Living My 60th Year - Film Making

A couple of years ago, I began to volunteer at our local Community Access Television station.   Let me say, it is fun and sometimes frustrating.

I started out make a program, subject - lace, making it, some history, interesting tidbits and the such.  I made up a list of programs, who could I invite to be a guest on the program and such.  

On a show that is produced at the studio, Common Sense CT - I did an interview on lace.  With a bit of social media, blew it out across the globe to lacemakers everywhere.  It received the most views for a show ever.  I was laughing as the host, Gary Byron, said we couldn't talk about lace for an hour show.

Fast forward to this summer.  Sometimes, despite the 'gang', you need to take the camera by the lens and go out an film an event.  I did, my first one was a meeting and I had all sorts of difficulties.  The second one, pictured here came off pretty good.  It took so long to edit it.  Find an opening and closing, then find royalty free, fee free music for the beginning and the end.  Learn to make graphics, called the bottom thirds.  Oh did I say of course learn the editing software?  

I'm glad to say that last week, it was finally done and approved to be shown on TV (you need to live in Newington to watch on TV) and at our website where you can watch on-demand at http://www.nctv.org/specials/ .

My third had to do with the Town Hall Renovation project.  It was a hearing  to get feedback.  Let's say, the majority of the residents that spoke out, were not in favor of the plan the then current (now ousted) Town Council.

The last one I was able to do was the Kiwanis Speaker Meeting.  I was there to only watch and enjoy myself.  Low and behold the guy from the studio was nowhere to be found.  Our MC was not happy, and not having any time to get back to the studio to get a camera, I took out my phone and began filming.   I could only film about 15 minutes on my device and graciously the MC gave me his phone to continue filming another 45 minutes - all without a tripod to steady the camera.  November 30, 2015 show if you are interested.

So back to the studio and attempted to join two different videos (matching the audio), add the beginning and end, make and add the graphics and even a slide for "technical difficulties" as the speaker had begun before I could hit record button.  

This program is Scott's baby and he usually does the editing.  He's an expert when it comes to editing!  So we finished and as we sat back to send the video through encoding, he said, paraphrasing, despite using the phone to video the event, I did a pretty dang good job on editing.  He had written me a review on them with items I had to correct.  I'm going to keep them and actually write up some suggestions to "newbies" like me, to make it easier to learn the edit side.

Am I ready for Sundance or Hollywood?  Not yet, though debuting my work is pretty dang special !

PS - the lace program hasn't happened yet.  The studio has made progress in getting techy stuff in order so folks like myself can make movies!  I did make a movie on my snowflakes which you can watch here on my YouTube channel.

Here's to a year of catching the dreams you chase,

doing what makes you smile,

and loving the life you live.

Living My 60th Year - Having Lunch and get a Bonus

Here's to a new year and remembering to eat lunch!

Yes, remembering to eat lunch.  I know that could sound strange.  

It's not the eating, I'm referring to.  I have my lunch, sometimes it is over the sink, grab a sandwich and run, or bring it back to my desk and consume it among the pile of paperwork.

I've been taking a full break for lunch lately and not at my desk.  Lunch is a pretty decent meal for me.  Many times it is left overs from the dinner before or a sandwich with fruit.  How much time?  About an hour, it's an hour I take time away from my work.

When I worked in a large office with lots of people around, this was what we did.  Somewhere around 10am we began discussing lunch.  Where to go, what we would like to have, who brought lunch and a host of questions.

Since I've worked for myself, that isn't the case.  I often talk to myself, though the subject matter isn't about lunch!  

What I have found, that by taking that break has allowed me to do a host of items that would had been regulated to some other part of the day.  I've done some fun reading; do part of the laundry;  or do some pick up around my non-working space.  Most of these types of tasks are 5 -10 minutes, though they feel like a received a bonus at the end of the day.  I find that I am a bit more focused during the balance of my day and accomplish work effectively.

Life is good, I get to have a better lunch,  a good break and am more productive for the balance of my day.  

What's your lunch break like?

Here's to a year of catching the dreams you chase,

doing what makes you smile,

and loving the life you live.

Living My 60th Year - Apples, Apples and more Apples

Apples, Apples, and more Apples.

It's that time of year..... Apples, Apples, and more Apples.

