Fabulous Friday!!!

The post is one that we need to think about, put it in our brain.  Every day is a new day. Every new day begins with possibilities that we can't even imagine.  Things we choose and things that are chosen for us, to direct our path. Which opens up another whole realm of discussion if wanted. 

Heading off to the market this morning with Betty B. She said something about stopping at the Lions sale barn also.  I know I don't need anything, but hopefully I won't find something I do think I need. That is always a good possibility. Goes well with the above post.  

PS to this, I did find a few lovely tiny dishes (4) each with a different design and 2 grease guns. Mine leaks and doesn't work right.  We also hit a garage sale which was awesome with great prices and I found a few things and got the next couple weeks cheese for after dinner at the market along with some fresh veggies that I don't have in my garden. We had a great time! 

I was thrilled when I found this post today and posted it on Smoothing! It was exactly the type of thing that I was trying to say with the post that got me in trouble.  You can't judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree. We cannot judge anyone on their abilities when it comes to a 'standardized test' because we are ALL DIFFERENT!  This child will probably grow up to be a great illustration artist while all he did in school was get into trouble.  We just don't know what the future holds and we must focus on our own talents and abilities.  

I also ran across this post.  I found it awesome. It is certainly not deep and thought provoking, but I loved it.  Someone managed to find stones for the entire alphabet. At first I thought they had painted some on, but in reading, no, they had spent a long time actually finding all the stones they needed.  Being a craft person and enjoy different odd things, these are perfect.  I would never have thought to even look for alphabet stones. I tend just to drag stones home because they are pretty or catch my eye... or I can paint on them. Hasn't happened yet, but it will. Oh, I did make some for the garden rows a few years ago with names of items I planted on them. That doesn't count. 

This woman is one who is an idol. I have found so many of her sayings appropriate for me and life. So inspiring yet down to earth. I know I have posted many many posts with her quotes on them on Smoothing in the past. Positive, deeply inspiring and certainly coming from her experience of life. If we could all inspire even one person in a positive way, throughout our life, just think of how much positive that could be. Maybe we have, do or will without realizing it in our own way, I don't know.  I am not sure I have ever told anyone who has inspired me that they do.  Anyone else ever think about these things?  Is it just my mind that goes off on its own for this? 

In closing today, I will leave you with this. 

Have a great rest of your Friday!  

 Thankful Thursday!

I went yesterday and collected 'tin' for going on top of the wood stacks.

 Thank you to Nancy P and Bob B for letting me have the tin from their places!  A huge thank you to Bob B. for bringing me green wood for the coming year and, I understand he will help me with a dead tree that I have been given from Betty B's yard! That may just be enough to get through this winter. Gathering wood for the stove for the winter is an ongoing thing. I have been asked, don't you have enough?  No. If it is a hard winter, more will be needed, an easy one, the leftover goes toward next winter.  Lucky for me I love splitting, stacking and thanks to my little chainsaw, cutting wood. That said, I am looking for a wood cook stove that is in good condition.  It needs to be on the smaller side as I don't have a huge space for it without it being in doorways. As a fire is needed to heat the back part of the house all winter, I figure that it would be best to change from the stove I have to a wood cook stove and I can also use it to cook on all winter. It will be going anyway.  Have a coffee pot on the back and a pot of something slowly simmering as well.  Great for drop in visitors!! If you know me, please spread the word so I can find one locally. I will also need help moving it.

Two of my jars I canned on Tuesday did not seal.  Had one for dinner last night and the other is in the frig. A 70 minute time in the canner under 10# pressure is not happening for 2 pints. I am not 'thrilled' with canned kale, but it is not bad and there is a lot growing.  Add some other flavorings and it will be fine during the winter for an extra veggie. I planted 1 row, but I also planted one row of kohlrabi that was obviously, now that it is growing, another kale instead.  I will be going to a different seed supplier or back to Veseys!! 

