I have been on another attempt to straighten and organize my sewing and craft stuff. I've gone through my fabric stash and filled a box for Goodwill. Added some ancient Quilting Arts magazines and even some of my beloved Prims magazines. Started another box and filled it with more fabric and other miscellaneous items that were intended for various projects and will never be used again. (Sometimes items move back and forth from the donate to the keep pile and back again.)
Have to wrangle the chaos upstairs before I can play again.
Favorite books so far this month:
18 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics. I'd never heard of Frances Glessner Lee before, but she is almost single-handedly responsible for pioneering forensic science in the U.S. A remarkable woman. 
Glass Houses is the 14th book in Louise Penny's Three Pines/Inspector Gamache series and as compelling as I expected.
February Incoming
From Iliana, aka "the bookbinder"
from Hannah
Mardi Gras Season card from Teresa
Outgoing
Lost Words postcards to Hannah and Melody
(Kingfisher)
(Bramble)
Love the Chinese New Year stamps and have already used several.
Word Play -- such fun! Manipulating words to illustrate meaning. So many good examples!
More Fun--Since it is the Year of the Rat, it seems appropriate to mention Rachie's Ratirement Home. Far, far away in Brisbane, Australia, Rachel and her team take in rats and mice and care and rehabilitate them. They even have a FB page. It was, however, the best and worst rats of the week that got my attention.
I know I should be cleaning and organizing my sewing area, but.... When it is warm and I can get outside more, I know what I will be doing. I especially enjoyed your birds that are going out. So many are coming to my feeders now.
ReplyDeleteOh, I alternate! We are having a few sunny days after week of rain so I'm hacking away at a runaway ground-cover when I can. Yes, my feeders are getting a good crowd, too--and the ground serving as a sumptuous meal of earthworms. I made a short video of the cedar waxwings congregating on our neighbor's holly tree. The arrival of the cedar waxwings and how quickly they strip those holly berries is an event I look forward to each year!
DeleteOMGosh I had a pet rat that I saved from being Snake Food. He was so smart!! Everyone thought I was nuts. Oh, I have been clearing out and reorganizing for the coming move. I am able to "gift" old crochet magazines but most of my magazines will stay. I'm pretty sure I'll be gifting some books to Better World Books that have their main headquarters in my city. Down Sizing is an unending process.
ReplyDeletexx, Carol
They say rats are smart, and evidently they provide daily amusement at Rachel's Ratirement Home. :) She would appreciate your efforts to rescue rats.
DeleteDownsizing is an effort, isn't it? I make an effort or so each year to see what needs to go, but if like you, I had a move in the future it would seem overwhelming. Good luck, Carol!
Most all of it looks productive to me from over here. Sorting and organizing and purging is very productive. Reading is learning and this is productive. Sending out happy mail is productive. Receiving is a joy. the rats might not be productive for you, but aren’t they cute...sort of. For sure the rat stamps are awesome.
ReplyDeleteYou are a great positive thinker, Annie! Attitude is everything, and I'll just keep in my head that the effort to clean/organize/purge is productive even when slow. Reading is simply a necessity--providing escape, entertainment, and education--a potent mix. The rats provide some humor. OK, thanks, I feel better about my week now!
DeleteOh dear, I suppose I should be tackling something similar. When I've finished these projects I'm working on...!
ReplyDelete:) You probably keep things in better order than I've been doing. I let things get out of hand before trying to do anything about the mess.
DeleteLove that 'Bramble' painting-beautiful. I once had 2 pet rats named Nesbit and Toronto. I still have a scar on my hand from a bite....Not too wild about the critters:(
ReplyDeleteI've been sorting my stuff too. It always feels so good to move out the stuff that hasn't been used. Someone else can surely make use of it!
Love the names of your pet rats, but evidently you prefer geese! :) I thought about you and your discovery of your painting as I found some things I'd forgotten. I hope some of the fabric, etc. will benefit someone else, and I'll be relieved of it taking up my limited space
DeleteI admire your efforts to donate your craft supplies. I think if I put mine in a donate box, the ones that made it to the shop might have to be bought back! Thanks for the book recommendations - I am going to check out that 18 Tiny Deaths.
ReplyDelete:) I actually thought about visiting Goodwill and seeing what I'd donated and wanting it back! I am still working through the decision-making process, but I've managed to put several boxes in the trunk of my car. If it makes it that far, I'm calling it gone.
DeleteI also have two boxes of books to take to a friend's Little Free Library that still haven't made it there!
OMG Muffin! I cracked up so much at that! Rach's Ratirement home is such a good placE! I don't like rats, but I appreciate that they need good homes too, especially if they're been domesticated. And Louise Penny i s going on my TBR!
ReplyDelete:) I'm not fond of rats, but these don't look like the fearsome rats that populate large cities, do they? I love Rach's Best and Worst photos and captions. :)
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