Reflections: The first day of the rest of my life

 We just finished having a little reunion here at the coop.  Four out of the five kids were able to come home. 

DD#1, who blesses this blog with pertinent comments that keep me from exaggerating too much, arrived on the Canadian from out west. 

DGD#1 asked me privately why she couldn't go back on the train with her very favourite aunt.  ;^)

DS # 2 and his wife arrived from Seattle by car.  If the Rooster and I can ever get to the coast they'll be happy to 'ferry' us around.  :O   DS#3 and his gal had a short walk to meet us as they call Winnipeg home.

The Rooster and a couple of wee grand kiddies got the new Ikea island and stools put together 'just' before everyone arrived.

Lots of late night meetings and early morning planning sessions were the order of the day.  Laur's jams were dispersed somewhat fairly!   shhh!

A few work parties as well!

The 'art' department was responsible for decorations for the welcome party.  The grand kiddies and I made banners and a tree.  I actually impressed myself with that tree!!!  DD#2 had the kiddies make 'turkey' cookies for the fall theme and they were a big hit as well.  Sorry, nothing left but the crumbs!

 DD#2 likes coordinating family pictures.

Of course getting them all NICELY in the same picture is a bit of a challenge.

This family is all about gathering around a table and food.  With the right incentive some of them will play games.   Since favourite auntie sent it...

Of course, computer games add an whole 'nother dimension. 

We also had less formal dinners.  The weather was perfect for this day.

Our falls are pretty brief as far as colour goes, but the fall flowers and leaves have been especially intense this year.

 A last minute luncheon date for the sisters. Guess who babysat the grand kiddies???  ;^)
 Laura and Cari are a year apart and then followed Michael Charles, Christopher and then Steven.

Some last minute tips on traveling through life...

and we are back to our regular schedule of fall events and getting ready for the next season.

Two weeks of intense family time has surely shaken up the rut I somehow found myself in these past few months.  With a serious nudge from the Rooster I am flying the coop.  :O

I've always been a stay at home mum and homemaker.  Luved it!  I turned 65 this summer and instead of retiring (ha!) I have gotten a job.  I start tomorrow.    It'll be three days a week, not including meetings.   I do expect to still have time to reflect on my life through blogging. 

Ready or not,  it is time to spread those wings.  First one I shall dive bomb will be the Rooster!  ;^) 

late night thoughts

The first of the family visitors have arrived and I have been up way past my usual bed time.  Then because the routine is totally disrupted and will be for the next ten days I have time to stare at the ceiling and think.

Because blogging is all about sharing one's thoughts here are a couple of things I've been thinking about:

Lynn Krawczyk blogs over at Smudged Textiles and has a great post on pausing.

Seth Apter, a big blog promoter shared a link that gave me something to think about concerning the future of blogging.  Blogging, Now.

Regular blogging shall resume in October. That is after I catch up on my sleep and change from night owl to morning dove!

What if ...

I actually get everything together?

On the strength of a buyer's promise to purchase my old sewing cupboard I went ahead and got two new storage units, some wall shelving and a stool for the playroom. 

I did shuffle everything around to see if it all fits and while not ideal, it definitely feels roomier.

We are continuing to simplify and this was the Rooster's and his Sweet Pea's last walk out to bring the flock in.  They have been sold. 

Snow has fallen out west!  This gives a sense of urgency to the fall to-do list so the kitchen has been put on hold as we continue the yard clean up.  This might be good because when we were at Ikea to get my storage units the Rooster asked if I'd thought about an eating island in place of the kitchen table!!!  :O 

My Rooster is a keeper but he does have a tendency to put things all over the yard with lots of space around the whatever so he can 'get at it'!  :(  It makes my grass cutting very challenging.  He is conceding that it is a problem.  So he moved the pavers over to where we will be needing them. 

Now I have my own quirks but I couldn't resist asking him  when I passed how many red ones there were.  ;^)  He said he was just grabbing them.  Maybe so...

But when he restacked them...   LOL   We both like to accumulate a 'good deal' and then get creative and make something useful.  We are to go back in November to get another truckload and that should make a nice platform for our containers.  :)  The darn dogs have made gardening under the kitchen window impossible.

