Politics!

~Politics!

~My children recoil in fear. My friends turn their heads the other way and grimace. My husband cowers in his recliner, lowering the brim on his baseball cap so as not to meet my eyes. This is the reaction when I start talking about politics.

~It's always been this way yet it's something I don't understand. The nature of politics runs our lives. Political decisions are behind all the rules and behind most of our laws. You can get married, go to war and vote when you're eighteen but you can't have a beer at your wedding because of political decisions. You can drive when you're sixteen, but you can't have your friends in the car until your seventeen because of a political decision. In some states, you can talk on a cell phone while driving but in other states you can't because of...you guessed it...a political decision. On some roads you can drive 70mph but on others you can only go 55 because a group of politicians got together and looked at the facts and made a decision. The folks who make the rules in our towns, counties, states and federal government are all politicians. If we learn to hate politics, we have no hope of steering those decisions in our favored direction. The politicians will run roughshod over us. Kids grow up hating politics. Yet, they whine about the restrictions set upon them by politicians.

~Most of my friends and family members complain about certain laws and rules. Yet, they shrivel up when the subject comes up in a discussion. Or they groan and sigh and say, "I don't want to talk about it." Well...if you don't talk about it, you'll never figure out a way to take action on those things you are complaining about. Our young people today get their political news from the comedy network on shows like The Daley Show or The Colbert Report where it's hard to tell what's serious and what's not. I love satire, but it has to be coupled with real information. Unfortunately, there's no balance in our media.
~I think most folks hate politics because they dislike politicians. We all believe they are in it for the power trip and not for us. It's hard not to generalize when we see so many politicians disappointing us in both the personal arena as well as the public one. But our system is set up so that we elect these people to represent us and hopefully to do things for the general welfare of the public. It doesn't always work out that way. But if we don't stay tuned in and engaged, we hand over the reins. If we do that we can't complain about the outcome. If we "don't want to talk about it," then we don't want to know what's going on. We are content to let the daily talking heads on the morning shows tell us what's what. Too often, their so-called "news" is couched in their own political beliefs so we don't get the whole story.
~We all need to do a little research on our own. Information is abundant today. If you have a computer you can research anything and confirm its accuracy with a little more research. Armed with some facts, you'll eventually want to share them, discuss them, argue them. And when someone starts talking about politics, you'll jump at the chance to join in.
~In the meantime, check us out at www.apronsgonewild.etsy.com
~No politics there!

The "C Word"

The "C Word"

~"Charm." A five letter word that says it all when it comes to home decorating. It's the big "C" each and every time that will get a buyer to take a second look and often sign on the dotted line. Any four walls, no matter how humble, can elicit charm. Often, it's as simple as the way the light comes into a room...or a corner fireplace that just grabs you.
~When I joined Susan on Metamorphosis Monday at http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the long awaited kitchen remodel in our early 18th century home on Cape Cod. But, I forgot to mention the "C Word" and include one of my favorite parts...the charming breadbox that hubby made it for me. It was my Christmas present the year we finished the kitchen. It's made of pine boards leftover from the bookcase and cabinet he built to house all his hardcovers and our new flat screen tv. I love it because it's unique and it's big and it adds a bit of old fashioned charm to our kitchen countertop. The saltbox design looks perfect with the style of our kitchen and its size affords us room for not only bread, but all sorts of other things like chips, crackers and even candy. I especially love it during the summer when the grandchildren are all around. I keep lots of goodies in there for them. Everything stays fresh and out of sight but handy.
~The box has an old fashioned design with an easy lift-top lid and sits right on top of our counter next to the sink. We chose an olde Century Colors paint color that coordinates with the rest of the kitchen but doesn't match exactly. I always feel that in "old house decor" things shouldn't match to perfection. Rather they should look like collections of this and that...or things put together over a period of time. That's the charm factor.
~Our Cape Cod daughter gave us the little tin star in the photo for Christmas that year. I just hung it on the breadbox for a moment and seem to have left it there ever since. I like the way it looks.
~Oh...and another fun thing to tell you. If you're not already familiar with them, there are several Internet sites now that let you make a magazine cover out of your photos. It's just for fun but you can use them in clever ways like gift giving, card making, etc. I made a cover from our breadbox picture using http://www.magmypic.com/.

~Hope you'll leave me a comment to let me know you were here.

~Thanks to Susan at http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ for hosting Metamorphisis Monday. :)

Whew!

It's been a whirlwind around here since the weather broke. Sunshine and glorious blue skies each and every day. As nice as that is, it puts a lot of pressure to get outdoors and enjoy every minute, which we obediently do!
A visit from our Ohio daughter and grandchildren was wonderful. Beach every day and we hit as many favorite eating establishments as time would allow. We're not avid shoppers, but we took granddaughter, Emily, to the Melbourne mall one evening in search of a prom dress. Everything looks fabulous on Emily so it's difficult to narrow things down to just one. But...she found a dress at a very good price. After stopping for chocolate shakes, we all came home happy.
I also got to photograph Emily in some of my aprons for my etsy shop while she was here. As you can see here, "Chocolate Pudding With Sprinkles" and "Purple Punch Batik" take on a new dimension when Em wears them.
Still sewing but trying to sneak in the beach whenever I can. Only a month left here. Gotta get it all in!
Visit us at http://www.apronsgonewild.etsy.com/