit.  For me a nightmare usually starts out as a good dream that turns into one that has me screaming or paralyzed with fear.  I have woken from such a dream by the sound of my own scream or with my muscles frozen into place and I find myself unable to move them for fear that something will happen if I do.  It is these dreams that are the exception to the clarity equals duration rule.  I may not remember much of the dream's details (possibly because my coping mechanisms kick in), but the feeling of fear or foreboding after the dream can last for a full day or more.  I have had some nightmares that I can still recall with an amazing amount of clarity many years later.  The nightmare can cause me to fear going to sleep or to fear waking up.  I get out of bed immediately so the dream can't return or I go back to sleep with the hope that the nightmare will continue and the end will be less terrifying. Thankfully, nightmares are infrequent occurrences at this point in my life.

My mother told me this remedy for bad dreams and nightmares when I was a child - if you tell someone about the dream, then it can't come true.  For some reason this remedy became engrained in my coping system.  Although this is most likely just a story told to comfort a scared child and I don't consider myself a superstitious person, I always tried to tell my bad dreams to someone.  During my married life, the person I told was Howard.  I always felt better after telling him but there were times that the feeling would linger.  There have been times that I've dreamt about someone so vividly that I have had to call them just to hear their voice and reassure myself that they are ok.  Usually during these calls, I end up telling them about the dream.  Now that I am alone, I don't tell anyone (except maybe my critters) about the majority of my dreams.  Sometimes a dream will come up in conversation and, even though there may have been a lot of time between the dream and the conversation, I still feel a sense of relief that the dream has finally been told.

I wonder if any one else can identify with any of my dream types.  If you're reading this, I hope you will make a comment about your dreams and/or what you do to handle the emotions they leave behind. 

I know there are a lot of books on the meanings of dreams but I'm not sure that dreams have any meaning.  I think that dreams are just your psyche dealing with stress, other emotional problems or trauma you may be experiencing.  What do you think, do dreams have meanings?

Until we meet again, I send wishes for all your dreams to be happy ones.

House of Shame Progress Report - Day 4 and the Monster Bug

Hello again and welcome to my nightmare.

I've hit a bit of a wall in cleaning the kitchen and hallway.  My problem is that I can move things around to clean but I don't know where to put all the stuff that has accumulated.  A good percentage of the stuff is Partylite products that I want to keep.  I know I'm going to have to bite the bullet and either sell, donate or gift a lot of it as I just don't have the room to store it here.  I think I'm going to have to beg my sister and friend to come visit so they can help me decrease my stash (I was going to say de-junk, but to me it isn't junk).


As you can see, I have made a bit more progress here.  The table is cleared and a nicer tablecloth and a centerpiece replace all the junk.  You can see a bit more of the counter and the white drawer tower has been moved to a new home where I can use it to store all the critter treats (instead of some here and some there).  I still have a lot of work to do in here.  After I finish cleaning, I want to re-organize my crappy cupboards.  At the speed I work, I figure I have another week before this is finished.  I probably won't post daily while working in here but I'll keep you up to date periodically.

I also got a bit done in the hallway.  Not really enough to warrant a picture, just moving things around, moving the critter crates to the garage and giving it a good sweep.  My problem with too many treasures extends to the hall and bedroom as well.  Honestly, sometimes I think I'd be better off just lighting a match to the whole mess!  Do you think the fire chief might think it a bit odd that my craft stuff and a few precious items just happened to be outside when the house caught on fire? :-P

