Battening Down the Hatches

Washed and waxed

Ever so slowly — and reluctantly — I am getting the Casita ready for her long winter sleep.  Between rains, we got her washed and waxed.

I’m vacuuming, cleaning and organizing the interior.  I had planned to take everything out, but have decided to leave some things in it in the event of severe weather warnings or other disaster.

All the dishes we need, and none we don't need. 2 plates, 2 bowls, 2 cups, coffee press, plastic bowl for leftovers and two drinking glasses. When we are camping, we add disposable plates, bowls and cups and a couple more leftover containers.

Mainly I am taking out things that would be damaged by freezing, and leaving essential clothes, underwear, dishes and towels, etc. in it.  That way if we needed to evacuate, we could just grab food and toiletries and run.

Also I’m working on implementing a few New Year’s resolutions.  One is to work two vegan meals a week into our dinner menus, and the other is to do one hour of physical activity each day that elevates my pulse and makes me sweat.

We use hand towels to dry off after showers, as there's no room for full size towels. I usually carry 10 hand towels and 10 wash cloths.

So far I’m doing okay on the physical activity.

I fixed black beans with garlic, onion and shredded carrots over Himalayan rice last night.  We enjoyed it.  But later I sneaked back into the kitchen for a snack of crackers and cheese, so that resolution needs a little fine tuning.  🙂

I got my partially finished doily out to work on this week and realized that I don’t like doilies and I don’t want to waste the time finishing it… at least for now.

The type of tatting I enjoy are small motifs that I can finish in an evening or two.  I love decorating hand made greeting cards with them.  One of my blog readers, Kathy N., has a little 4′ Christmas tree decorated with tatted ornaments and lights.  That idea really appeals to me, so along with the small tatted gifts and cards I make this year, I will plan to do some Christmas ornaments, too.

Monday night it’s supposed to get down to 20 F here, so I will have to have the Casita winterizing finished by then.

Tatting Christmas Cards

A tatted Christmas card

I’ve been working on various tatted motifs and trim that would look Christmassy done in red, green and white.

This evening I went to Hobby Lobby looking for shiny little sequins, bells, beads and ribbons to make the cards look more festive.  But when I got home and started arranging the motifs and edging on cards, I realized that, at least to my eyes, the plain tatting is more beautiful.  Adding shiny things to it seems to detract from rather than enhance it.

Pictured is one motif and edging that I especially like.  I’ve done others that I’m not as pleased with.  So I will probably do more of this design, then do some Christmas tree patterns.

It was 100 degrees again today.  Summer isn’t giving up easily.  Making Christmas cards in an air conditioned house helps put me in a delicious crisp weather frame of mind!  🙂

 

Tatted Wall Grouping Finished

Tatted motifs wall grouping

Here’s my collection of beginner-level tatted motifs that I’ve grouped together as wall decor.

It adds interest to a formerly boring blank spot.  🙂

Tatting on the Wall

This is a bookmark that I made displayed as a picture.

I’ve been tatting flowers and motifs and putting them in picture frames.  Some of them don’t look great.  So far the flower garden bookmark looks the best.

I’ll keep replacing the ones that don’t look so great until I have a nice wall grouping.

The frames aren’t black… they just came out looking that way in the photo.

I’m still not smoking, and feeling better every day.  My chronic cough is gone.  One symptom of quitting that I didn’t expect was depression.  It was pretty severe.  But I’ve apparently turned the corner on that, too, because I feel good this morning.

It is so cold, but it is supposed to warm up this weekend.  So I’ll probably take the tarp off the camper Saturday and start cleaning and packing.  Then probably Tuesday or Wednesday we’ll head home to Florida.

I am so ready to get on the road!

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