Ending 2014 With Thanks

The third memory bracelet is this one in purple with silver charms.  It was part of a group which were made for three friends at a difficult time in my life. I just wanted to thank them for being there in spirit and in words.

I thought it would be nice to end the year on my blog with a Thank You to readers who stopped by on a regular basis and to readers who did a quick drive by just to see if anything was interesting.

2014 kicked me around, and made life difficult. However, I survived bruised and cautious with a deeper understanding. 2015 better watch out!
 

Happy New Year ...

May 2015 be

Generous and Kind

to YOU!

Playing With My Food Making Corn Muffin Waffles in the Waffle Iron

As if I don't have real work to do at home. Yes, I played with my food again. This time, I made Corn Muffin Waffles, and I liked them. There's a song in there somewhere.

Stuffed French Toast Waffles got me thinking about what else I could cook in the underused waffle iron. I had two boxes in the pantry of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix and decided to sacrifice one in the test.

I made the waffles/muffins according to the directions on the box, and added a tablespoon of vegetable oil. I thought the oil might help the waffles not stick to the waffle iron- and it worked. Whether they would have stuck without the added oil, I don't know.

You can see the results of my experiment, noted A, B, and C. I got sidetracked on C and left them in too long, but they were still edible.  A was me being too anxious to see what was going on. B was because of the little bear's bed, no that's the wrong fairy tale.  But it was nearly perfect.

So, I think the experiment was a success. I got 6 waffles from one box of mix. When I wanted to eat one, I just popped it into the toaster to reheat. Lovely.

These are good topped with a fried egg, the egg keeps the waffle warm and steamy, not hard and crisp. No sawing required.

Sometimes it's okay to play with your food. You might like the result and be inspired to play some more. Not always, but sometimes.

Two Things I'm Happy About

Wanted to share with you two things I'm happy about. One is this beautiful Christmas Cactus. I bought it last week and it's blooming like crazy.

I think it must be enjoying the new Swan White color on the walls of the parlor. I know I am. The previous color(s) were depressing, so although the white is a drastic change, I'm going to see how it feels over the next few months.

The ornaments image was taken last year(?), could have been the year before.

The second thing I'm happy about is sharing the second memory friendship bead bracelet.  I made three bracelets and this is the second one to show you. I showed you the first one in this post, Blending.

This one was made considering how much she enjoys her plants and nature.

I used antique glass seed beads, new charms and new wood beads.

I wanted to give each of the ladies something to recognize them individually and to thank them for their support and good wishes.  I can't measure what that means to me and I think they know that.

It's just a little thing, but making these bracelets helped me, too.

Refreshing the Creative Muse and New Jewelry

When I was making this new jewelry as a set, it was meant to be a gift.  Then I found out that her style is more to the funky style and chunky size and I thought that the necklace and earrings were not going to be a good fit for her taste and personality.  

So, what should I do with these?  Wear them or sell them?  Keep them together or as separate items?  My Storenvy has been in maintenance mode, I haven't had the passion for it as when the storefront was initially opened and during the first year or so. Storenvy  was easy to setup and unless you want to customize your storefront and use your own domain, it's free to have a store. No fees!  (There are Paypal fees, but at the moment, no Storenvy fees.)

Do you go through cycles with your store- working at it, improving it, etc.  and then do you need a break?  When your market and niche have been laser focused and you have a plan, what makes you keep to the plan?  There are so many distractions and commitments in our daily routines, plus being the CEO of your business and being creative at the same time.  Do you have a way to work all of them into a good blend?  Other than time management, do you meditate, listen to music, take a walk, or something else to refresh the creative muse?

My desk and shelves are loaded with supplies and after not being able to do anything because of the eye problems, there was a groove I was pulled out of and want to get back to.  It was comfortable and messy, with too many ideas and not enough time to complete more than a handful of them.   On the blog, I seriously need to have clearer, crisper images, and will be working on that with the new camera- soon.

So, what about it?  Are you in a groove with your creative work and business, running smoothly along and taking a break to feel refreshed?  What's your inspiration?



 

Diaper a Banana? Baby Your Bananas to Make Them Stay Fresh Longer

Sounds crazy right?  Diaper a banana?  Here's the thing, when I buy bananas I look for the greenest, least ripe ones on display, but buy yellow ones if that's all the store has on offer. What happens when the bananas sit in the kitchen?  They get ripe and must be eaten within at the most three days.  After three days I have to make Banana Cake/Bread.  I know, not a hardship to make and eat cake, LOL.  However, it's eating one or two bananas each day that is the problem.

