AMANDA'S BASKETS: BACK TO STAY...I HOPE!!!!

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

BACK TO STAY...I HOPE!!!!

Bet you thought that I wasn't going to continue blogging - right? Well, things have been a bit hectic around here. What, with the guild...still lining up speakers for the first meeting of the month in 2020-2021. And now that we are going to have two meetings...well, we have to find things to keep our members interested for that meeting also.

Add to that, SnowWhite! She's finally fixed...to the tune of $3700!!! About $2500 was general maintenance like the 150,000 mile check-up and replacement of one of two turbos (their life is usually 150,000 miles). But the rest was to fix something that was broken...mainly bolts...on the manifold...not cheap!!!

So, now that things are getting a bit more under control, I hope to blog on a more regular basis...hopefully at least four times a week. I am no longer writing a weekly newsletter for the guild. Now I am only writing two a month.

And can you believe it's fall...almost one-third of September is gone! The season of orange which is still not...at least in my house but I hope to get the fall decorations out this week/weekend.

And, of course, the pandemic still reigns control. Our new normal is certainly nothing like our old normal. We will adjust, hopefully before it's too late. And we have a very big election coming up. I hope all of you will vote. I don't normally talk about politics although I feel very strong about which party I support and am a member of - the Democratic Party.

I guess the best way to approach your vote is to take a look at the condition of our nation...not our stock market, but our actual nation. I bet everyone of you at least knows someone who has had COVID19...and many of us know folks who have died from it. There are so many things verging on the edge that it's mind boggling to even think about it.

It's like the weather yesterday. Park City, Utah woke up to ice, snow, heavy winds and temperatures in the low 40's and southern California was experiencing temperatures in the 120's. Seems like things are out of control.

Well, tomorrow I will share some more of the pieces of fabric art that I have finished. And I made a light box so I can take better pictures for my ETSY shop which I will open up soon. By the way, the name is Fractured Fabrics...in case you forgot.

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?