Good thing he is a sweet dog and a favourite with the grand daughters.  Sweet Pea prefers to go exploring with the grand son. 

It has been a challenging summer but I'm getting back into the swing of things.  All but one of our kids are arriving for a visit next week so that puts the hurry to a few of the projects.  The grand kiddies are planning a welcome party and we sent out homemade invitations last week.

There are a few more changes coming up but it looks like blogging should return with a bit more regularity next month.   Now what if...

An Artist Date

At the beginning of June and the end of August the artists in the Interlake area of Manitoba open their art studios for the Wave.  Maps and well marked little flags with a blue wave on them direct the public to displays of all kinds of art.  

The Rooster insisted we take Saturday and have a look around.

There was lots to learn.  We saw everything from large pieces of pottery down to very fine jewelry.

"Mad Hatters Tea pARTy" served up amazing art and fabulous tea samplings.  YUM!

Some studios offer classes and I can see us enrolled in something during our retiring days! 

We finished with a lovely dinner at a favourite restaurant.  The rest of the weekend was more of a 'work' party but we certainly had a great starting date!  :)

yoo hooo... moJo

The new eating regimen is certainly upping the energy level.  I am on a mission to reduce the amount of junk we have collected during our forty year sojourn here.  'Whenever' has been replaced by 'right now'.  Seasonal accessories are limited to favourites and a small designated area.  Likes are with likes and the extras are being pushed ahead of me as I proceed room by room and any extras will be pushed right off the front step at the very end.  Top priority is visually pleasing, low maintenance and easily accessible.

I'm convinced my mojo is trying to get free from the chaos that my playroom has become.  The thought of totally re purposing this room is a bit daunting.  I have got a LOT of stuff.  And worse, I have stuff I don't even know I have.   I can never find the thing I am needing to help Mojo do what Mojo needs to do!

I spent an long afternoon in Ikea with my camera and a pencil and paper.  I am so inspired.  I have some lovely acquisitions for the pink room.  I also have some new ideas as I unearth finds that I have been saving for the big what if... . 

I don't know why it has taken me this long to realize that Ikea have an whole area devoted to office supplies.  And I thought I was organized!!!  :O  If I can sell my sit down quilting cabinet I could reinvest the money in organizational greatness for The Coop and Saucer Playroom.  :)

My mojo likes fabric. Therefore  my BerNina needs the primary and best spot. This is gonna take some sweat equity.  Nina is pulling on her power cord because on my town day I  also picked up an embellishing tool for her.  Needle felting, here I come!  MoJo is making muffled calls in response to all the excitement she is sensing.  I think she is struggling to be free and rise to the surface where she can be seen.  ;~)

The trick is gonna be not to bury my own self in the chaos involved in this transition.  But I am actually  in a frame of mind (mad enough) to do the editing required to have all my tools and supplies readily available. 

Mojo, I'm coming!

Making time with baggage

Whenever I travel I hate schlepping stuff around.  And since one big bag doesn't exactly make things easier I have  learned to travel lighter.  Now why do I not make this amazing insight applicable for traveling through my weekly wanderings???  I am in the process of repacking!  ;^) 

Gee, I bet my mojo is somewhere under the lost luggage turntable!  I hope it is dry when I find it.  lol

Should I go back to a first luv?

My creative life began way back when my mum let me pick the colours for my bedroom.  I have been picking colours and shoving furniture around ever since.

The kitchen makeover is slated for September first which is two weeks before the arrival of most of the kids for a mini family reunion.  :O

 I haven't been feeling particularly creative.

I woke up yesterday morning thinking that I couldn't spend one more night in a BLUE/green bedroom with retro overtones.  The master bedroom  was always supposed to be blush pink and taupe with a classic undertone.  I have some blingy lighting and some hand dyed velvet and some snazzy material for a pink/brown crazy quilt all sitting in boxes.  The Rooster is a romantic so he won't mind!  Mind you, redoing the lighting might just dim his switching abilities!

