Cool Drink of Water

I am still here... I am just allowing my soul, spirit, and mind a cool drink of water.  A much needed time to just sit and be still.  I have had the joy of hearing the pitter patter of children both my own and their friends running and playing in our home and the delight of hearing the sound of their laughter.  Going on adventures both near and far, and making fun artistic creations.  In this crazy hectic life we all need to take time out to soak up these times as much as often for they are fleeting and all too soon these noises I take for granted will be only a memory.  I am enjoying my children and nurturing their artistic side as much as possible.  Imagination and creativity is a cherished part of childhood all to quickly forgotten in the adult world of work and chores.  I would like mine to strive to keep it alive as adults as well so I am showing them by example the joy of creativity and artistic expression.  We are having a blast :)

At My Back Door

This antique bathroom mirror and towel holder hangs just between my back door in the kitchen and the windows in the dinning room.  I am guessing that it is from the early 1900's.  It is very primitive.  I purchased it in a flea market booth.   We have many large buildings in this area that have been divided up into booth spaces for rent.  The items within the booth are priced and the booth number is on the tag as well.  The building supplies an attendant or cashier to collect the money from the goods sold from the booths and assist customers.  The booth renters are usually not present unless they are redecorating or restocking their booths.  They are very popular in this area because they are usually heated and cooled and out of the elements.  When I was visiting my grandparents in Arizona they had at that time several outdoor markets that were held on certain days of the week instead of buildings.  That was a long time ago and I'm sure things have changed.

I inserted a small dowel into the existing hardware of the cabinet to hang up small quilts.  I would like to change them out with the seasons when I have enough time to make up a few seasonal quilts.  For now I have two identical baby doll quilts that I made for each of my daughters as a Christmas gift several years ago.  The hearts are hand appliqued onto a small square patchwork background, the small hearts at the top of the quilt are a replica of a pillow tuck.  Pillow tucks are part of the quilt with an empty space between the main quilt and the decorative design.  The empty space is designed to be tucked under the front edge of the pillows allowing the decorative accent to lay on the top of the pillows.  It gives the quilts a more ornate look.  If I get to work I can make up a small quilt for spring to hang on the cabinet, but since it's almost Valentines these are working nicely.

Sharing American Culture

Today I had a moment of realization an "aha" sort of thought... do you know what I mean?  It will take my blog in a different sort of direction but will remain the same in ways... actually I hope it will improve upon the direction I am heading...

Let me explain.  I  have always wanted to travel to another country.  I have had my eye on several European countries since I was a teenager.  I enjoy reading books, websites, and blogs from authors of other countries.  I am fascinated to learn about other cultures.  I love finding treasures from other countries at the antique shops and I often wonder about their origin and sometimes trace where they are manufactured and the history of the object.  This always leads to new information and journeys about other countries.   Even when traveling from state to state here in the US I find it interesting because the culture in general is different in each state.  I know that someday I will travel to other countries when the time is right and experience the culture and traditions first hand.

My "aha" came as I was talking to a dear friend of mine about an exchange student here in the US.  She has been staying with my friends relative for several months and will be returning home this weekend.  My friend and I were discussing how the exchange student enjoyed being in America and how she enjoyed her stay here.  I found myself fascinated of course with where the exchange student was from and how the culture differed from America.  This is the very same reason she came here... the very same reason hundreds of thousands of people come to America every year, and the reason we American's travel and sometimes relocate to other countries.  We as humans have the desire to understand and  experience other cultures and see how it is that others live their lives and the differences and likenesses that we have.  As a mom and wife I am so fascinated to learn how mothers and wives and women live their lives and go about their daily tasks and chores in other countries and how alike or different our lives are.
 
I am blessed to have readers from other countries that read my blog.  My "aha" moment came after getting off the phone with  my friend and realizing that as much as I want to learn about how life is lived in other countries, the same desire is there from others to learn about my day to day life as an American woman.  What I take for granted our do out of routine may seem very different and unusual and fascinating to someone else who has a completely different culture.

