Decisions, Decisions - Flip a Coin

I sometimes have trouble making a decision - sometimes about big stuff, but often about small, piddly stuff - 

• do I go out for lunch or stay in the office and read? 
• do I work on a quilt or read a book?
• do I go to a meeting in case I need to be there or stay home and relax (ok, - that should be a no-brainer)?
• and so on and so on and so on.

I know I need to be open to God and God will lead the way.  On the big stuff, it may take lots of time and many prayers to feel God's guidance.  But for those pesky little things, what form does God's guidance take?  


I have always heard that "if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."  (very wise lyrics written by Neil Peart of Rush).  Unfortunately, I choose not to decide sometimes, and I really don't like "my decision" afterward - feels like wasted time.  Then, one day while watching the start of a football game, the officials tossed the coin to decide who gets the ball first - and I thought that (light bulb moment!!!) that would be a SIMPLE way to do it.  Why not flip a coin?  At least for the simple stuff.  And so I do.


So out came on old Eisenhower dollar we had.  Heads is YES, tails is NO.  Heads is QUILT, tails is READ.  And so on.

When I started doing this, I thought "this isn't a very Godly way to decide something".  But who is to say God didn't have me watch that game and pay attention to that coin toss at that very time just so I could think of the idea of a coin toss to help me.  After all, all coins do say "In God We Trust".


And, it seems to be working for me!  When I start having trouble making a decision, I flip, and do what the coin tells me.  Interestingly, sometimes I flip, the coin says one thing, and I say "Oh no - I really don't want to do that!" and do the other thing. It took a coin flip to make my head realize my heart had already made a decision.  And I have realized over time, I have less trouble making those little decisions.  My head is listening more to my heart!  Awesome!


Now, as long as I don't start worrying, "should I flip the coin or not flip the coin?", I should be OK.
Blessings,
Kat

Off to the Lavender Farm -

Saturday was such a great day for a drive - so Keven and I took off on the backroads to the southeast of Oklahoma City.  We did have a destination in mind - Country Cottage Primitives and Lavender Farm on the western outskirts of Shawnee, OK.  This place is a true jewel off a small country road - well-visited due to its good word-of-mouth reputation and coverage on local OKC travel shows.  

Besides having a slowly expanding lavender farm out back, the building that houses the Country Cottage Primitives gift shop is to-die-for cottage gorgeous.  Words can’t do it justice, so here are the pics...

If you are in the area - this is a must see place - to me it is magical.  They always decorate for the season.  Please visit their website - they have workshops, products and beautiful pictures.
           http://www.countrycottagelavender.com/

After paying for all my purchases at the Lavender Farm, and after Keven was able to pry my fingers off the porch rail of the cottage and get me in the car, we headed into Shawnee to eat at Benedict Street Marketplace, which was recommended to us.  It was kind of a mix between a tea room and a meat market - yep, hard to imagine, but that is really what it was.  Excellent sandwiches and salads, homemade cookies - then, after lunch you can purchase cuts of meat and cheese from the meat market.  Just never know what you will find when out driving the backroads!

Here are pics from along the backroads to and from the Lavender Farm.

What an awesome day !!!

Blessings,

Kat

Goodbye September - Hello Homemade Bread !!!

My last post of September 2011 - I already have created my October header picture and will be back posting tomorrow.  I am so glad that super-sizzling summer is behind us and some cooler temperatures have arrived.  Now I feel like I can cook and bake again without having to worry about overheating the house - to say nothing of the baker. 

I love making bread, so as soon as it started cooling down, out came the flour and yeast.  Baking bread is one of my favorite Fall and Winter things to do (though this year I intend to perfect my biscuit making - good biscuits have eluded me so far).  Baking bread is actually a lot simpler than it sounds, once you get the proper "feel" of the dough down. 

Bring on the butter !!!

Blessings,

Kat

A Simple Pleasure - It's Just Like Christmas

Sometimes, it doesn't take much to make me happy - like coming home and seeing this in the mail -

My Quilting Arts magazine!!!  It feels just like Christmas when this magazine arrives.  This is one of only two magazines that I still subscribe to.  Two of my other favorites have been taken out of publication - Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion and Claire Murray's La Vie Claire - I really miss these.  When QA comes in - no matter what day of the week, I make myself some tea (iced in the summer, hot in the winter), sit down and just absorb everything in the mag.  I am never disappointed.


In search of more of these SIMPLE pleasures -
Blessings,

Kat
Thanks to Kev - he knew I was having a very tiring day at work and called to tell me it had arrived - perked me right up!  He loves me, he really loves me!!  :)

Time - Where Does It Go?

This weekend was another busy one - again!  I know I am the one who allows it to be so busy - car show, Fall projects, weeding, shopping, cleaning and a wonderful surprise birthday party!  I am not complaining about doing any of it (especially the party - it was great!!!).  I am, however, frustrated that I tried to do all of it - at the expense of other things I had really wanted to do.  I didn't even do my Gratitude Sunday blog.  :(   Why does this keep happening?

So, tonight I did a time budget.  I started with the number of hours I have available on the weekend (assume 2 days - 48 hours).  Then I conservatively started subtracting hours for all the typical "necessities" that must be done each weekend.