I briefly thought of switching back into the original master bedroom but the thought of moving all my sewing and art supplies nearly killed my mojo which is starting to lift her head to see what is going on!  ;^)

So today I shall finish trying to put the contents of an eleven square foot blue/green room onto a ten foot pink/orange room and vice versa.  The versa is gonna work way better than the vice, let me tell you!

But I'm gonna luv it!

Not really broken.

I'm not really on a blog break but...

I live one hour from Winnipeg, know nationally as Winterpeg because we can have long brutal winters. 

This past winter was especially long and then spring was just plain cold, wet, and grey.  Then the mosquitoes descended in full strength.  Miserable creatures!  We are now into hot and dry.  lol

But there is also a saying among locals that we have two seasons.  Winter and Construction! 

This is the season I am in right now.  I am not alone as the Rooster has also felt the effects of this challenging year.  We are so behind; bogged down by one problem after another.  And after a meeting the minds, mostly his,  we are making some changes.  Age needn't defeat one but we certainly can't run as fast, as long, nor as hard as we once did.  But we can run smarter!  :)  Yay for the Rooster! We are getting a plan into position.

We are under construction.

Should I be ... a foodie?

 

 

DD#1 just spluttered her tea all over the 'puter screen!   But before she reaches for the phone to make her siblings aware of my need for assessment I will say,  NO! 

And before she spills the beans in the comment section, I will confess that my go to supper when the Rooster worked shift work was the no name equivalent of Kraft Dinner.  :O 

But...

I have been diagnosed as gluten intolerant and I need to find some alternatives to toast and pasta.  Hence the recipe research.   It wouldn't hurt to razzle dazzle the Rooster with a few culinary surprises either. 

My niece, who is a chef, was here at the coop for a visit and kindly offered some suggestions.  She and I spent a whole day in Winnipeg touring Asian markets.  Who knew!  I did enjoy it, well, maybe not the octopus thingies,  and came home with bottles, jars, packages, veggies, and spices.  The Rooster would have luved it and I shall be happy to take him on a return visit.  I shall carry on with the weekday cooking and enjoy the weekend respite when his passion for food is released.  But I really do hope he can retire soon!  :)

In the meantime,  I shall continue my search for the best way to express myself with blogging.

Am I worried?

I am not really worried.  Perhaps I should be more worried!  LOL

But I do not have seem to have things together.  In fact, things are in danger of falling apart.  There is a lot of spinning/flapping but not a lot of forward motion!

I have been thinking about making some changes to my blog but I have January 2015 in mind.  I have learned not to be so hasty and this gives lots of tweaking time.   Apparently I am not alone as I am reading about similar transitional thoughts on various other blogs. 

In the meantime I am kinda stuck.  Kinda like my little friend above.  :O  hmmm, what to do???

Shall I get it together or just release and let go?  Stay tuned, as soon as I know, you'll know!  ;^)

Stepping Things UP!

I have been following a new to me blog and I quite like it!  france papillon  She hosts Journal on Monday.

Here is my try at making a journal page spread.

I opened my DYLP journal to a blank part and spread gesso with a plastic card which I like!

Next are sprays  which I also swiped with the card. 

I added printed tissue paper and dulled things a bit with some more gesso spread lightly.

Texture was made by spreading molding paste thru a stencil and then I flipped the stencil over onto the other page for a reverse effect.

I added more colour meaning to kinda hit the tops of the dried molding paste but...

More interest was added by stamping.

I really am on a mission to add fibre to my mixed media work.  I chose a complimentary colour  and sewed the fabric onto some coloured paper.

As seen, the dropper on the acrylic ink kinda exploded but I did like it.  I did spray some water to get some more drips on the left.

I wanted to get the various elements more integrated so I reached for more stamps.

To get some harmony with the fibre I added washi tape, some smudges with the ink pad, and some lines with that nice card again.

 I wasn't thrilled with the bottom left page and tried stencilling some copper.

I also tried a marker.  A water soluble pencil helped bring out the raised hand.

I positioned the stamped fabric with brads and balanced it with the key.  Good enough for a first stepping out!  lol

I'm going to link up with france's 100th JOM and hope that you will check out this great resource!