AMANDA'S BASKETS: ANGRY ORCHARD & A SIMPLE WORD TO BEGIN IT ALL...

Monday, March 18, 2019

ANGRY ORCHARD & A SIMPLE WORD TO BEGIN IT ALL...

Well, the temperatures have decreased to the mid forties. I know, I know, there was a time in the not so distance past that I loved the mid forties. But now I want the mid to high fifties!!!

Sunday, we went out to a celebration at Angry Orchard with free samples. And those samples were not that small...

When we got to the orchard...and it is a big apple orchard...main area we were given a token for the free samples. We had the option of going on the self-guided tour ending up in the sample room. The tour was great. It all began with the big red truck...

...and went through the process of making cider. I didn't know that New York State was such an apple state...

And check out one of the original 12 feet high barrels...

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So, I was reading in the Craft Devotional Book (which I wrote about in a previous post) about one way to begin the creative process.

It was to look at a single word and begin there. But the word needs to be one that speaks to the artist and it is helpful if it has both noun and verb usage. For instance, love which can be used as both.

I was thinking that maybe that's why choosing a word (or words) for the year (which I have yet to do!!) helps with the creative process.

Anyway, I have been good at doing my daily to-do list. Things like exercise (I walked two miles today), meditation, taking care of the pets and the household chores. But, when it comes to the creative part, I procrastinate.

Example, today I got excited about building a tent structure for the bed of SnowWhite. Yes, I know that's weird, especially when I have a travel trailer. But, I scoured YouTube and the internet and finally came up with my own design.

I guess that's creative but it's not getting my ETSY shop opened or the finishing up some of my projects, etc. See what I mean?

So tomorrow I am going to decide on one word and concentrate on that hopefully enabling me to initiate the creative process. It will not be Camping!!!

Thanks for stopping by...
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?