Sink Reflections

~When I opened up my yahoo mail first thing this morning, there was an item taken from Real Simple magazine about how to keep your kitchen spotless. Easy, daily suggestions that will keep your counter tops and sink free of clutter. The details in the piece were taken from a book that I actually own called, "Sink Reflections." In it, the author, Marla Cilley, attempts to inspire her readers to begin with just one thing...the kitchen sink. Her theory is that if you keep your
sink clean, shiny and free of clutter, the resulting pleasure will prompt you to keep your counters clean and your appliances sparkling. She tempts you to adopt her mantra of never going to bed leaving a dirty sink. Your sink is the first thing you see each morning when you start your day. If it's dirty and full of clutter, that will affect your mood and mentality and how you proceed with everything else.
http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/549/how-to-speed-clean-your-kitchen
~I think it's great advice. Ms Cilley is absolutely correct. The kitchen sink greets me each and every morning. If I come into my kitchen and face dirty dishes sitting in the sink, the message is "You've got a day of mess ahead of you." If it's clean and shiny, I relax, pour my coffee and start to think positively about what I can accomplish that day. I'm not going backward. I'm going forward.
~Often, it's the smallest things that make or break a mood. Habits that may seem insignificant are sometimes the impetus that make us productive. Little things mean a lot.
~It is said that it only takes 28 days of repeating a function to form a habit. From my own experience, I find that to be true. I'm certainly not "Suzie Homemaker" or "Nancy Neat." But I do make it a habit to keep our sink clear of clutter, our counters wiped down and our appliances fingerprint free. It seems to keep me happy and frees me up to do more productive things. A peaceful mind is a productive mind. I never go to bed without first making sure the kitchen sink is clean. Seeing my reflection in the sink each morning puts a smile on my face. The 28 days it took to form that habit was well worth the effort.
~I took these pictures of our kitchen sink here in Florida early this morning when I came downstairs.
~Put a smile on your face and send me a picture of your sink reflection.
~And while you're at it, check out our unique selection of aprons and tops at http://www.apronsgonewild.etsy.com/

Valentine's Day

~Valentine's Day.

~Sweethearts, lovers, close friends....everyone likes to take the opportunity on this day to show the folks they love just how much they love them. Cards, flowers, candy, jewelry. A marketing bonanza.
~Hubby and I just exchange cards on Valentine's Day. The habit probably stems from our younger days when we had barely enough resources to run the household, much less spend on ways to state our love for each other. Therefore, the card and what it says, means a lot. I always tell hubby that whenever I get mad at him, I read the cards I've saved that he's given me over the years. Since neither of us is very outwardly demonstrative, we often express things in writing that we don't express in words or actions. I think that's that way with a lot of couples.
~One of our daughters gets an interesting gift from her hubby each year on Valentine's Day. He writes a sonnet for her. Now a sonnet is more than a poem. A sonnet follows a strict rhyme form and a specific structure. It has 14 lines following one or another of several set rhyme-schemes. A sonnet is not that easy to compose and takes a lot of thought. Anyone who has had a sonnet composed specifically for them may consider the sonnet composer to have been extremely caring.
~Our daughter always comments on how her hubby is so cute about his sonnets. He can never wait until Valentine's Day to reveal his poem...always having the need to recite it the night before. Very dear, indeed.
~I love the sincerity of the sonnet. But I know my hubby wouldn't know where to begin. And I always find the words in the Hallmark card he gives me to be straight from his heart.

~Happy Sweetheart's Day everyone!

