This Monday Means Mayhem

The adjective Madness would also work today. This week will be a busy one around here. I’m hosting a little ladies’ lunch on Friday, for some of my favorite gals.  Yes, I know, this is only Monday. But today I have to make notes of all the chores to be done before and get going.

Before the big TA DAH … there’s a huge TO DO list to tackle.

How do you do it … plan and prepare for special events at your house?  There must be bazillions of approaches to this. Well, at least a dozen or two.  I’m sure we all have our particular MODUS OPERANDI (or not) of how we put together our get togethers.

Artzzle feature, Hubs and GracieHubs and Gracie aren’t too upset, but today begins a string of hectic days here.

At times like this, my heroes are my “Lists” and my “Helpers”. This time I have a big task list and two important helpers. We also have four days … and nights, to get it all set up. It should be FOOL PROOF.

Ooh! I probably just jinxed us. Never say NEVER, never say ALWAYS … or FOOL PROOF. Yikes.

1ST LIST: Scribbled notes start me off. I write down everything I wish could be done for the event. All kinds of things, whatever comes to mind, even the “it would be great if we could manage this too” stuff.

2ND LIST: Scribbles are now divided into MUST DO’s and WOULD LIKE TO’s. Next, in this instance, each of the four days are assigned MD tasks, in order of importance and time needed. The most worrisome tasks need to be done as soon as possible. The WLT chores are shown off to the side, to be done in any extra open time that pops up.

I type up a nice, fresh list to post on the fridge, with something handy to mark off as we go along.  Yep, we literally cross things off. This is a great ENERGY BOOSTER. Especially when things are getting tiresome … reminding yourself of what you’ve accomplished and also seeing the TD list diminish right before your eyes, can give great satisfaction.

My helpers are Hubs and Granddaughter, Ashley. The retirement thing means he is here 24/7 and WOW, will that be great for this. Ash is our baker extraordinare, and I’ve hired her to make a dozen luscious AND beautiful cupcakes. Her business manager, sister, Carmen will arrange for the proper charges and billing! Mom, Bri, is loaning some crucial kitchenware. MAWVELOUS Dawlings!

Here’s my NORMAL LIST for this week; regular chores that have to be done, event or not.

• Volunteer ½ day P.M. at our local thrift store
• Pay Bills
• Haircut
• Groceries
• Trip to Milaca (“3rd Thursday” -30% at Discovery Thrift & we always go)
• Wash Windows
• Laundry: Spreads, Throws and Toss Pillow Covers
• Regular vacumning, mopping and dusting

I plan to update you pf our progress, occasionally this week.  Some AFTER photos, as most B4’s would be too messy to share.

Meanwhile, stop over and check this post out at HOMETALK.  I talked with a very nice lady about some decor questions for a small bedroom.

Artzzle feature, small bedroom arrangement

Over and Out for today.

Later – Cheryl

Advertisement

Monday has Mentionables

Monday seems a manageable day to mention magazines.
(Ooh, I just love all those “M’s”).
My “Drafts” files contain several notes and starts
regarding my appreciation of these printed papers.
Always wanting to give you great stuff on Artzzle,
I find magazines offer valuable material on varied décor topics.
Which is after all, primarily what Artzzle is all about.

Artzzle.com Magazine Mondays

Regular readers have been so patient with me … thanks guys 🙂
You all know I’ve tried various “themed days of the week” …
and you’re also aware that continuing those for any length of time,
hasn’t been a strong point for me.

Searching the blog will demonstrate that, to everyone.
Friday Features”, “Whatever Wednesdays” … “Fun Finds” and so on.
Good articles but I never got in the groove of a serial series.

Quite a bit earlier in my blog history, I considered Magazine Monday
… but wouldn’t ya’ know, my blogger buddy BLISS,
started a similar theme at that point.
Good bloggers like to communicate, share and feature fellow bloggers,
but not steal ideas … as some have done.
And YES … even some of the Big Names.
I didn’t want her to feel I was being improper
so I dropped it … until now.  I don’t think she’ll mind,
especially since only the titles are alike.
Our approaches and info are unique to each person.

Magazines AND catalogs, have always been present for me;
in my mother’s household, and through the years, in each of mine.
And take “present” very literally here.
Walking through our home, you’ll find them in almost every room

Artzzle.com Monday Magazines

  In the living room (at Mom’s it was always called the Front Room).

