AMANDA'S BASKETS: DON'T JUST FRET ABOUT IT...DO SOMETHING!

Friday, March 31, 2017

DON'T JUST FRET ABOUT IT...DO SOMETHING!

DON'T JUST FRET ABOUT IT...DO SOMETHING!
Feeling a bit anxious? Not sleeping well? Munching constantly? Unable to concentrate? Muse on vacation?

Well, folks, join the ranks of millions who are feeling the same way. Even folks who are not paying attention to the political chaos are feeling uptight.

Do you remember Imelda Marcos? Her legendary collection of shoes? Over 3000? Well, I keep waiting for and watching the other shoe to drop from this administration. I have come to the realization that they have one thing in common with Imelda...shoes...because they keep on keeping on...dropping, that is!!!

Folks, we have not even finished the first 100 days of this administration and shoes are dropping like acorns in the fall.

There are only a couple ways to handle this situation. Totally ignore everything that's going on. Of course, you may have to visit a deserted island to do that.

Or, better yet, get involved. Join a political group with the same interests that you have. Make monetary contributions to organizations that you support. E-mail, telephone or write and mail your representatives about your concerns. In other words, don't just fret about it, do something.

Well, today was a disappointment of sorts. I wanted to visit Macy's Flower Show...it began raining late last night and it's still raining (at 6:30pm). And it's suppose to continue well into tomorrow.

So, I washed clothes. As I didn't have any quarters, I pulled out the portable small washer and the spin dryer which I used in Duchess and at my home in Maine. They still worked. And I found a great place to dry my clothes...the bathroom. The pipe which sends hot water upstairs is in my bathroom so it's always warm. Clothes washed, dried and put away!

My weekend plans include quilting the Southwest Landscape, finish listening to Plato's Republic and working on a couple more large scrap blocks. So what are you going to do? Make sure to include something that you really enjoy doing...

Thanks for dropping by...
Talk to you next week...

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?