March 21, 2023 by Born To Organize

Another Day, Another Storm

The winds are back with a vengeance today, along with steady rain. The power is on, at least for now. My friend pointed out that I could have used our summer coolers to preserve our groceries during the last power outage. It just never occurred to me at the time since lengthy power outages are rare. I feel more prepared this time around. (Thanks, Donna!)

Just outside the window, a hummingbird is making the rounds. He seems unperturbed by the rain and happy to stop at the flowers and the feeder for a meal. Earlier this month, we had regular hummingbird visits to the Anemone virginiana.

The hummingbirds pluck the fluff, the non-technical term for diaspore, and use the downy surface to build a nest.

Ana’s Hummingbird gathering fluff for her nest

It took weeks to capture a three-second video. Mike and I both delight in this sort of thing.

The California grey squirrels were busy this morning, but unlike the hummingbirds, they prefer to wait out the storm. Unfortunately, I don’t have any recent pics, so I’ll share a few favorites instead.

This year, life has settled into a more reasonable pace, affording me more time to putter and play. I’m finally decorating my son’s former bedroom. He moved into his place nearly a year and a half ago. It’s been years since I’ve had the chance to redecorate a room, so I’ve been taking my time and enjoying the process. I’ll share more details in an upcoming post.

I’ve also sorted the house top to bottom as I do for my organizing clients, passing on small appliances and underused items from the kitchen. My crafting area got a do-over as well. When both boys were off to college, I claimed the side-by-side IKEA desks that they used in our den. We’ve had four desks in that room, one for each of us. It worked well for homework and was a place for the kids to play video games with friends.

After nearly a year of using the space, I realized that the configuration of side-by-side desks didn’t work as well for crafting. Having my back to the windows didn’t work for me either. I’ll share more details of those changes as well.

Sometimes you only realize what you’re missing once you get it back. I’ve missed writing, puttering, gazing out the window, and time to be. It feels good to be back in this blogging space and to have the time to leave thoughtful replies. I’m so glad you’re here.

March 20, 2023 by Born To Organize

Spring: It’s Official!

Today marks the vernal equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere. So, at 5:24 p.m. eastern time, spring will officially be underway. I’m ready!

California has had a rough winter, with 12 significant storms since late December. Our beautiful state swings from drought to drench with little in between, with devastating consequences.

Our suburban neighborhood is not at risk for floods, but the wind storm that followed last week’s rain packed a brutal punch. We lost power for 28 hours, along with several businesses, large and small. Traffic lights were out at major intersections, making it challenging to get anywhere and scary. Trees, large and small, were uprooted and dropped on fences, roadways, sidewalks, and trails. Snapped twigs and branches littered the roads along with debris the winds gathered along the way.

The railing across our deck twisted in the wind, then fell into the garden with the windchimes and two hummingbird feeders. Parts of our roof tiles littered the deck, and our back fence is now leaning precariously. One of my frost covers has traveled to parts unknown, and one of the two hummingbird feeders smashed, leaving broken glass and sugar water in its wake.

An enormous Monterey Pine leans across our back fence, making it hard to relax in the living room of our home when the wind is strong enough to shake the house. I’ve worried through many storms that the tree might come down, though, in a stroke of good luck, I had the tree assessed by an arborist late last year, then arranged to split the cost of a significant pruning. The arborist says the tree is “extremely stressed by drought conditions.” Removing dead and dying branches took a day and five crew members. The tree sits in our neighbor’s yard and towers over four properties. During the worst of last week’s windstorm, I either left the house or hung out in the front corner of the house, farthest away from the tree. I’m happy to report that the tree remained upright.

That evening, we found a charging station with power so Mike could get his electric vehicle charged for a presentation the following day. As we drove to a power station, we passed neighborhoods in complete darkness, while others kept their power.

Using the FDA guidelines for food safety, I had to pitch 90% of the food in our fridge and freezer. Fortunately, we have the resources to replace what we lost, but it is a painful reminder of many struggling to get by. An extra cash donation to our local food bank is in order. The needs here are significant.

These storms haven’t ended the drought but have filled several reservoirs, which is excellent news. Melting snowfall is also a significant water source during the warmer months, so as long as it melts slowly, it’s a fabulous resource for our parched state.

Here are a few welcome signs of spring.

March 15, 2023 by Born To Organize

ScrapHappy: The Under-achiever, the Over-achiever, and the Surprise

Thanks, as always, Kate, for hosting this monthly challenge.

Every few months, I get the urge to use my Gel Press, usually when I find something interesting on the garden floor.

