I wanted to tell wish everyone a great big Happy 4th of July ! I hope you all have a wonderful day with lots of BBQ and fireworks. Be careful when light of your own fireworks and keep safe. Also, make sure you have a designated driver if you are going to drink. There will be the ever present road blocks and I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt or into trouble.
Mailbox Battle
Every winter I have to worry about my mail box. The plowman can be so vicious. I feel as though he really does not care about any one’s mailbox, not just mine. I have to replace my mailbox nearly every year.
One year I actually rebelled and refused to fix my residential mailbox. It was extremely bashed in and did not meet the federal post office box standards. Unfortunately, the post office won and I had to fork out money to replace the box and the post. I was not happy. What made this worse was that the mailbox I replaced was a decorative one.
I love decorative mailboxes. However, with this situation I am not able to have a pretty mailbox. This upsets me but that is the price I have to pay for country living. I would not give up country living for the world. I enjoy going out on a daily basis to pick my mail out of my mailbox. I not only get to pick up my mail but also get to enjoy the birds and flowers in my gardens.
Crafts and Organization
Have you ever wanted to create your own jewelry? Or perhaps make your own candles or quilts? Crafting is more than just a hobby today, for some it is a work of art, labor of love or even a way have their own business. No matter what kind of crafting you do, finding storage for your excess supplies and finished products can be a pain. Although you can use kitchen containers at Storables.com to keep the items at arms length there are other options.
If you live in New York City, it is even harder. Sometimes it helps to look outside the city for the best space at a good price. Westy Self Storage is a pretty good place to use. Many people have different needs when it comes to storing crafting supplies. Some need to find climate controlled units, so their stuff won’t be damaged by the heat or cold.
Candles and candle making supplies definitely need to be climate controlled because you don’t want them to melt when it gets hot out. Using a storage facility outside of the city will definitely be cheaper on your pocketbook and in more plentiful supply. If you think about just how many people are actually in New York, you will understand that any storage in the city is already full and there is a waiting list a mile long to boot.
Once you have your storage unit, you can use old kitchen cabinets to easily organize many of your projects. Sure you can use air tight plastic containers, but the advantages of organizing your stuff for easy access is really cool. Add a label maker to that and you can label all of the drawers and cabinets. You will never have to dig and search through everything just to find that one little item. If you have the cabinets and counters, you can even work on your crafts right there for quick fixes and such.
One thing I love about having my crafting stuff in a storage unit is the accidents that regularly occur in apartment buildings. Broken pipes, over flowing toilets, and fire or smoke damage, can wreck your crafting supplies if they are in your apartment as well as everything else you own. However, if you are crafting as a business, you don’t want them damaged or destroyed just when you need them the most.
Lets face it, taking a drive and getting away from the big city is refreshing. Spending a little bit of time away from the hustle and bustle can relax you and you can accomplish whatever you have set out to do that day. Plus the best flea markets to sell those finished products are usually out in the country or the suburbs. An easy distance to haul your gear and sell your stuff if you plan it right.
So give it a thought, organize what you need and what you need out of your way. Then find the best location for you. You will not be disappointed with your decision to declutter your home. Then you will have more room for the things you really want there.
Shattered
Today I visited a beauty supply store and as I walked in the door I saw a huge display of Katie Perry nail polish. I was surprised mostly because of the life size display of her body. It looked very tacky. Apparently she has released an entire line of new nail polish colors. They range from pink to metallic. There is one in particular that I was quite fond of.
There is one color called “shattered.” It was really cool. What happens is after you put a coat of any color nail polish on your nails and let it dry you then brush a coat of this color over it. The color of this polish is black but the special feature is what happens magically after you put it on. The black polish actually produces an automatic “shattered” look over each nail, so that your base color peaks through the shattered pieces. The only problem was that that wanted like 10 dollars for it and personally, I didn’t love it that much!
Martha Stewart
Recently I was watching some old episodes of the Martha Stewart Living show. The one that I particularly enjoyed was the one where she featured animals that have been know to possess high IQ. This was a fascinating segment. I was surprised to see this type of topic on her show. To my knowledge Martha Stewart rarely features animals on her shows.
During this particular segment she featured camels, parrots and multiple other animals found in Madagascar. The animals featured from Madagascar were mostly from the Marsupial family. The parrot featured was able to tell the differences between shapes and colors.
The part of the Marsupial family of animals that makes them super intelligent are their tails. As for the camels I cannot recall what their “specialty” was. All I recall from the camels was that the camels with one hump are from the Middle East while camels with two humps are traditionally found in China.
Nice Quality Teak Furniture For Mother’s Porch
As I promised my mother I would, I have been spending some time looking at various outside wood furniture that she is seriously considering purchasing when she gets her tax refund that is expected to be direct deposited into her checking out any day now. My mother has always been the first person to file her taxes each year, while I tend to put if off as long as I possibly can. Each year I promise myself that I will be more organized with all of the paperwork that we all accumulate throughout the year that we need for filing our Federal and State taxes with Uncle Sam.
With all of the options of filing online these past couple of years has been a great opportunity for people to tackle this yearly task. But try as you might to deal with less paperwork there will always be papers and a decent filing system can make or break a person, sigh….
Mother has always wanted some good quality teak wood front and side porch furniture. But with the winters being so long and hard where we live it is a commitment when purchasing outside furniture. You can’t just stick it outside and ignore some type of maintenance every now and then. Nothing can withstand Mother Nature 24/7, 365, year after year. It only makes sense to take care of something that you have spent a chunk of change on, so that you can enjoy it for as long as possible. It seems a good cleaning for teak furniture tip is that a nice sealer can work wonders and teak wood is known for requiring less maintenance than most of the other wood types that are used for this type of outside furniture.
Birds Talking Smack
I do not know why I think this is so funny, but it makes me laugh. I guess because there are always people who want to call other people names.
Sometimes I get into a spirited discussion – well, sometimes it is a full blown argument, I admit – and when someone starts calling names, that person who is calling names is the loser of that discussion.
Time To Remove The Tree
Today, I finally took down my Christmas tree. I figured three weeks after Christmas was just about the right time. It always seems to me that the holiday decorations go up more quickly then taking them down. And every year the task of taking down these decorations appears more daunting of a task.
Perhaps next year I will put up less decorations to make it easier come the month of January. However, with this being said I probably will not take my own advice and will have my place looking like Santa’s Village once again next December.
Merry Christmas
This time of year is very special to me and my family. We have a lot of fun with the tree and decorations on the tree and the house. This year we plan on staying home to celebrate the holiday.
I will miss seeing my family and friends but with the way the economy is we just think it would be better to stay at home this year, we will still have a lot of fun and maybe next year we can do some traveling next year.
Leaf Peeping
It’s that time of year to view beautiful fall leaves. I like to take a fall foliage trip every year. I have not yet decided where I would like to go but it will be in New England.
I think New England has some of the best fall foliage. My favorite colors are red, yellow and orange all displayed on the same tree.