AMANDA'S BASKETS: Fabric, Cobwebs & Bedrooms...

Monday, November 22, 2021

Fabric, Cobwebs & Bedrooms...

Well, I did go and pick up fabric which I thought was going to be dropped off at another person's home. It was apparent that the second person could not take any at this time. So, guess what? I wound up taking it home...here.

I had the seats up in the back of my truck (it's a crew cab so there's a lot of room). The back was packed tight almost to the top. I had a box and a couple bags in the passenger seat and three more giant bags in the back of the pickup. (I have a top so I can carry things without getting too wet if need be.)

All the fabric is now in my old bedroom. I hauled it in the back door, through the house and down the stairs...all 23 large garbage bags of fabric!

So today, with the added pleasure of company for Thanksgiving, some of whom may spend the night, I totally cleaned up my old bedroom, making it as nice as possible with all the fabric. I vacuumed everything including the beds. Made up the two twin beds ready for folks. Spent about an hour vacuuming all the cobwebs in the rafters, cleaned the bathroom and then cleaned outside...the door to that bedroom goes directly outside.

Then I took out about a ton of garbage including cutting down boxes. Finally, the frig had to be cleaned out to make place for all the food we are preparing.

It's been a very busy day today but I finished the basement, the garbage and the frig. Tomorrow I will be shopping for the rest of the things I need for Thanksgiving and cleaning part of the main floor.

I plan on making the pies Wednesday morning and then getting the kitchen ready for my chef son to fix all the things he will be making. (School is only half day so he will be home early.). I also will clean up the common rooms, rearrange seating and getting the table set up as well as taking out my mother's special occasion dishes and making sure they are all clean.

But, believe it or not, I am excited to have folks coming for Thanksgiving. It will be fun to sit around and enjoy each other's company.

So, what are you doing for turkey day? I hope it's something special...

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?