Last month I picked up a decaying leaf that maintained its skeleton-like structure. (Sorry, no pics) I wanted to capture the leaf pattern using a Gel Press, brayer, watercolor paper, and ink. I imagined the delicate veins of the decaying leaf in minute detail. Instead, I created several blobs. I call the first blob “cranky man-in-the-moon.”

Sigh.

This brings me to ScrapHappy, the oops edition. I set the images and my discouragement aside for a time. I decided to use them this month to make some cards.

While I had a general idea of using the blobs as backgrounds for my cards, I lacked direction. In the end, I have:

The Under-achiever: Pretty but ho-hum

The first card incorporates one of the blobs cut into a rectangle and mounted on a scrap of purple paper. The watering can is fussy-cut from an old wall calendar. I’ve saved old calendars in years passed when I couldn’t part with the beautiful images. It’s fun to incorporate them into cards.

The Over-achiever: Not knowing when to quit

This second card got away from me. I inadvertently got mired in “everything-but-the-kitchen-sink” mode. While I love the punched background made with a gorgeous crafting die from PinkFresh Studio, I wish I had spent time experimenting before adding details. I stamped the floral image with versa mark ink, embossed it in black, then colored the flowers with markers. Placing yellow circles behind the image helped them stand out. When I stamped the word “hugs” on the image, it looked small and out of scale. I fixed that oops with another die cut of a leaf. Time to quit.

The Surprise: A happy accident with paper and ink

The final card looks yellow in this pic, yet all three backgrounds are the same shade of green. I tried transferring ink to the Spellbinders embossing folder, but the results were mixed. Thinking I had wiped off all the ink, I was surprised to see small amounts of purple ink transfer to the green. You can just make out the leaf image in blob number three.

Happy, scrappy!

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Jule, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, Edith
Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Debbierose, Nóilin, Viv, Karrin,
Amo and Alissa

October 30, 2022 by Born To Organize

A Somber Halloween

Halloween is in the air.

I’ve loved this festive day since I was a child. My sister and I enjoyed dressing up, making costumes from this and that, and anticipating the night. Of course, there were strict rules about where we could go, how long we could be out, and with whom, but we made the most of it.

We arrived home long before 8:00 with cold cheeks and a bag of candy. The candy haul would fuel a trading game in the weeks to come. We would spread the goods on the living room floor, count each item, then trade back and forth. We each had our favorites. It was also a way to extend the thrill of the night.

As adults, we found the excuse to dress up for parties or work events. We fixed each other’s hair or wig and donned false eyelashes. Sharon usually helped with my makeup since I’m an amateur and she’s the pro.

Sharon dressed as a witch. I made a costume this year called my year in trash

My sister and I no longer dress up, and the thrill of the day has passed. Sharon’s MS has advanced to such a degree that she can no longer walk or drive. She struggles to dress, and she needs help putting on her shoes. At the end of this month, the water therapy that helps sustain her is no longer covered by her health plan. The powers that be, determined that since she can’t get well, she can’t have physical therapy. Health “care” in this country often boils down to health insurance. It’s beyond depressing.

Today, I shampooed my sister’s hair in an inflatable sink, then wrapped it in a towel to dry. She’s lost the chance to shower two days a week after water therapy, robbing her of the dignity of basic hygiene. We are both bereft.

It’s hard to know where we go from here, so we’re improvising. Costumes and wigs no longer apply.

Tomorrow I’ll toss candy into the bags of costumed children after they knock at our door and yell, “trick-or-treat!” The night will be bitter and sweet.

October 15, 2022 by Born To Organize

ScrapHappy Crafty Halloween

It’s October 15th. Do you know where your scraps are?

Our ScrapHappy host, Kate, invites bloggers to join in the fun of making something entirely out of scraps. We create something useful or beautiful (or spooky!) each month and share details on our blog.

I love Halloween, and I love paper crafts. October is my birthday month, so in addition to the paper I buy, friends treat me to Halloween treasure. I may never run out of scraps, but not for lack of trying.

Once again, I assembled small craft kits that I offer next to our Little Free Library. Some of my Halloween paper goes back 15 years. If I haven’t used it by now, it’s time to send it out into the universe for someone else to enjoy. The scraps are leftover from paper kits or freebies from craft weekends past. I used black ink and a couple of my acrylic stamps so I could include a couple of small embellishments.

Last night, just before dozing off, I thought it would be fun to decorate a themed box for the craft kits. So I pulled out the box I used last summer for kits and covered it with scraps of Halloween paper, leftover Washi tape, and the remnants of my son’s haunted house phase. He’s a senior at university, so those scraps have also been around.

The box is too deep to display the kits, so I used a cardboard lid to divide it, covering it with gauzy Creepy Cloth.

