Reflections on Blogging in 2013

Thirty-three posts in 2013 isn't bad.

It's not great but it's much better than 2012 when my sweetie's health and chemo weekends occupied my time and energy and many posts were just my weekly guidepost quote.  Can I just say how grateful I am for clear CAT scans and minimal doctor visits?!  To relax into "normal" without that constant worry is a huge gift that I'm enjoying while I can.  I was nervously productive in waiting rooms and chemo suites--you should see how many yoyo's I sewed and the embroidery I stitched--but the joy wasn't there so I never blogged about any of it.

My non-blogging excuses in 2013 revolved around a malfunctioning camera; no one wants to see blurry photos.  Thankfully another camera appeared into my life (I apparently can't write without a photo to inspire me).  Since I killed the first camera by taking it to a foggy, windy, sandy beach you might think that Camera Numero Dos would be carefully shielded from the elements.  Heh, heh--maybe not. I took it with me last week so I could take photos of the grands on a winter beach.

Now I'm getting error message 6120 and soon will be delving into the mysteries of digital camera mechanics.  The photo above was totally worth it though!  Even though the camera whirs before giving me access and the lens cap only half works, it focuses.  I can live with that. 

 

I've done the SLR thing with a film camera and I'd rather not haul anything bulky so no expensive DSLR's are in my future. I'm happy with my simple cell to no smartphones either.  Point-and-shoots suit me.  And my almost-fully-functional camera will keep me blogging.

I've noticed that many bloggers have dropped off the blogoscope in the past couple years.  Have you seen that too or is it only my imagination? I know that as I read the "big bloggers" with their daily posts and amazing projects I get a little discouraged sometimes.  I can't compete with their readership or productivity.

Maybe you feel the same way, but you know what?  Most of them have good ideas but they don't feel like friends. You do.  I miss catching up regularly with my cherished online friends as they paint, build, re-arrange, glue gun, plant, harvest, decorate and share their lives.  I enjoy your comments and love to comment on your doings too.  It's a dialogue that just doesn't happen with mega-bloggers, as least for me.

Let's think of ourselves as filling a niche!  The friendship/inspiration/encouragement niche--it's far more important to me than catching up on the latest decorating trends.  Keep on blogging so I can keep on reading and commenting and loving you from afar.

I confesss that I've lagged in the blogging department because I'm so far behind the decorating curve that I feel out of it.  My style will never see me willingly live with a stainless steel fridge or paint one single thing in my house gray or decorate with chevrons.  Also, I lived through mid-century modern once and once was enough.  I like colorful interiors with plenty of art and furniture that tells a story.  I like cottage and country and flowers.  I might just be a few decades ahead of the latest trends in my hopeless enjoyment of unpainted oak, white appliances and brass.  I'm grateful that there are a few others out there who love the same cheery things I do. And happy some friends are showing me how to embrace just enough change and challenge myself.

Facebook and Pinterest have vacuumed up some of our precious blogging time.  It's soooo easy to make a short  Facebook entry to let family know what I'm doing.  I spend time on Pinterest regularly, but it's been solid inspiration rather than pipedreams.  I have a slew of projects that came right from my boards.  Finished projects, people!   

As I wrote this, I figured I should logically add a Pinterest button.  Now you can peek at my boards! 'Cause I figured out how to add one to my homepage...all by myself.  I totally rock.


There were twenty-three drafts in 2013 (as oppposed to forty-eight in 2012!) that never saw the light of a computer monitor. Subjects ranging from Mr. Roger's birthday to the truth about chickens.  No loss.

But there's a how-to draft showing my ever-improving velvet pumpkin skills.  A draft featuring a colorful new guest room quilt--my first quilt made for an actual bed (not a picnic or a wall hanging or a holiday pillow).  Also, helping to make my niece's dream wedding a reality was a highlight and I've barely shared it.  Especially since it sparked a long-dormant dream into the planning stages of creative and hopefully lucrative fun.  I definitely must turn some of the drafts into published posts.

So there you have it.  Looking back at what I did right--and what I could have done better--always helps me make my fresh starts more productive.  I really want to live my mantra for this year!

Be (INSPIRE)d,
 

Sparkly White Snowflakes

I love snowflakes, real or faux.