Artzzle.com Monday Magazines

There’s a pile or two in the family room …

Artzzle.com Monday Magazines

including some of Hubs’ subs too!
The tray pictured pictured, was a project you’ll find HERE

Artzzle.com Monday Magazines

 Tons are stacked  ahem … filed … in my office/studio.
The guest room is messy at the moment, so no show.
But yes, there is a nice rack of books AND magazines in there.

Finally, of course … I have to have
available reading in the master bedroom.
Great for those less sleepy evenings,
or the bright, sunny mornings in my chair
with that first cup of coffee … or two or three.
Ya know I gotta have my coffee!
Hey … isn’t that little orange giraffe a cutie. More about him at a later date.

Magazines, living room, workroom, family room, master bedroom

Now, neither Hubs or I require reading material with bathroom seating.

Funny story though.  My Uncle Bob was a favorite of mine.
He passed away last October at age 86, and we all miss him.
Uncle was an over-the-road truck driver for years,
which meant three things:
#1. Their family moved quite often as his employment changed.
#2. Bob detested public restrooms, and all those grubby,
closed in, gas station bathrooms.
#3. In every home they owned, Uncle Bob had a special,
second bathroom just for himself.

Oh, anyone could use it … in an emergency.
But each day, as regular as a sunrise,
he would retreat to his “room”.
Let’s just say for an extended period of time;
sometimes with a cigarette or cigar, and depending on the time of day,
possibly with a can of pop or beer.  (I know … gross, right!)

Point here is, these special spaces of his ALWAYS HAD a magazine rack.
Being a huge sports fan, one might have thought he’d include a TV as well,
but no, only the mags.  He had another special room for his own TV!
And, gotta tell ya, NOBODY INTERRUPTED Bob in either room!
When he wasn’t around and someone would ask his whereabouts,
we’d laugh and say “the King is on his throne”.

I am going to try … very hard, to see how long
I can keep the Monday Magazines a regular feature.
Meantime, our kitchen projects continue,
so look for more updates later this week.

As always, don’t stress too much about a project,
just start and it’ll take off from there!

Later – Cheryl

Monday Menagerie

Hi All. How was your weekend? Ours was pretty darn GOOD!

But now, here’s . . . . . . . MONDAY!
It’s cold but bright.
Hey, sunny’s good, right!?
While outside is fine
inside’s not sublime.

Our weekend was all “home-time” and no “house-time”. So today, UH OH, the place is a little messy – make that a LOT messy. Fortunately, I’m in a cleaning/organizing mood and ready to attack! Problem is I also wanted to sneak in a short post today. But about what?

This morning my many emails were FULL OF COLOR, no matter the subject.

So I’ll continue that theme and say . . .
Welcome to MENAGERIE MONDAY
With color, color everywhere.
The subject . . . well, we just won’t care.
I’m cleaning Picture files, so sharing from there.

PRETTY PENS
ARTZZLE.COM

BRIGHT SUPPLIES
ARTZZLE.COM

FLOWERS
ARTZZLE.COM

SOME WEEDS
ARTZZLE.COM

AND WINTER SKIES
ARTZZLE.COM

Finally, MY SWEETEST COMPANIONS in a colorful FALL room
ARTZZLE.COM

I hope your past weekend was fun.

Friday was included in mine this time, because it was the first day in three weeks that I went out & about on my own, after the March Mishap. Don’t worry though, I didn’t overdo. I did get some shopping in. Went to two thrift stores. Then a bit of daydreaming at our local SHOPKO and on the way home, I hit Mickey D’s drive-thru. (It’s right across the lot from Shopko . . . SO convenient!) My newest MD foodie craves are their “Chicken-Bacon-Cheddar” sandwich and those tasty strawberry cream pies, accompanied by a small fries, of course.

Saturday and Sunday duplicated lots of resting and reflecting. There were plenty “together” moments . . . but enough time for our separate “me” projects too; Hubs in his workshop and I in my office.

Oh, and we saw all our favorite Sunday night PBS shows! That’s a big deal around here! 

That’s about it for today. Just one more thing to say . . . don’t stress, just start something.

And REMEMBER . . . I love comments, so keep them coming!
PRETTY PLEASE 🙂

Later – Cheryl
P.S. Ok, Ok, so I’ll never make Poet Laureate 😦 (Geez, I hope I spelled laureate right)

***
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Copyright © 2013-2014 Artzzle All Rights Reserved

Oxymoron Mondays

Some Sunday stroll lovelies.   This is not a formal, structured arrangement; no tape, wire or frogs. I've just filled the vase with water, insert   taller pieces, then clump a few similar flowers together and begin placing them here and there. Here I've used 3 types of wild flowers - Brown Eyed Susan's, Daisies and Alfalfa; 3 fillers - Russian Sage,  and two wild grasses are added for height, texture and filler.  Continually watered, these will last for several days.