The cloth drapes along the back and intersects with the paper. I raided my fairy garden stash for the “broken fence,” and it was finally ready to go. I recycled a cellophane bag on the bottom of the box in case it gets damp. We’re unlikely to see rain in the next two weeks (BOO!), but I’ll bring the box in at night anyway since it will get damp.

There are twenty kits in total, but if they go quickly, scraps remain.

That, dear readers, brings me to the other fun part of these posts. Here are links to several other ScrapHappy bloggers.

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy,
Jill, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys (that’s me)
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Jule, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera,
Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2, Carol,
Preeti, Debbierose, Nóilin and Viv

Postscript: Tessa the curious

September 15, 2022 by Born To Organize

ScrapHappy for Flower Cards

Once a month, Kate inspires a group of bloggers to dust off their scraps and embrace the ScrapHappy vibe. I’m always up for the challenge of creating from scraps. Kate is a talented quilter, a raiser of chickens, a gardener, and an all-around good soul. Check out her blog for more inspiration and fun.

It’s fair to say that I took the directive to “dust off your scraps” literally. My friend Donna gave me a pair of National Geographic magazines several years ago. She knew I would appreciate the flower prints in the magazine’s fold.

I’ve pulled out both issues from my drawer many times, but I couldn’t decide what to do with them. It’s one thing to use a five-year-old-scrap but quite another when the scraps are pages of a magazine published over one hundred years ago. The fragile paper doesn’t leave any margin for error.

I decided to turn some of the smaller prints into cards. I trimmed them to size, leaving a small border and the identifying state and the flower’s name.

They needed a little oomph, so after testing on one of the magazine’s ads, I cautiously proceeded. I ran each print through my die machine using a floral embossing folder. It applies just enough pressure to emboss the card without tearing the paper.

Using my green scraps, I found the perfect paper to create four cards.

I had one tear when I tried removing the tape backing. As a result, the California poppy description is on the back of the card. Otherwise, I’m both pleased and relieved with the results.

I’m looking forward to mailing the cards to dear friends.

Are you crafty? Scrappy? Come join us on the 15th of each month and let us see your ScrapHappy creation.

Check out these creative blogs:

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy,
Jill, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,(that’s me)
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Jule, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera,
Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2, Carol,
Preeti, Debbierose, Nóilin and Viv

Postscript: Here are some photo outtakes. Tessa had to get in on the action

September 2, 2022 by Born To Organize

Tomato Postmortem or Better Luck Next Year

Autumn weather is a few weeks away, but our tomato crop is throwing in the towel. We’re facing a brutal heatwave with triple-digit, record-breaking temperatures this weekend. Unfortunately, it seems to be the world’s trend this summer, either brutal heat or devastating floods.

Pair of VegTrugs: succulents on the left, tomatoes on the right.

San Jose had the driest January on record, followed by an equally-dry February. We average 14.9 inches of rainfall annually, with 6 inches falling in the first two months of the year. It’s disheartening.

Given these drought conditions, we can no longer justify a large vegetable garden. So instead, we limited our planting to three tomato varieties and watered them exclusively with captured rainwater. Unfortunately, I mistook some watering advice and let them dry out for too long between watering. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our small harvest in salads and supplemented from a local farm stand.

Tessa finds the warm soil in the raised bed irresistible, so I wrapped the front of the box with tulle to keep her out. As you can see, she simply figured out a way to gain access from the back of the box.

Our Bushman tanks hold 130 gallons each, and we have three. Unfortunately, the tanks are nearly depleted and are unlikely to fill again for several months.

We’re ending the season reflecting on our meager crop and a serving of humble pie. Better luck next year.

Got rain? Please send some our way.

September 1, 2022 by Born To Organize

Repurposing My Postcrossing Postcards

Several years back, I discovered Postcrossing while researching vintage postage. I’ve always loved snail mail and for years kept up a correspondence with friends worldwide.

Postcrossing is the creation of Paulo Magalhães. Simply put, he started the project so he would receive more postcards in his mailbox. To date, 68 million postcards are in circulation.

“The goal of this project is to allow anyone to send and receive postcards from all over the world! For each postcard you send, you will receive one back from a random postcrosser.”
Paulo Maglhaes

I set up a Postcrossing profile in March of 2016. Over the years, I’ve sent and received 257 postcards from 40 countries.

The organizer in me enjoyed sorting the cards by country, but as my collection grew, I started sorting by subject. As a result, my collection includes gorgeous cat photos and illustrations, botanical drawings, and clever garden illustrations.

This is one of my all-time favorite cards

It seemed a shame to keep these miniature works of art in a box, so I came up with the idea of laminating several cards to use as a cover for my garden bench.

First, I created a template using a piece of thick gift wrap, then arranged the cards within the parameters of the bench’s surface.