This year, my farm partner, Pam, decided that we needed to pick apples.  We had three plots in the community garden this past summer and planted veggies like you couldn't believe

Summers are great as there is so many choices of all kinds of veggies.   We grew this corn and it was pretty good.  The big farm up the road grew three types of corn.  Yum!  I brought all three types to a family picnic, husks in tack as we were going to grill them.  Sweet.

My Corn Crop

It was kinda funny when the kids peeled back the husks to find out that they were different.   The drama was .....  Really we need to get kids in the garden so they know where food comes from!

Thanks Dad!

Back to apples, we picked lots and lots.  Driving back home with bushels and wondering what we were going to do..... then that moment and I had an  "ah ha".  My Dad had a dehydrator and my brother Tim had it.  So I called him and made arrangements to borrow it from him since he wasn't using it.  

Oh my goodness, I thought it was a small one.  Nope, and he and I laughed, and said simultaneously - That's Dad.

Apple Chips

 Since I had lots of apples - I tried out the apples!  That's the result and they were great!

You need to be consistent in the slices - thicker slices the longer they take to dry.

Not the prettiest apple chips, yet they were really good.  Unfortunately I need to get a routine to make the chips - the routine to eat the chips is already working!

If you are wondering how crunchy - they are not potato chip crunchy.  They are still pliable and really good!  I put some away, I couldn't believe that, and when I took that back out, they were still great.

Pork Roast and Apples

I still had lots of apples left.  Bring out the crock pot.  There is a pork roast in the pot with some apples.  Very nice.

Apple Sauce

Next - applesauce - the crock pot is great to make apple sauce.  Cut them up, put on a good amount of cinnamon and nutmeg on low for 4-5 hours.  The last hour add cranberries!   

I've made several pots of applesauce so far.   I went out and purchased more apples.  Some times, especially for applesauce, the second hand apples work just fine and I can make two batches.

Roasted Butternut /Apple Soup

My last creation to date was to make a roasted butternut squash apple soup for Christmas dinner.  It was quite the deal as I couldn't find exactly the soup recipe I wanted.  The butternut squash came out of our garden

Low and behold with a bit of tweaking, viola, an amazing soup.  Mom and Tim had some, everyone else turned up their noses - their loss!

It's been a good season for apples.  The next time I make sauce, I'm going to do some canning of the sauce.   Isn't the old saying an apple a day keeps the doctor away?  

Anyway......... Apples, Apples and more Apples.  Hope you decide to try some!

Here's to a year of catching the dreams you chase,

doing what makes you smile,

and loving the life you live.

Living my 60th Year - Sharing

Photo Credit Alan Levine

I made a remark about the posts upon posts in FaceBook over this past holiday.  It wasn't to be taken as a snide remark.  For me, more isn't better.  It is nice that many folks are sharing their good wishes.

As I looked at the various communities that I belong to, one of them posted a link to a pdf on beads! Oh my goodness - what an amazing resource.  

I've started using some beads in my crochet and tatting work.  It is like learning another language only this subject matter isn't static.  This little pdf is such a great primer.  

So here's a shout out to Big Bead Little Bead shop for the pdf and to FaceBook group N.F.A. Tatting for posting the link.

Now I need to match up beads to my various crochet and tatting threads!

Enjoy the day........

Here's to a year of catching the dreams you chase,

doing what makes you smile,

and loving the life you live.

Living My 60th Year - A Pot of Gold

Fun is... when you come out of a long meeting to be able to see a rainbow end on the roof of Lucy Robbins Welles Library.  The pot of gold lies within this very place here in Newington.   Somewhere in the universe, the rainbow said to me that we will be able to continue to create one of the best libraries in the area.  

I've been focusing on the library and its expansion plans.  While a trustee, I'm not on the facility committee, though I would attend the committee meeting as a 'guest' had I know when it met.  One of my pet peeves with this group is lack of communication.  

The Town Council finally got around to formally starting a building committee. The LIBRARY RENOVATIONS/ADDITION PROJECT BUILDING COMMITTEE (LRAPBC) (that's a mouthful) was formed back in April, five of seven members approved in short time, and the last two members approved at in July.  They finally had their first meeting on July 27th.  I was there and taped the meeting.  I'm planning on being their to video tape their meetings.  I did request, to the Director, after the meeting, that the LRAPBC hold their meetings in the meeting rooms that have mic's as the audio was a very, very poor quality. 

