Learning

I've been thinking lately about finishing things, and making different, and/or better choices. Such as, my going through my fabric and deciding that it was silly to hoard it all until I'm the size I want to be, if I can make the clothes, by golly I can make them smaller when the time comes! So now I have a new summer wardrobe for the cost of some thread and my time. One piece is pictured above. I LOVE that fabric!! Got it for a dollar a yard years ago and have been sitting on it, carting it around with me from here to where ever. Some things I even had cut out and ready to be sewn, just hadn't done it yet! I also went through my closet, and with the help of my husband managed to cull the weak, so to speak. It feels good.

But I have to say, as I've gone through this process I think about when I bought the fabric, or the pattern or what ever. I know most of this is stuff I don't NEED now, didn't NEED then, and etc... I'm committed to not buying anymore fabric unless it's for a project I'm actually working on and have a committed time frame for. Back when Jo and Abby and I were out dress shopping and hat shopping they talked about shopping therapy. I've done that. Not for clothes or shoes, but for fabric, yarn, ribbon, thread, buttons, you get the point. But how therapeutic is it to do that and then just hoard the stuff? This project of going through my stuff and finishing things has been more therapeutic than buying any of it ever was!

So, it's still a daily thing. Choosing to spend my money on things I'm going to use or consume wisely, deciding to make something and be creative rather than vegg out in front of the computer or TV, making a healthy meal at home and not drive thru for junk. But one day at a time is the only way to do it.

Pruning

These were taken on the 24th of June, the tomatoes were much much bigger by the time we got back from vacation. They were heavy with all the green tomatoes, especially the two not cherry varieties, the Amish paste had actually started roots off the vines that were along the ground and were growing toward the fence! Many tomatoes were spiting and rotting, it was a MESS!

Yet, when it came time to prune them Jason pointed out all the tomatoes we were throwing away, all green still. He seemed surprised that I was so sure about cutting them off and tossing them out, and even that I didn't hesitate. Well, I want some good tomatoes this year, so even though there wasn't anything "wrong" with them, no disease, or pest or what have you, they had to go. I know I can trust in the productivity of what we still have. Here they are all staked up and still laden with fruit! And we can now clearly see the basils and the ground beneath so as to keep it free of weeds, which at the beginning of this day it was not. I have already enjoyed lots of the cherry toms this week and am looking forward to the bountiful and continuous harvest I'm sure we will have this summer.

I've been thinking how much like life this is. How important it is to stop once in a while and look at the bigger picture. See how spread out one is. Will there be any chance of a good harvest if we are pumping our energy into too many things? Of course not! It is good to look at your life every so often and do away with the unnecessary. Not because it's bad, or there's anything wrong with it, but because it is distracting from what is most important. Such as one's spouse, or children, or what hobbies really do bring complete relaxation. This life is too short to spend stressed out and tired all the time, but it's quite easy to get that way with out noticing when we aren't doing a thorough inventory of our lives from time to time.

Well, enough of that, the preacher in me is coming out, can't have that!! Must wake my husband up from his much needed and deserved nap. :)

Good Times

These are the first two Santa's Meredith gave me. She's good at picking the one's with that "something" in their faces. I'm going to have such a hard time putting these guys away!

Christmas at the Sinco's went well. That was the label I put on the smallish x-mas party Jason and I had last night. There was good food and good friends, what more can a person want? Preparation for the festivities were more labor intensive than we'd thought they would be, but also were completely worth it. We decided to rearrange a few things in the guest room and study, which we both tend to call my room. Originally we were going to have a room were we'd have all the books and a couple comfy chairs and our desks. but the room is really too small to do that justice and I had to have a place for my sewing and crafting things and doings. Thus the rearranging. Now the books are mostly in the guest room and looking quite nice I must add. Jason found some nice shelves for a steal at a flea market and we cleaned them up and he made extra shelves to fit inside them and viola! It is a beautiful site.

I also learned a valuable lesson. I'm only as neurotic as I let myself be. I have always, and I do mean always, had the freedom to organize and arrange my books the way I wanted, which really only makes sense to me. Friends have looked had my arrangement and wondered aloud what the pattern or sense is to it. So when we actually got to combine our libraries and organize the books, I was having a hard time letting go of my way of doing it, much less successfully explaining it. I won't go into the following details other than to say that my husband is a very loving and patient man and that I realized that he'd never organized his books before and was looking forward to the experience, and after all, they are JUST BOOKS. He did a beautiful job and I think we both feel a lot better about it.

Now, most of the crafting stuff is in the study and I have to get it organized and put away so I can finish some quilts. I will be taking photos of that to post here. I hope I continue to be proud of myself concerning the quilts. We shall soon see! Now, I have work to do, my sister will be here in less than a week!!!