Farming in the Kitchen

Livin' the country life, ya'll. I guess you call it country farming if you dig in the dirt! I had fun today trying to put up things that were out of didn't really have a place. I have heard often that saying: A place for everything and everything in its place. Both halves of that axiom are needed and I think I am going to need to do the first half first. Imagine that!

Yesterday I had an auction man come and take about ten smallish boxes and a couple pieces of furniture. Doing that created the most mess I have generated in a bit...  I am not showing my before pictures, but I will share an after (which is still so cluttered you will get an idea of chaos central where  I began.

Just kidding. Those were my 

BEFORE pictures!!!!  

I hope I didn't lose anybody on that joke! Aren't they just awful? I honestly felt like building a new kitchen in a different room.

So...  just a quick all day process of emptying the junk whatsit? bags I had filled, the little baskets here and there, a junk drawer or two and a stash cabinet. I love colorful bags so I keep a couple hanging on the chairs and shove in scrap booking, planner, mail, money (not often that... lol) and honestly anything...  Makeup, cross-stitch, stampin' up (and down)....  you get the picture.

Here we are tonight....

So. I am tired and ready to watch YouTube videos of people cleaning....  Yep, I am definitely livin' the wild life. My kitchen is very tiny with a lot of cooking and whatnot going on, so it is still super cluttered busy.

Happy last few days of  May!


Whimsy and Hugs!

On that May Calendar

Do any of you find yourself "losing time"? I remember as a young girl I watched Sally Field break out of her stereotype and stun the world as SYBIL. I watched it with my gramma, and we were both fascinated and a lot scared by that show. We didn't talk about it. At all...  But we did think about it. I can remember Sybil's telling the counselor that for several years she "wasn't anywhere at all."

Well, thankfully, I am not that bad, but I do often kind of metaphorically raise my head and blink around and discover that it is suddenly a lot later than I thought... as in weeks, not minutes. I chalk it up to retirement, which stripped me of that daily connection to the passages of time. Anyway...  It's okay. I don't really care, but it does strike me funny that we're heading into our sixth month when it feels as if we just put away the tree. (Maybe because I have boxes of Christmas decorations out going through them/sorting {supposedly downsizing} as we speak.) Boy, things really don't spark joy when it is halfway through to the next year.

Today I asked my son to get me a stack of patriotic dinnerware off the top shelf. "Ok," he mumbled. "Why?" I calmly and quite cheerfully informed him it was Memorial Day weekend. "Yeah. So?" I had to laugh. He could absolutely give no flips about seasonal living. However, I decorate for me...  and for our guests...  and for a hobby, I think.

Right now I have a few things to finish before the June bugs come out. I need to send a few boxes to an auction house. I need to wrap up and store old Mr. Bunny and the rest of the Easter I started to put away. And I need to finish editing a book for a friend. My patriotic decor is lost for the moment, but that is also on my list. Imagine that! I did find a few things for my three-tiered tray.

I rather feel that Memorial Day is over, but it is not. The real holiday is tomorrow (Later today. I am NOT sleepy yet, and it's 5 a.m.) "Tomorrow's" menu includes something cooked on the grill-- maybe chicken or burgers, and a huge salad with beautiful tomatoes we bought in an Amish market run on Saturday. (Gotta make up for that chocolate pie!)

Have a great week.


Whimsy and Hugs!

Looking Around

I think my blog has taken a turn for the worst. I don't remember how or why or when, but this blog used to be more, hold more substance, speak from my heart. I forgot how to do that here. Perhaps so many of my personal friends and family members started to read it that I opted to be more positive. But that isn't really the answer. It might be my incessant desire to "fake it until I make it." I think maybe I started writing my blogs from bed on a laptop and using only one hand to type. Anyway... I looked up Memorial Day in the search box, read some of my earlier posts, and it hit me my messages  now of late have been simply table settings, cats, a few snippets of home decor, and maybe a lake shot or two...  Insert random full moon picture from the very same window through the very same locust trees. 

Honestly. Hard truth. My life has grown that little. I look around me in total shock. Then... I was young. I had a huge family with generations before me and the promise of a line to follow. I had over a hundred young people filtering in and out of my living classroom. I walked everywhere, and I dreamed and laughed with the ignorance naivete of one who has known very little loss. Neither I nor my son had a chronic illness. I watched TV or movies and felt a similarity with the characters, a kinship that my life and theirs could almost be the same. Not only could I dance with the stars, I could actually be one if I chose.

