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Category Archives: Monday Mix

It sounded like a good idea at the time

07 Oct
Mmm, gravy. Image from Pinterest. If you manage to find the actual recipe, please let me know!

Mmm, gravy. Image from Pinterest. If you manage to find the actual recipe, please let me know!

So, because I don’t have enough real work on my to-do list, I finally caved and joined Pinterest today. Like I need another time-suck to add to email, facebook, and general web surfing to keep me from the real work.

How did this happen??

Well, I’ve been looking online for lots of decorating ideas recently (curtains are the mission du jour), and my “other bookmarks” tab is OUT OF CONTROL. I noticed that a lot of the links I was clicking in my search were taking me to someone’s Pinterest board (where I’d get distracted looking at all of their pins and forget why I was visiting in the first place). I thought if I joined Pinterest myself, I could create a board (or ten) of my own to keep track of all these fascinating decorating ideas in a more visual way, thereby conserving space in my “other bookmarks.”

Well, I’ve already run into problems. Mainly that I’m not exactly sure what I’m doing. I went through the tutorial when I signed up, and as an exercise I pinned a gravy recipe to a new board I called “Turkey Day.” When I go back to that board, and click on the gravy pin, it directs me to some other Pinterest board containing about a bajillion recipes. I’ve yet to find the gravy recipe. Having just a picture of gravy is not so helpful.

I subscribe to the philosophy that if all else fails, read, so next I clicked the Pinning 101 link in my welcome email. I fully expected to learn enough to finally get to that gravy recipe. Instead, I found out that Pinterest is intended to be less personal organizing tool, more social media site. Drat. I don’t care if other people see I’ve pinned a gravy recipe. I’m not trying to gain followers by pinning cute curtain ideas. Why can’t this just be a bulletin board where I can organize inspiration, without the whole world looking over my shoulder?

Now I’m not sure whether I should invest in the Pinterest for Dummies book on Amazon or just delete my account, print out the ideas that catch my eye on the web, and stuff them in a folder where they’ll never again see the light of day pin them to a real bulletin board. I figure either option burns up about the same number of precious moments. Moments I could have spent actually sewing some curtains. Or making gravy.

 

 
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Posted by on October 7, 2013 in How It Is, Monday Mix, On Me, True Life

 

Daily Prompt: On the road to Orkney

30 Sep

orkney_mapMap from visitorkney.com

From The Daily Post:

If I could pause real life and spend some time living with a family anywhere in the world, I’d go back to Orkney in a heartbeat. I even know whose home I’d crash…Stuart, of John O’Groats Ferries, watch out!

The hubby and I were able to spend nearly two weeks in Scotland in the summer of 2012, and basically did a big loop of the country, from the southwest clockwise around to the southeast. At the northeasternmost point of our loop, we boarded a ferry and left the mainland for the islands of Orkney. We only had one day to explore, so we booked a guided day tour to maximize our sightseeing experience.

From the moment our ferry docked in the foggy, windswept harbor, I was hooked. Something about the place immediately spoke to some primal corner of my soul, long before our tour guide even introduced himself or began unveiling Orkney’s multifaceted story.

Our guide, Stuart, was not a native Orcadian, but he was married to one. As a result, he had extensive knowledge of the history, geology, geography, archaeology, people, customs, and culture of the islands. He crammed as much as he possibly could into the 10 hours we had together during the tour, and with every story he told I fell deeper in love with Orkney.

I’d dearly love to return to Orkney, to spend some time exploring and researching on my own. But at the end of the day, I’d like to crash at the home of Stuart and his wife, coaxing more anecdotes about the islands out of them, using their tales to guide my next day’s adventures.

I want to diagram a timeline of the events that explains why the Orcadian flag looks so Norwegian.
I want to hear more about why cows replaced chickens as the primary livestock in 1952.
I want to be a chaperone when a group of school kids take their annual field trip to this stand of trees.
I’d like to take part in further excavation of Skara Brae, a 5000 year old settlement.
I need to see a map to understand how the fishing industry was cut off by the causeways.
I want to hear more about what happened to the rest of the stones in this oldest stone circle in Scotland.
I want to explore the crooked little streets of the two main towns, Kirkwall and Stromness.
I’d like to read the tombstones in St. Magnus Cathedral.
I’d like to study Orkney’s role as harbor for the home fleet during WWI and WWII.
I’d like to learn more about the Italian POWs who built this magnificent chapel.
 
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Posted by on September 30, 2013 in Monday Mix, The Daily Post Prompt, True Life

 

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Travel theme: Through

23 Sep

Light pours through the window
Geyser erupting through a hole in the earth’s crust
Forging through the flood
Reykjavik through a clock tower
Last glimpse of Holland through the ferry porthole
Navigating a narrowboat through the tunnel
Through the garden gate
Thousands of króna seen through crystal clear water
A duck’s butt poking through pond grass

I’m playing along once again with Ailsa’s weekly photography challenge, presented each Friday on Where’s my backpack? This is a collection of “through” photographs I’ve taken this year.

