One Part Inspiration...

I love power washing. I know that sounds kind of weird, but I really do enjoy it. It's adult-sized water play. On the one hand, power washing is a whole lot easier than scrubbing mold and mildew and rust. It gets the task done in record time. I find something so wonderful about seeing an old rusty, dirty, filthy piece of machinery or the picnic table and chairs come clean. Or getting all that gunk off the deck to reveal its true color. It's a little like painting only with water. It may be old, but it's clean. On the other hand, once the machine is turned on, it is zone out time! It's so entertaining to make a design or two while you watch the grime disappear. Or you can practice your musical skills as you listen to the sound of the zing of the water on the wire as you clean the cage. You can practice sweeping motions to create rainbows. Of course, if your husband comes to investigate your progress, you must look as if you've accomplished something. But once he lea...

A while ago, I was online playing a word game with a friend. We were leaving messages about how we weren't that good at these games. But she figured it was good to challenge ourselves to keep Alzheimer's at bay. I wrote back something like "Yes, the middle aged brain can play tricks on you sometimes". She replied, "Who's Brian?" That's when I looked at the messages and realized that I had typed B.R.I.A.N. instead of B.R.A.I.N. It was weird because as I was typing it, I realized that I had typed it wrong and actually went back and deleted it and typed it again. I think it was serendipitous. Now I have middle-aged Brian to blame for just about anything. Like the other day when I made a pot of tea and poured myself a cup before I realized that I hadn't actually put a tea bag in. That middle-aged Brian ! He just keeps tricking me. Middle-age Brian gets you to do strange things. He makes you open the fridge and put your shoes in it. Or he lets you ...

We have neighbours who live very close. Close enough that we can see their house from ours. (I guess you could say they are spitting distance away from us.) Actually, one day, just to test the theory of how close we actually are, when my brother in law lived there, I shone a million-candle flashlight in the window from our back door, just to see if he would see it ...and he did. I've never seen him move that fast! He thought the police has dropped by. As you might have gathered, I like to have my little jokes. These new neighbours are nature lovers. They have planted lettuce in their front garden. The one reserved for flowers . Naturally, this disappoints me because I have to look at their front garden from my house and how much nicer is it to look at dahlias than lettuce. Oh, well, that's their choice. They do have some roses and some climbing hydrangeas that we planted in the front as well. These I can enjoy from my kitchen window. I feel a motherly concern for these plants, ...

On the first day of cleaning, My true love found for me... A stack of documents I won't need. On the second day of cleaning, My true love found for me Two earring backings....and A stack of documents I won't need... On the third day of cleaning, My true love found for me.... Three stubby pencils Two earring backings....and A stack of documents I won't need.... On the fourth day of cleaning, My true love found for me.... Four unpaid tickets, Three stubby pencils, Two earring backings....and A stack of documents I won't need... On the fifth day of cleaning, My true love found for me.... FIVE COUPON BOOKS! Four unpaid tickets, Three stubby pencils Two earring backings....and A stack of documents I won't need.... On the sixth day of cleaning, My true love found for me, Six unopened bills, FIVE COUPON BOOKS! Four unpaid tickets, Three stubby pencils, Two earring backings....and A stack of documents I won't need.... On the seventh day of cleaning, My true love found ...

Are you stuck for an idea for a night out? One that will while away several hours and cost nothing? Want a cultural experience unlike any other? How about a trip to the Emergency? Or should we call it the "Unscheduled Medical Situation Room"? Unless you need to be air lifted out of there, you shouldn't count on being treated as an emergency. Yes, dear reader, this is a place where you can spend an afternoon or evening together being entertained for free - as long as you are not truly in an emergency situation. Whatever the medical condition you find yourself in, expect the unexpected in this place. You'll find neighbours and strangers, rich and poor, young and old. They all have a story to tell. On a recent trip there, I caught up with old co-workers, acquaintances from the sports teams, and even met some new people who were happy to tell their story to a complete stranger. Story telling was a way to pass the time. Some had come because they needed medication. Some we...

How many words a minute can you type? In today's world, it doesn't matter so much, but "back in the day" when I took those typing classes ("The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy fence"), if you didn't type at 80 w.p.m. you might as well pack up your bags and go home. I loved it when we were given the puzzles to figure out (type 8 spaces and 4 "X") - they were so much fun. It was a little like a counted cross stitch. Only back then you couldn't erase anything so your little puzzle of the alligator might turn out to have some unwanted "X" opposite from him because you didn't count enough spaces before you clicked the "X". (Just a note - I've also tried counted cross stitch, but it turns out I can't count so I gave it up for Lent). Nowadays when I watch my children type, I am amazed how fast they can go without their fingers on a.s.d.f.j.k.l.; ... but there they go just chatting with their friends doing the ...

It all started with the ugly cupboard which has bothered me for many years. We got it from someone who was getting new cupboards and because it fit in the space, we put it in. I have never liked the cupboard. It is white melamine, has parts that are showing the fibreboard underneath, and there are visible holes from screws that had been there previously. However, it provides some storage space and that's a handy thing to have. One day, not too long ago, I saw an ad in the classifieds. Someone was getting rid of oak cupboards for free!!! I like free! Especially if I could replace the free ugly cupboard with a free, better looking option. I brought the ad home and showed it to my husband. "Ix-nay on the Free cupboard " was his reply. Drat. So it was back to the scheming board. Next, I went garage saling and found some door handles someone was unloading. They were only 50 cents each, so I bought some (with a few extra because I couldn't quite remember how many handles th...

The only thing wrong with doing nothing is you never know when you’re finished. This quote by "Anonymous" caught my eye today. I don't know about you, but with me, doing "Nothing" merges into the "Since- I'm -here-I -might- as -wells", and the "Maybe-I-wills" . I consider this a luxury. I also find it satisfying to my soul. "Nothing" can turn into finishing little projects that I haven't quite got to yet, or little bits of re-organizing. I might catch up on emails, play a game, or chat on the phone. Other times, I enjoy spending time at the piano - playing songs that I know, ones that I don't, and throwing in a couple of improvisations. I guess all this proves that you really never do know when you are finished doing "Nothing". But more than that, I know that there's never enough time to do "Nothing". This brings me to vacations. Why is it that when one mentions that they are going to be on vacati...

"Grampa???!!!". That's all I heard before the hay bales fell over and my daughter disappeared. She had been sitting on the top of the "Tower of Babel" of hay that we'd stacked up on the trailer. It was the last of the 120 or so bales in that field. Much to my chagrin, she refused to hop down (I think she was a couple stories high) once they were piled up. Grampa went behind the wheel of the truck and put it in gear. I couldn't watch. I had just said to my youngest "Let's pray" and then, it all went down "boom". All though, hay bales don't really boom. They just tumble silently over one another. She emerged with a sore wrist. Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition. This, folks, is what makes farm life. Life's ups and downs. (no pun intended) As I was wandering about the field gathering the bales into piles, I was thinking of how being out there with the birds singing and mosquitoes biting and the breeze blowing make this ...