Clothes Makes the Man (or Woman)--Really?

 Being a consummate people watcher, I am fascinated to the lengths we humans go to look good, stylish, hot, fashionable--whatever the term you choose. I will readily admit that, over the years, I studied magazine looks long ago starting with the uber-issue of Seventeen that always came out in August, looking more like a catalog than a magazine. (Vogue has a similar behemoth that was published recently--serious girth!) I have items in my past and in my closet that more resemble items of discomfort than clothing. Most all of us have tucked, pushed, prodded, held our stomach in, held our breath, and poured ourselves into form-fitting outfits that didn't make us want to do much other than expand back to our normal selves once we were safely home.

 The other day I read an article on line about a new "cult" as the writer called it (don't know if I'd use that strong of a word) of young people who are taking minimalist living to the next level. I like that. I've been watching my own off-spring who has, for the past several years, relied on two pair of Vans (identical except one pair newer than that other) as his shoes of choice year round. (He does resort to boots to slog around in the deepest, darkest part of winter, but the Vans are always near by or in the pack back.) I myself have resorted to the challenge of flip flops for the entire summer--three pairs--one for everyday, one for going out and about, and a silver pair for dress up times. I really like this. No thought given to shoes--just pop on the flops and out the door.

Just this evening I was reading an article in Fast Company about Steve Jobs--you know, the guy that kind of built an empire around a computer with a piece of fruit on it? Yep, that Steve Jobs. The man is a genius, he's worth more money than we can even imagine, he's known world-wide and he...wears a black pullover shirt, a pair of jeans, and tennis shoes--period. Hey, if HE can do it, I can do it.

I hereby resolve to practice "Jobs-ism" in my wardrobe; comfort, ease of choice, utility. I'm feeling more liberated already! Out go the pushing, prodding, poking, and just plain annoying items of the wardrobe. Welcome flowing and comfortable and beautiful.  Ah, 50...such freedom! Even if you're not the magic 1/2 century number yet, come join the crusade. Look and feel the way you want to; not the way some writer in a magazine says you ought to...remember, that person may be writing about the correct jeans for your figure one month and  the best spark plugs the next.

As our 'ol pal Will Shakespeare once said, "To thine own self be true."  Yep.

The Adventure of the Amish Gourmet Grocery

A few years back, a good friend of mine made a really nice find--an Amish grocery in Daviess County. This place is great! I fondly call it the Gourmet grocery since, on my first trip there, I came home with some "treasures" that I frankly couldn't believe I'd found. Many of the items I had only found before in Bloomington and Indy...and here they were back on a rock road in a little pole shed! Fantastic!
Over the past few years I've had a ball introducing friends and family to the Amish Gourmet Grocery. Tonight I took Gretchen, our Pastor on the adventure. We both came away with a bag full of goodies and had spent very little. Today's big scores for me were 25 cent capers, 39 cent Rose's sweetened lime juice, and a great jar of pesto for 50 cents! What fun!
Sometimes it's just the little surprises that make us smile; for me, it's that little pole barn in the heart of Amish Country.

Stitching with the Camera...an Easy Way for the Rest of Us

After working my way through the "great" program that I downloaded last night to do picture stitching, I grew weary of the instructions that seemed to be written for someone far sharper than me. It seemed hopeless. So, as any good researcher would do...I Googled once again. This time I found some You Tube videos posted by a nice guy with the name jknightsmith. A true teacher that makes it easy. So, if you have Photoshop and want to do some stitching, here's the website to learn from a wonderful source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6zEHYKPJXY. This guy is GREAT; nice accent, too.

So, at 11:45 p.m. last night, here's what I came up with, courtesy of Mr. J Knightsmith's tutorial:

First, the three pics:

and then the stitch (still in its rough form, but initial stitching is done):

 This looks menial, but I went to sleep with a smile on my face and a sense of accomplishment in my heart. Learning curves are exhilarating and exhausting! I still have a ways to go before I do those B&B pics, but I'm on my way!

A New Craft: Stitching--Pictures, Not Material

A good friend of mine called the other day and asked for a favor. She has a beautiful bed and breakfast, and has the website developer coming in the next month. She said her dilemma centered around that fact that the pictures that were currently on the site didn't tell the whole story of the rooms. I thought for a moment and then asked her if the site developer wanted to do some panoramic shots of the rooms. I could take the pictures she was requesting I do, and then stitch them together for a 360 degree view for those inquiring about their stay.

The next thing I needed to do was to actually learn how to do this...nothing like a little pressure to make us learn a bit quicker :). 

So...I did what any good student would do...I Googled.  In my research, I found a great site called Hugin that is a free download from SourceForge (I do love an open source application). I downloaded it, went out and took 8 pictures for a panoramic stitch. 

I've started working on putting the images into the stitcher; I'd love to tell you that it was just that easy. I'd really love to tell you that. Guess you've figured out that it's going to be a continuing saga; when I figure this all out, I'll gladly share my "work of art". Ah...learning keeps us young!