Some Sunday stroll lovelies.
This is not a formal, structured arrangement; no tape, wire or frogs.
I’ve just filled the vase with water, insert taller pieces, then clump a few similiar flowers together and begin placing them here and there.
Here I’ve used 3 types of wild flowers – Brown Eyed Susans, Daisies and Alfalfa; 3 fillers – Russian Sage, and two wild grasses are added for height, texture and filler.
Continually watered, these will last for several days.

Words are fun aren’t they? One of my favorites is “oxymoron”.

Merriam Webster says: “Definition OXYMORON
:a combination of contradictory or incongruous words (as cruel kindness); broadly: something (as a concept) that is made up of contradictory or incongruous elements”

Monday is a big ole oxymoron for me. It can be slow and draggy, because I didn’t want the weekend to end, but it might also be energized and inspired from events of the previous two days. Monday this week is just a big mix of moods and must do’s.

Awoke to beautiful sunshine, but 7:00 am was way too early, as 2:00 a.m. was bedtime last night (remember we’re night people because of Hubs’ job). So a little draggy, but we have to drop off a vehicle at the shop before DB leaves for work, so I need to get going.

I assembled tools to begin making bouts. * Two widths of satin ribbon in two colors * Tin snips * Wire (this is 26 gauge, suitable for small projects and beaded strips) * Hot glue gun * Optional Crimper (sometimes it's fun to crimp some of your ribbon) * Pearl tipped strait pins

I assembled tools to begin making bouts.
* Two widths of satin ribbon in two colors
* Tin snips
* Wire (this is 26 gauge, suitable for small projects and beaded strips)
* Hot glue gun
* Optional Crimper (sometimes it’s fun to crimp some of your ribbon)
* Pearl tipped strait pins

Lots to do today; usual cleaning but also have to begin the boutonnieres for the wedding. That word never looks right no matter how you spell it, so I always have to check! Anyway, have to at least start the “bouts (boots)” but only have 5 so not a huge chore. Haven’t done any recent projects that work for a good post, but have lots of ideas for upcoming slots. Because of short night, I’ll probably need an afternoon nap. And the list grows. You know what I mean.

Our primary flowers are the roses, with 3 sizes of blooms on each stem. For the bouts, I've cut the smallest bud, which will be the main flower in the boutonniere. Always give your cuts as much of the stem as possible; too long is better than too short!

Our primary flowers are the roses, with 3 sizes of blooms on each stem.
For the bouts, I’ve cut the smallest bud, which will be the main flower in the boutonnaire.
Always give your cuts as much of the stem as possible; too long is better than too short!

I’ve also cut the smallest clumps of our neutral flowers, to be used in the bouts, and pulled 1 small section from the variegated filler as well.
TIP: When doing your cuttings, always keep any remnants of flowers, leaves and wire. They may come in handy somewhere along the process.

Here are little extra pieces that fell from the main stems.  I always keep EVERYTHING, until the project is finished.

Here are little extra pieces that fell from the main stems. I always keep EVERYTHING, until the project is finished.

TIP: Always take as much stem wire as possible when making your cuts. You can snip off excess later if you don’t need it.

Each of my days start with an email check, but Monday’s are especially nice, because I get so many inspirational tidbits from my blogger buddies. Today was not a let-down. Wanting to start quietly, I opened LEAF AND TWIG first to see the wonderful words and images awaiting there. Next I was energized with that beautiful voice over at CHARLOTTE HOATHER’s site.

Now I was ready for whatever mixed media piece THE SEASONED HOMEMAKER was sharing today. This time it was about sewing which isn’t one of my talents, BUT I learned something to pass on to Hubs, as he begins his upholstering adventures. Then colorful inspiration hit me from Donna’s post at DECORATING WITH DONNA.

And finally I followed up on comments from BENJAMIN VOGT‘s weekend gardening discussion over at HOUZZ. Benjamin one of HOUZZ’s regular contributors on gardening, and specializes in natural or native species plants.

Well, the day is half over and there’s still more to do. I’ll post a full tutorial when I work on the boutonnieres. Lot’s of great links today and more on the FUN PLACES list to check out too!

Meantime, our entire week here is supposed to be beautiful weather. Hope yours is too. And remember, don’t stress, just start.

Later – Cheryl
Thanks for visiting. You’ve just read “Oxymoron Mondays” on Artzzle.com. I love comments and questions so send “em” my way.

Copyright © 2013 Artzzle All Rights Reserved