AMANDA'S BASKETS: HOUSE HUNTING, CHALLENGES & HANDLING LIFE

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

HOUSE HUNTING, CHALLENGES & HANDLING LIFE

I love the depth of color in these flowers. The sprinkling of sunlight adds a pink tone to the otherwise deep purple color.

So, yesterday was another day spent looking at houses. I actually found one that had all the features wanted except one...it was too far. Commute time via train was 3 hours, via bus was 2 depending on time of day and 1 hour 45 minutes via car again depending on time of day.

This has been on the market for almost a year so I'll keep it in my back pocket, so to speak, if nothing else comes up. Tomorrow and Friday I will be looking again, this time east of the Hudson rather than west.

I tried something new with my Project 365 Somethings. I wanted to see how much I could incorporate a paper doily into the cards for seven days. Here they are...

I used colored pencils for the background and some of the coloring on the paper doily. The dots are made with markers. It was an interesting challenge and one that I think I will continue for the next few weeks. The theme was different for the One Little Tag challenge, but I still incorporated a single element to be used in all the tags. I'll share them tomorrow.

I did manage to do some more on my embroidered tree...

Now that I am this far on the tree, I am considering what else to include. I could leave it as a single element, but I am more inclined to add something like a deer or rabbit or both!

So, how do you handle life in today's world? Especially politics? I have found that a breather each day is better for both my physic and my creativity. I turn off all media after the Stephenie Miller Show at noon (for this time zone) and leave them off until between 8 and 9pm. I do like to watch the Rachel Maddow Show and The Last Word. But, I do not check every few minutes to see what is new.

The other thing I do is exercise. I have to say that I love the results of exercise but I really do not enjoy doing them. It's the old adage 'Use it or Lose it' that keeps me going. That, plus the fact that some of the lakes I want to fish in require a bit of a hike!

I hope everyone is enjoying the day...
Thanks for dropping in...
I look forward to talking with 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?