a coffee table post

I'm not sure where I

first heard this question posed...

Elementary

Sherlock

is my guess

Do you fan

or stack?

Let me answer
in pictures.

those remotes sure

stand out

digging deeper

like trying to find Waldo

you'll see

lit class

 I have no idea what that pocket knife

is doing there

Boys!

Yeah, I've reached

the age of reading glasses!

deeper still

you'll see

a book on Personal Finance

that has reappeared

since Christmas break

my stash of library books...

hmmm...

am I seeing a theme

develop there

one entitled

Let's Eat! 

James' library choices

take a fictional

graphic

(very graphic!)

bend

Magazines!

A mix of old and new.

Midwest Living and Better Homes,

both gift subscriptions

from

mom.

Thanks mom.

If you look at the spines

you'll see a little secret

I've learned

(from baby sister, Mary)

I recycle a lot!

But there are those

that I keep around

and this year I am putting

them out at their 

appropriate time.

Right now

Jan/Feb

make an appearance.

because 

I can still find good ideas

and

recipes!

 in those

older mags.

catalogs

that serve as inspiration

paint colors

and storage ideas

and a cute purse

(hanging on the left page)

that I've just gotta make!

Inspiration.

Education.

Interests.

Entertainment.

Enjoyment.

That's what my coffee table

has going on right

now

No wonder my butt is on that

couch so dang much!

But 

in answer to the original question...

after fanning my table

I can confidently respond

with

stacker!

What about you?

day into night

For those in the 

Midwest

a strange occurrence 

happened

at about 9:30 last night...

when I let the dogs out

temps in the mid-20's

no wind

downright balmy

Stranger yet...

I asked if anyone

wanted to take a walk

to enjoy the weather

before our next bout of

arctic air...

No takers.

Imagine that!

Then...

at about 10:15

my husband said,

I'll go with you if you want to take a walk

!

Fueled

from watching

Alaska: The Last Frontier

we bundled-up

and

headed out.

Don't get me wrong

it was chilly

our noses were drippy

but

what a difference

the stillness makes.

Definitely

taking advantage of

the break

before

the cold blast

 returns

words like

peaceful

romantic

calm

and

fun

come to mind

oh...

and patience

since my guy didn't

complain once

when I stopped to play with

night landscape

mode.

What a guy!

Making the mile loop...

finding our way home

feeling a little like 

Otto and Charlotte Kilcher

as we traversed through

our version

of

Alaska 

right here in 

Michigan.

Thanks AK for letting us

borrow your weather...

I'm Loving it!

*winter*

in
close-up mode

from the warmth 

of my home

inside looking out

zooming in

on all it has to offer

right outside

my window

the 

white on white

landscape

a monochromatic

palette

in shades of

nature

enhanced by

earth tones

of

winter gem green

the snow lay waiting

posed softly

as I focus

my lens

a 

snow globe

world

enhancing

texture

by

design

beauty

in

contrast

simply

*divine*

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.” 

― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

everything's coming up...

roses.

Not sweet little 

blue bird...

he's the bonus!

This past weekend

I decided

to assign bathroom duty

to all those

who use 

said bathrooms...

sounds reasonable

in my opinion.

The rubber gloves

scrubbing bubbles

bowl cleaner

Windex

and

elbow grease

made their appearance.

Usually

I give myself 

the pleasure

of cleaning all 

THREE

bathrooms

by myself...

needless to say

that day 

has become 

second-ugly-cousin

to PMS.

One of those days!

I've gotten smart over the years.

It is now 

a joint effort.

The benefit

I have discovered 

is that

when you participate

in the cleaning

you respect the job

and try to

be a little neater

when you're using it.

What's known as a

win-win!

Since I had all this

extra time

after cleaning one bathroom

I decided to give my 

assigned location

a little face-lift.

Maybe I was motivated

by my sisters

Tina and Mary

who were getting some painting done

whatever the reason

as I was scrubbing

I kept noticing the worn woodwork

that all the scrubbing in the world

couldn't cover

Within minutes

the room was taped

paint stirred and poured

brushes and rollers

assembled

two measly hours later

(truly the time it takes me to clean all 3)

the wainscoting and trim

were

all

freshened-up!

Which called for a new 

rug and towel.

How fortuitous!

Target

has this adorable line from

Threshold

that fit my style

like a 

rubber glove!

Now that's what's known 

as a

win-win-win!

Happy Wednesday.

:)

not-so-organic lip balm

Armed with a
recipe



more accurately
a guide...
a suggestion

I went about making
Peppermint Lip Balm
for holiday
 gift giving.

I'm going to back up
a moment
to explain how
something magical happened
after taking a few
on-line whole food cooking
courses.

I gained confidence in my kitchen.

I will often change a recipe
something I rarely did before
with items
I have on hand
thereby skipping the last-minute trip
to the store
determined to use
everything I have
in my pantry
or
I will
 substitute ingredients
to make the recipe
vegan.

Body care recipes are no different.

The original recipe
 called for
castor, jajoba, soybean, or almond oil
I used coconut
1/2 a tube of natural
synthetic-free lipstick
as a colorant
I used
dry beet powder
with eh-eh results
finally the peppermint essential oil
which I used
but after applying it
I found it
to be quite
 drying.

My second attempt:

utilizing an old compact

that I cleaned

and deciding to use

the last of

my favorite

Clinique lipstick...

you'd be surprised

at how much product

is left in that

tube!

It made sense to use

my favorite lipstick

as the 

colorant...

don't ya think?

The process

following the recipe

for the most 

part

measuring the

bees wax

given to me as a gift

from my  godson

who is a beekeeper

his honey

for just the right amount of

sweetness

whisked it all together

and dug out that

lipstick

added and blended

poured into

my salvaged pots

labelled

and covered

giving it time to 

rest and set

The End Result:

My not-so-organic

Pink-A-Boo

Lip Balm.

A duo-compact with

some of my favorite eye shadow

still in there

(never waste a thing!)

Old Maid New

strikes 

again!

I'm Lovin' it!

come on in

Normally

I'm itching with cabin fever.

Usually

I'm already beach dreaming

lending the fantasy

authenticity

by sitting in front of a warm sunny window

summer music setting the stage

(Sheryl Crow's Soak Up The Sun)

cracking the top off a good bottle of

Coppertone

closing my eyes and

giving way
to it.

Not this year...

Maybe its the abundance of

snow

and all the beautiful

white light 

it creates.

Maybe it's 

a phase I'm going through

that wants

e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g

to slow

down...

thereby

welcoming 

a pause within me.

Regardless

I find myself

focusing my camera

ever so carefully

out my window

trying to capture

the delicate path of a

fluffy snowflake

making its descent

*trying*

or turning my lens

on a 

sunset

that fills me with 

wonder.

Making my indoor space

one that reflects

my mood

inviting one to stay

 talk

have a drink

play a game

watch a movie

read a book

snuggle

warm yourself

by the fire

come in from the cold

and by all means

keep the twinkling lights up

for as long as

possible.

Why analyze this?

Why try to explain 

or over-think

the why of

it?

Instead

I will continue to

turn my heart

toward

celebrating winter...

for it comes

but

once a year.