Saturday, January 02, 2010

Jaunary 2, 2010

I carved the rest of my numbers while talking on the phone with a friend. I made several the "right" way and not backwards, so I got to turn them over and carve the number again. I will enjoy stamping the date on each page of my written journal with stamps this year. They are all halves of a Staples eraser. So about one inch square. I love my -one- and my -two-.

I also emptied the closet in the room we call "the office" so G can put some of his junk out of sight. I found that I had stored a large quantity of empty boxes in the closet along with a large pile of fabric, slipcovers etc. Today I am going to empty the linen closet in the hallway and try and get it organized and find space in there for the fabric and slipcovers. The fabric is old barkcloth I bought to make sofa pillow covers. And I found about $150 worth of lovely tan linen that I used as table covers one New Year's Eve when our street had a Progressive Dinner. I seated 24 for the main course at three 60 inch rounds. A magical evening. I also found some truly ugly chair slipcovers. Ugh.

The empty boxes got broken down for recycle day. I filled four large shopping bags with men's shirts (really!) from G's previous employments. The man loves to buy shirts. And ties. And pants. And shoes. I saved all the 100% linen shirts to make into pillow cases. I have one box half filled with things that I could possibly sell.

I felt like I had started the New Year in a very productive way. The closet, the stamps and a good dinner. And I watched very little television. I finished my Wallander book. It was a good mystery. I'm not sure I like the style of writing all that much and the translation was poor. It helped that this particular story had been produced for PBS and I remember watching it. Vaguely. The second Wallander has a different translator. British. So it seems more like an English mystery so far. Only a few pages in. They haven't found the dead bodies yet.

I watered my orchids yesterday. Gave them some fertilizer. I have them on a wooden support over the tub, under a south facing window and across from the bathroom heater. I have been closing the bathroom door so any heat (set on 60) stays in the room with the orchids. The two of them are "out of bloom" orchids with potential spikes and buds. I have no idea what the flowers (if any appear) will be. I bought them because the leaves were wonderfully healthy and they had numerous spikes. They had the determination to survive. They had spunk. And they were sale priced. My full price, blooming orchid, is on top of my "dusted" bedroom dresser. Looking lovely. I should take a picture for you.

I have been visiting Attic24 to see the beautiful and colorful photographs on this English blog. I will be adding this site to my sidebar later today (when I have the url). I finally found a post with details of the camera used and the secret to such brightly colored pictures. The "V" button for vivid. The particular camera used is only available in the UK. I found a comparable American version and will consult with my tech guy (son) and see how to proceed. I am wanting that "V" button. My daughter tells me that the newer versions of iphoto have a vivid selection in the editing section. One MORE reason to go shopping for a new computer. I absolutely HATE new stuff. Other than art supplies. Which I love when they are brand new.

Riley is napping. He didn't wake me up, so I got to sleep in today. Big storm coming. We'll see if we go out walking. I must decide on cold or hot cereal for breakfast. Then, a nice, hot shower; clothes; and the linen closet. I had planned, yesterday, to tackle the studio/workspace. It is overwhelming. So, instead of just giving up all together (as usual), I moved next door to the office. We have four bedrooms in this house and only one room actually has a bed in it. How crazy is that?

4 comments:

Paula, the quilter said...

Not crazy at all. We, too, have 4 bedrooms in our little house. 2 have beds, but one of the beds is currently holding car fenders and hoods and well (you get the idea) while the paint cures on them. One office and one sewing studio.

N said...

I'm a little behind - away from technology for a while, so here goes: have you tried making oatmeal in a thermos the night before? Perfectly cooked and warm the next morning...If you are still looking for a place for some of those boxes of fabric - I could probably make some room :) The doodling bits were great - I'll try the resources at school. If the new year takes you to another work zone - I'd miss you terribly! Who else would make "classes" for the usual suspects at all interesting, to say nothing of water cooler grumbling...

Life Scraps and Patches said...

I'm drooling over your $150 worth of tan linen from here. Great find! Don't put any ties in the bags with the shirts - they make great carzy quilt fabric. Happy New Year!

Deborah Boschert said...

The latest issue of Cloth Paper Scissors was all about "don't throw anything away." Bleck. It's just not possible. I have also been purging. Of course, nearly every single thing that gets tossed could be made into something wonderful. But there is not time or energy or interest to do so. Move on. Good for you!

Love the numbers!