The Great Winter Escape

~Well...we're here in sunny Florida. I must admit that having the doors and windows open in January suits me just fine. I think that's what I hate the most about winter back home. Having everything closed up feels claustrophobic. Gray skies and short days seem gloomy to me. I start fantacizing about summer and life on the porch. I imagine the tanned, smiling faces of our grandchildren coming back from a day at the beach and evenings sitting around the firepit, telling stories and singing songs.
~Our ability to spend our winters in Florida stems from a long range plan that began over thirty years ago when we purchased a small townhouse condo near the beach just south of the Kennedy Space center. There wasn't much here then. It wasn't spiffy or upscale. But it was on the barrier island and there were miles and miles of beach with little parking areas every five miles or so. You could just pull off the road, grab your beach towel and flop down in the sand. We used the condo as an investment property for most of those years. We redecorated a couple of times and as we did, we watched the area grow. We started to see restaurants, and grocery markets crop up in commercial spaces that had been deserted during the downturn of the 70s. Beautiful condos were constructed along the beach. Due to height restrictions in the area, none of the buildings took over the clear blue skies...and you can still pull off the road every half mile or so with free parking to access the beach. Carefully planned commercial development brought jobs to the area. New hospitals located over the river on the mainland. That development opened up new prospects for pharmacies and medical practices on the island. A burst of energy was thrust into just about every facet of life here.
~Now that we are retired and get to enjoy our little condo and all the things this area offers, we are grateful for the chance to escape the New England winters. Snow was a welcome sight when we were young and we took our four children skiing. But once you give up a snow hobby, the wet, white stuff just means work. And cold work, at that.
~This winter up north sounds especially bad. No just wet, but bitter cold. Not a day goes by down here that I don't thank the big Guy up there for leading us in the right direction way back when we fell upon this cozy little southern abode. Funny how life works out.

A New Year

~A New Year....Is it really something special when it happens? Or is it just the same old...same old? I must confess that around here it has become just another year. But deep down, I know it is something special. It's a rebirth for many folks; a chance to look at life with new aspirations. If you're overweight, you swear yourself on a diet. If you are a shopaholic, you cut up your credit cards. If you are a bit lazy, you join a gym. But what happens to those best laid plans?
Usually, by mid January, you are back to your old habits, completely forgetting about having resolved to do this or that. Yet, every once in a while, someone, somewhere sticks to his or her resolution and life changes in a good way.
~I've known people who resolved to do something about their weight on New Year's Eve and then really did something about their weight. And it stuck!
I guess the good thing about making a New Year's resolution is that it shows how humanity always holds out hope. No matter how many times you break a heartfelt resolution, you usually make another one the next year. Hope usually comes with a strong sense of passion. It feels good to hope.
~Hubby and I are just about ready to head south. Except there is snow looming in the forecast on the day we want to leave. It will be hard to wait, even a day or two. In my old age, I've become completely intolerant to cold. Hubby says my
circulator doesn't work. The cold starts in my feet and spreads to my calves and soon overtakes my whole body. When we were young, we could hardly wait for snow so we could ski. That's what winter sports do for you. Make you wish for snow. But these days the cold means inactivity which leads to being...well... cold. Now that the hustle bustle of the holidays is over, I can't wait to get into warm sunshine, balmy breezes and sun, sun, sun. I can take my daily walk without freezing; fiddle around in the patio without a down jacket, drive to the store without warming up the car first. Lovely, simple thoughts that make me very happy. Florida, here we come.
~Be sure to check out our online store to see more aprons like the one granddaughter Emily is modeling at:
http://www.apronsgonewild.etsy.com/
~I'll be adding lots of new items soon.

It's Christmas!

