One Part Inspiration...

New Year.  New Beginnings.  New Chances.  Yes, it's that time again.  Time to review and renew. Time to yearn for the unexpected, the unattainable, the unimaginable. Some time ago, I determined not to make resolutions.  However, this year, I caved.  My husband and I made a game of it.  What did we want to see in 2015?  What were some of our dreams and ambitions?  We brainstormed.  And then we wrote them down. Late in 2014, I found a binder in which I had written down thoughts about themed birthday parties, filed interesting articles on household organization and finances, as well as cataloguing internet courses I had taken.  Also included in this binder were lists of Christmas presents for everyone from teachers to co-workers and family[starting in 1993 - and abandoned by 2006], menus for special occasions, recipes for various fun items, and inspirations for making gift baskets [one of my early yearnings was to start a 'Send A ...

Sometimes you have to think inside the box, and imagine it to be a different box. Case in point: In a bid to have my newly-minted silverware drawer more organized, I stopped at Ikea the other day to find a product which they carry. My new silverware drawer is bigger than the individual boxes I had been keeping the silverware in and I was finding that they were sliding all over the drawer.  I didn't want an old-fashioned silverware holder because I needed to store more items in it than the slots had room for.   I know this is a First-World problem, but it was frustrating to continually put the little boxes close to the front of the drawer, knowing they would slip to the back of the drawer as soon as I closed it.  I tried to use other items to stop the slide, but the items were not big enough.   What I needed was another one of theseexpandable sets so I could put all my ecoutrements inside and know they would stay in place.   Sounds easy enough, r...

Around Valentine's I asked my Music and Company group to think about attributes they valued most in another person.  In the next few weeks, we made this poster to highlight their responses.  Each of them helped to put it together - pasting the letters on according to their creative bent.  And we made the heart in the shape of a puzzle to denote the many pieces that go into learning to love. To extend it a little bit, I asked each of them to name their best attribute.  This turned out to be a bit more difficult.  I imagine that you blog readers also might have difficulty naming yours.  If they had a tough time coming up with something, I reflected back to them something I saw in their lives that would fit the bill. Valentine's Day can be a tough time of year for people who don't have family, or have lost their loved ones.  After completing this project, I felt sure that coming at it from this angle was a way to celebrate the day without draw...

This picture makes me smile. I took a picture so you could smile too.  Look down the sidewalk and do you see what I see?  The garden starting to come together. (insert happy dance)  In the demolition phase here, I had a somewhat desperate feeling  when I realized it was not feasible to have a garden.  I had left the farm where we had built up our collections of hostas and peony (loved that peony) and other plants [which have names, but I can't remember them] - and now was at The Pokeaway -  looking at a sidewalk filled with leftover insulation. I said to a friend of mine "It's not the year for the garden" but in my heart, I felt more sad than matter-of-fact because plants are an easy way to bring joy and it would be another season before I got to play in the garden.  It was a long winter. We finally were able to start on the garden last year.  We added shaped beds and bark mulched around the place.   It looked so much b...

I was feeling a little panicky a few weeks ago.  My brother and Dad were coming to visit.  It would be the first time my Dad had seen The Pokeaway since he was out to visit a couple of years back.  At that time, there were no walls inside the house, and the siding was just going on.  Even though there had been a lot of changes, there were certain things I wanted cleaned up before he got here.  One of them was the paint job in my son's room.  We had left it unfinished for several months.  Every time I thought about getting out the brushes and rollers, a great fatigue overtook me.  I have painted SO much in the  house and a re-do was more than I could manage.  The other big job was the repainting of the bathroom.  I had used a paint which was sub-par and even though I tried to fix the job (five times) it never righted itself and again, I defaulted to leaving it be.  There were even parts of the bathroom that hadn't even been pa...

Tonight, when it was supper time, I pulled out one of my favourite tools.  I don't even know what it is called - but it is made by Moulinex.   I have only seen two of these tools - One, my mother-in-law owns and one that I own.  I am not even sure where she got hers.  It might have been at a county fair, or at a department store, but as I said, I have never seen another like it, until I picked up one for myself at a local thrift store. I had been on the prowl for one for a very long time.  I had used hers and loved the ease with which it grated cheese.  Press the button, and Bingo! Bango!, a bowl of grated cheese.  In fact it is so fun to use this tool, that it is tempting to use up all two pounds of cheese just for the pleasure of watching it come and flow into the bowl.  So when I saw it in the thrift store this summer, I tried to mask how excited I was to find it.  It was 10$ on the price tag, but I think I ended up getting...

