AMANDA'S BASKETS: HOUSE HUNTING 101, PACKING AND A NEW FALL SCENE...

Monday, August 13, 2018

HOUSE HUNTING 101, PACKING AND A NEW FALL SCENE...

Monday, almost the middle of August...can you believe that summer is almost over? Some kids are already back in school and many will begin next week. NYC public schools wait until after Labor Day.

So, the house with the water problem that was supposed to be fixed has another problem. I am guessing that it's mold. I looked at four more houses and for one reason or another rejected them. The fifth house I looked at Friday is promising. It's old and large and on a great lawn (which I am not responsible for!!!) The property management approved me, now awaiting the owner. I really love this house, but then I loved the house with the water problem. Here's hoping...

I have been packing. On Friday I did drop off the nine boxes to Goodwill and now I have nine more packed. These are all for me. One to one, remember? All my knick knacks are packed though. Next I am going to work on my studio. That should be fun...

I have spent some time on creative projects. I cut out a fall scene, raw edge...

I decided to hand stitch the edges using a blanket stitch...

Here's a close-up...

I know I want to add more but am not sure exactly what. I was thinking of free style embroidery using thread. I think I will make a copy of the scene and draw in some features to see how it looks.

Oh, and I am catching up on my daily challenges...

Well, back to packing...

Thanks for visiting...
Talk with you tomorrow...
Fingers crossed for a positive answer about the latest rental house...

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?