Why did I diaper my banana stem?  I was standing at the counter waiting for the kettle to boil. The ugly end of the bunch of bananas is, well, it's ugly and gnarly, all ripped and darkening and it's in my line of sight.  At that moment of not wanting to see the ugly end and having turned the bunch around more than once to hide the stem end, bruises get more pronounced and numerous from all the shifting of the bunch in the bowl, I ripped a small piece of paper towel off the roll and wrapped it around the ugly end- essentially, diapering the banana end.  And then I laughed at the sight of it, but left the paper wrapped around the stem.  Weird, right?

You know what happened next?  Over the next few days the bananas continued to ripen and then all of a sudden, they stopped.  They didn't get soft, they didn't get black, there are very few spots and this is good.  Not having to eat the bananas in two days is good.  Not having to make cake is good (sometimes.)  The bananas were yellow when I bought them and here is a photo of the banana that is on Day Ten after coming home.

Since I had this accidental discovery I searched the web and found where people have been wrapping the ugly stem end with foil, newspaper, or plastic wrap in an effort to slow down the ripening.  The results are varied.  Some suggestions were to wrap the whole banana and to separate the bunch.  That sounds like a lot of work.  A popular suggestion is to refrigerate the bananas.  The peel will turn black, but are supposed to be fine to eat.

I think I'll stick with my little paper towel diaper or maybe go crafty with a decked out cardboard tube from empty rolls of paper.  Hold the talcum powder and rash creme.

Pillow Fight! Send Me a Feather and a Four Update

Source
I used a free photo from the Morgue File and edited with text, etc.

Coming in midway through the story...

The one time I thought I would not get an answer, the strange thing is, I asked for a feather, a single solitary feather, don't ask me why I chose a feather, I just said what popped into my mind.

When I got to my destination, the whole front lawn was covered in feathers.  It was as if there had been a huge pillow fight on the lawn or the skies opened up and feathers rained down, or there had been a wild duck party and brawl- I don't know how the feathers got there.




What I do know is that I was stunned to see hundreds perhaps thousands of feathers where there should have been none.  People looked at them, but no one said a word, as if they didn't acknowledge it, it wouldn't be real.

Did I take that this as my answer?  I did not.  If people can talk themselves out of believing, they will and they do.  So I did.  There was no way that little ole me would get masses of feathers as a sign when I only wanted one, one in an unexpected place, one where no one else but me would see it and know that it was put there just for me.

What did these hundreds of feathers mean?  Was it a joke?  "Hey, you asked for a sign- is this good enough for you?"  These many feathers left me walking on air, maybe these really were sent as an answer.  Maybe it does matter what I think, say, and do on a daily basis.  Maybe He heard me.  But, no, this was too much.  I couldn't be that one girl who gets the answer she is seeking.

You ask for something, but do you really want it?  What's the risk?  What's the harm?

Which brings me back to what popped into my mind.  Maybe it was one of those premonitions where the phone rings and you know who is calling, or you decide not to go somewhere and you later find out that there was a car accident or something like that in the place where you would have been.  Maybe my nose was tickled two miles away by the masses of feathers and so I asked for one because it would have been outnumbered and that would give me a reason to disbelieve.  I don't know.

That is what happened.  I took the road of uncertainty and disbelief, leaving the feathers on the ground and the dream unfulfilled.

What do you think, Fact or Fiction?

Making More With Four

Just a Reminder/Update to our Four participants, or if you haven't read More Making Do With Four and would like to know what it's about, take a quick read and then on Friday, April 26, (next Friday) come and link up to show us what you made.  Looking forward to all the variety!

I set up a Group Board on Pinterest for us to pin the items we have made.  To pin, leave a comment on the board so I can send you the invite.  Here is the Group Board Link.

This Time Tomorrow

Countdown- feeling lost 10; eating a boatload of Cadbury Mini Eggs 9; picking up the Basil and liberally pouring it into the pot when it was supposed to be Parsley 8; thinking about shutting down 7; letting someone's evil backstabbing get to me for a bit 6; the computer not working for a few days even after forking over a chunk of money to fix it 5; eye problems 4; avoiding the scale 3; finding a new tumor on Lucy 2; deciding this is all water under the bridge 1.  My week in review.

Now, instead of sloshing about in self pity I want to share some posts with you that have just recently turned up in my Dashboard Reading List.

• Shake it off- Step Up, by Melody Mae 
• Positive Affirmation, on Art Sings blog
• Birth Your Miracle, good advice from Leonie Dawson.
• Valerie talks about Your Definition of Success.

