WELL, WELL, WELL
 Have I been too busy to post any updates?
Apparently so.
Since the last time I posted, I have moved twice, made six afghans, done some pour painting,  pebble painting, made numerous jams, and refurbished a dilapidated older tract house, written two complete biographies (of my grandparents)  and rough drafted three more bios. 
photos to follow:

PAINT BRUSHES

Miss Delvore

Trileo

Elvin

Miss Tularee

Miss Heddy

 

ready to become a wall decoration

boxes:

keyed round box

homemade box

very small boxes

Just happened to have a few clothespins lying around that were begging to be decorated.
 Result:  Carolers!  Can you hear the music now?

These are glass bulbs that I decorated with those cool Deco Color markers.
The "paint" takes a while to dry.
The colors soften as they dry, so the color you see in this photo are the true colors when they dried.

  

I had so many empty wooden spools from my sewing projects;
There were many beads and trims, too.  Sooo,
I had loads of creative fun making these ornaments.

THANK YOU, PINTEREST FOR THE GREAT IDEAS!

Well, Hello there!  It's been a long, long time, huh?

That's what I get for moving to Tornado Alley.  I'm having a good time and have seen no tornadoes yet!  I am preparing for emergencies and I'm having a good time watching the clouds roll by.  In between times I have been crafting, making cards and working on individual family binders.  Wait till you see what I did for Christmas ornaments.
Wait . . . .
     Yeah, I said it . . .
          wait.
               OK I'll get it up and going soon . . .
                     wait for it.
                          . . . soon.

Ugh oh, gotta go.  Be back soon!

Projects and Reads

Once upon a time in the land of rain and fog, there was a family of seven very active and innovative children and two patient, dedicated parents.  Add to that, a visiting grandmother and you've got a houseful of action!

I spent a few weeks with Shelly's family this winter; she had projects for me to do, and I kept happily busy the whole time.  Between works, I was able to interact with 6 of my amazing grandchildren, to learn about them and their interests.  When I grew too tired to keep going, Shelly gave me some terrific books to read when I rested:

I had read Christy by Catherine Marshall many years ago, and the richness of the story absolutely entranced me as I visited the back hills of the south once again.  I also read To Kill a Mockingbird, which took me to a dramatic event in the1950s south.    I came home to read Same Kind of Different as Me.  I cannot recommend one read over the other because they were all superb.  The authors took me through the stories so pleasingly that I felt that I had dust on my feet from walking those roads, I could almost feel the humidity in the air, and taste the honey!  When you want a good read, ask my daughter, Shelly.  She has a list of beautiful books that feed the soul.  *(I do caution that The Secret Life of Bees has many cuss words. Thankfully, Shelly blacked out most all of them, so I did not have to worry about reading them.)
Reading is a delightful way for me to walk through history, and visit other worlds and learn of  people's experiences that are so different than mine.  These books I mentioned are truly classics for their poetic language, descriptive phrases, and superb story lines.  Thank you to the authors, and to Shelly for recommending them to me.   

My next visits are being planned.  My beloved friends and children usually have projects for me to do for/with them, and I welcome the opportunities!  I even brought some projects home with me this last time to see if I could finish them for Shelly.  She had told me that she wasn't going to do them after storing them for years.  I came home and contentedly cut, sewed, and used creativity to finish some of them.  Thank you, my loves,  for helping me feel good again as a contributing part of the human race.

Happy. Happy. Happy!

Well, well, well!   It is hard to believe that it's been  many months since I last posted.

Bizzy Me!  My son's wedding distracted me, then I got sick, then I got lazy!  Ha!

I want to add to the last post I wrote about organizing closets.
I recently read a terrific article in "MORE" magazine about cleaning out and organizing your clothing.  The writer, Jennifer Braunschweiger,  wrote about old or worn-outs for trash, discards for charity , and taking items to a consignment store.  "What?"  You say?  A consignment store???  Yes, if I had anything worth consigning!
I have a girlfriend who buys her Italian leather shoes and mink coats at thrift shops.  She doesn't get them from Gucci or Sax or Nordstrom or Marshall Fields!  She seldom pays full price for any item, but she does shop labels.  
Me?  I go for  what fits, what colors go, and what makes me feel good.  
Here is what I did glean from the organizer lady:   If I don't feel lovely, comfortable and confident in a particular piece of clothing, I must toss it out!  

I still adhere to the rules that:
a.   If I haven't worn it in the last three years, maybe I just plain don't need it! (Duh)
b.   Everything that needs mending, polishing or cleaning should NOT be in the ready-to-wear closet!  Fix the problem or toss the item!  Well, there goes 3/4 of my daily wear!  
c.   I am quite sentimental about ancient gifts from loved ones that I still want to keep.  However some of  my old scarves, hats, purses and shoes don't need to clutter my current closet, so, I put them in a dress-up box for my grand girls to play with, they are so cute in dress-ups!  Ahh!  
d.  Here's one more idea!  Some items can be used for  Halloween costumes!  

Whew!  Now I can feel better about the clothes in my closet, what's left of them!

ORGANIZING MY CLOTHES CLOSET

Oh, what ever shall I do with my clothes?

 (We're assuming you have already discarded unneeded/unwanted clothing.)

It's not  just a matter of hanging clothes, or placing them on shelves.  I hang my clothes in a particular manner.  But it is rather simple.  Here's the plan I follow.

1. Off-season clothing goes to the back or hardest-to-get-to area of my closet.
2. Tops, including blouses, t-shirts and cardigans take up one section.
3. Pants, slacks, etc., are in another section.
4. Skirts and dresses are in the third area.

I sort my categorized clothes by color.
(Please keep in mind that I am almost obsessively organized when it comes to clothing.) 
Here is what I do to make my life a bit more simplified:
I organize the tops according to color.  I sort the pants, skirts and dresses the same way.
My shoes are only two or three different colors (less complicated, you know)
Purses can be according to color or by size.    

That's all.  Simple, huh?   Done!