An aside...We could use some of the real thing along about now.  I know there are plenty of people in the eastern U.S. who are shivering in the white stuff, but we're heading for another drought year here in the West.  My garden would appreciate a nice insulating blanket of snowflakes now and it would be great to have lots of cool water this summer.  Then too, I'd like to indulge one of my favorite wintertime activities--going for a midnight walk with Kharma after a good dump.  The fresh snow sparkles as though every crafter in the universe poured their glitter outside my door. But this isn't really about winter weather...

I'm not one of those people who look around the day after Christmas and take down their tree and pack away all the decorations.  The Queen Mother does that and I've never understood why.  I'm that friend, the one who firmly believes in the Twelve Days of Christmas and never puts one ornament away before Epiphany on January sixth. So I'm just now hauling in the bins, carefully wrapping Santas and reindeer away until next December.  I've packed away the holiday napkins and towels, the mugs and Spode Christmas plates.  The nativity sets and tinsel garlands are gone.  I'm making progress.

Sometimes I get sidetracked.  (I'm easily sidetracked.)

Partly because it's a lot more fun to get out eight bins of holiday crap than to put them away.  Partly because I know the cottage will seem awfully austere after the cheery Christmas treasures are packed up. 

Today the culprit was this coppery/orange snowflake (a gift two years ago) which managed to hold up an entire bin of holiday decor.  All the other snowflakes that hang out (literally) with a holly garland and white lights on top of my china cabinet are nicely packed away.  I couldn't bring myself to add this brash varmint to the starched white crochet flakes and iridescent sparkly crystals.  I'm sure there's a venue for orange snowflakes but it's not in my home.

 Even though it was breezy outside, that didn't stop me from a bit of spray-painting.  And it was plenty warm enough in the garage for glue and glitter.  So I did.  I wish you could see how sparkly this looks now that it's well-glittered with twinkles of silver, gold, green and turquoise.

My family won't have to look at an orange snowflake next Christmas!  Whew! I've saved them from a horrible fate.

Now I can add this last snowflake to the otherwise fully-packed bin and move on to figuring out how the wallhangings and pillows all fit into the next box.

Am I the only one who manages to complete lots of holiday to-do's after Christmas rather than in a timely manner beforehand? It happens every January for me.  I now think of myself as being prepared eleven months ahead of time rather than a month late.

Bring joy,
 

I Wanna...

Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.  Have my photo taken in front of the Palace of the Legion of Honor.  Explore the Presidio. And get to the new-and-improved DeYoung Museum.

I was just in The City (San Francisco to those of you who didn't grow up in the Bay Area).  I used to love buying peppermint-striped carnations from the outdoor vendors and love beads from the hippies back in the day.  Eating abalone at Grotto Number Nine at Fisherman's Wharf after seeing the Ice Capades was awesome when I was a kid.

I retrieved my basic SF skills which include a bunch of very aggressive behaviors like driving with my window rolled down, one hand on the horn, one hand ready to gesture the window and one hand (presumably) on the steering wheel.  Oh, and the other hand on the stick ready to shift into first while on a completely vertical hill.  Tricky unless you're a cephalapod or an alien.


Even though we survived the drive and eventually shelled out for the parking garage beneath Union Square--which we decided was worth the price rather than continue to drive past two-hour parking meters with no loose change and waste our limited time--I am not a shopper.  I belong in neither Barney's nor Bloomindale's--not after my holiday filled with treats and their stores filled with gigantic ten-foot-high mirrors.  I'll go back when I lose forty pounds and win the lottery. Or when I have any interest in clothes that don't have to survive kindergarteners armed with Sharpie markers, glue sticks and watercolors.

Thankfully the Disney Store (crayons for our little grand-daughter) was more my speed.  Bloomingdale's was an educational color lesson:  "That dress is blue.  Can you say 'blue'?"  The Ferrari store taught Rosie Rosebud to "find the horsie".  And I think the salespeople in Tiffany's were impressed at our exercise of "don't touch" skills around their display cabinets.

Even though my sweetie and I agreed that San Fran, driving and shopping is a fairly toxic mix, even if certain other family members reveled in it, I did end up with a to-do list of activities that we might enjoy with the use of rapid transit and lots of green space to soothe us.