Here is another post that resonates with me.  I try and control too much going on in my life. I always had a plan and worked toward it.  Only to have the plan totally squashed and me ending up going in a different direction. I KNOW I need to let control go and go with what will be, it is just hard to trust that much that all will work out.  It continues to, but at 70 I still tend to be leary it will not. Old habits die hard. Even if they are the wrong ones.

This post caught my eye, I don't remember which day I posted it on Smoothing on FB. It is a visual reminder of taking a step away so as not to continue the 'fire' of what is happening around me. Be that fighting, distrust, negativity, gossip, any negative thing happening around me. It also allows me time to calm down a bit and realize, it is not a battle I want, either with others or myself. It allows me to gain peace within while trying to calm the mind. Hopefully it will help someone out there as well. 

Smoothing on FB is much more simple than doing this blog. There I just post posts, monitor comments, reshare shares... and move on. Here? I have to share my feelings and thoughts, think about what I am saying and feeling as well as trying to keep part of myself private. I value my privacy about myself.  I can tell you lots of things that happened in my past, but I am not good at discussing how I feel about something, especially out loud. It is much easier in writing and still I hold back. Just me I guess. Back to that trust and control issue.

On that note, I will close with this thought.  Everyone smiles in the same language.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and productive day in their own way.  Don't forget to SMILE!!

Wonderous Wednesday

I did get canning done yesterday, and some of the garden weeded.  Just not enough time in the day it seems, or enough energy pain free to do it. This old back just is not holding up like it used to.  They say hard work never killed anyone but they didn't mention that it causes a lot of pain when you get older. Oh well.  At least I am alive to feel it.  

I am off to get some tin today from a couple places.  Going to use the pieces to cover my wood piles. I have been using plastic but it covers the pile and doesn't allow good breathing for the wood. I don't like the mold that shows up on it from being damp. 

And, moving on to yet another subject...

I love this, as we continue to grow/heal and find gratitude for our daily lives then we hopefully will achieve this level.  

This was another one I posted.  Often we feel we are not doing enough, we are not making enough, we are not (anything) enough.  Including how we think of ourselves.  Another thought process I continue to work on.  How about you?  I did change settings on comments, we will see if it makes a difference.  It was set that only people who were on Google could comment... now anyone can.  

A thank you to Motivational Quotes for this one.  I find it so true, but very hard to do.  We often react, at least I know I do. After I think, I should have handled that differently, after the apology and dealing with it.  This is definitely my goal.  The power is in my hands to do that, it seems to take a lot of practice. (At least for me.) 

Well, one complaint.  FB did again to another page of mine.  

If  you notice, the post is unavailable.  So, WHICH post was the offender? Further down it says to me, was this information helpful?  Yes  No.    Of course I click no, as I don't know which post they removed to know what I posted to offend them.   After I click no, it says Thank you for your feedback!  I went and checked the posts as there were a couple that could have been 'iffy' but they were both there.  ???  I give up.  There is absolutely no place anywhere in their info to ask, contact, zero-zilch. 

Well, back on a positive note, I may be dressed in my ratty jeans (for getting the tin) but I will also go to the hardware, post office and market here in town. Guess they have seen me in worse. Shopping local, small town, everyone knows (mostly) everyone, at least those who are not tourists. This town is where I grew up.  After living in other places, including France for 15 years (Paris) I am back 'home', including living in the house I grew up in.  But I am moving off subject. Off to do daily things, or should I say weekly as I only get to the market and post office once a week or so. 

So to leave you today, I leave you with this thought.

Have a great day, may it be positive, satisfying and full of gratitude.

 

Happy August!

I can't believe the summer is almost gone.  School in many places will be starting the end of the month.  It has been a hot, dry, with some drenches in-between.  Things seem to be at least 2 weeks ahead for the growing season.  My to do list is getting longer again instead of shorter. For a while it was almost all crossed out. 

