Where've I Been?

This is the first post I've made all week.  I've been really busy at home and with my volunteering jobs, and I'm just plain pooped.  When I got home this afternoon, Hubby and I decided to go out for Mexican food, and it was delicious.  We used to live in San Diego, and Mexican food was a given anywhere.  Here in Maryland, it's a lot more scarce.  We have a place called El Azteca that we have gone to a few times, although it's more than a 30 minute drive from here in Clarksville.  However, it was well worth the drive - for the Margarita alone!  Both of us ended up with leftovers to bring home, so that's always good to look forward to.  Besides, I try to cut back on the calories by only eating about half of what I order in restaurants and having the leftovers the next day or so for lunch.

One of the projects I worked on all week was reorganizing my craft room cabinets.  I had already redone the rest of the room, but wanted to pull out all the things that were in the wall cabinets to fit them better and to sort out what was in them.  (I also went through the desk drawer and reorganized it as well.)  It was really a big task, but I have to say I'm thrilled with the end result.  Now I know exactly what I have on hand and can find everything very easily.  In the process I put together a large bag of donations for Goodwill and threw away other things I didn't need.  Now I'm all excited about doing some projects.  I have some sewing I want to do, also some mending, and plan to start working on some assemblages this weekend.

One thing I've been neglecting lately is my reading.  Book Club is this coming Monday, and I haven't even started the book!  I feel badly about it, but I usually read when I go to bed, and I've been so tired lately that I haven't been reading at all.  Now I feel guilty.

This picture is of 2 of our great-grandchildren, Kayla and her new baby brother Gabriel Brendan, who was born a week ago.  They are in Connecticut.  We haven't seen him yet, but this is a photo from the family's Facebook page.   We have 9 great-grandchildren now, and the 10th will be here in about 6 months or less.

Craft Room Unveil

It's not 100% complete, but here's my craft room redo. The first photo shows my box organization system, tucked into every available nook and cranny, as you can see.  My craft room also houses my tread mill, on the right. On the left is a beautiful knitting bag, and trays I haven't figured out how to use yet.  Click on the photos to enlarge them.

The second photo shows the top of the wall cabinets.  I use the top of the cabinets to display my much loved decor pieces.  Storage of fabric, sewing materials, rubber stamping materials, and polymer clay materials inside the cabinets.

This is the desk.  Not used as a desk, but as a book case and display piece.  The cat boxes fit into a shelf.  The one on the left is a hand painted box.  I love those two!

The top of the desk, with more display pieces and bottles I plan to alter.  On the left is a birdhouse I made with a book as the roof.  The figure in front of the green bottle is my chemo angel.  I'll post about that at another time.

Tucked between the desk and bookcase - more storage boxes.  The whole book case is devoted to craft books.  In front, the tread mill again.

Love those teddy bears on top of the bookcase.  We have Sherlock Holmes with his pipe and Dr. Watson sporting a monocle and holding an umbrella.  They're adorable. 

Here we have another bookcase, with fiction books.  Display on top.  I love this glider and ottoman.  So comfy!

My garage sale plastic storage boxes on top, and the plastic drawers on wheels next to my work table.  Still haven't filled all the boxes yet, but they will be soon!  Cigar boxes under table were 25 cents each at a yard sale!

My bulletin board, work table, and sewing machine.

Entry door on the left side, with my toy chest filled with yarn and housing some beads on top.

Close up of the storage boxes underneath the TV cabinet.

More storage box containers under the desk.

I love these boxes!

Hope you liked the pictures.  I'm very happy with how it looks now, and it will function beautifully!

Friday Yard Sailing

Today was beautiful.  Warm, sunny, just the kind of day it should be on the last of April.  It's hard to believe that May will begin tomorrow and the year is speeding by.  Spent the day with my gal pals for yard sailing and lunch.  Today's treasures were quite a few - including a plastic storage drawer cabinet made for crafts.  The big price was $3.00, but I'll have to spend quite a bit of time cleaning it up.  It's full of spider webs and dirt - obviously it languished for a long time in someone's garage.  The dirt is all on the surface, however, and will easily come off.  I was hoping it would fit underneath my craft table, but realized that the table leg cross bars angle down underneath and won't allow the cabinet to fit.  That's not a problem - I'll probably put it next to the table instead.  It has wheels and moves easily.  The top has indentations to hold small pieces that would otherwise roll off.  It's good.

I found several other craft room storage things that will come in handy.  Plastic boxes with many compartments and secure lids.  Several bottles for altered bottle art pieces,  a lap tray with folding legs that can be used in a chair or in bed.  I can't remember what else I picked up - things are still in my car.  Better go unload and wash the storage cabinet.

Obsessing Over "Stuff"

I'm fortunate enough to have a whole room of my own for all my crafts, sewing, books in two bookcases, with a nice wall unit to house things and even a small closet.  There is a six foot work table, a glider chair and foot stool, and a TV.  A toy chest full of yarn, and a sewing machine set on a small table.  Perfect, right? It should be, but it's out of control.  If I had only one hobby, even two, it would be fine.  My problem, as it always is, is that I have too many arts and craft interests, including watercolor painting, jewelry making, knitting, sewing, and paper crafting.  I just spent the whole evening trying to put things away, organizing, condensing, sorting, and it's still not finished.   I may have to take drastic measures and actually eliminate cut back on some things.  We shall see.

Introducing Our Tonkinese Kitties

Our Tonkinese Pussy Pile
Originally uploaded by tonkitty

Presenting Pong, Paddle, Ball, and Ming Poo ...

Another tweaking of my blog design. It's like playing with paper dolls - trying on different dresses and hats. I still don't know what it's all about (my blog, that is) so until I settle on something that takes root, I'll probably be changing it around.

It's very gray outside. The Tonks are out checking their haunts, except for Ming Poo, the little house cat. She's never been out - well, except when she's made a mad dash and escaped - because we're afraid she won't stand a chance out there. She's so friendly and such a beauty that she'll be scooped up by someone - or perhaps a hawk.

I want to work in my craft room this afternoon. I have an idea for organizing my various crafts and projects. My problem is that I have so many varied interests - sewing, knitting, painting, beading, papercrafting - and limited space. Just like everyone else, I'm sure. I'm going to take measurements of the cubby holes in my wall unit to see if I can find some open baskets. That would make things easier to get to and more orderly. There are door on the wall unit, so once they are closed, it's neat.