Anyone planning a winter/spring trip needs to know that Coit Tower is currently closed.  Lombard Street is still crooked but the hydrangeas aren't blooming and they're the best part of the drive down.  The new span of the Bay Bridge is open although it looks like they might not have attached all the cables yet.  The old bridge is being dismantled, bit by bit, but any of us who remember the Loma Prieta quake might get the creeps seeing parts of the upper deck missing (again). 

Which reminds me that I think they've maybe created some attraction on Treasure Island mid-Bay that I might have to add to my list of places to explore. 

But you're never getting me to Pier 39, Union Square or those New York stores that migrated west again.  Ever ever.

Except Tiffany's.  Anyplace that decorates with aqua is okay with me.

Namaste,

This Year's Word Is...

more than one word actually.

"Bring Joy" was 2013.  It fit my glass-half-full personality.  Sometimes I succeeded in living up to it, sometimes I admittedly failed.  It did remind me that It's Not All About Me.  I'm not the most self-centered person in the Great Basin, but I do have some strong opinions and sometimes it's good to rein in and admit that there are other POVs.  The unexpected outcome of "Bring Joy" was that, by trying to make other people happy, I was happier too.  I love a win-win!

Even though 2013 is over, "Be Joyful" wasn't just a passing thought.  Using it to sign off in my (all too infrequent) posts reinforced it over and over.  My 2013 motto will hang around--it's a part of my life now.  That's success!

The thought for 2014--"Be Inspired"--was an easy pick but it needed some tweaking. The concept wasn't quite challenging enough.  Because honestly it's easy to be inspired nowadays. Pinterest and wonderful blogs and on-going meditation series and online dog seminars have encouraged me to cook new recipes, crochet from a written pattern, improve my photos, explore gratitude, sew my first big quilt, finish more projects than usual and delight my dog with lots of play that was actually training.  

I wanted to continue that trend but I am feeling the need to be more than I am.  So while I will continue to be energized by all the amazing people out there, I think it's my turn to motivate and encourage and I'm focusing on the "inspire" part too. I know I'm not going to start the next big design trend or have a tutorial go viral or post amazing renovation projects three days a week.  But the common thread in those things is that people do as well as dream.

I guess that's my goal.  Hello, Twenty Fourteen...it's time to 

BE INSPIRED

What's your word/motto/thought for the year?

Bring joy,
 

Merry Merry!

Favorite quotes of the day:

"Someday I'm going to surprise you and decorate the tree all by myself (imagine me registering pleased surprise) and I'm going to put every single ornament on (I'm joyfully thinking that he's got Real Christmas Spirit at last) and they'll all be right together!" proclaimed adult son #2  as he held his hands showing about six inches square, knowing that he really had me going there for a bit.  Hey, at least he kept me company while I finally decorated the tree early Christmas morning.  And he made me a delicious bowl of Apple Spice oatmeal for breakfast.

 

"Something that I've learned about your mother is that she never thinks there are enough ornaments on the tree," said my husband to aforesaid son. I promptly informed both of them that it's been over a decade since Every Single Ornament We Own has appeared on a Christmas tree at the same time.  Which is my way of admitting I'm guilty as charged.

 

"Wow, these Legos are older than I am!" marvelled my nephew as he opened a pack from Santa.  The nephew is a teenager and the pack was dated 1989.  The Queen Mother has a history of misplacing gifts which is apparently genetic.  My kids shake their heads at my forgetfulness but I have every expectation that they've inherited the same gene.  Although they do favor their dad so maybe the Forgetful Gene stops with me and there will be whole generation deprived of vintage Legos in original packing.

Another Christmas has come and gone, bringing memories of times past and creating new stories to tell.  Each Christmas with its own character, each to be enjoyed and cherished.

Happy Christmas to all and to all a Good Night.

Bring joy,

Vintage Ornament Wreath

I made a good start on my latest Christmas obsession.

I've been drooling over wreaths like the one below from BHandG on Pinterest for the past year or so.  It's almost a yard across and the ornaments are glued on.  It's gorgeous but how does one store such a beast?  Happily there are other ways of making them.

I've been diligently collecting vintage glass ornaments from yard and rummage sales all summer. Not only did I score some old Shiny Brites in their original box, but I found some oldies like these blue carolers and the green and gold flowered balls in the background.

