Tuesday-11:30am

Haven't been feeling very well, so this will be brief...and I never even got a shot of my coffee mug for T Stands For Tuesday but I'm here.

I did get some cloud pics, though. 

Have had some great cloud days. 

It has become cool and damp.  In fact yesterday with the wind it got chilly enough to close the living room windows. 

We're supposed to be in the 70s during the day and 50s at night for a while, which is perfect for me...except that the humidity is staying higher than the temperature.  Bone-achin' all over.  Oh well.  Too dang beautiful out to complain.

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Not much happening here when I'm feeling poorly.  We had a firetruck and later I saw an ambulance leaving, too.  People moving out.  Occasional light rain and a good thunderstorm.  (I do love a flashy, loud thunderstorm.)  

Karma takes it all in stride. 

When it was so chilly yesterday I put her new favorite cardboard box out on the porch and she happily snoozed inside all afternoon...a treat she may repeat today--LOL!

While I am waiting out this fibro flare...I've finished watching Boardwalk Empire, am back to watching The Killing, and Leah and I have been emailing back and forth about the diaper tote I am going to make for her.  Since I haven't used my sewing machine for much more than repairs or alterations for decades, I have to do some dead serious thinking and planning this project through first before I start cutting the fabric.  ;)

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Oh-Oh! The smaller desk I wanted went on sale at Office Max!!  Dagan and Leah are going to order it for me so I can get it before the sale ends on the 30th (save $70.00!!) and I can pay them back!  Whoohoo!!  So, won't be long and I'll have a big box in my apartment waiting for my old huge desk to be emptied & taken apart some time in September and given away on freecycle.  I am excited to be making changes and downsizing.  Feels really good!  :):)

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  But for right now...smokin' brain cells on how to make the diaper tote, glad it's not windy or raining so I can have the whole place opened up today, Karma's catching the last morning rays, a group of loud boys are in the parking lot trying to learn how to skateboard, and I am sipping on my coffee.  ;)

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Happy Tuesday!!  :):)

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"Any human who feels that he or she is not 'good enough' to cultivate peace and generosity is overlooking the wondrous gift of life. You live, therefore you are good enough."

Dhyani Ywahoo

Saturday-10:30am

Good Morning!  Good Morning!

We've had some interesting clouds... 

...drifting across the horizon... 

...on these hot, sticky days. 

I went over to visit McFamily on Wednesday.  While Ian slept Leah and I finished cutting out all the furniture (and some future furniture) paper representatives and played around with floor plans.  There's no comparison to the one with den--OMG!  I could really have an art and craft room!   

It would be similar to how I live now with the regular one-bedroom.  I'd even have to put a couple of bookcases in the pantry--LOL! 

No matter what--the curio cabinet was another piece of furniture I wondered about getting rid of and there was never extra space for it, so that will go, too.  Amazingly I would have room for the triple dresser in the bedroom in either.  Bigger bedroom.  But there's less actual wall space elsewhere because here I have the half wall between the kitchen and the living room and have a hallway and an entryway.  But with the den...ahhh!  Perfection!!  

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Now I can really visualize!  Miss Karma would have her fancy cat box under the bedroom window.  I would fix her up a place to lounge right on top of it where she could (hopefully) see out the window.  Of course, sliding glass doors to the balcony would give her a good view, too.  And I guesstimated the size of a loveseat with a recliner built in so that (besides Karma) a little grandboy could come up and sit right next to me.  Wouldn't that be nice?

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Anyways, Ian woke up.  Mama fed him.  Then he had playtime...kicking feet and swinging arms.

And now (gift from somebody Dagan works with) he gets propped up on this colorful mat to do some belly time. 

That triangular thing there has a mirror on it! 

Ian does pretty well lifting that big, heavy head of his for a while. 

Can watch the other baby.  What fun! 

But exhausting fun.  That head is a lot of work to heft about... 

...so he chews and sucks on the bracelet-type toys on his wrists.  (I've never seen those before--cool!) 

Meanwhile, at home...Karma was catching a few rays one morning when we actually had some.  (Been clouded over half the time.)  I called her name...  

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What do you want?  Oh, just the camera?  Not treats?  Or anything even remotely interesting to me?

Geez!  I'm trying to take a nap here.

Leah's going to cut Dagan's hair tonight so I plan to make a trip over so she can trim mine, too, at the same time.  I plan to put up the lift chair on freecycle this weekend.  I started going through all the files already.  Been watching Boardwalk Empire.  Expect more episodes in the mail today.  It's a grey, blanketed, dark day.  Rained during the night and we expect more light rain...in fact, could be drizzling now.  The humidity is higher than the temperature.  Perfect day to putter inside.  ;)

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Enjoy your weekend!! 

Don't forget to dream big!  

:):)

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"May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder."

John O'Donohue 

Tuesday-10:30am

We've had cloudy rainy days...

...and days with sunshine, but they've all been sticky. 

Rainy days...Karma thought were good for staying in bed. 

This looks like a sky that can't make up its mind. 

If I painted this in an art class the teacher would say: "Well now, this doesn't look realistic at all.  Clouds don't look like that...almost black against white all helter skelter like that.  Try again."  LOL! 