Our local teacher’s supply store has an oversized laminator. They charge by the inch, so it’s a bargain. I used the laminator to fuse the cards to the gift wrap, returning home with what looked like a large placemat.

I slid the sheet of laminated postcards below the clear acrylic top.

I’m pleased with the final results and reminded once again how a bit of creativity soothes the soul. It’s fun remembering when each of these cards arrived in the mail, and what a joy it is to send and receive cards around the world.

Postscript: May I send you a postcard? If you would like a card in your mailbox, please send me your name and address via my contact form. I’m happy to post your card anywhere in the world.

August 16, 2022 by Born To Organize

Fancy Plants: Moles and Wheelbarrows

We received several charming thank you gifts from a friend who knows me well. In addition to delicious Scottish shortbread infused with lavender and a chocolate bar laden with strawberries was a Diorama Kit for Houseplants.

Be still my heart.

The packaging describes the small, water-resistant spikes as “Yard art for your houseplant.” It goes on to say, “Arrange whimsically for maximum fancying.”

I’ve been reworking my birdhouse gourd, once home to a tiny tea house. Unfortunately, the neighborhood squirrels “rearranged” it last fall, so I brought it indoors for the winter.

I bought an old-fashioned plant hanger two weeks ago and asked Mike to install a hook near our back door. I nestled the hollow gourd in the hanger, and I’ve been playing around with decorating ideas.

The Fancy Plants spikes are just the inspiration I needed.

After fussing with different materials, I settled on a piece of florists foam, rescued from another gift earlier this year. I cut the foam into two sections, one tall enough to hold the spikes and a thinner section to create the back “wall” of the mole’s nest. I applied a thin layer of glue to the back, then wandered the garden looking for natural debris. Finally, I tossed a few micro-pebbles at the surface and spritzed the wall with dark ink.

I filled a piece of bark with micro pebbles to emulate a pathway and poked some debris up the neck of the gourd to emulate roots.

I added dried roots from an unearthed plant

I’m not sure why creating in miniature is so appealing. There is something about the limitations of size and the challenge of scale that invites a creative focus. It’s fun.

I started researching a mole’s natural habitat in the category of one thing leading to another. Moles live underground in a burrow and travel through tunnels they create in a small territory Moles dine on earthworms that fall into these tunnels and rarely surface unless food is scarce.

While it’s unlikely moles will ever need a wheelbarrow or a watering can, the notion of this scenario reminds me of the treasured hours spent reading to my boys.

Dark and cozy, just the way moles like it

Reading, writing, creating, and gardening are all gifts for the soul. It’s been an energizing day.

August 14, 2022 by Born To Organize

ScrapHappy Cat Cushion

I’m joining Kate and a cadre of crafty makers this month for what Kate and her friend call ScrapHappy. Fellow bloggers create something functional or beautiful, perhaps even whimsical, made entirely from scraps.

My project this month is a small cushion for the cats. It’s designed to cover what’s left of a tattered cat condo. I merged two unlikely scraps: the former padding from an ironing board and a remnant of upholstery fabric that once graced our garden swing.

The padding is soft and easy to work with. Tessa came along to investigate.

We have what remains of a kitty perch sitting on the steps in the back garden. Unfortunately, the cat perch did not live up to its potential! The top-level broke after one of the cats jumped from the perch. I removed the top, leaving two levels, but the hardware poked through, making for what must have been an uncomfortable surface. I eventually moved it outside and removed the second level, placing the base on some pavers. This cushion hides the ugly surface and provides comfort for the four-legged royalty of the house.

I used two layers of the padding for the cushion, then shredded the rest to offer as nesting material to the squirrels.

I made a simple envelope style cover for easy washing. The cushion is more pleasing to the eye.

So far, the kitties aren’t impressed, but I enjoyed dusting off my sewing machine and using up some scraps. I had to resort to bribery to coax Mouse onto the cushion. He hasn’t been up there since.

Oh well.

The second make, also for the cats, is a hit. I used the last bit of green fabric to repair a beloved cat toy. The upholstery fabric is rugged enough for cat claws and teeth, and the fine stitching keeps the loose Nepeta contained.

It’s good to know I can still sew a couple of rectangles. (Ha!) Wait till you see what the other creative makers have been up to at the links below.

Interestingly, Kate’s scrappy project this month is for her four legged Mouse. Our Mouse is a feline and Kate’s Mouse is a pooch. Is anyone out there sewing for a real mouse?

Thank you, Kate! I hope you are feeling better soon.

Check out these creative blogs:

Kate, Gun,Eva, Sue, Lynda, Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy, Jill, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys, Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Jule, Gwen, Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2,Bear, Carol, Preeti, Edith, Debbierose and Viv