There was a blog I haven't seen updated for months and all of a sudden 45 posts appeared in one day.  Other blogs aren't updating at all.  A few blogs I never heard of and didn't follow have been appearing.  Believe me, I don't want to read about fish species and where to catch them. It may be that I will have to check out the readers that others are switching to once Google Reader disappears- and I don't use that now.

So, this time tomorrow, I will be happy to read about other's good fortune, the presents received, the babies yet to be born, the new adventures and the skills learned.    Sometimes when circumstances implode it makes almost everything around look bleak, even when it's not.  A break, a step back, breathing, separating from the source of conflict and soon enough I'm ready to jump back in.  Not always immediately, sometimes longer than is good, but eventually, as there must be some DNA in me that likes the challenge.  

Are you naturally self confident or do you have moments where you waver?
 

 

Four Words From My Friendly Furry Sponsor

Do you get this message sometimes?  "Live first, Blog later."   Maybe it is all the busyness catching up with you or appointments to keep.   Household chores, errands, cleaning, cooking, ...    All the normal things usually taking up your time, before you ever get to put brush in hand, or needle in thread, or beads on a wire... and then to blog about it. 

I manage to have a nearly tech-free Sunday each week.  Well, I try to anyway.  For me, it is necessary to give my eyes a rest and my brain a chance to focus on other things than whatever is on the computer screen.

I try refreshing my soul and nourishing my  heart towards the bigger picture.  I am not always successful.  If I turn the tv on and see chaos, corruption, and brutality- well, there goes any refreshment I was seeking.  

Putting on music, or just listening to the birds sing,  to get that quiet feeling, for me the house needs to be almost silent, that is nearly impossible to secure.  Why did it used to be so easy to tune-out the static and buzz, even just a few years ago.  The older I get, the quicker time passes, the more fragile life's balance has become front and center.  There is no escaping, it was always like that, but becoming aware is a blessing, I suppose.

What about you?  Do you tune out the chatter and buzz on any given day?  Does it help you to focus or feel renewed and energized?    

       

When You Get a Bouquet, Say Yes

Take a look at the left sidebar.  Not the top, keep going?    (ETA:  Skip this part, the image was removed, but you can still see it down in the post.)   Do you see it?  Say, "Yes, I see it."  Got it?  I know you do.  Flowers,  gorgeous inventions.  We wouldn't have so many perfumes without flowers.

Every so often I buy myself a bouquet of flowers.  Sometimes they are big and bright, other times they are soft and muted.  When I'm in the store, even if I don't buy, I always take a glance at the assortment.  Sometimes I walk right up to the flower display and smile.  I just can't help it.  Bouquets of flowers are awesome, especially in the long midwest winter.

The last bouquet was all miniature carnations.  I'd never seen those before, they just made me take them home.  They were so perky and petite and practically jumped into the cart.  These minis conjured up images of tea parties and teddy bears with dolls and my grass, leaf, and twig salads.  Even as a young girl I knew one day I'd be eating the green stuff!

They are darn hardy flowers, too.  I had them for almost three weeks, I really enjoyed them.  They brightened each day for me.  As the life for the bunch was ending I wanted to do something other than drying them out to remind me of their gift to me.  Not a gift as in, I bought them, but a gift of their scent, colors, liveliness, and company.  Divinity and Nature from the Original Creator.

There you have it.   Take the petals off the flower head and save all the best parts of the stem and buds.  Once you start pulling or cutting off the petals you'll see other parts of the flower that weren't visible before.  Such as little green softnesses, yes I made that word up, and thin stringy moist shapes- all those things that go into making a flower so special and amazing and it didn't even need any help from us to be so beautiful.

I put the petals in a large bowl and the stems in a separate container as it made it easier to sort and select.  Put some background down, I used colored cardstock.  Arrange your letters using the petals and the other flower parts as you like.  Keep wagging tails out of the area or your petals will go flying off the paper!  (Lucy likes to be in on the action.)

March 10 is the three year anniversary for the blog.  I said yes to this endeavor, and hope to continue as long as I am able and the technology exists.  It (technology) changes so fast, doesn't it?

I want to say that you are my Vitamin G: girlfriends, blogfriends, readers, commenters, a bouquet of varied and colorful souls; and I appreciate each and every one!
Thank you for your energy, jokes, gifts, and sharing this space with me.
You make this blog smell better!

When you have the choice, if at all possible,

  

Gloria 

♥

Question:  What's your favorite once in a while treat you give yourself?