Sweaty hot...Karma likes to snooze out on the porch while I stay inside where it's cooler. 

I had such a happy accident!  Remember I bought this Heat-n-Bond at JoAnn's?

Well, I've never used it before and can't read the fine print without a magnifier, right?  Well, this stuff has a paper liner because it is sticky on both sides!  Made to attach things to each other and not an interfacing at all!  Can't tell I haven't been sewing for over 25 years--ROFL!  (But how much easier will this be to add a decal to a little boy's clothes than stitching them on by hand, eh?)

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So, I thought on this for a while.  Remember I had lightly lined some of the ultra suede I had purchased quite a while back to prep it for book covers?  Well, I experimented on the small red leather cover first...and forgot to take pictures, but here it is before I trimmed off the excess ultrasuede. 

It worked great!  So I did the same with the larger red leather cover with more of the cream ultrasuede.  :)  First I ironed on a strip from the Heat-n-Bond roll right down the spine for extra support--paper side up.

Then I cut a hunk of the Heat-n-Bond sheet a little larger than the red cover piece and ironed it on to the ultrasuede--paper side up. 

Removed both the papers, ironed them together (on top of a non-stick surface), trimmed off the excess fabric with the dangerous circular cutter and my big heavy ruler...and snipped out the indentation bits from the top and bottom of the spine.  Voila! 

I love them now!! 

The spines don't crush down like they did with all the bands holding in the removable little notebooks... 

...and the inside covers are...ultrasuede! 

 I'm already using the smaller one that fits in my purse so well.

Can't tell how much I love my red leather and suede fauxdoris?  LOL! 

The inside of the covers are so soft!  What a totally happy accident, eh?! 

I went over to visit McFamily for a short bit on Sunday.  Daddy was watching Ian...and golf... 

...and giving Sammy some attention.  

(Can't forget our four-legged babes.)

While Leah and I worked on measuring and cutting out pieces of cardstock approximately the size of my various pieces of furniture so we can play around with the floor plan of my future home.  (Talk about positive visualization, eh?!)  Leah's done this before so she did the measuring and I did the cutting and labeling. 

Ian is awake for playtime more these days. 

He thinks about grabbing the toys and waves his arms about to bat at them but hasn't figured out the grasping thing yet.  Will happen in no time at all.  Seems like you blink and they've learned something new.  

Quite a little milk belly--LOL!

Happy little guy doing his arm and leg exercises.  ;) 

They were heading out to have pizza with friends (who also have little ones).  We hadn't finished with the "furniture" so I left it all there on Sunday.  Hoping to make it back over in the next couple days.  Note the small fauxdori on the table there is where I wrote down all the measurements.  (Could hardly wait to use it, of course.)  And I even brought my trusty thermal mug with me that day, too--for all you folks at T Stands For Tuesday over at Elizabeth's.  :) 

Oh, and the one pattern I wanted to buy at Joann's they were out of.  Found it on eBay for $5.81 (some wanted $12.99) and it arrived post haste in brand new condition.  Gramma wants to make toddler Ian a pair of overalls...maybe with a decal--LOL!  I made so many for Dagan when he was little.  This pattern goes up to size three, thank goodness.  We know how slow this Gramma operates.  ;)

In the spirit of purging and downsizing...I am going to give away my big L-shaped desk and hutch.

I really don't need this big of a desk anymore.  It was a blessing when I was in college till 2004, but ever since Dagan hauled off my last desk computer that died I don't use it for hours and hours every day like I used to.  I do most of my writing now sitting by the window at my table.  I plan to buy another inexpensive desk, but regular sized with a hutch and a file drawer...will take up half the space.  My file cabinet next to the desk is falling apart and will go, too.  I bought them together and on sale back in 2000.  Just pressboard--but they have served me well. 

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And, sadly, I am going to give away the tiny lift chair, too. 

 I feel badly that after all the trouble Dagan and Leah went through to pick this up from somebody (freecycle) I haven't been able to use it because it is so very small that my feet hang over the edge of the footrest--at the ankles!  And I am only a little over 5'1"!!  But that is an absolutely horrible position for your feet to be in if you have plantar fasciitis!  Causes pain and limping.  So, I am giving this away, too.

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I have Dagan and Leah checking with their friends/coworkers and Caroline will check around, too.  Caroline has a better chance of maybe knowing a client who could use them, but regardless...they will eventually be gone.  I give them all first chance, but will put them up on freecycle if nobody they know wants them.  I just sent them all pictures to be able to show people.  Hey--I was serious when I said I was going to start downsizing.  ;)

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Caroline comes this afternoon.  It's been in the 80s with the humidity at 70-80%, so been closed up night and day.  I got caught up watching Wallander with Kenneth Branagh on NS (netflix streaming) and now, of course, started watching the Swedish version of Wallander with Krister Henriksson.  (So far, Kenneth wins on brooding angst.)  Since with the Swedish version I have to be in the mood for subtitles, I've been switching off with The Killing.  Is it any wonder I need to watch a couple Big Bang reruns before I go to bed--LOL!

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I should be reading!  I have library books I haven't even cracked open.  Shame on me.  

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Anyways, that's what's happening up here in Fargo.  Happy Tuesday everybody!!  :):)

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"Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground."

Theodore Roosevelt