So many posts that I come across make me stop and think.  Is that why I stay so busy?  What is it I am avoiding feeling?  Or thinking about? Those are very deep questions that while I wonder, I am not currently going to look for the answers.

I ran across this post this morning. It is so true.  How many of us look deeper than the surface unless we know that person?  How many of us use the surface (cover) to decide if we want to know more?  I had a wonderful priest who once said, we are like threads in a weaving. We each have our own color and as we cross with others, our weaving starts to take shape. Some come into our lives for a short time and others are there for our entire life, try and imagine what your weaving looks like. 

I checked on FB again today, still the same "non-recommendable status". Sigh.  That is my obsession right now.  

I will try and let you know when I get a different one.  That by the way is my 

'other' page on FB.  It is the one where my sideways humor and sarcasm comes out.  

Our family reunion which went on for years would have been this last weekend.  Since my uncle passed we stopped having them.  I keep thinking we need to restart, somewhere, which I am pretty sure means here... but I have yet to decide to do it or not.  

I have also been watching a young woman on 'watch' who just had her 8th child, makes her own breads, cheese, butter, they have a garden, cow(s), chickens and her house is very simplified and 'clean'.  By clean I mean uncluttered and clean due to being uncluttered. I am finding I am starting to go through, purge more and reorganize, thinking of painting my kitchen. I am sure things like this are why my list of things to do grows. Today is either (or both) going and picking up some used tin from a couple places to cover the wood pile and/or going out and picking the greens, washing jars and canning up a batch.  It has been on my list for the last 3 days, so far I have done a lot of other things instead of doing those two things.  

In saying that, I will close for today. Have a wonderful day doing something just for you!

 

 I am going to 'try' and work on this daily!!  (Wish me luck.)  

I did put the blog address on my page on FB.  Not sure it will do any good. I also saw a comment about someone (again) getting a 'red flag' when they went to share one of my posts.  Writing to FB doesn't seem to be getting anywhere.  I may have told you this, but speaking with other pages, they have gone through it also and some said it lasted 3 months for them.  That makes me unhappy.  

Ok, back to being positive.  I am also doing a lot of uncluttering and organizing around the house.  I have decided to try and make time this winter for weaving and my ceramics. By the end of winter I will know whether or not I want to sell my kiln and/or loom.  I know I want to keep painting and needlework so the other two (oh I forgot beadwork) are my main goal this winter.  As I mentioned, I forgot beadwork... that probably means I can get rid of 'most of the supplies' I have for it.  Time will tell.  The last 2 winters I worked on bins of photos and albums.  When I say bins, I mean 18? 19? large bins.  They were from the family, great grandmother, grandparents, mother and brother... all who passed.  I believe I ended up with 32 photo albums and I still have a couple more to complete and more photos on the computer to go through and print.  The photos (hardcopy's) only went through about 2010.  Then everything seemed to go digital.  Not as much fun going through them on the computer as seeing them in the books.  

Back to talking about Smoothing Ragged Edges.  It is meant to be a positive, healing, loving page.  I have always asked God before working on the page, to have those who need to see something specific to see it.  I sometimes even get feedback from people saying they were so glad they saw that on that particular day, they needed it.  That was all I could hope for. I also believe, and now to try and put into practice, that I must not worry about the status FB has put that page into.  I will continue to do the page on a smaller level and put more effort into this page, hopefully people will see what they need to see.  

You all have a wonderful Monday!!!  

 

I have been most active on Facebook, which is not Meta.  A month or so ago I posted a famous quote by Albert  Einstein.  It was marked as false info.  I removed the quotes, his name and reposted.  It was marked the same.  I removed it and made an entire new post.  It was marked the same and now the page has been put on non-recommendable for the last month.  With 56K followers I am lucky if I have 50 notifications.  Sad.  The page is only filled with positive, healing posts. Posts which will hopefully help those who have been abused in some way. Posts that just mean to give calm, peace or info.  Regardless of whether he said that or not, if we look at the statement itself it is so true.  