While I was taking one of my breaks from cleaning (I tend to take a lot of them) and playing around on the computer, something too horrid for words caught my eye.  I saw what looked like a massive hairball on the living room floor.  As I was grumbling about having to clean it up, it MOVED!  It was the biggest, ugliest caterpillar like thing I've ever seen.  Longer and thicker than my finger, it was almost the size of a short cigar and about the same colour.
If you know me, you know how much I absolutely detest bugs.  Beetles have always been at the top of the most hated bugs but this one freaked me out so bad that I think it just might have topped my hatred of the horrid hard-shelled ugly beetles.  If I hadn't been home alone, you can bet I'd have been screeching for someone to kill it and get it out of my sight!  Unfortunately, I couldn't think of a way to get Kayla or the cats to get rid of it for me so I had to take matters into my own hands.  I am still shuddering when I remember the very quick trip to the toilet with a squirming yucky thing in a handful of Kleenex.  You can bet I flushed that damn thing down and kept flushing a few more times just to make sure it was gone.  Then I almost burst my bladder as I really didn't want to sit on that toilet just in case it wasn't gone.  Luckily for me, common sense prevailed before I ended up in a puddle of my own making.  But you can be darn sure I checked to make sure the monster hadn't crawled back up from the depths of the sewer system.  'shudder'  I'm pretty sure I'll be having nightmares tonight.
I posted a picture of the monster on FB but I just couldn't bring myself to look at it again here.  I'm hoping someone can tell me what it was so I know if I need to call an exterminator.  As it left an inky black spot where I had disturbed it by moving it with my shoe, and it looked kind of spiky, I'm pretty sure the critters didn't bring it in.  I wish I could convince myself otherwise though as if it let itself in, then maybe its family will come looking for it. 'major shudder'

I don't think I'll be watching Hannibal tonight - I think a fun kids movie or maybe a romantic comedy is more in order before bed.

I was just scrolling through my recent posts and I realize that I hadn't reported on how my son fared after his accident.  The day after he was injured, he still went to work and tried to do his job one-handed.  I told him he was an idiot for doing so but in honesty I think he is amazing (an amazing idiot).  I hope his bosses appreciate his work ethics.  To make a long story short, he is now in a cast as his arm is fractured and is on light duties at work.  No way would he even consider taking time off.  I am so proud of him.

Toodleoo for tonight.  Have pleasant dreams, I know I won't.

House of Shame Progress Report - Day 3

A dreary day today, at least for the majority of it.  The sun was shining when I got up but it wasn't long before it went behind clouds and stayed there.  I figured that if the sun could take the day off, then so could I.  OK, so the sun wasn't completely out of service so I did compensate by doing a bit more cleaning and even remembered to take the garbage out for pick up tomorrow.  About 2 minutes after I took the garbage out, the skies opened up.  I'm thankful that I didn't get caught in the downpour!

I started clearing off the dining room table after breakfast and found a disposable upholstery cleaner I'd forgotten I bought.  The task of cleaning off the table was immediately forgotten as I searched for something to try it on.  I decided to see if it could make my recliner a bit more presentable as the headrest and arms are showing a lot of wear.  After one try on the my opinion is still reserved.  It does look a bit cleaner but is very streaky.  I guess I didn't apply the solution evenly enough so will have to give it another go.  That won't be happening tonight as the cleaning solution is very stinky!  As a result of my chair being damp from the cleaner, I wasn't able to use my computer until now so had to find something else to entertain myself.  I suppose I could have done more cleaning than I did but instead I opted for working on a couple of puzzles and watch some more Hannibal.  I also spent a few minutes sitting with Kayla and watching out the window to see if I could see what she found so interesting.  I'm no wiser as all I saw was a whole lot of nothing going on!

As you can see in my picture, I did manage to get a wee bit done in the kitchen.  At least now I can see most of the ugly table cloth on the dining room table and although you can't really tell in the picture I did get some of the counter cleared off.  I only use this plastic tablecloth to protect my heirloom table when I'm doing crafts on it.  I haven't done that since my friend visited Easter weekend.  I really didn't think it had been that long since I had cleared off the table - shame on me! 

I may get ambitious and do a bit more in the kitchen before bed (yeah, right! who am I trying to kid?) but for now, I think I will check out my FB and maybe play a game or 2 (or 10) before I head for the pit.  I'm still trying to recover from my sleepless Sat night and last night wasn't the best sleep ever as I kept waking up every hour or so.  I hope I sleep much better tonight as I have to get up early tomorrow for the SaskTel repair person.