~Sometimes, when I read the posts of other bloggers, I ask myself why my posts often sound hostile. Most of the blogs I frequent are filled with beautiful photos and sentiments, often having to do with the season. Mine are often filled with complaints or strong, opinionated feelings. Sort of makes me wonder about myself.
~Anyway...this post is about Christmas and I've linked into one of my favorite blogs.... www.hookedonhouses.net . I've been decorating the house earlier and earlier each year because we head south right after New Years which necessitates dismantling everything in a hurry. I want to enjoy it all for as long as I can. We've had a primitive twig tree for the past ten years or so. Ours is one of the originals so it has almost as many brown twigs as it has branches. I like that about it. Makes it look rustic and natural. Decorating a twig tree poses a bit of a challenge since ordinary Christmas ornaments and decorations don't really suit it. The other issue for me is that our tree sits in our bay window. Lots of light filters through it during the day posing a problem of making it look excessively bare. For many years, I stuffed the bare spots with dried hydrangeas. Loved the way it looked because the hydrangeas turn a golden brown by Christmas time and the color added to the rustic look. But then I read an article about dried hydrangeas being a fire hazard...they go up like tissue paper! So off with them after reading that. I now use dried Marsh Heather, which for some reason, always seems to have some moisture in it. Also bought some artificial hydrangeas that are a deep burgundy that gives the same illusion of the dried ones except they add a bit of color. Add to that the tiny black felt crows I acquired years ago from I think, The Gingham Goose in Rochester, MA, and our tree looks a bit different from any other. A few years past when I found those new, tiny lights on the thin brown wire online, I was thrilled because they are perfect on our tree since there is so much more brown than green. Now, they sell them in primitive shops so I've been able to add more light over the past couple of years.
~My brother-in-law makes fun of our tree each year in a very loving way. "Did you put up that brown tree yet?" he asks each season. Sometimes, I think I keep it decorated as such just to give him something to crank about. One year, I added gold angel hair and I really liked it but I haven't been able to find it again. Another year, I added plaid wool bows but ended up taking them off because they looked too cute. I think I'll just leave it the way it is.
~On another note, the same brother-in-law who jokes about our tree, gave me a sled several years ago, that he had found in my husband's childhood home when things were being sold and thinned out. It was most likely handmade by hubby's great grandfather. It's one of those things I cherish. I actually never put it away...even during the summer months. It has a home in the aforementioned picture window and our family pictures sit on top of it. At Christmas time, I put it out on the front porch leaning up against the batten door that was one of the first things hubby made for me when we bought this old house.
~Although I've always found the Christmas season to be hectic, there are certain things I love. Decorating and gift wrapping are at the top of my list. If I could just find someone to do the shopping for me, I'd be set.
~Here's wishing all of you in blogland a Happy, Healthy, Merry Christmas and a bright and hopeful New Year.

~Be sure to check out our online store at http://www.apronsgonewild.etsy.com/ for some great gift ideas.

I Hate The Phone

~I hate the phone...

~I think that's why I love my computer so much. I love communicating but I hate talking on the phone..it actually gives me a migraine. Phone calls almost never seem to come at a convenient time; they're always an unexpected interruption. Often, I completely forget what I was doing after someone calls. The caller always calls when it's an opportune time for them...not knowing if it's a good time for you! But it rarely stops them.

~Not so with email. It's completely at the discretion of both the sender and the recipient. You send it when it's convenient and you open it when it's convenient. You can think before you write so you almost always say what you want to say. You can verify info before you answer a question so you're rarely caught off guard. I love email. And Facebook is fun for quick comments to friends and family. If I ever made phone calls to comment on things the way I comment on Facebook I'd be disowned. No interruptions...just a glance at the computer screen now and then.

~I have a few friends who prefer phone calls. I don't understand it. I guess they like to talk. I guess they don't get headaches. I guess they don't mind interruptions.

~Not me. Email me anytime. But call me only when you must.

~When I'm not on the computer, I'm usually making aprons. Check us out at

http://www.apronsgonewild.etsy.com/

Please Mr. Sun.....

~Seems I've been neglecting my blog lately. It's just that there's so much to do this time of year. Yard work, fall cleaning, yard work, sewing, yard work. We've had a run of 7 days here on Cape Cod, of wet, rainy, cold, dreary weather. Even once it clears up, the leaf piles will be soaked, the flower beds will be mushy and the pile of cuttings we started before the rain will be a rotten mess.

~Today, I actually raked wet leaves in the rain, just to get some air. I have a chronic need to be outdoors and a week trapped in the house is about all my nerves can take. Oh...I kept busy. I made four new aprons for my online shop (pictured here), refinished the top of the dining room table and coaxed hubby into painting the walls and old wood floor in our little bathroom off the hallway near our bedroom. So the nasty weather week hasn't been wasted.

~But I've had enough of it to last me for a while. Please, Mr. Sun...please come out?

Check us out at http://www.apronsgonewild.etsy.com/