 
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Posted by on September 23, 2013 in Challenges, Monday Mix, Photography

 

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside

16 Sep 
100_1189"Bad weather always looks worse through a window." ~Tom Lehrer

We only had one day of un-sunny weather on our seven-day transatlantic crossing last month. On that day, I was trapped inside as the upper decks were closed due to strong winds. I took this photo of, ironically, a windbreak through the sea spray that had collected on the glass pane of the door to the forward observation area on Deck 11.

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Check out more entries in the Weekly Photo Challenge at The Daily Post.

 
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Posted by on September 16, 2013 in Challenges, Monday Mix, Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge

 

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What’s the link?

09 Sep
Hmm, what have we here?

Hmm, what have we here?

Let’s play a little game. I’ll name some items, you guess what they all have in common. Ready?  Here goes.

  • safety pin
  • scratch-off lottery ticket
  • lollipop stick
  • sock

Got it yet? No? Okay, I’ll give you a few more.

  • cat feces (?)
  • button
  • dog food
  • candy wrapper

Did those help? Still no? These last few should do it.

  • a collar stay
  • lint
  • two used dryer sheets

Betcha have it all figured out now. These are all things I found when I pulled out the washer this afternoon. And the best part? They were all floating on a lake of petrified fabric softener. Rarely have I been so grossed out.

It was bad enough when I looked between the washer and dryer…
…and then I pulled the washer all the way out. Egads!!!

Exactly how did so much fabric softener get on the floor?

Did a bottle, possibly stored on top of the dryer, tip over when no one was watching and empty its entire contents? (Some rivulets down the adjoining sides of the washer and dryer support this theory.) Didn’t anyone notice that the once-full bottle was suddenly empty? Why wouldn’t that someone pull out the machines and clean up the mess?

Is the fabric softener dispenser (located in the agitator post inside the washer) broken, so that any fabric softener added just runs straight out the bottom of the machine and onto the floor? Didn’t anyone notice that their clothes were static-y and neither soft and fluffy nor outdoor fresh? Wouldn’t that someone investigate why they were spending good money on fabric softener and not seeing any of its advertised results? (Do you think that someone instead sent nastygrams to the fabric softener manufacturer demanding a refund?)

More disturbing…how long has the fabric softener been on the floor? It was completely solidified. This did not happen last month. Has no one cleaned the laundry room floor in five years? We had four different tenant families. And the house was supposedly cleaned by professionals between tenants. So why is it that I am the one who lost a whole hour of her life scooping, scraping, and scrubbing away all evidence of that hideous lake and all its flotsam?

Lord, save me from what may be lurking beneath the fridge.

P.S. The scratch-off lottery ticket (already scratched) was a winner. But there was NO WAY I was handing that revolting little card to the clerk at the local convenience store to claim a dollar. I’d like the staff not to cringe in disgust every time I walk in to pay for gas or buy a soda in the coming years.

 
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Posted by on September 9, 2013 in Monday Mix, Observations, True Life

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Sea

02 Sep

100_1216

I’ve always loved the sea, but my perspective has traditionally been from the shore. I’m not complaining…it does my soul wonders to stand with my bare feet in the sand, lift my face to the salty breeze, and slow my breathing to match the rhythm of the waves rolling ashore. When the weight of the world is on my shoulders, a few days by the sea help me feel less overwhelmed–I guess standing before the vast size and power of the ocean reminds me that whatever I’m dealing with is fairly minor in the whole scheme of things.

So it was truly magical for this sandy-toed girl to find herself smack in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean for seven days, gaining a totally new perspective on the sea. For five days, there was no land to be seen, and if it hadn’t been for a passing freighter and a rogue airplane, it would have been easy to imagine that those of us on board the Queen Mary 2 were the only people left in the world. Being a tiny speck on that tiny ship in the middle of that huge ocean was a new lesson in inconsequentiality.

 
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Posted by on September 2, 2013 in Challenges, Monday Mix, Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge

 

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I stand corrected

22 Jul

101_9448

Day 1 of the four-day packout is over, and it did not go at all like I predicted. I happily admit that I had it pegged all wrong.

Three guys arrived 30 minutes earlier than expected, took a quick tour of the house, asked a few questions, dragged in rolls of bubble wrap, bales of paper, and stacks of boxes, then got straight to work.

There was no mid-morning tea break.

They seemed grateful for the pizza and cookies we provided, but ate lunch on the fly–no one-hour break as I’d anticipated.

There was no mid-afternoon tea break. Apparently they all agreed that they’d rather work the entire day without a proper break and knock off an hour early at the end of the day.

The same three will return tomorrow morning, bringing along one additional crew member. I figure if they work at the same pace as today, the four of them should have no problem finishing all the packing. If they were really ambitious, they could theoretically get it all out of the house and crated as well. I don’t figure that’ll actually happen…I suspect the crating and removal will be slated for Wednesday, but I see no reason for the process to run into a fourth day as planned by the surveyor.

I say, “Three days, then be on your way!”

 
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Posted by on July 22, 2013 in How It Is, Monday Mix, True Life

 
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