 

As a reward for my living room looking so much better (and to compensate for the stink from the cleaner) I have all my candles lit.  I love how they can make the house feel so much more inviting with their warm glow.  I think that when I finish the kitchen/dining room I will reward myself with some flowers for the table.

 

Until we meet again. 

House of Shame Progress Report - Day 2

The living room is complete (at least complete enough for me).
I decided that as I was pulling furniture out to sweep, I might as well try a new furniture layout.  Now the treadmill doesn't seem to take command of the room.  My view out the front window is blocked a wee bit but I don't think it will bother me as I can't see the sidewalk from my chair anyway.  I can still see the sunset view through the trees. 
I thought about starting another room, but other than doing dishes and picking up the laundry in the hall, I decided to take the rest of the day off.  After all, it is the weekend. 
Here is a picture of the end result.

 

Part of my laziness today is due to the fact that I stayed up all night watching Hannibal on Netflix.  I thought I'd watch one episode then head off to bed but after the first one, I was hooked!  I managed to get through the day with only a couple short naps so once Misty has had her insulin, I'll be going to bed for a long night's sleep.

 

While I'm here, I would like to send kudos to SaskTel.  I've been having trouble with my internet for a while now but thought it might be my computer.  However, while I was away and using my friends' internet connection, I had no trouble so I knew it wasn't any problem with the laptop.  As usual, I was slow getting around to calling them but finally did so today.  Amazingly, I got through to a person after only about 30 seconds on hold and they are sending a tech out on Tuesday to fix the problem.  They guy I spoke to was very patient with my lack of computer savvy and talked me through my email problem as well.  Now I can send and receive on my SaskTel address.

 

If you are my friend on Facebook, you will likely know about my good luck on Friday.  I had thought I lost my chain with my mom's, Howard's and my wedding rings on it.  Every time I thought about it, I felt sick that I had lost something so precious to me.  Friday evening I was looking for something in my bathroom cabinet when to my utter joy I found the chain!  I did a happy dance and sang all around the house following.  Kayla thought I'd gone crazy but joined in on the fun by dancing with me and joining in on the singing.  I must admit that her voice is much better than mine!  I just had to share my good news on FB and to my amazement I got 24 likes!  That may not seem like much to some of you, but to me, knowing there are at least 24 people who actually read my status and were happy along with me was the icing on the cake!

 

Ain't life grand???

 

Have a super fantastic day (or night) and I'll see you tomorrow.

 

 

House of Shame Progress Report - Day 1

 

As promised in my prior post from today, here is the picture of what I accomplished today.  Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but at least now I can see most of the floor and the coffee table.  Still have a good bit left before I can say it is the way I want it but I think that is it for today.  Hopefully I'll get an earlier start on it tomorrow so I can finish the living room and start on another area.  If anyone actually reads this, where do you think I should start next?

House of Shame

Shame on me!  I have let my house become a total mess! 
Conventional methods of motivating myself to clean just haven't done the trick so I am posting this for all to see.
I've taken pictures of the main floor and will be posting pictures daily of the progress (or lack thereof) in the cleaning war.

 

I've started in the living room for today.  Will post a picture closer to the end of the day and we'll see just how far I can get in a day.
See you later!

A Quick Note

 I'm tired tonight so will keep this very short.

It's been a quiet few days.  My house/pet sitting ends tonight when my friends get home.  I'm going to stick around for at least another day to do some shopping and to make sure my son is OK.
He had an accident at work and some steel was dropped on him.  He says he has a swollen knee and arm but is otherwise alright.  Tonight he was just going to take some pills and rest.  I'll go see him tomorrow and make sure he is taking care of himself. 

Just in case you're wondering, the hell cat and I continue to keep our distances.  She has come within about 3 feet of me but if I move, she takes off like a shot.  I wonder if she will ever trust me again.  I actually feel kind of bad that she won't be friendly with me but I'll not lose any sleep over it.  She is getting braver and actually checks out my critters (even the terrier!)