A while ago, I was watching a program where a professional organizer was the expert guest.  The other guests, a young couple, were overwhelmed by the amount of laundry, toys, dishes, and paper their house had.  The camera panned out around the house, and it was evident that there was very little organization in the house.  The woman explained that she was so busy taking care of the kids that she didn't have time to do anything else.  The husband said it was hard to live in a house with so much chaos. Then the professional organizer began giving advice.  Only one thing that he said stuck with me.  It was: "Finish the cycle".  In other words, if you fold the laundry, finish the cycle and put it away while you are going.  If you are clearing the table, finish the cycle and put them into the dishwasher.  Those three words struck a chord in me.  They are the key to completing any job.  Since that time, I have found those words e...

Back in December, I got an invitation to be part of a celebration of 100 th anniversary of "The International Day of Women". A group in Ireland has been putting together a display of postcards from around the world, to celebrate women. I am not very artistic. But I thought it would be fun to put in a submission, for posterity. For a while, I thought of gathering pictures of women around the world, and putting a caption " You are Beautiful ". But then life got in the way, and I didn't get to it. A few weeks ago, my boss (who's sister-in-law is heading up the project) reminded me about it. She wondered if the "Art and Music" group I run might want to put in their own submissions. I thought that was a great idea, and set them up with their own postcards. However, my submission got put on the back burner, until this week, when I was enjoying poor health. When I found this picture in my archives, I decided to pay tribute to my own sweet Mom. [The posti...

Every year, one of my girlfriends and I exchange ideas for our yearly goals. When I told her that one of my goals was to 'give back', she asked me how I planned to do that. Then she invited me to join her in volunteering at The Gleaners. I asked what that entailed, and her description was so inviting, I had to say yes. They start at 8:30 every morning, and work until noon. Most of their volunteers are seniors who, by the sounds of it, have been involved for a number of years. They take donations of food from the community that might not be 'retail friendly' or overstocked and make it into dried soup mix and send it to people around the world that need it. My #1 son decided he would come with me. He was a seasoned volunteer - having spent time there during his high school career with various missions classes and leadership classes. I was proud to walk in with him, as various people greeted him by name and asked him what he was up to now. My friend had already arr...

2011 Just writing that makes me feel older. It always takes a few weeks to get used to writing the dates of a new year. And the beginning of the year begs some contemplation. So here's a few of mine: 11 Things I loved about 2010 11. Surprise friendships. 10. Sunsets at The Pokeaway. 09. Being physically closer to my inlaws. 08. Watching my son graduate and begin his grown-up life. 07. Date nights with my husband. (Sometimes during the day too :) 06. The Olympics. 05. Opening up the storage boxes to see what I'd been missing for the past year. 04. Long conversations with my siblings. 03. Rising to the challenge of preparing seminars on my area of expertise. 02. Working in various settings and in a variety of jobs. 01. Realizing dreams. 11 Things I don't want to do in 2011 11. Move. 10. Sort through stuff. 09. Buy more sheep. 08. Paint. 07. Get caught up in things that don't matter. 06. Play mindgames. 05. Buy useless gizmos. 04. Waste resources. 03. Too much laundry. ...

This is not a picture of nothing. It is the lunar eclipse. Too bad, you can`t see what we saw.... My husband decided to build a bonfire and have us watch it. The eclipse occured on the same date as the Winter Solstice. He told me we would not be alive for the next occurence of an eclipse at this time of the year, since the last Winter Solstice and Lunar Eclipse happened in 1638, when Galileo pronounced that the earth revolved around the sun, not the other way around. A lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, the earth, and the moon are perfectly aligned, with the earth in the middle, blocking the moon from the sun's rays. I realize this makes me sound all scientific and stuff, but I am not. I Googled it just like the rest of you. So, at the time when all good children should be in bed, there we were out in the cold winter air, watching the eclipse. In our part of the world, it was cloudy, and the forecasters said that we might not be able to see it. But my husband was undeterred. Tha...

