Category Archives: Random

Is it me?

Posted on by
8

Maybe it’s cabin fever. Perhaps it’s aging. Or the weather. Could I be overwhelmed? Underwhelmed?

Whatever it is, I’m in a funk.

I haven’t touched my knitting in over a week.

Yesterday when I was outside with Pepper, I saw everything that needs to be done in the yard. More dead or dying trees should be cut down. The 550-600 pavers want to be a walkway around the deck. The almost bare sometimes muddy path between the deck and garage door and around the garage longs for a paver/concrete sidewalk. The flower beds in front of the house are pathetic.

The good things about being outside were the fresh air and the clear, sunshiny skies with a few whipsy clouds.

Inside the house… Let’s not even think about that!

Well, I have no motivation. My just-do-one-thing voice is on vacation. I sit and play games on my iPad. All. Day. WTH?!

I tried to make pie crust for the beef pot pies we had last week. I completely screwed it up. I forgot to cut the butter/lard into smaller chunks before adding to the flour. Then I forgot to cut the fat into the flour before adding the water. Everything went into the food processor at the same time. I couldn’t figure out why I had this overworked lump of stickiness with a big hunk of frozen lard in the middle.

I took a deep breath, cleaned the food processor, took another deep breath, and started over. Perfect pie crust.

So is it just me? Or do you suffer from the February Funk?

Patti

Things I want to do this year

Posted on by
8

We’re already two weeks into the year and I’ve been thinking and writing down things I want to get done this year. If they are good, I can keep doing them in future years.

  1. Post at least once a week. And on a schedule. Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Pick a day and stick with it.
  2. Knit at least one row a day though I tell myself it’s five rows a day. That’s not really hard when it comes to socks which I seem to knit most of the time. I’m joining a KAL this month and surprise, I’ll be knitting a sock.
  3. Plan and finish one sewing project a month. The first project is a bag to hold my new yarn swift. Our church will have a baby shower in the spring with items donated to a local pregnancy center. I will sew burp cloths and perhaps knit a few hats.
  4. Practice makes perfect (or at least improvement). I painted wooden sorority and fraternity paddles for pledges in college which it was quite profitable. My Old English calligraphy was pretty good back then as that was the most popular font style. I even designed and printed invitations for a wedding and parties many years ago. Now that skill has all but disappeared. Lindsey at The Postman’s Knock is my go-to for inspiration to get back into calligraphy. I have the materials. I need to sit down and do it at least 30 minutes every day.
  5. Organize and declutter the basement is on my list Every. Single. Year. My grandson helped me paint one cinderblock wall one summer. I painted another wall myself. Two more walls to go so it’s brighter and cleaner looking. It’s cool in the summer but cold in the winter so this will be a warm weather project. Making zones might be best: craft zone, workshop zone, paint zone, storage zone, etc. Having rubber-type flooring would make standing on the cold, hard concrete floor much more comfortable, too. I could make space for a sewing room and get my sewing machine out of the tiny laundry room.
  6. Speaking of cleaning and decluttering…this blog needs some major work. Posts, tutorials, and how-tos need updated tags and categories that include specific words about the content. All posts related to the Dots and Stripes Purse should be tagged as such so all posts pertaining to that sock would appear in a search for that particular project. That will be time-consuming with over a thousand posts but tackling a couple a day should make that go faster.
  7. Include some self-care by relaxing and unwinding in healthy ways. I started getting a pedicure every month last fall and will continue this year.
  8. Stop playing mind-numbing games on my iPad for hours and use my time wisely. I’m pretty sure I have fewer days ahead than behind. I seriously doubt I’ll live to be 144 years old so I shouldn’t waste time with nonsense. Life is too short.
  9. Learn something new.
  10. Show gratitude.

Those are some goals, resolutions, things I want to do this year.

What are you doing this year?

Patti nona

It’s over

Posted on by
2

Blogtober is over. Whew!

What I learned from this experience:

  • Blogging every day is hard.
  • Finding subject material is hard.
  • Blogging from my phone is hard.
  • I set my mind to do it and I did!

Thank you all for reading and commenting on my posts.

Now I need to figure out where and how to go from here. Posting once or twice a week with interesting content is high on the list. We’ll see how it goes.

Patti nona