AMANDA'S BASKETS: TREE FINALLY BLOOMED

Monday, April 16, 2018

TREE FINALLY BLOOMED

Guess what? The tree finally bloomed. The top photo was taken in the afternoon when it was sunny and the bottom photo was taken more or less in the shade. Either way, the tree was in full bloom and very beautiful.

I also took a couple more photos on the same walk...

So the two days of warm weather brought out the flowers. However, we had a lot...A LOT...of rain last night and today, even some thunder, and it has turned quite cold. But I think I would take this weather rather than the couple feet of snow that the midwest had...especially Minnesota!

So, on Saturday, on my way to teach the focus group at Empire Quilters, there were some problems with the N train, so it ran on the R train track. Well, you can imagine what that did to my schedule. I was around 45 minutes late, but everyone waited for me and I got the folks on track to have fun with Jude Hill's technique.

And, May's focus group will be 'painting with fabric' much in the Ellen Linder's technique, but not quite.

On the way home, right next to the Fashion Institute at 28th and 7th, I got to know the sidewalk up close and personal!!! Thanks to a group of 30 somethings who helped me up, things were okay. I hope I told them thank you. I was so surprised that I may not have...so, if anyone reading this blog helped a little old lady get up right next to the subway entrance last Saturday...THANK YOU! And, I am fine, not even any aches today!!!

Well, today was tax day, so my time was spent gathering information, filling out my tax forms both federal and state, e-filing and even paying the state (Yes, I did owe money to the state!). But that little chore is once again done for the year!!!

Now I need to get some household chores done, like cleaning kitty litter, vacuuming and making supper. I did some hand washing (clothes) this morning and they are already hung up to dry.

Tomorrow...creative projects only...I hope! Well, that and looking into linking instragram to my blog. And collecting things for the teacup/mug exchange. And getting things made for the Holiday Charity with Empire Quilter's. And...well, you get the idea...

Thanks for visiting...
Talk with 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?