I did manage to get some of the work on my stamps done so this week hasn't been a total loss.  Thankfully I was able to figure out a way so I don't have to type in all the tags again.  I will have to type in about 1/3 of them though.

That's about all I can think of to type. 

Smile at someone you don't know today, either you'll brighten their day or make them wonder what you're up to.

A Little of This, A Little of That

Wow!  It's been a week already since my last post.  Well, not really, because I did write one but I just didn't publish it after I wrote it.  It was about whether or not I am a judgemental person and not quite as open minded as I think I am.
I won't go into details here and probably won't publish the post as it has too many identifiers about those involved in my truth seeking mission.  But just writing it made me think and re-evaluate the way I look at others.
I have always strived to keep an open unbiased mind.  I try to emulate my son as he is the most open-minded and accepting person I know.  I don't know where he got this from but he is my hero!   I will try harder in the future to accept everyone as they are and not have the 'holier-than-thou' attitude I now realize that I sometimes display.

OK, that is enough of that topic.  What I was going to write about (before my fingers and mind started to go off on a tangent) was what I've been up to for the past few days.

I've been continuing on my goal to reorganize my stamp collection.  I've now got all the stamps organized in the binders and each page has been stamped and scanned into the computer.  I still have to figure out a way to transfer the tags to the new pages so I don't have to re-type them all.  Not a job I'm looking forward to but I will if necessary as in the long run it makes my crafting so much easier when I'm looking for a particular stamp.
I made sure I had them all in the computer before I left home to house/pet sit for my friends.  My thinking was that I would have ample time to start to work on it while I'm away.  Hah!!  Here it is day 3 since my arrival and I haven't even opened the program yet!  If I ever got off my butt and ran for office I'd win procrastinator of the month (year? decade? maybe even century?).
On the flip side, I've been able to visit with an old friend and my in-laws so all has not been wasted.  I also plan to spend some time with my son and with my niece as well as do some shopping.

I don't think I mentioned my friends' hell cat after I pet sat last month.  I was supposed to move the cat into the garage while some workers were here.  'No problem', I said.  'She likes me', I said. 
Well I quickly discovered just how wrong I was!  First I picked her up and carried her to the garage door.  She wasn't happy about me carrying her but she tolerated it.  When I opened the door and tried to put her inside, she quickly turned about and head for the hills before I could shut the door.  After about a half hour of pleading and trying to bribe her, I was able to coax her to allow me to try again with a lot more squirming and the same end result.  'Aha!', says I.  'I'll just put her in my cats' crate and put her into the garage that way', says me, pleased with myself for being so wise. 
Boy, did she school me!!  There was no way in hell that she was going into that crate.  I swear to God she doubled in size and her legs (and attached talons) multiplied! My reward for attempting to put her there?  I'm sure you can guess....yup, she ripped my leg and hand to shreds!  Needless to say, she won the battle and the war!  I retreated to my corner to try to staunch the flow of blood from my wounds.
As I mentioned, this was about a month ago and after a round of antibiotics, my wounds are healing.  I think I'm going to have some nasty scars to remember her by though.
Now here is where I once again show just how dumb I can be.  Same cat, different scenario... 
Here I am house sitting again.  Day 1 and I'm feeding my kitties like a good servant should. As the hell cat is leery of my dog, I pick her up to take her to the food so she can have her share.  Well, that was the intention.  When I picked her up she showed me very clearly that she hadn't forgiven me for trying to stuff her into a crate.  I am now sporting a couple of scratches on my face.  Luckily for me, she wasn't able to get a good enough swipe at me to do any major damage.  End result?  We have agreed to keep our distance from each other.  I put food out and she eats it when I'm out of the room.  Should I come within 10 feet of her she rapidly departs after giving me a look that I can only translate into the equivalent to a person showing me a raised middle finger.
Maybe next time she'll let me get close enough to pat her but you can be guaranteed that I won't be pushing my limits again unless I'm wearing full body armour.  Her claws should be considered lethal weapons!

