Day Seven - Mall Shopping

No explanation necessary.



Slippery Slope

It starts innocently enough...a book here and a cuppa there. No biggie right?

But soon enough a clothespin, a clipboard, and some paper scraps show up and join the party. 

Before you know it surfaces disappear, piles grow to record heights, and dust bunnies start to breed.

This has been my July

and

I seem to be stuck.

 

Case in point, my book of the month is once again by Elizabeth Orton Jones. I did everything I could to push myself forward in another direction but honestly this book so perfectly illustrated my current situation I felt it was important for me to include it here. Bear with me if you will while I explain....

   

Big Susan is the story of a family of dolls that live their day to day by the hands and imagination of their child owner, Susan. All is well when they receive their  daily dose of attention from her.    But...when Susan's world keeps her otherwise occupied things start to fall apart. Aside from a few magical hours on Christmas Eve when the Doll family comes to life they are totally dependent on Susan. Without her they cannot walk or talk, they cannot eat or sleep, and they cannot keep house.

They are stuck.

 

In the book six long weeks of neglect pass.

Susan is nowhere to be found and by the time Christmas Eve arrives the dollhouse is a jumble of clutter and dust. 

 

Their initial tears and distress over Susan's disappearance soon fade however and are replaced with inspiration. Rather than continue waiting for Susan to do for them they decide to use their few hours of life to do for her and tidy up the house as a Christmas surprise.

 

Clutter, dust, neglect, distress....

Just like the Doll family I've had enough of them.

No "Big Susan" is coming my way to set things right and Christmas Eve is a ways away but I see no reason why I can't find a few magical hours in my daily life to remedy the situation. And perhaps even a few more daily moments to track my progress along the way.

 

Junk Drawer

 Remember last year when I posted here nearly everyday? How in the world did I do that? I wonder and wish at the same time it could be so again. But alas, life seems to have dumped the junk drawer out on my lap. So what's to do but dig in and sort the minutiae piece by piece.

 

 The good news is, bit by bit tasks are being accomplished, meetings attended, appointments met, papers signed, funds dished out, and teenage drama subdued (fingers crossed on this one!)

Getting your ducks in a row can certainly be time consuming but also.....

 

 .....very rewarding. Once the big picture starts to reveal itself the light at the end of the tunnel begins to flicker.

 

 Currently I'm pinning down the final details...

 

 ...sending things off to appropriate recipients...

 

....and all the while keeping my fingers crossed that the "junk drawer" stays tidy long enough to get my hands really dirty with some serious crafting again!!!

  

Not Fun But.....

 Having your printer die on you is NOT fun. Having to reconfigure the technical hoopla of wirelessly connecting a new one to your system is even less amusing. The biggest bummer of all, however, is having to print out your tax returns on said printer in order to have something upon which your "payment due" check may be attached.

 

 BUT.....

....if on the way to the post office you also take along with you an order of bitty blossom pins to ship out to someone sweet the day soon becomes a bit brighter.

 

 AND.....

...if upon popping into the post office with your deliveries, you find the nicest postman in the whole wide world just happens to be behind the counter your smile becomes a bit bigger. 

 

 SO THEN.....

...with your mouth in mind it's no wonder you take a hop, skip, and a jump across the parking lot to Lil' Peach. I know the sign says Tedeschi but I first knew it as Lil' Peach and so it will always remain as such to me. Besides isn't Lil' Peach much more fun to say than Tedeschi?

 Anyhoo...this is where you will find a never ending supply of.....

 

...the best macaroons EVER!!!

And at 50 cents a pop these little delights are still quite affordable even after paying your taxes!

 



Made By Dear Hubby

 I seem to be in a creative funk.

A melancholy in the "made" department.

 I'm thinking it might be a post Christmas thing.

Or perhaps it's a stagnant pause while waiting for the New Year to arrive.

What ever the cause, fear not, it's not contagious.

For while I wallow in woe dear hubby has found his creative mojo!

Oil pastels have been practically flying out of his sketchbooks this past week.