 

I found that the simplest way to make one is also completely reversible.  Which means that I bent a white wire coathanger around my spaghetti pot to create a round shape, then strung my five boxes of thrifted glass ornaments.  I secured the coathanger and used the hook to hang it.  And when it's time to store it, I'll simply unstring the ornaments, replace them in their boxes so they can't break and tuck my trusty coathanger in the same bin.

Turns out I really need a sixth box to cover the last six inches of wire--so the wreath is temporarily hung from a wall sconce.  I'll either stop by the Goodwill in my spare time, cannibalize our regular tree ornaments or add a large bow and leave the wreath unfinished until next Christmas while I collect another six inches of ornaments.

I'm leaning towards option three since there are only nine crafting days before the Big Day and I am loving the sparkle it brings to Mrs. Santa's workshop.  Hopefully Mrs. Santa can stop admiring it and commence some serious holiday present-making now that she has wreath-making out of her system.

Bring joy!
 

Sleeping Bag Upgrade

At our cottage, if you put away the Halloween crows in witch hats because you're currently focused on velvet pumpkins, you'll probably start thinking about Christmas projects. And you'll remember the rocking horse that your dad gave your son decades ago and think how sweet it would be for your son's daughter to use it.  And probably you'll realize that the rocking horse is stored in the basement. And you'll go to bed.

The next day you'll wake up thinking that it might be fun to repaint the rocking horse which used to be a dapple grey with a black mane and tail.  And as you walk by the door to the basement (where the rocking horse is stored), you'll realize that a sleeping bag still needs to be put way.  And you might as well do it now since you'd like to get the rocking horse out now, well before the holidays, so you can have it ready as a special gift for the littlest grand-daughter.

But you'll look at the sleeping bag and feel your skin crawl as you remember how hot and twitchy the bag felt when you used it during the quilt show/Fall Fest/slumber party.


Because you've never been cold since peri-menopause hit, and synthetics and memory foam give you the hot flash heebie-jeebies.  Plus the whole University of California color scheme hasn't ever done it for you even if yellow is your favorite color.  And then you'll remember the floral fabric you saw in the linen closet that morning when you changed the sheets.



A brief digression:  fabric lives in the stash, this one floral alone is in the linen closet because during the summer you throw in on the (nylon) carpet when you sleep under the window if the bed gets too hot.  Resuming.

Inspiration hits:  six feet of fabric that's just barely misses being ugly plus a bag that needs a cotton lining equals an impromptu project.  Because it's a three-day weekend and you don't have anything else really important nagging at you.

So you unroll and unzip the sleeping bag to lie flat and realize that the floral fabric is long enough but just a bit too narrow.  You think to yourself that there might be some eighties-era hand-me-down fabric in the stash that won't be used for anything else.


So you'll sew them together knowing that the seam can be on the top of the bag so you won't have to lie on it. And really how could a seam be worse than the slick feel of the poly bag anyway? Sometimes rolling with it and not overthinking is a really good idea.  You'll sew the cotton onto the bag using the longest and quickest machine stitch and the bobbin thread will magically last through the entire project, which never happens.

Then you'll decide to tie the layers together using some variegated blue embroidery thread which you know you'll never use but will match the cover, using the needles you bought at Bird Brains during the quilt show because Aunt Bette (K.C.'s aunt, not mine) said they were good for embroidery and her word is law.  Thirty knots later you're finished.  And the bag rezips without any cloth getting caught in the zipper so it's all good.

You now have a sleeping bag that you are looking forward to using at the next quilt get-together and during the summer and you didn't have to buy anything plus you used up some of your stash so win-win-win. 


I don't know if you meticulously plan your days or your projects, but serendipity is a good thing around here.  You've followed your whims on a chore that has nothing to do with any holiday and won't get used for another eight months or so but it's DONE and the sleeping bag gets rolled up and stored in the basement, and the rocking horse that started the whole process is unearthed and awaiting her makeover. 

Then you preview your post and see the original velvet pumpkins you made in your header and realize you should upgrade that tute since you've evolved some new twists on attaching the stems...

And they lived happily, if somewhat distractedly, ever after.  The End.

Bring joy,