On another topic entirely, I've been invited to participate in another watercolour class.  It sounds very interesting and fun.  I just have to decide if I want to go on a road trip this fall or not.  If I do decide on the road trip, I plan to be away for about a month so it wouldn't make sense to take the classes.  Alternatively, I could save the money I would spend on the road trip and use it to spend a week or two somewhere warm in February.  Decisions, decisions!  Such a rough life I have!

WOW!  If you actually stayed until the end of this collection of random thoughts, you really do need to get a life!  And you now know just why I gave my blog its title.  Wandering mind, indeed!

Until we meet again, take care.  And beware of psychotic kitties!!

Date Night

It's Saturday night and I have a date after supper.  I'm looking forward to it. 

OK, so it isn't an actual date per say but it is something fun I have planned.  I got my parcels from Simon Says Stamp and from Crafters Companion in the mail yesterday so tonight I plan on unpacking them and playing in the craft room.  Before you remind me that I have too many craft supplies already, I have to tell you that they had some really good sales so I just HAD to shop!

Before I run off to make supper and play, I think you should be kept up to date on what I did today.  Hey! I warned you this blog could be boring!!
When I got up at noon I looked at the forecast for today and it said rain.  I did a little happy dance because then I could put off mowing the last bit of lawn and avoid more scratches from the evil tree.
I then proceeded to do some things that couldn't be put off like checking my email and FB status, catching up on my FB games, playing with the dog, doing dishes (I know, this doesn't quite fit but I had to wash out my favourite coffee cup and figured I might as well wash up the rest), having another coffee......  You know, the important things.  Every once in a while I'd look out the window and see dry sidewalks and dreary but blue tinged skies.  I would then tell myself I'd best get out there while I can but wouldn't you know it, something else would catch my attention like a new video on U-tube or the kitty would want a cuddle.
It is now 8 pm and I've decided to wait until tomorrow because it is too late and dreary looking outside to bother starting the mower.  After all, it is just a bit that isn't done - surely I'll be able to finish it up before the 19th.  It must be done by then as the date I've been given by registered mail is the 20th or I'll be fined by the nasty Randy (by-law officer). 
Besides, I think it is about time I made myself some supper so I can go play without my tummy complaining.
The other day I decided to see how many meals I could get out of one pkg of ground beef.  Just for the heck of it of course.  Nothing to do with the fact that it is the last pkg of meat I had in the freezer and that I really don't like grocery shopping (or is it possibly that I'm too lazy to do it?....Nah!).  Anyhoo, so far I've gotten 3 meals out of it and still have enough for one more meal.   I think impossible pie with beef, green peppers and the last of my cheese will be a good choice for supper ..... tomorrow.  Today I'm taking a break from beef meals and will heat up some frozen pyrogies (much less effort required).  After all, I figure I'm on a roll with avoiding anything that might be considered a chore, so why not continue the trend.
My tummy is suggesting that now would be a good time to make the pyrogies so off to the kitchen I go then play time to follow.

Until next time....

Laugh loudly, dance wildly and sing your heart out.......at least until the men in white coats come to take you away!

Rambling and Another Card

I've decided to take a chance and see what others think of my blog.  I was going to put a link to it on my FB page but decided that wouldn't give me any control on who sees it.  Guess I'm just not sure I want my thoughts to be out there for everyone to see so will start small and just give the link to people who ask for it.
So far, that has been a whole 1 person.  But it has only been mentioned on my FB page for a little while so we'll see if I get more interest.
I honestly don't know why anyone would be interested in this old biddy's thoughts and ramblings though.
My niece asked me what my theme is - I guess I could say that my theme is no theme at all.  Like the title suggests, it's only the ramblings of my wandering mind.
If you are one of the fortunate(?) ones who have been granted egress into my ramblings, welcome to my madness.

