AMANDA'S BASKETS: STORMS, MONEY AND FABRIC?

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

STORMS, MONEY AND FABRIC?

The purple in these flowers is really brilliant. I'm wondering if they are weeds or cultivated flowers.

The water reservoirs around here which were down last year are quite full now due to the unusual rain storms they have had this past year. Heavy downpours. Looks like Louisiana is suffering from the same abnormal rainstorms. And unfortunately for Louisiana, there has been a lot of flooding and loss of life and property.

Global warming, one of the results of which is more and more abnormally strong storms. Hey folks, we need to get serious about this...

In reading the blogs I follow, I was really struck by an article written by Amy over at Pikaland titled 'Things Money Can't Buy'. She states, "The thing about money though, is that it doesn't buy you freedom...you're a slave to it."

Boy, does that resonate with me. I remember times when money was so scarce that I wondered if we would be able to feed and cloth the kids and still pay our bills. Thanks to friends, garage sales and garden produce we made it. And you know what, our kids never really knew how poor we were.

I'm not really into purchasing the latest style. As a matter of fact, I do most of my shopping at thrift stores. I probably spend too much on fabric (check out the picture later on!) and I do like my electronic gadgets like my iPhone and Kindle. But, I just downsized to a smaller apartment which is bucking the normal trend.

I think Amy has it right. When we are so consumed with how much money we have and what we can purchase - Keeping up with the Jones - we do not own those things and that money. They own us and we become 'a slave to it.' as Amy said.

Something to think about...

But speaking about spending. I wasn't planning on staying this long out here so I didn't bring any fabric. Well, my workshops were being advertised so the guild wanted a sample. The first workshop was originally "Horizontal Landscapes' so I purchased fat quarters for that workshop.

Then the workshop schedule was changed so that the 'Pumpkin Wall Hanging' was first. Back to the quilt store for more fat quarters. The one good thing was that they are only $2 and if you purchase 10 you get an additional 2 for the same price. Well, this is my combined purchases of fat quarters...

YES, way too much but let me tell you, this is fabulous fabric...not what you would get at the calico wall in some craft stores. I know I will be able to use all these fat quarters.

So now I have to pick out the background fabric using greens and then the pumpkin fabric using oranges. And as I have no sewing machine, it will all have to be done by hand. And it all has to be done and in the mail within the next week!!! I'll let you know how things work out.

That's all for today,
Thanks for stopping 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?