We have a joke, my husband and I. When it comes to Friday night, we often discuss what we should do, to celebrate the end of the week. And we generally narrow it down to an oft-repeated option. But first, we have to brainstorm. I think this came about because when we were going out, someone inflicted a book on us about dating. Along with the regular advice (how far apart a couple should sit, to avoid temptation...the differences between guys and girls....communication techniques...) it had a section on "Things To Do On A Date". The list was long. And mostly boring. Does any red-blooded couple really want a tour of the local cheese factory? Or a visit with the forest ranger? Puhleees. However, every time he asked me out on a 'date', we felt obligated to discuss these options, and see if any of them would be a good fit. After a couple of seconds, we would default to our favourite. Our dating life was uneventful. Mostly it was me getting up at five a.m. on wee...

In the beginning, was the mess. And the mess was great indeed. Food supplies, containers, and all sorts of 'stuff' was out and about, creating chaos. What to do? What to do? Well, along came my father-in-law, with a beautiful cupboard. It was at least 8 feet high. He helped move it in, and there it sat for several weeks, promising great things. By and by, my husband analyzed the situation and measured once, twice, three times, and then began the modifications for fitting it into the pantry/boiler/furnace room. He did it while I was out and about, making sure my son arrived on time to soccer practice. When we returned, we helped move it into the room. And the re-loading began. Flour and sugar, cereal boxes, cans, and other goods were placed lovingly. Amazingly, there was still more room in the cupboard for future additions. And even more wonderful, is the space it has created in the kitchen. Bring on the chocolate chip oatmeal cookie baking!

“ Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” ― Anonymous- This quote was sent to me last week and I thought it intriguing. There's nothing I'm better at than laying around in a pool of guilt and regret over what has happened in the past. Perhaps it is time to turn the dial the other way and look at new beginnings starting today. February 1, 2010 - 02 01 2010- A group I ran across, which calls itself " 30 Day Challenge " is asking people to join them on some sort of challenge for thirty days to see what a difference they can make in their life. I imagine that many people who are joining have in mind some sort of physical plan. Exercise. Diet. More sleep. I love joining groups like this, but I feel cautious about going public with it. However, I think it worthwhile to set aside a month aside to work on something which could change my life. It seems easier to attain than setting a resolution for a whole y...

Much as I loved packing away all my stuff away, [with no estimated time of reopening them], I have to say that it got a little tedious. And it was even more 'fun' trying to figure out what to do with all the linens. Blankets, towels, place mats, tablecloths; all were crying out for a place amongst the plates, cutlery, computer gear (why in the world do we need 7 power bars?). I left them until the end. At first I thought I would use them for stuffing. But some of the blankets were much too big for the Rubbermaid boxes, let alone getting them to fit around the crystal. Then I had a brilliant idea. I had seen these vacuum sealed bags advertised, and thought they were worth a try. The idea is to stuff as many things in the bags and then suck the life out of the bag with a vacuum hose. It was truly SO much fun to see this: go to this: Then we figured out that if we put more pressure on the bag by stepping on it, or sitting on it as the air was being sucked out of it, that th...

This is a project I started more than a year ago. When we got married, my mother-in-law-to-be gave me this small binder. In it, she had transcribed recipes which she used in her kitchen. I thought it was the best gift. Very personal. She had dividers in it to categorize the recipes. I have used it often, and transcribed my own recipes into it. Well, I have to say, that some of the recipes I only used once or twice, but still, the book became one of my 'go-to' books when I was trying to come up with something that had a vague resemblance to a meal or a dessert. The book has begun to show signs of wear though, especially in the past two or three years (cookie dough being dropped on it, writing smudged from thumbing through it). The size and the shape of this binder also meant I had to put it into the shelf sideways to get it in. Although I'm not obsessive-compulsive, I did notice it every time I tried to put it into the shelf, that I had to turn it. I have a couple of other b...

If you were in Grade Eight Home Ec, you might have a take-home project to do on the weekend. Your teacher might require you to make a photo essay of the steps you took to make the Blueberry Muffins. First, you preheat your oven to 400 F. (200 C), Then you line your muffin tins with paper liners. Then you sift together: 250 ml. of flour 50 ml. of sugar 1 ml. of salt 10 ml. of baking powder Make sure you have invited a friend over who can interpret the numbers for you- because your mother runs an antiquated kitchen and only has Imperial measuring utensils. This friend might come in handy a little later also, when the muffins are baking. Make a well in the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix: 1 small egg 125 ml. of milk 30 ml. of oil Beat this together, pausing to pose for pictures every once in a while. Don't forget to remind your mom that her job is to document this process - don't let her near the project. She must remain on the OTHER side of the counter-out of r...