AMANDA'S BASKETS: QUILTS, WALKING, MINIMALIST ARTICLE

Monday, May 16, 2016

QUILTS, WALKING, MINIMALIST ARTICLE

QUILTS
I did spend Saturday in Manhattan, attending the Empire Quilt Guild Meeting. I took a couple pictures of quilts to share. Actually, I took a lot, but most of them did not turn out well enough to share...

It was a fun meeting. And I managed not to purchase anything...well, actually, that's not true. I did purchase old five magazines for a dollar. Unfortunately, they were heavy magazines. Why is that important?

WALKING
Well, getting from Brooklyn to the stop on 28th Street in Manhattan on the R Train is easy. However, getting back? The R which is generally a local train turned out to be an express due to work on the local train track. So I wound up walking down to Union Square. There was still no R Train going to Brooklyn but I took the Q Train to Canal Street and picked up the R Train.

In a way, it was a good thing because those extra miles meant that I not only made my goal of 12 miles last week, I walked 15 miles. I also climbed 27 flights of stairs...gotta love those subway stairs!!!

So tomorrow my plan is to visit the American Folk Museum up by Lincoln Center...and if possible, I will take as many pictures as possible.

MINIMALIST ARTICLE
While reading 'Becoming Minimalist' I ran across a great article from the Huffington Post called 'Declutter Your Fantasy Self' by Francine Jay. It was an interesting take on decluttering...one that I think applies to many folk including me.

I don't know about you, but I do purchase craft supplies thinking that I will try a new craft when...I have more time, I have a better studio, etc. There are other examples in the article which also hit home like having formal clothes for a jean's and t-shirt lifestyle. Give it a read, you may find it an eye-opener for yourself like I found for myself.

There's a new Journal Prompt posted. The first week, we looked back. The second week, we appreciated where we were at right now. This week, we're beginning to look forward.

Thanks for dropping by today...
Talk to you later...

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?