Yesterday there was a heat warning for most of Saskatchewan but as usual I hadn't done more to see what the weather was like than look out the window.  Looked like a good day to finally get around to mowing the lawn.  Luckily for me, the warning was pretty much over by the time I got out there around 4 pm.  I walked out the door to a blast from the furnace but just thought it was because the house is air conditioned and proceeded with the task at hand.  I was pretty sweaty by the time I was done about 4 hours later.  You heard right, I did say 4 hours.  Note to self: do not leave the mowing until the lawn is so overgrown.  I had to mow it twice and three times in some places - once with the blade at it's highest setting and the mower at its slowest speed (it's a riding mower), then again with the blade on a lower setting but still mostly at slow speed.  Finally, I got to rev it up and put it into 3rd gear and zoomed around catching the little bits I missed.  (that's when it got to be fun!)
I must be learning as I only conked my head on the trees 3 times.  Good thing I have a hard skull! 
I need to figure out how to cut branches off the trees as some of them are getting too low to mow under without fighting them off.  Tomorrow I have to get out and mow the front and side.  I really dread having to do this as I'm afraid to get too close to the edge of the boulevard (the mower almost tipped me off a couple times thus the dread).  Also the tree in the front is such a pain with its low hanging branches!  I usually come back into the house with at least a couple scratches from the branches.  The joys of having a double lot on a corner!
I have a wonderful neighbour who has decided that he needs to mow the lawn in front of the house for me so I don't have to worry about that part.
I've been trying to make the town pay for harassing me about the lawn.  They send out a registered letter giving me a date it has to be done by and I get it done by then thus avoiding a fine.  This all started because I have a strong dislike for the town by-law enforcer and has been going on since last summer.  When I think about it rationally, I realize that I'm really not hurting him or the town (except for his time in making a formal complaint to the town and they in turn take the time and money to send me a registered letter).  Kind of makes me look like the fool here doesn't it?  Maybe it's time to find another way to harass him - any ideas?

Now, just because I feel like putting something I think is pretty on my page today, here is another card I made.

I can't claim any artistic talent in the making of this card as I only watercoloured a stamped image.  I was quite happy with the result enough to give it to my dearest friend for her birthday.

Thinking about watercolouring, which is correct - watercolour or water colour? they both are correct according to the spell checker until I add ed or ing to it.  Then I get that irritating red line under the word.  What do you think?

I'll sign off  for today - it is getting hard to type around a Majik who wants my full attention.
Toodleoo and watch out for low hanging branches!

It's Official!

It's official!  I'm totally crazy! 

Not long ago, I had my craft room pretty much organized with everything in its place and I knew where that place was.  Then I went crazy.
I realized that I need to be able to see as much as possible as if it was behind closed doors or in a solid container, it just wasn't likely to be used.  Around that time, I watched some videos on reorganizing, one being Jennifer McGuire's U-tube channel.  I then decided to follow her idea for storing my dies so, of course, had to quickly order the container she used.  For my stamp storage I had been using the Crafter's Companion binder system but had the small binders and only a few of the full size ones.  This had to change so I went on to order more of them.  This task turned out more difficult that I initially thought it would as apparently many other people were also switching to their system so the binders and inserts were difficult to find.  I ended up buying from a couple different sites and pre-ordering from another (yes I have that many stamps - like I said, I'm a sandwich short of a picnic basket!)
Now, reorganizing my supplies may not be totally loony but I had to take it one step further.  After organizing my stamps the binders the first time, I had stamped every last page and scanned the resulting pages to my computer.  From there, I tagged every page to show every option for every stamp (for example a stamp of a bicycle would be tagged bicycle, toy and transportation).  This way I can do a search for exactly what stamp I am looking for.  I was quite happy with the results of this.
Now to confirm that I am indeed as crazy as a loon, after I reorganized into the new binders (not only moving them to the large binders but also reorganizing them into loose categories), I again started stamping every page.  Well, not quite every page - there are a few that I don't have to change.  I'm still in the process of finishing this.
Now to the part that makes me think I'm totally off my rocker.  Because of the program I'm using for my stamps and probably because I'm totally incompetent on the computer, I think I'm going to have to re-enter all (or most of) the tags.  This process took me forever to do the first time so I'm not looking forward to redoing it.  I hope that once I finish stamping the pages and get them scanned into the computer that I will find an easier way around this task.  Cross your fingers for me.
Now I'm off to continue my crazy organizing.
Take care and see you next time.

