AMANDA'S BASKETS: TREE DECORATED...BAKING UP NEXT!

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

TREE DECORATED...BAKING UP NEXT!

Merry, Merry Days
Lift One's Spirits Very High
Enjoy The Moments

I finished decorating the tree today. It looks quite nice. I then made an attempt to straighten up my office/studio. It is quite a mess. Hopefully I will be able to get things a bit more organized before I go to bed tonight.

The weather was/is pretty bad. Not a lot of snow. Actually, no snow. It's all ice or frozen rain. Walking is treacherous. SnowWhite is covered in about half inch of ice. She will stay put until it gets a bit warmer! Both boys made it to work but getting home tonight will be a long, slow, icy drive.

I have been working on sending out a few cards. My son takes them to work with him and deposits them in the post office which is next door to his office building. I don't send out many cards any more. That seems to be a lost art...but then I think we overdid it at one time sending to folks we barely knew because we felt we needed to.

Years ago, I decided that any cards I sent were done after Christmas because I liked to write long newsy letters. Hmmm. Even letter writing in longhand is an art that is going by the wayside.

Is that a bad thing or a good thing? I really don't know. Instant messaging via the internet is nice to have. And I do send newsy emails to several folks. I often wonder if they will teach longhand in school several years from now.

So today's prompt was about time getting out of hand and what I can do about it. Well, the first thing is that I did not put up all of our decorations...believe me, I have, once again, enough to decorate three homes! I didn't even put on all the tree decorations...again, enough for three, no make that five, trees!

And I have cut down on Christmas Shopping relying a lot on Internet shopping. I actually do not like to shop so purchasing via the internet is a blessing for me. I am much more relaxed about how things are celebrated. Less formal, less planned. That may be because I am retired and not in a position where I really had to decorate to the 'nines'.

I actually began reading an mystery novel last night! So, all in all, I think I am learning my lesson and letting the holiday season be what it is.

That's all for now...

Talk with you tomorrow...

Tomorrow's Prompt

While you rush around preparing for

your Holiday Celebrations, How can

you take time to enjoy the moment?

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?