I'm Back

Back with more exciting day-by-day accounts of my life, witty stories, and outstanding pictures.

Well maybe just back with whatever I can find to record. It gets really hard to find something special in every day, and sometimes I don't. Other times, I do but just don't want to talk about it.

January is a hard month for me. I just don't do well in cold weather. There is this to remind me how spring smells.

I've spent several mornings the past 2 weeks working on Isley's quilt. The fun part is over, and now it's breath-holding time, hoping all those little squares line up enough to put together. Precision is not a word I think of when I think of my "skills," and for that reason I can't believe I like quilting so much. Because it takes it. If your seams are off just a millimeter, you pay for it when you start to put things together.

So first thing I did was join each square with 2 bindings. The pink one on the front I top-stitched with my machine. It's not as easy as it looks. Frankly, it's quite hard to stay right on the edge and not run off. Which I did a few times.


When that was done, I turned it to the other side and stitched the green bindings down. You can't do this on the machine because it would show on the pink side, and no one, even the most precise person, could match those seams. Each one had to be sewed by hand, which is kind of nice, but the hard thing is making each one exactly half an inch.


I finished those this morning and trimmed the edges off top and bottom and placed them on the floor. A miracle! Those green bindings all lined up, at least well enough to satisfy me. There are 4 more rows to go, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed they will come out even too.



When I transferred my pictures from my camera to my computer, I noticed that I had 43pictures. I got kind of excited until I remembered what they were.

OR-GAN-I-ZATION.

On several of the blogs I read, the people have been participating in an organization party-like thing where you link your pictures and show what you've done. There are a lot of them where they've turned a coat closet into an office or a craft closet or something to make good use of it.

I'm not sending in any pictures, but I thought it would be interesting (and keep me on track) if I started in the kitchen and took before and after pictures of the things I organize.

The most logical and needed project was the junk drawer. Here it is in all its glory. Where did all this stuff come from? Why do I always have candles and matches in my junk drawer? Maybe it goes back to the days when the children were home, and I would have to always go buy candles for some occasion. I've probably had these same ones for 10 years or more. And what has been cut with those scissors? Looks like gardening shears. Well maybe I have trimmed a few plants with them.


And after. Amazing what was in there that I don't need. The candles made the cut, but a lot of stuff got tossed or put in their correct places.

Working to the right, the gadget drawers. We don't cook too much or use these things a lot, so I'm not sure how they get into such a mess.

A little crowded but more able to find things. I like to do this because it reminds me of what I do have. In case I need to make melon balls any time soon or baste a turkey. Or cut shortening into flour. Right!

I did a few more drawers and a cabinet, but I'll wait until another day for that.

I'll leave with a few before pictures. I'm amazed at how much empty space I have in this kitchen. The storage is wonderful. I just need to organize it.

Then I can start bringing in fabric and craft supplies to fill the shelves! Like this one.