I did say I video taped the meeting!  Yeah, I signed out a camera and tripod from NCTV (our community TV station) and will start to do live shoots.  The only way to learn, in some cases, is just to get out there and do it.  It is a very boring shoot.  The room was to small, so I couldn't focus in on the individuals speaking.  I did the Library meeting on Monday night and the Parks & Rec Informational meeting on Wed night.  The P&R went better as they met in a bigger room and allow me to focus on the speakers.   

Now I need studio time to transfer the files up to the edit machine.  That took a really long time.  Note to self - need to find a better way to transfer the files.  So while I was waiting the transfer, I began to make the graphics for the bottom third.  Our expert, Scott, was there and he was able in a quick few minutes to instruct me what to do, some good points about software we use, and how to work the layers.  Great start.  Unfortunate part, I need to be at the studio to work the editing at this moment.  The studio has limited access at this time.  We shall see how that changes in the near future.  This opportunity to video is like a kid in the candy store to me.  It's only the beginning - maybe some gold dust will fall on me.

The Shelby - I've been working on this blanket for just too long.  Having had the opportunity to visit with Shelby (niece), she was able to try it on for size.  She was so excited.  Ahhh - it needed to be expanded in length.  Maybe one more row or two?  We settled on two more rows.  Over the other weekend, I had almost an entire day to work on the blanket.  

What a joy to work on this blanket especially since Shelby was here.   It's tying in so many of the rows, adding the balance of the squares and really see it take shape.  What was really nice - was working outside and having the sun as my light source.  Looking forward to getting this completed by the end of August!

These two weeks have been filling my pot of gold - helping in my community, learning a new discipline, and seeing my work appreciated.  Cha ching!

Here's to a year of catching the dreams you chase,

doing what makes you smile,

and loving the life you live.

Living My 60th Year - NCTV ...

It was Extravaganza here all week.  My volunteering surrounded the events and the station.  We, NCTV,  are awaiting a large grant to arrive any day now, once the state of CT gets going.  This organization is funded primarily with government grants.  Anyone that knows grants, let alone from the government, are at the whim of political powers to be.

The group has been anticipating this grant that would allow us to upgrade to HD production.  All the avenues that we are pushing the content to are all switching to HD.  In the business, we can not snooze!

While it is really techie, I'm learning lots about the station that I can help with.    I've had the chance to edit part of a program we filmed with adding the graphics to the "bottom third".  Watch the TV news, did you notice the bottom third the screen?  Then we gave me some 'permissions' to update the website with writing some code to link our programs to the website. That takes me back to the days I used to do some programing.  A simply misplaced comma and it won't work.  

What is amazing with this group - they are amazingly bright individuals.  Each of them with their speciality - audio, editing, filming, content, and the list goes on.  

Anyway - Extravaganza - this was my second year as the on-air talent.  Mike G was my cameraman  once again.  It is amazing how much the talent and camera guy work to get the best.  Besides interviewing people at random, we sought out certain folks that were in charge of the event, other notable individuals from the community.  

Then we separated to obtain additional footage close ups that help will help fill out and transition during the film.   Great experience for me to "see" what the camera can pick up.   He picked up footage from Wednesday night, we teamed up for Friday night footage and interviews, and then all day on Saturday doing pretty much the same.  

I'm having fun with this, even with the learning curve and learning and earning the trust of the group.  Most of the background work is helping make up processes so that we have less time in the admin side of the station and therefore having more time to work on content.  

One idea came as I interviewed various people and organizations - we need a show on the station that highlights these organizations.  So I guess I'm going to be writing up a proposal in the middle of the HD upgrade.  

Great week - lots of stimulus, other areas were equally good.  More on the minimization of 'stuff', and clearing up items.  Thanks for stopping by and see you next week!

Here's to a year of catching the dreams you chase,

doing what makes you smile,

and loving the life you live.

Living my 60th Year - little things

Little Things that give us pleasure.

Little things can give us so much satisfaction and pleasure.  I'm sure each of you have a host of items, no matter the size or frequency that really make your day.  This past week there was lots of little pleasures.

Cleaning pleasures -   First of all, the week had the big cleaning day I do once a month.  From one month to the next, my minimalist measures continue to make a difference in how my place feels around me.   A bit more accomplished, few more items disposed of by some manner, my space stays in better shape as I can keep it up to date  - everything in it's place or at least, has a place!

