AMANDA'S BASKETS: WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

Tuesday - already? Does it seem to you like the days fly by?

I remember (when I was young) when the days just seemed to drag on and on. Waiting for the clock to finally reach that magical moment when the bell rang and school was out! Or finishing up my chores so I could go outside? Or waiting to open presents on Christmas Day?

Well, that's certainly not a description of my todays lately. I could swear that I just climbed out of bed a few minutes ago and fixed myself a cuppa...and that was almost twelve hours ago!

Time. It's precious. And too many times I feel like it is sifting through my hands so fast that I can't catch it. Well, of course, I can't really catch it but you know what I mean. I wonder why. No kids to take care of unless you count Chip and Dale and my two newly arrived pets. No deadlines at work...I am retired.

Maybe, just maybe, I am not being mindful of my time. You know, really being present to it. No, I don't want to be so obsessive that I check off each minute but maybe I should at least be aware of blocks of time.

So what did I do today: Straightened the apartment, moved the parakeets to the living room, vacuumed the apartment, fixed breakfast, read several magazine articles, read a chapter in one book, read two chapters in another book, worked on my landscape, worked on a drawing, checked finances, checked e-mails - once, downloaded purchased digital programs, took pictures. And that was just what I did before noon. Okay I guess I did a lot. By the way, the tv has not even been turned on.

So this is what I did on my landscape. The house went from this...

To this...

I have a few more details to add but I like it so far.

And I worked on my latest journal page...

Back to the two new additions to the household. First of all, no one knew what their names were or even if they had names. So, let me introduce...

Linus...

And Lucy...

She's a bit shy!

It's been windy today. Tomorrow is supposed to be rather cold - not bone chilling cold, but cold enough and they're calling for snow on Friday! And I thought we were done with winter. Guess not!

Thanks for dropping by...
Talk to you tomorrow...

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?