Water Colour Note Cards

 Here is the post I mentioned yesterday.  I hadn't deleted it after all, just hid it in the drafts.

I made these cards for my new niece's parents in Italy.  I wanted to do scenes that depicted Canada.  Initially, I thought I'd do one for each province then I decided to do scenes that were reminiscent of mainly Saskatchewan and Alberta.  The exceptions to this were the Canadian flag and the lighthouse (that makes me think of the East coast). 
 As you will see from the descriptions in the captions, I used a variety of stamps to make up for my lack of talent for freehand drawing.  The technique I used was learned by watching the videos by Bonnie Krebs, the founder and owner of Art Impressions.  I also drew on my minimal talent and the few lessons I've taken in water colouring - mostly for the backgrounds.  I did attempt a bit of freehand with the flag and northern lights using pictures found on the internet as references.
 The markers I used were Marvy, and Distress.  Both these brands are great for this technique as they both react well with water.  I also may have used the odd Memento marker but I'm not sure.  My desk was well littered with markers by the time I finished these even though I did attempt to keep everything put away as I went.  The paper I used was Strathmore cold press 140 lb. water colour paper.
 All in all, I'm quite pleased with how they turned out (with the exception of the northern lights - I'm not at all sure I like this one but friends did like it so I included it in the gift box of cards).
 I find this technique to be very relaxing and a lot of fun.  I've done several of them now and they all turn out different even when using the same stamps.
 I hope you will tune into the AI videos on either their website or on U-tube.  Bonnie does an amazing job of teaching!
 I welcome your comments and critiques!  I'm still relatively new to water colouring so any hints you may have to offer will be appreciated.
 Have a sunny day!

Autumn farm.  Stamps used - AI (art impressions) watercolour barn and other.  Coloured with Marvy water based markers and a water brush.

Tiger lilies.  I don't remember the company for the stamp used.  Coloured with a variety of  markers.

 

Canadian flag.  Freehand watercolour.  Again I used a variety of markers.

Northern lights.  Freehand water colour

Deer in field. Freehand and stamped (AI wc stamps)

Mountain lake.  Stamped with AI wc stamps and water coloured using a variety of markers

Lighthouse over calm waters.  Stamp used GKD (Gina K Designs).  Again, I used a variety of water based markers.



Flowers in wheelbarrow.  AI stamps and various markers.

Chili Recipe

Damn!!!  I just wrote a lengthy blog about some cards I made for my nephew's Italian in-laws and just when I was ready to put the final touches on it before posting it, it disappeared!  GRRRRRRR!!!!
I'm not about to repeat the post today but will try again in the near future.

Instead, I'm going to post a picture of my Chili and the recipe.

Sorry in advance for the poor measurements - I never measure when making it.  My rule of thumb is that if it is a seasoning I like, I add more of it and if I'm not sure, I use caution (you can always add more, but it is almost impossible to reduce the amount added - ask me how I know)

Chili
1.5 lb. extra lean ground beef
1 small can red kidney beans (I will also add a can of white kidney beans when I'm making a larger batch of chili)
1 can brown beans
1 small can diced tomatoes
1 small green pepper (I will often add red, yellow and/or orange peppers for added colour)
small onion (I used about a tbsp. of onion flakes as I don't really like onions and didn't have one on hand)
2 slices cooked and crumbled bacon (optional)
1 tsp. crushed garlic (I like garlic so my tsp. was heaping)
chili powder (I used probably about 2 tsp. of a mild chili powder)
a smidgeon of salt
about 1/2 tsp. each of Cajun seasoning and Italian seasoning
about 1/4 tsp. black pepper
hot sauce to taste