I have always been a thinker. My life doesn't always reflect that because I have made hundreds of dumb, stupid, undirected moves. However, introspection, planning, and reflection have forever been my companions. Even so, I "never saw this a-comin'." I am more shocked than anyone to shake my head and look around at this life I have. I would never have thought my grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, students, and abilities would one day be relegated to beautiful memories. Now--- before I sound pitiful, I stand in joy. Blessed I am to have a son like mine. I say with all honesty and passion that I wouldn't trade my life for anyone's. Yes, I would love to see him feel better because we all know how we worry about our kids. Yes, I would adore to slip on some sandals and go shopping off-line, lug in my own sacks, and have a place to put them. And yes, I would love to see more family around our table. My son and I often marvel at the stark difference between holidays with two vs. holidays with the same two plus a "headstrong/ wonderful, prima dona/ give you the shirt off her back, no-nonsense/ fairy magical" mom and granny we lost a year and a half ago. I have totally dropped the ball! I made a dopey chicken casserole for Easter and a roast for Thanksgiving, for Pete's sake!!!!!  Do you hear what I'm saying? I've lost my mojo!

My purpose for this post begins and ends with the observance that Oatmeal and Whimsy has become just a little too much very dry oats with just a dusting of too-silly of a whimsy. No amount of wishing, tears, anxiety attacks at  a.m., or denial will return this girl to her former self. There are some hard truths about our life here I do not wish or need to belabor. You can thank me later! (grin.)

Art imitates life, I hear. So the empty, honestly often-faked sparkle of these posts reflects the need for evolution on the part of the author. I am certainly going to share my cat pictures... and my table settings.. and of course, my old friend ---- the Moon...  But I think I will drop the pretense of  "I'm always fine"...stuff. Okay? You can trust me not to burden you with a litany of the woes of being me, but I am going to try to recover the spirit and voice of the author this blog once revealed. If.... I can find her. I know she "looks" different. How could she not? In my zest not to join the ranks of those who truly do answer on and on with symptom and pain chronicles the greeting, "How are you?" I have opted to try to disappear into the woodwork. Now, everyone who knows me realizes that "disappearing" just isn't my thing...

Memorial Day awakes. I will be serving three very traditional meals purchased from the Altar Society of my dear Bevier. It is a family tradition we have shared for many years. We will have baked ham and garlic green beans, home made bread, garlic slaw, potato salad... and chocolate pie. The little fat girl in me gets kinda happy about all that...  ha ha...

Come back soon...










Whimsy and Hugs!

New chic in town

Whimsy and Hugs!

I welcome you to my newest blog, Meadow Lane Sampler. Click link to travel over to read the new posts. This space will be devoted to cheering on the work and creations coming our way. I hope it inspires us all to enjoy the works of our hands. We also welcome you to the Facebook group with the same name so you will be able to post pictures of your treasures. Please join if you want to have fun with us.

Snippets

When last she decided to arrive, Spring brought her bags fully loaded! Since my last post I basically just coughed!!!  What a case of the flu or bronchitis I had, but it has finally lessened. I told my son that one day I would have gone to the Emergency Room if I had felt better.

I have worked a little on the porch and hired a nice young man to do some yard and upkeep exterior work. Mom had bought this sweet goose for us when she felt good, but it had never made it out of the box...  

The redbud is beautiful. 

I thought it would be fun to stitch with the seasons. I am loving the new charts and the FlossTube videos. 

Just a start on the flowers of summer. More to follow after the trimming is done. The planters are really too too shabby, but not wanting to paint them like my grandmother did.

This is I think the final survivor of this set of strawberry glasses from my Gramma's pink, green, red, and white kitchen. This is a little French Country witch I am going to make into a pin pillow...

Mother's Day weekend was a lot of fun. I went for a ride in my son's new pickup. It isn't really pretty to crawl up in there, but I made it! Then on Sunday we had waffles and fruit for brunch and watched a movie. I had never seen WILD HOGS, so we laughed about that. Had my personal favorite for supper, hot dogs on the grill, potato salad and baked beans. Lovely day. He surprised me with some wonderful Younique perfume and makeup.

Have a good week. I am in the mustering stages of recovery so I am not really accomplishing too much. My grammy would say I am acting puny. Imagine that! 

Whimsy and Hugs!