Teaching pleasures - My girlfriend's son, Ian, was over for a bit.  Great kid and he's learning about making choices, at ten years old.  He's getting to determine what he would want or like to do and the costs $$'s.  Beginning to get grounded in learning how his choice make consequences.  Love seeing the light go on, or  an aha look.

Working pleasures - Solid work time scheduled without any interruptions.  This is like heaven as I am so much more productive.  

Craft time pleasures - Whether it be making lace and crochet, or pinning pictures, a little bit of time everyday puts the beauty of creation higher on the conscious level.   Over the last few weeks, I've finished up a bunch of little projects.  I was able to give away a scarf I just finished to a friend of mine.  She was so excited as she is going to a patriotic event in a couple of weeks and will be wearing it.  That pleasure of making it was doubled when  I was able to give it to someone who would enjoy it.  

Garden time pleasures - Pull weeds and some more weeds and lots and lots of peas and squash!  It is so quiet at the garden, a peaceful place to get away from the rush of the day.

Volunteering pleasures - seeing work come together, working with other folks that truly share the same desires to more an organization forward.  TV gang is getting the files up that we serve to the town here.   I'm doing some website coding, kinda fun yet frustrating - a little learn as you go.  I do the simple stuff and the complicated stuff goes to the experts in the group.

What are your little things?  

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com

Here's to a year of catching the dreams you chase,

doing what makes you smile,

and loving the life you live.

Living My 60th Year - about half over

Yes it is almost my half birthday!  Can you believe that half of the calendar year has past us by?
For me the first four months are buried in lots of work and therefore I've pretty much celebrated May 1st as my happy new year and the year which lasts eight months.

I have mini celebrations the first of each month.  Why you may ask?  Because I can and deserve to take a moment out to celebrate me.  For the 1st of July - I treated myself out for dinner at a local joint called TJs.  Got to sit on the patio, enjoyed a simple meal and read fun lace magazines!  

Over the past week, I completed more stuff!  Stuff I won't need to complete again.  It truly feels like small weights are being lifted.

With a little less on my plate, I have had the chance in the last week to complete some of my 'art' projects.  The sand dollar and shell were given to me by Iris who escapes our winter in Florida.  So the shell sat on my table as I continued to think about it.  then I found the doily and the hoop - viola it is now complete and hanging up in my home.  It reminds me of our friendship, the beach and of course, lace.

Then the Red/White/Blue scarf was completed.  I had enough thread and time to create another, a string scarf.  My design, inspired by a few scarves I 'pinned'.  Wow - expand my mind.  The string scarf reminded me of a piece of jewelry my mom has.  Now I have two scarves just in time for the 4th of July!  


Oh my goodness - the star project is now complete.  I pulled down the grid, removed the crystal and lace, and put up the stars.   All the yarn is used up!  Here's a look see of the grid.  I'm thinking I would like to add more stars to the grid.  I'll wait until I get one of those 40% coupons for JoAnn's to get another package of those mini skeins.   In the mean time, I am loving my stars - the colors are so bright and cheery.

My June went well, using my accomplishment journal, I am seeing that I am getting back in my saddle. I am getting things done and behind me.  


Lucky now it is summer as some of my charity work really slows down.  The local community TV group on the other hand is ramping up.  We need more volunteers which can always be a struggle.  

Like many organizations, they do not reach out or remember to market themselves.  We have some new blood, so new ideas are surfacing.  I'm completing an admin task for them.  Revamping some documents - updating them for the changes in technology, address change for some (lol they moved five years ago), even getting to learn some HTML code for addressing simple changes on the website.  It's kinda fun to write code - haven't done that in ....ah  lets say in many years.  I also had the opportunity to assist to help in adding graphics (post production) to video we shot several months ago.  It's like a new adventure - I'm out of the house, around some really techie folks, fun.

This coming week is quieter with no big appointments.  It's time for me to go back to my list of stuff and see what I could start and /or complete this month.  We have concerts in the park, our big Extravaganza week, a week long town event ending in fireworks in two weeks.  Make dates with friends, and the items around the place that I need to address.   I already made one goal - have the shredding company come by again after 8/15.  

What is your second half of the year look like?  Have you made plans to complete the todo's you have; make dates with family and friends; treat yourself?   Sit down with your calendar - make some dates for you!

Here's to a year of catching the dreams you chase,

doing what makes you smile,

and loving the life you live.