I know personally of many people who were labeled as unteachable who were sent to a trade school and are doing fantastic.  Instead of teaching to the student in their strength, the schools tend to teach what the school deems important.  My daughter got into trouble for trying to teach kids in her math class (for extra credit) how to make change and tell time on a regular clock.  It was not in the curriculum.  I went to a market just a week ago and bought cheese, 8.35, gave the man a 20.  I received 7.65 back.  I pointed out it was the incorrect change.  He handed me another 5.  Now it was too much.  This was a business.  I used cash instead of my normal handing over the credit card.  I gave him back 1.00 and said, you really do need to learn to make change. 

I am sure I can come up with countless other examples, those two were just in the forefront of my mind this morning.  

I have been busy, even at the age of 70, cutting and splitting wood, garden, yard, a little in the house (not my strongest suit).  I have totally neglected here.  Perhaps  it is time to change that as there is no reason to put a lot of time and energy into a page that is not helping anyone.  Does anyone know of a social media similar to FB?  The old FB that was a joy to be on?  

I will leave you this beautiful Sunday with another post to hopefully brighten your day.

 Obviously, it has been a long time since I have put anything up here.  Lots of things have happened. Mom fell and broke her leg shortly after my last post. She was in a nursing home for rehab but came back doing and understanding much less than when she went in. Probably because they did so much for her, she didn't have to remember to do it herself.  (Dementia)  By that time I needed more help with her and got people to come in daily, 5 days a week at least, for a few hours each day.  Then one day, she decided not to walk any longer.  She ended up going to a nursing home full time after that, as for safety reasons she could not stay at home. 

Then Covid... and we were no longer able to see her.  In November of last year the nursing home called (up until that time during Covid we had telephone reports each 3 months) to say she was not doing well. She had apparently developed double pneumonia and was not eating. It took a week for them to call us to ask for permission to give her an IV. Within 2 days I had demanded Hospice as with that going, we were able to see her. But unfortunately, Hospice was needed. She passed and her funeral was just before Thanksgiving. She was in Hospice for 3 days when she passed. 

I am still fighting depression, anger, frustration.  Some days I cry, some days I am angry, other days are ok and I can be my normal self.  Caregiving your parent is very difficult. The roles change and everything becomes abnormal somehow. Suddenly you are responsible for them. The worry, the work, the 24/7 need is overwhelming. You don't have time to look after yourself any longer, it is all about the one  you are giving care to. With Dementia, they tend to get up all hours of the night and get into things they should not. I had to get a baby monitor to be able to hear her.  If you know of someone in that capacity, offer them help. Offer to get their mail, watch over the person while they get away. Offer to do their shopping. Don't give advice as to what they can do or tell them not to worry or to go do something. Give them physical help. I had someone offer me their power washer because the side of the house needed cleaning... never happened until mom was gone. If they truly wanted to help they needed to find someone to come over and do it for me, not offer me the machine. Amazing those little things that you remember out of all of it. That was one of them.

I am trying to open my hands again. They are still rather tightly closed into fists as I am not sure I have energy to give to someone yet. I am due to get my first Covid vaccine on Tuesday. I will admit I am worried, as I am dreaming about things happening after I get it. They really don't know, I used to get the flu shots, so no allergies there... Can only hope I guess. I also know once I get the vaccines it doesn't mean that I will go out unmasked around lots of people. I still don't want to catch it, even if the vaccine means I will probably survive, they still don't understand what the after effects are. Some are really bad, others have none to show 'yet'. Like a time bomb it seems. 

I am glad that mom is no longer here to have to worry about her getting it. Hated when she was in the nursing home and the constant possiblilty of her catching it there without us, but if she had been here, I am not sure I would have been thrilled with people coming in daily. I know this blog is supposed to be about healing, uplifting and being positive.  Guess that is also why I have not been on for so long.  

I am trying. Both to be positive and to open my hands.