AMANDA'S BASKETS: THE WEEK THAT WAS...

Friday, July 25, 2014

THE WEEK THAT WAS...

I have to say that this has been one wild week, full of surprises - some not so nice. So, let me begin with Duchess...

...my trailer. I took her in early Wednesday morning for a general check-up which I felt would include some new tires. WELLLLLLLL...only one tire was bad, but I decided to get two new ones that were ten-ply instead of the six-ply ones which were on the trailer.

But then the bad news came... One of my axles was bad and needed to be replaced...(gulp)...and not only would it not be cheap, it would not be quick. They have to make the axle...it's not a standard, off the shelf item. So, that could equate to a couple week's wait.

And, of course, if you remember, I had put all my creative supplies back in thinking I would be working in the trailer from now on. Well, I took some things out but was really not thinking clearly to take the right items. So this morning I went back and packed up a couple large totes with things so I can continue with my projects.

The whole thing took most of the day, so I didn't post on Wednesday.

Thursday was a blur, although Thursday evening was nice but tiring and late. So much so that I once again did not post. Sorry about missing two posts. But back to Thursday evening. There is a holiday here in Utah called Pioneer Day and it occurred yesterday, Thursday. There are a lot of big pot-luck parties followed by fireworks.

Well, I went to one of the parties and let me tell you, they put on quite a fireworks show. But not only the party which I attended, but at least four other parties and fireworks display within a few blocks were going on. What a trip. My camera didn't take very good pictures, but here are a couple. By the way, they lit the fireworks in the middle of the street...

By the way, this weekend is also busy. Lots of folks will be here and everyone will be going to a rodeo this evening, spending the day at the beach tomorrow and attending a demolition derby tomorrow evening...(whewwwwww). I think I will need to rest up next week!!!

ZENTANGLE CHALLENGES: DAYS FORTY-EIGHT AND FORTY-NINE

Needless to say, I didn't get all my goals done...hopefully I will do better next week. Well, thanks for visiting. I have to get ready for a rodeo!!! Interesting places I'm visiting lately. Have a great weekend. See you on Monday...

CRAFTING IDEAS

I am always looking for a small piece of paper to write down something which will later be disposed of. I decided to use some of the scrap paper of which I have a ton. I mostly use the paper for glueing projects. I decided to cut the paper into a small size. (Six pieces from a piece of copy paper.). But just having them sitting on my desk would get messy without a container. So, using a cardboard box, I cut it down to size and using a hot glue gun I glued the ends together. Using a picture from a magazine cut into pieces and stick craft glue, I glued the pieces to the box inside and out. I also used some decorative tape for the outside edges. And to finish the top corners which were not covered, I used straight pins with colorful tops. Looks nice and works well.

MAGAZINE IDEAS

(New) One article in the Farmer's Almanac 2024 is a list of trends. One I knew about is the trend to downsize in just about every area. Another trend that I was surprised about was called ''The Human Library' which offers people on loan to talk about specific subjects. Finally, more folks are adding pets to their family and as a result, stores are adding more pet food, toys and medication to their offerings. There's also a nice garden article which suggests mixing vegetables and flowers together for success.

RECIPE IDEAS

Have you every made Cherry Dump Cake. It calls for 2 cans of Cherry Pie Filling (21 ounces), a white cake mix, 1/4 -1/2 cup butter, melted & 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans. In a 9 by 13 pan, spread both cans of cherry pie filling. Add the melted butter to the cake mix and break apart the resulting mixture and crumble it evenly over the pie filling. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Fast, easy and very delicious.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

What if you want to establish better habits, then decide what habit you want to work on. Again, try an easier one first for that good feeling of success. Let's consider more exercise. Start small. Don't try to run a marathon right away. Set the amount of time, the type of exercise and when to do it to begin making sure that it is within your reach. If it works for you each week add a bit more. Walking is one of the best ways to get good overall movement but there are many exercise videos on YouTube of varying lengths and difficulty to check out. Change your exercise routines to eliminate getting bored. For hardcore exercise with weights, give yourself a day in-between to recover. Even on days you would rather not exercise, do it and see if you feel better. It takes an average of 66 days to establish a habit. Just think 66 days to establish a good habit for a lifetime. Sounds like a good thing to me...how about you?