AMANDA'S BASKETS: LIFE STILL GOING ON....

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

LIFE STILL GOING ON....

I think I might have overdone it yesterday...remember, I did a lot of driving running errands, walking and even did my laundry. This morning I was back to hurting. Not all the way back, but I did modify my 'to-do' list.

I was going to the post office (about ten blocks away) and stop in several places on the way back for a variety of things. I decided to stay home instead. I rested most of the morning but I have done a few things around the apartment.

For instance, I have had two rope lights that I have always wanted to hang in my main window. Today I did it - after cleaning the window! I am using command strips...crossed fingers that they stay up. I really like the look at night. Here's kind of what it will look like...

Yes, that's my view but quite frankly, I love my apartment so much that the lack of a great view is not a problem. All I have to do is walk out the apartment complex door, across the street and be in a great park area.

I told you that I do have the season of orange up - fall - and I want to share a couple village pieces that I really love...

Did you ever go on hay rides when you were young? I always remember enjoying them...some wagons were hauled by horses and others by tractors. We usually went through the corn fields (after the corn had been harvested). The dried corn stalks made lots of noise as the wagons went over them. Well, that's what these figurines remind me of.

I never had a tree house, but I did enjoy climbing trees. Especially the pine trees at my father's parents home. No one was ever happy with me because I got pine sap all over my clothes...but it was a lot of fun.

I was going to remove the two doors leading into the kitchen but I found that I can hang lots of things on them easily, so I decided to keep them up. Here's the last workshop project for Empires Quilters which I led. The one that gave me back/leg problems!!!

And speaking of the workshops, I finally designed a really simple paper pieces rug mug for the workshop in December...

I have several new quilters so I decided to keep it simple. The edges are white and the inside is white and blue with the blue pieces the corner ones. For the inside, instead of regular batting, I am sewing two pieces of white felt together after placing some seasonal spices inside so that when a warm mug is set on the mug rug, it will give off a light scent.

The weather was unseasonably warm today. Actually, last night was rather warm also. I have all the windows open which is wonderful. I love cool weather but I hope it stays warm enough to keep windows open at least during the day for a long time.

That's all for today folks,
Talk to you tomorrow...
Thanks for visiting...

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?