Brown the ground beef in a skillet with the onion and about 1/2 of the seasonings (if you are using a fattier ground beef, you may want to skip adding seasonings to the beef as it will mostly drain off with the fat).  In a large saucepan, mix the beans, tomatoes, green peppers. bacon and ground beef.   Add some more seasoning and let it simmer for a bit to meld the flavours.  Taste and add more seasonings and hot sauce as desired letting it simmer a bit between additions.

Serve with toast slices or buns and enjoy.

makes about 4 good sized servings.

Tough Decision

Wow! it's been almost 2 years since I posted on my blog.  Shame on me!!
Life has been good.  Since I last posted, I've been to Mexico and, more recently, Italy.  They were both adventures - some good, some not so good.  I think I'll save talking about the trips for another blog.
This blog is a woe is me blog so if you don't want to read on, I'll totally understand.
I have just found out my 14 year old cat may have cancer so I have had a heavy heart trying to decide if I should euthanize her.  The decision isn't so much if I should, but when - should I do it before she gets to the painful and vomiting stage or wait.
Having this decision on my mind, makes me also think about the pets I/we have euthanized in the past and feeling guilty.  Should and/or could I/we have done more?  Was I being selfish and just thinking of own needs and wants?  I'm at least partly guilty of the last statement at least as far as it concerns the last pet I had euthanized.  This may be why I'm questioning my motives so hard this time - I want to make sure I'm doing it for the right reasons.
Misty is diabetic and 14 years old.  She has always been a very loveable right from when I gave her to my late hubby for his birthday.  She loves to sneak outside (although she is supposed to be an indoor cat) and to cuddle with anyone willing to give her some loving.  Her favourite toy is the red dot and she learned quickly that whenever I picked up the laser, it was play time.
She grew up in a house with multiple other 4 legged critters.  We always had at the least one dog and another cat for her to play with and family members were always encouraged to bring their pets with them when they visited.  Dogs were pretty much ignored as only a cat can do.
As I said, she loved to sneak outside whenever she got the chance and often did this just as we were leaving for work.  When we got home in the morning, she would greet us at the door to be let in.  If the weather during the night was nice, she would give us a pleasant commentary of her adventures, but if the weather was cold or rainy, we would get a few choice words in Catonese and a tail gesture that strongly resembles someone sticking their middle finger up at us.
Then I moved and she was an only pet.  That was remedied with the addition of another kitty about a year later.  During this time she only snuck out a couple of times and came back in quite quickly.  Then the addition of a dog to the family meant the dog door was always open.  It didn't take her very long to discover how to use the dog door to get out to inspect the yard.
A suspicion of diabetes was confirmed and then the challenge of trying to find the right dose of insulin ensued.  She then started to gain weight again and was more like her old self.  Unfortunately this didn't last long so it was back to the vet to change her insulin a few more times.  This last visit the vet felt her insulin shouldn't be changed as she was mostly in the safe zone (although this fluctuated to very low at times).  As she was still losing weight (presently she is pretty much just a fur covered skeleton) despite eating and drinking copious amounts, we did some blood work to rule out kidney disease.  Her previous blood work had shown no abnormalities and this new one was much the same although there were a couple of slightly elevated levels (not enough to cause concern).  The vet then suggested that the most likely option for her is cancer.  This is causing her body to use up muscle mass for energy despite her eating enough for 2 cats.  The prognosis - she will likely continue to lose muscle mass until enough is lost that she has even less energy than she now has.  At around this point, she will begin to vomit and likely have seizures.
Yesterday, Misty was very affectionate and cuddled with me for quite some time.  Today I noticed that she was having trouble getting up to the food table.  She is presently cuddled up in me and purring.  I really do love this fur ball!
I don't really expect anyone to read this but if you do, please leave your thoughts in the comments.