Living My 60th Year - Git 'r done

Has been my mantra for the last month or so.  Most of you may remember Larry the Cable Guy who said this just about every time he was seen.  He was/is so funny.  If you remember him, it dates back to the early '90s!  Twitter (2006) and Facebook (2004) were not around and we gathered around TV and some radio.  

Chat rooms were the rage in the late 1990s.  I remember connecting with an amazing group of people all over the eastern seaboard on an MSN.  We even had a couple of get-togethers out on Long Island, NY.

But I digress - Git 'r Done has been my mantra.  I've been using two methods to kick start and fire up my personal engine that seemed to be idling for too long.

Method One is to write down what you have accomplished today.  Doesn't have to be earth shattering, none of the items were.  Yet after several days you will feel a sense of accomplishment. Heck after this month I feel so much better!  I really do!  

Method Two was to take an inventory of what I want to get done.  That is always a moving target, one thing gets done and two or three more pop up out of no where!  This type of list could actually get you not to do anything.  It may be to daunting at first. 

Writing it down gets it out of your mind, relieves you to concentrate on getting something done!  I find that when I have a spot of time, and I say to self, "self, get something done off the list" and viola, my list reminds me of what I could do at the moment.  I call those spots of time, bonuses!  Now who doesn't love a bonus!

So this past week - CPE was worked on; cleared more files and extensions; pinned more lace to my Pinterest boards and surpassed 4,000 pins - yeah; been weeding on the farm; worked on the stars project - last of the starching is just about complete; wrote thank you cards; mailed a box of goodies to one of my nieces; lunch with a friend of mine; watched a movie; wrote my first bit of code in WordPress.  Oh my goodness, pretty darn good.

Happy July 1st - Happy July 4th - and choose  a Git 'r Done kind of week.  Whatever makes you feel great - friends, family, or just for you!

Living My 60th Year --- KC is on the mend

This week had me taking KC to the vet.  It isn't generally a fun event for her nor me.  Though she seemed to do pretty well.   She spent the day at the vet to test her BG curve and several other tests for kidney, sugar, etc.

News finally came and she's been feeling badly due to an UTI infection.  Back to the vet the next day to get the antibiotic that will need to be administered for the next ten days.  Her sugar is double what it should be  - some of it due to the infection.  She will have to go back for another BG curve test some time in early July.  

I Found The Beads!    Yippie - I'm not losing my mind - just putting the stuff away in a safe place!?!  

This past week, it was one month since the resignation.  I'm loving sitting in the back of the room during the meeting this past week.  I didn't lose the day preparing for the meeting nor lose a couple of  days after taking care of all the work that would have been assigned to me.  I did do one thing, posted the Meet the Candidate notice for this coming Thursday evening all over Facebook.  

Master Bedroom Suite --- Still no information about getting the room fixed from the leaks. Though it was approved to have the engineer look at it.  In the mean time, back to minimization.  

Completed!

There is a bookcase - with lots of assorted books. Also a stack of them next to it as there isn't any room for more.  Occasionally, I'm looking for a title, stuffing more books in it, yet I'm no longer using most of them. 

Ready to Donate!

Then the week before,  it came to me --- I've not touched it since moving in.  I decided that without looking - I gave myself the okay to keep ten of the books.  

So proud to say - it is cleaned out and I've got a box of books ready to donate at the library!

Okay, if you are counting ---- yes, it is a little more than ten.  

Not going to happen.

Next to tackle - Lace pillows, not the kind you put your head on, the kind that you make bobbin lace on. Many of them had WIPs and were moved into the suite area some months ago.  

It was time to look at them and find out what there is.  Some of the pillows had demo projects on them, some with projects I'm still half done, some not started.  

Question I asked myself - how much time do I have to complete any / all of these.  Several were cut off, couple left for demo purposes.  The one pictured here had some severe structural problems that I would not tolerate when I took it off the pillow.  I cut off the dozen bobbins,  unwound them, and put them back; two pillows have projects on that I want to finish and my demo stand pillow is ready for the next demonstration - possibly late summer and the fall.  The snake pillow is ready for a beginner!

In process.....

Yes, the star project is happening.  I starched two more boards of stars during the week, put a loop of fishing line through them and hung them up.  Connected with this project was making a few more snowman scarfs for a project later this year.  Those are done and put away for now.  I'll make up more stars with the remaining yarn and this project will also be completed.  