I will be taking my blog on the same journey but have switched paths so to speak.  I will be explaining things a little more, tools I use, how I go about my daily life and things I take for granted to help others that want to learn as I do about other cultures learn about life in America, at least in this part of America because this is where I am and this is what I have to offer.  There will be times for my American readers when an explanation I give seems obvious but I would like readers from other countries to understand and be able to learn, as much as I enjoy learning from others, one day when the time is right they too might be able to visit America just as I would like to visit other countries.

Quilting with Friends

Sadly, the picture of the adorable birds at our feeder isn't going to happen until I get a camera upgrade at some point in the future... between the door opening, the neighbors cat and being bashful the photo opportunity just isn't going to happen for now :)

I had a fantastic day with my beehive ladies today.  We gather once a month to quilt and sew and chit chat and it brings so much joy to my life.  We also bring delicious food and recipes and usually contribute to the noon meal each one bringing different parts of the meal or dessert.  It is a very special and wonderful day each month that I look forward to.  This time we have decided to have a quilt block exchange that I am particularly excited about.  I have been wanting to make this wall hanging since I saw it and we are all going to be making it together and exchanging the blocks.  I will post pictures of the fabrics soon... Wishing everyone a beautiful weekend :)

What a Week!

WOW!  What a week I have had.  I have missed blogging so very much, but have been ill since the day of my last post and felt all the things that go along with that including exhaustion which lead to being completely and totally uninspired...  until this morning.  I have a bit of a spring in my step and managed to keep up on most of the chores except the poor laundry.  If the beautiful weather we are having continues tomorrow I will be hanging clothes on the line to dry for a bit.  Hard to believe that is even possible in the middle of winter!

This beautiful and deliciously simple mix of yogurt and muesli was my breakfast this morning!  Very filling and very good for you.  The yogurt is an excellent way of helping restore my body since I'm currently wiping out the helpful bacteria in my body with antibiotics.

We have placed bird feeders in our tree behind our house and I have really enjoyed watching all the birds come and get seeds.  It has really brought me a lot of joy especially this past week when I was wasn't feeling well to look through the windows at all the birds fluttering around.  I will try and post a picture of them all gathered there.  Apparently they are bashful because I tried to capture a picture this evening but they all disappeared. :)

Battle in the Kitchen

There is a war going on in my kitchen and right now I'm not sure who is really going to win.... the dishwasher or the other dishwasher.. me!

My job growing up was to wash the dinner dishes.  There are numerous lengths I would go to to get out of this duty.  I vowed as a child to NEVER go without a dishwasher and except a few short years have always been blessed with one.

The dishwasher started having problems a week or so ago right when the holiday's were upon us.  I decided to put off calling the repair man until after New Years.  However, since I knew I couldn't just stuff the dirty dishes in the dishwasher I have kept every single one washed and as soon as they are dry they are put away.  I don't like clutter anyway so I couldn't be more pleased.  However, I have to say I am quite surprised.  Previously I would have a pot or pan waiting to be washed up and I would put it off because well I guess I still didn't care to hand wash the dishes.  If someone had asked me two weeks ago what would happen to my kitchen if my dishwasher ever broke I feel quite sure I would have said " we would have dishes piled up everywhere".  Admittedly, it's been the opposite!  It's actually been quite nice to just wash up a few dishes here and there as we use them and I am never waiting on dishes like when I used the dishwasher.  I only ran it at night which meant pulling things out to wash when needed during the day or waiting until the next day and I still had pots and pans to wash.  In the end I will most likely repair the dishwasher and run it occasionally to keep it in good repair, but for now... I think the most reliable efficient dishwasher is me!

Gathering of the Bed Sheets

Welcome to 2012!  What kind of wonderful resolutions have you made for this new year?  This is such an exciting time of renewed hope and dreams for so many being at the beginning of a new year.  There is so much positive energy in the air as people are looking forward to realizing their goals and dreams.  I hope that each and every one of you reach your goals!

As always I enjoy improving on household skills and organization and saw this idea recently and tried it with great success.

I was so excited about sharing this idea with you.  Instead of searching for the pillow cases to our sheets sets you simply place the entire set inside of one of the coordinating pillow cases and place it in the linen cabinet!  Now you can just reach in and get the whole set without searching for that misplaced pillow case or top sheet.  I couldn't believe how clever this idea was.  Happy organizing :)