TRYING TO SIMPLIFY...

Good morning friends!  Sorry I have not been here to visit in so long.  Another bad stretch physically, but the storm is hitting today so I can expect things to level out pain-wise once it gets here.  In fact, the wind is picking up and the ground is beginning to look wet.  Sure hope we just get rain and not the snow that people were talking about for the past few days.  I will have to look up our local weather online, crossing my fingers the whole time that the snowstorm will skirt around us!

Even though I haven't been able to "craft" much recently due to my uncooperative body, I have still been working on simplifying our lives.  I want to make less of an impact in everything I do...whether it is less of a financial impact on our monetary status or less of an impact on the earth with our reusables vs. disposables challenge.  SLOWLY I am turning away from disposables and stocking my home with reusables.

This is a new washcloth pattern for me, so I will use it for a week to make sure it is serviceable.  Then I will slowly crochet another three washcloths to put in my Etsy store.  I have finished one set of washcloths so far.  Fortunately when the shakes, twitches and tremors preclude many other activities, the whole arm motion of crocheting is still possible...at least for a little while until my daily pain kicks in.  

I am also turning away from purchased items to homemade items, such as cleaners, food, mixes, etc.  I really like this citrus cleaner!  It works well, smells good and is EASY to make.  Simply drop pith free (or as pith free as you can make them) orange peels into plain white vinegar and let it sit for two weeks.  I shake the jar whenever I happen to think of it.  After two weeks I remove the peels and transfer some of the completed orange cleaner into my spray bottle.

From a savings standpoint I have not done too well.  I stole $120 from my envelopes in order to pay the painter a down-payment when I signed the contract.  Had I planned better, I would have asked dear hubby to take money out of our savings account for the down-payment in addition to the final payment.  But, the man was here and I was ready to sign the contract and get started.  I didn't want to waste the time mailing him the paperwork and check.  So now I am $120 short in my envelopes and two weeks behind on my deposits!  Not good.  BUT, saving anything is a step in the right direction and paying cash for the painting, or any home improvement, is rare for us! So I guess it is "all good".

As far as the expansion of my sewing room...it is coming along.  Thanks to the help of my dear folks and hubby we have made progress.  We have gotten the ceiling light replaced (thanks, Dad).  Dear hubby found this light online at Lowes.  It uses three 100 watt bulbs.  The light generated by this fixture is just WONDERFUL!  I wish my whole house was this bright!

We have moved in a chair and table.  We are going to buy a more comfy chair, but the table will stay.

We have also decided that two small "suitcase type" folding tables will suffice for my basting table.  That way I can have dear hubby fold them up and hide them behind the door when not in use.  We already have one table and will look for another the next time we are in Sam's.

With some help I have gotten one side of the armoir filled with my crochet/knitting supplies, all sorted and put away nicely.  I do not have enough drawers to load up the other side with material yet.  That will come as we have money to buy the drawers and/or shelves.

I found some cute "free" labels online to make everything more organized.  Of course I have a large bin marked "Misc." in which I have stored quite a few skeins of "unknown" yarn.  Does anyone know a way to distinguish types of yarn? 

We did move all of the big totes (mostly batting, but some tapestry pieces also) from my closet into the expansion room closet.  I don't go to them except maybe once per project, so they don't need to take up space in my main room.  I also moved into the expansion room closet my two piece sewing machine carrier, a free duffel bag that I will use to transport material and/or supplies to classes or on vacation and a new free rolling suitcase that will also be used to transport material and/or supplies.  The hard cover for my "Ellie" has found a new home too!  We added one extra shelf (so far) on which to store my miscellaneous quilts. 

All of my craft books have been placed on the bookshelf and all of my disability hearing paperwork has found a "temporary" home on the bookshelf and in the center drawer of the cabinet.  My disability hearing is now supposed to be in May, so hopefully I will be approved for SSDI and then I can pack all of the paperwork into a box and find a spot in the basement to store it for a couple of years.  I am thinking probably seven years, but I will check with my lawyer.   

The black shelf on top of the cabinet will hold our TV, cable box and DVD player.  Right now it is holding a briefcase filled with page separators and another binder to finish consolidating my medical records.  Someday I will get to it, but right now I am just burned out.  Punching holes in the pages gives me pain and I am just sick and tired of looking at records that document how "sick and tired" I really am!  For a little while at least I would like to play "ostrich" and stick my head in the sand, pretending I am just a "normal" housewife.  The pretense doesn't last long though...

Off to rest in my rocker and maybe read a magazine...