I came home this evening to the one above.

And I'm in love with it!

 

 This is my favorite part!

 

 This is my second favorite part.

 

 This is my least favorite part.

It's being gifted away in the near future.....but not to me.
 

Not that I was slighted in the gifting department mind you.

 Look here what I found under the tree Christmas morning compliments of, you guessed it,

dear hubby himself! The icing on the cake was the fact that it came accompanied by a miniature hand written novel featuring this very same sumptuous onion portrait. Considering this, I dare say I am far from lacking.....therefore I must simply be greedy.

I WANT THEM ALL!

 (And some of that mojo too while your at it.)

 



Made Soup For The Sickly

Just in time for Christmas......teen # 2 is sick and a few others are flirting with sore throats so I made an extra spicy batch of southewestern chicken soup in the hopes driving all germs off the premises.

 

Made For A Cozy Night

Child #3 is more than a bit under the weather. Much of the day has been serving hot liquids, snuggling on the couch, and enjoying the Christmas lights. This by the way is the handiwork of dear hubby and his none too modest claim to fame every year!

 

 

Made a Dent

Today I made a dent.

Unfortunately the dent I made was not in my stash, my orders, the laundry pile or even the dirty dish collection. No, the dent was in the my car. 

It made for a lovely addition to the day.

Oh well, it also made for the perfect excuse to call it a day, snuggle into a cozy chair with some comforting handwork, and indulge myself with a big old dose of bad daytime TV.

 

 

Made Some More Preparations.....

.....with disastrous results! I had decided to walk on the wild side and attempt some silky, shiny, ruffly accoutrements to wear to the tea tomorrow. Unfortunately, when I say I have nothing to show for my efforts I mean it quite literally! Seems I won't be too fancy after all.

Made A Mess Of My Hands But....

As of today I vow to follow all directions on spray cans!

I picked up some of this Great Stuff during my morning errands with the intention of filling a few gaps around the bulkhead lest snakes decide to take up residence in one of the cozy nooks.
The directions said to wear gloves while using but the cool straw/trigger thingy that screwed on to the top of the can added a good distance from where your hand would be and where the foam would come out so I couldn't imagine even the possibility of coming in contact with any of the "Great Stuff."

WRONG.

Thanks to me that stuff got everywhere. It sprayed out just fine and was fun to do. So fun in fact that I went a bit overboard without taking into account the 60% it was due to expand (also noted on the can but ignored by me.) As it expanded I panicked . . . . .our bulkhead was foaming at the mouth! First I tried wiping it away with whatever weeds I could rip from the area but this just spread it around more. Pushing it back in didn't work either. Shoving handfuls of gravel stones into the yellow blob as a means of camouflage was my last resort and actually came out looking not so bad. My hands, however, were another story.

Not only have I had at them with a scrub brush many times over I've also now worked my way through 5 sink loads of dishes, cleaned every single hand washable item that needed it, scoured the shower, and washed the floors yet they still have remnants of foam and dirt embedded in them. On the bright side. . . . . I may have made a mess of my hands but the house is squeaky clean!

Made Myself Exhausted

I recently agreed to cover a box cushion. Easy enough.....or "sew it seamed" when the sun was just starting to warm things up this morning. I found this great tutorial (thanks Autum!) and felt like an old pro while cutting bias strips and stitching away at piping .

When it came to actually attaching all those yards of piping, however, things started to get a bit dicey. Quite amazing how time flies when your having a good work out with the seam ripper! Unbelievably the sun began to set.....

.....and as the windows darkened all I could think about was bed!

Lucky for me wee little Lucy agreed to play the role of a shoemaker's elf. And so dear friends I bid you goodnight.....I've some covers to pull over my head!

Playing Hookie.....

On our umpteenth day of excessive heat and humidity.

Can't sew.

Can't write.

Can't remember ever being this hot!

The only escape is in the pages of a good book . . .

. . . thank goodness for this one.

Ouch!

Toothache.

Abscess.

Extraction.

Oh woe is me...