+ 48 hours   -   WOW, sounds like a lot!!!
- 16 hours for sleep (yep, still need those 8 hrs per night)
- 4 hours for ramp down to fall asleep (journal, miscellaneous, read, and it takes me a while to fall asleep - I started to say 2, but it really is more like 4)
- 2 hours to wake up and get moving    -  DOWN to 26 hours
- 4 hours for meals (either cooking, eating out, making tea or bread, etc.)
- 4 hours kitty and bird time (litter, food and playtime for kitties, seeds and water for birds)
- 4 hours of chores (dishes, laundry, basic cleaning, etc.) - DOWN to 14 hours
- 2 hours blog time
- 4 hours nap/rest time (it is the weekend, after all - once again, it really does take me a long time for my body AND mind to relax enough to sleep or rest)  -  DOWN to 8 hours
- 4 hours for a trip into town for shopping or the bookstore or whatever (which happens once every weekend)

So, 2 hours a day "FREE" - for gardening, car shows, parties, stitching, watching football, decorating house, talking with sisters on the phone, going for a drive, reading my favorite blogs.  Really?  Is that all?  No wonder it is hard to be creative on the weekend!  No wonder I have trouble with Monday coming but not feeling relaxed and ready to tackle the work week with gusto!!!!

I think I need to reprioritize and be more creative with my time!
(I think I need to start with my blog - less writing and more pics!)

Here is another hint at my Fall decorating - 6 days and counting for my self-imposed deadline to finish my living room "remodel".

Spend your time wisely -
Blessings,
Kat

 

Zentangles - The What, Where, When, Why and How

A year ago or so I learned about zentangles - very simply defined as a form of doodling.  I realized I had always done some form of them (in a very simplistic way) during slow meetings or long conferences or overly long phone calls, etc.  But zentangles have become a craze. 

Zentangles are images created using repetitive patterns.  It has been shown that drawing repetitive patterns has a positive effect on the well-being of a person by shifting focus away from problems and putting the person in a meditative state, as they almost mindlessly draw and "paint" a picture.  Zentangles can range from very simple drawings of an object (as the exercise below shows you) to a true work of art.

There are books on zentangles - check out Amazon.  There are websites and blogs on zentangles and gobs of pictures - check out Google or Flickr - just type in "zentangle" - it is amazing.  Type in "owl zentangle" and drawings of owls done as a zentangle will come up.  There are even zentangle newsletters online that show new zentangle patterns (the tangle of the month) and zentangle YouTube videos that are "how-to" pieces.

Doing zentangles actually help calm me down after a stressful day or keep me from getting too antsy or bored during slow times.  They are fun to fiddle with on a break at work.  Anything repetitive can be quite relaxing - allowing the brain to rest or contemplate something else (I suggest giving the brain a break) - just let the pen flow and let the mind drift as you draw without having to really concentrate.

Zentangles can be quite easy.  Draw a simple picture of something - either freehand or by tracing the basic outline of a picture - using a pencil.  I chose a pumpkin for this example.

Then, on each section of the object in the picture, use a pen of some type to fill the section in using a repetitive pattern.  In one section, do all circles.  In another, do all dashes.  Stressing about what to use for a pattern? - look through the images available on the internet to spur ideas.  Most zentangles are done with all black ink - however, I like color.  My favorite pens are the new Sharpie Pens that don't bleed (so that I can use them in my art journal without wasting the back of the page) - however, they do not come in a lot of different colors - yet.  Regular fine point Sharpies come in a big variety of colors now, but do bleed through all but the thickest of paper.  Really, any pen will do.

 

Once all sections are filled in, I have seen two ways to finish off the zentangle.  First (and probably least common now), erase the pencil lines leaving the "ghost" image of the line separating two different patterned sections.  Nowadays, most zentangles seem to have the sections outlined, sometimes with varying widths to give more depth to the zentangle.  I do outline mine with a thicker black pen - this "technique" goes back to my Crayola coloring days when I would color something softly then outline it with a darker (harder) line.  Whatever is relaxing and appealing to you is what works best.

One leaf section has my name.  :)

Without black outline

With black outline

Decided I really liked my finished pumpkin, so here it is framed and added to my Fall-decorated table.

Happy Zentangling -
Blessings,
Kat

Need a Good Book?

I think I have mentioned at least one of these books before, but these are two of my biggest motivators to learn to live a simpler life.  When I feel myself slipping back into a frenzied lifestyle, I check them out again at the library and reread them or at least the relevant parts of them for the time.  I finally realized (after I almost highlighted in one of the library's copies - eeek!) that I really needed my own copies.  I do much better at retaining ideas when I can color-code and notate and dog-ear. So, I ordered them and they arrived today.  Out comes the highlighter..

The first one is Abundant Simplicity - Discovering the Unhurried Rhythms of Grace by Jan Johnson.  The second one is from clutter to clarity - simplifying life from the inside out by Nancy Twigg.  Both books focus on uncluttering the mind and lifestyle as a necessary step before one can unclutter the material things that can overwhelm or dominate one's life. 

Enjoy a cup of hot tea and a good book -
Blessings,
Kat