KC is feeling better - it is amazing what 48 hrs can do for her.  This coming week will have lots to do with the farm plots.  Stay tuned.........  and enjoy your week.

Here's to a year of catching the dreams you chase,

doing what makes you smile,

and loving the life you live.

Living My 60th Year - I still can't find the beads

Those are now empty boxes no longer needed!

Haven't you swore that you had something, remember buying it as if it was yesterday and then you can't find it?

Lately I've been looking for several items - crochet stars, beads from the Fiber Fest this past November, additional handmade snowflakes, and 
 crystal chandelier to name a few.  

What is it with our memory sometime?  Are we not exercising the grey matter enough?  Is there just too much on our plate, that the thoughts just pass through at lightning speed?   

With picking up and rearranging that I started last November, some items seem to have gotten put in the mystery place.  My minimalist strategy has been working quite well except now I am getting to critical mass.   There are spaces now at that stage.  The studio/bedroom and the garage are those places.  

Besides lots client work, office admin work, planting at the farm, neighbor cookout/party at Jim's driveway,  it has been a good week.  Plenty productive!  Best of all, it was housekeeper week and it looks so nice about my space on earth.  

I decided to get to the studio, do a little bit each evening.  I want to find those beads.  Not in the two places where the beads should be - I looked several times.  In the mean time, I am getting distracted with the 'stuff' in boxes, bags, books, etc.  Yesterday, I decided I would dig in a bit further into the various work-in-process projects, maybe, just maybe I'll find those beads.

Reclaiming is great - it's when you undo the work that was done and have yarn/thread for another project.  I reclaimed three projects - nice work though no I'm longer interested in the project.  Two others I cut off the work and placed the work in my samples box.  It's a little box with bit 'n pieces of trying out a yarn/thread or a pattern that I've collected over the years.  


Another project is the stars project.  That kicked off my energy on Sunday.  I needed to starch them, so I made the potion (equal part's Elmer's glue and water), soaked them and repinned them to the drying board.  Later I found that I have another  19 to starch and probably enough yarn to make another dozen.   Yippie. 

It's is snowing in the studio - another one for me!   I found another fifteen flakes already

completed.  From the notations in my various pattern books, I knew I did more, though their abouts were not easily found.  While emptying more mystery bags, I found them.  This find will keep me on my track of making 50 (plus) snowflakes for this year.  


 When you are on a roll, it's amazing what you can find.  Yes I found the chandelier!  The chandelier was packed away in January in the garage so that it would not be bumped into.  Problem was I changed the  box it was packed in.  My mind was telling me one thing and my eyes were not listening.  Another mystery solved.

As for the beads - still can not find them...............  stay tuned, I know they are in that space!  I need to "see" instead of "look".   Have a great week!

Here's to a year of catching the dreams you chase,

doing what makes you smile,

and loving the life you live.

Living My 60th Year - A heck of a week

It's been a heck of a week.  Can't say it was one of the best, yet it is getting better as I clean off more stuff.

Geez this sounds boring on one hand, though the progress is getting better.

I've another organization that is now on summer vacation after their meeting this week.  I completed my responsibilities on Sunday and emailed off the document to the gang.  It is missing some information, yet it is as complete as it goes.

This past week we had more rain and pretty cloudy days.  Finally cleared up by the end of the week in time for the weekend.  It was Tag sale/fundraiser

weekend here in town; the Rotary was at the high school; the Art League was on the lawn of the Kellogg-Eddy house and was coordinated with the Historical Society on the same property; and let's not forget the Congregational Church!

I was on a textile shopping hunt.  I did not find any lace, though I went back to the United Methodist whom had a booth at the Rotary sale and got such a deal!  That is an enormous bucket filled with embroidery thread, couple of knitting needles for my mom's friend who teaches knitting, other bits and pieces ... and including the bucket $20! And found a small end table - for the cost of carrying it away!  It could use some sanding and painting.  Instead I'll cover it with some lace and I'll be loving live.  Found a crochet book at the Art League $2 and some gift boxes and picture frame from the Historical Society $4 and lastly a small plastic storage box, good for thread, picture frame and file stand for another $5.  LOL!  What a deal.

The studio/bedroom is almost back in order.  I'm taking my time and clearing away a few more items that do not need to be there.  It is nice to have the ceiling looking clean again.