Lightening the Load: Phase One

One "adventure" of this year's project is lightening the load--in many aspects. I hope to emerge from my 50th year on Earth a lighter person--not necessarily body wise, but certainly stuff-wise. 

While we were on a trip to Cincinnati a couple of years ago, we had the Ikea experience. We entered that huge store/museum and were amazed at how people in other parts of the world, i.e Scandinavia, lived in such small spaces with such ease. I was immediately intrigued and felt somewhat challenged by this compactness. Since then I've been giving thought of how to bring more compactness to my stuff. Anyone who has been to my "playground" in the basement is probably chuckling that this even enters my mind. The basement will indeed be a challenge, but what's life without a good challenge once in awhile? Obviously, that's not phase one; I like a challenge, not a battle.

For my birthday, I purchased a Kindle. I love the idea of compactness of my library; most of the actual weight of my travel comes from hauling books and magazines along. I'm not a single book/magazine reader. I read four or five different ones at a time. So, I'm minimizing my library. I did this once already last year and paired things down quite dramatically; I realize now I'm ready to pair again. So, phase one of lightening the load will be books. I don't want them to be destroyed--that would be a travesty. So, first I'll offer some to the local library and to friends who come our way.  The rest I'll donate to St. Vincent's. They'll get more use than just sitting on my shelf. I like that idea.

Tea...Who Knew?

One of the 50 adventures I want to have during this year is learning about tea. I think probably the minute I was "legal" to switch from milk to tea as a small child, I did...been a consummate tea drinker ever since. Of course, my idea of tea drinking varied from the tried and true loose-leaf brewed tea from Lipton that my mom always had fresh and at the ready for her small family with voracious tea-consuming habits to the unsweetened tea my Grandma Meadors had on hand along with a sugar bowl and a teaspoon that allowed us grandkids the blissful pleasure of trying to dissolve the sugar in the tea. As you can imagine it just sunk to the bottom, but to a little kid this was the greatest--using that teaspoon to "scoop" the tea out which gave the mounds of sugar a little tea flavor. I still smile at the memory...

My dad was a tea man. I seldom remember him ever drinking a soft drink. When he did, it was normally a Dr. Pepper which was, to a little kid, almost a torturous taste. Back to tea for me!

My mom always had tea at the ready. Even now, God bless her, she has in the refrigerator a pitcher of unsweetened tea for brother Doug, and a pitcher of sweetened tea for brother Mike. And for me? I'm a 50/50, so I guess I can lay claim to both pitchers on any given day.

With this love of all things tea, I decided it was time to journey out and see what all is out there. What's the best way to brew tea? What's the best pot material for a good brew? How do I choose from the bazillion different types of tea out there? How do I avoid becoming a snarky tea snob?

I started my tour last night, of all places, on You Tube. There are some really nice short clips from Expert Village that not only gives you instruction on different teas, but also some great trivia on tea. And, as Tom can attest, I am the world's biggest sucker some some good trivia!

For example...did you know that orange pekoe is neither orange nor pekoe? It was named orange, according to our friends at Expert Village, since the government at that time was the House of Orange. It was named pekoe because (the discoverer) wanted some exotic, snazzy name--so he just made up the word! Gotta love it!

 When I read this, I was hooked...I knew from now on, no matter how snobby or snarky the tea research got, there would always the be occasional tongue-in-cheek moments to bring it all back.

So...I'm reading currently and will share pertinent information for anyone interested in my findings. I'm also thinking that this winter that one of the sewing projects will be, of course, a tea cozy :).

Cheers!

In the Company of Good People

Tom and I pulled an "empty nester" and somewhat impulsively crossed the border into Illinois and headed to Fairfield, known as "The Community of Friendly People". That sign, we found out, was not just a sign--these folks practice what they preach. We felt welcomed wherever we stopped. And no one was more welcoming to us than our good friends the Oppenheimers--Mike, Pinky, Jagermeister, Boris, and Icky Bunny. (I forgot the snake's name but will admit I didn't spend any quality time with it, although I'm sure it's a very nice snake--after all, it lives in Fairfield.)
There's just something pretty special about being in the company of good friends. When you spend time with them in their home, you realize even more why you liked them in the first place. The humor, the compassion about things that matter, and the feeling of instantly being a part of their lives in total makes live pretty good. And then there's the food...holy cow!
During the course of 12 hours we drank excellent chocolate martinis w/raspberry whipped topping (check those out in the picture with Mike the Mixologist), fantastic NY strip steaks, potatoes, and mushrooms, all slow-cooked over a bed of hickory; bread, salad, and malbec wine that completed a table that where some serious eating, drinking, and being merry took place well into the night.
The next morning we returned and were treated to scrambled eggs and french fries--truly! It's an old Italian recipe handed down from Mike's family and was amazingly good. Once again, we enjoyed an abundance of good foods, lively conversation, and some great laughs.
After a quick tour of Fairfield proper, we said our good-byes and headed back across the border back home again to Indiana.
Thanks to our hosts and thanks to all those who open their homes fully to others...there's just not a much nicer thing to do!