I didn't attend to the farm too much.  The picture is the squash plot - my plot isn't complete yet.  Yeah Yeah Yeah -- I know, so much to deal with and so little time.  My green bean plants have germinated!  Kinda surprised that all the seeds didn't wash away.

This will be a big week!  Take care and enjoy your week too!

Here's to a year of catching the dreams you chase,

doing what makes you smile,

and loving the life you live.

Living My 60th Year - It rains.... and it pours

Weather changes and so does life.  Not very poetic, yet enough to make my point of this week.

Yes - that is a flood in front of the garage - about 4" deep.  The drain, that runs across the front of the garage, can not handle the water.

So this is life - It is a good life, some days are better than others.  I've got some items to cross over in my path right now.  All take courage and patience and focus.  My focus has been scattered for quite some time.  My boat has been too full.  So eliminating one of the items (resigned for position) has helped.  Yet the boat is still too full.  It has allowed for the items in the boat to take a deep breath and each of them are clamoring to be next in line.

With my "I got it done" journal, I've been able to get more accomplished, true, yet it has allowed me to appreciate what I have completed.  What ever the tools we have, use them.  Don't have tools, go visit your local library, staff will show you where they are.  Search for them online - lots of blogs out there that you can gleam some hints and techniques that may turn your head!  

The resignation - it is working well for me.  I see spots of time, items to-do that are not  my responsibility any longer and I've cleared off a physical space of stuff!  More of that in my minimalist post for the month.  The repairs from all the ice damming are beginning. 

  Nothing more, nothing less.   Some weeks are just quiet.

Here's to a year of catching the dreams you chase,

doing what makes you smile,

and loving the life you live.

Living My 60th Year - A Step Forward and Giving Thanks

It was a great week... some changes and some fun.

This picture - I was impressed how it came out.  The storm clouds were rushing in as it blocked out the sun.  I was driving and finally found a place I could pull over and take this picture - with my phone.  It was truly impressive how mother nature painted the sky.  The storm that came later, did just that came and went.


I had a nice surprise to attend my niece's fashion show that her class and all the classes at her high school puts on at the end of school term.  It was fun.  Very interesting how the same pattern was used by many students, yet the students chose  different fabrics and colors.  As long as she is interested in fashion and design, I'll be going to three more of these annual events!

Saturday was our Memorial Day Parade and I volunteered with the local community TV station to help video tape it.  It's an early crew call, 7 am,  to get it all set-up to begin filming at 11am.  It was a grand day, lots of folks coming out to honor those military men and women that have  given so much to our country and it's freedom.

In between all of this was the GARDEN - got to get it in.  Pam and I got the new plot - just squash - all finished!  Yeah!!   Green and yellow summer squash and some winter squashes - acorn, butternut and spaghetti.  Then we were back to the prior two plots - we are rotating the planting between the two plots.  Got about one half planted between the two.  


We are still missing a couple of solutions as to how to trellis up the peas and cucumbers and mulch to keep the weeds back.   I've done more research - should pan out this week!  Our seedlings didn't do so well, so we are out buying plants to take care of getting the garden underway.  I'm a bit disappointed, this too shall pass.  

Work was a little slow in the garden on Monday as the temperature and humidity rose.  Even with #30 sunscreen, I got really red and felt pretty sick.  Maybe I need a new tube of the stuff - ya think?

I expect to plant a little more each day for this coming week.  Pam is reworking the plan some more so that we can get them all in by the weekend - That's the plan!

Back on the home front, I've been all over the place - scattered - and not getting anything accomplished.  It's beginning to make me crazy. I finished resigning last week from the executive board of a group I was involved.  Nice to remove all the 'stuff' from my place.  Now I need to reclaim that time for me.  

I made up a list for my home....  floor by floor and space by space.  It's not a perfect plan - yet it is a plan with sufficient flexibility that should allow me to get going.   I bet there are even more items that didn't make this draft.  That is why they call them drafts!  When it is done - I expect to see the "list" empty!   I even begun a "what I have done" page in my notebook.  Helping me see progress.

Another week - it is coming together - slowly - I know, I know, it didn't happen overnight, so give me some slack!

Enjoy!  Remember to give your service people a nod of thanks!

Here's to a year of catching the dreams you chase,

doing what makes you smile,

and loving the life you live.