How To Beat The Winter Blahs.....Part 1

The difference in yesterday and today is like night and day. Yesterday we woke up to a frosty, foggy day that stayed bone-cold all day. It was pretty to look at but not to be IN. I came in to a hot, home-cooked breakfast and was thankful to see the perky, red blooms of my geraniums. I don't know how I got through previous winters whithout these delightful plants! Nothing denotes the look of home and garden more than geraniums. I love their light scent as much as I love their red petals. This is just the elixer I needed to get through a very blah day.

I purchased six potted plants last spring and two adorable geraniums that went in pots on either side of our entry way. Sadly these, with pretty pink petals, became fodder for the renegade goat (the same goat that ate my tomato plants not once, but three times). Being the frugal person I am, I was not going to let $60 worth of geraniums die with the first frost. No sir! At $10 per plant, I was not going to loose money by forgetting about them in the cold. I brought them in, trimmed them up, added soil to their wind/weather damaged appearance and made a nice home for them on the little red kitchen cart. The cart is the best storage device I have right now. If I put the squash in the pantry, I tend to forget they are there. I don't have a root cellar and our downstairs storage room is already full and a little on the warm side for root vegetables. The cart was an impromptu effort to keep the plants off of the floor. I'd taken two of the plants downstairs but with the wood stove and dry heat they weren't fairing well. Add the fact that they weren't being watered with half-full supper glasses and shrivel starts to happen.

I'd had the idea of hanging them in our south facing window, and again, space is limited so we added hooks to get them off the small cart. That brings the count to three on hooks, two on the cart and one in my bathroom, which also gets fair amount of sun during the day. I took this photo after the "hanging" and it brought a smile to my face. I now have a reminder of the past summer and the one to come; I'll take these back to their spots on the front of the house, garden shed, back door and chicken coop. I also have to say it was quite refeshing to take in the brilliant red petals on a very grey day. It was as if summer was just around the corner. And then......this morning........ an early spring appeared! Now I know that this is just a teaser, but I'm fine to be had in this way. It has been a most, sunny, glorious, WARM day and I've soaked it in. I remember now that I miss the chirp of birds and other sounds of spring time. It's challenging to describe, you just KNOW the energy of spring, that fresh, upward rising energy. Ahhhhhh!

So if you are finding the winter days a bit too harsh, I highly recommend bringing bright, living blooms into your space. We can't make winter go faster but we can find ways to infuse spring/summer within each day.

Speedy Recovery (not what you think)

I’ve always been pretty conservative when it comes to spending money. This is due in part to my upbringing and wise guidance of my parents as well as my desire to reduce waste and keep my home free of clutter.


Although I never felt that I had enough money, I realize now I’ve always had enough, it was a matter of what and how I spent it. When I was working full time, I rarely had a savings account and used up every penny that came in. That was before I had a car payment, school loan and cell phone. My income comes via a variety of sources and I am now working to build a savings account. I have to be careful because my income fluctuates each month. My earnings are dependent on others who like what I do and request my services. I have no “boss” and no set hours which is very nice but unlike traditional employment, where one receives compensation on a predictable schedule, I often don’t know where my next paycheck is going to come from! This is both scary and exhilarating. I’ve learned to trust that all the good that I do is being repaid in every form. Sometimes this is monetary rewards, sometimes it comes in through trade. I’ve lived this way for 5 years and have learned so much about “surviving and thriving” away from traditional (predictable) employment. Maybe I should write a book on it?!?

One of the concepts that I’ve embraced is finding new ways to use what I already have or cre8tively repair what I would’ve replaced. This covers everything from old socks being converted to cleaning rags, kids jeans being made into cutoffs, leftover buffets, t-shirts being made into shopping bags. My latest venture is one worth sharing though. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to “spruce up” something you already have and fall in love with it all over again (yes, husbands/wives and marriages included!)

I’ve had my eye on new barstools for a while now. I knew we’d need to buy two for downstairs. Nothing we had was tall enough for the very high counters that we’d installed. And believe me I tried everything………even setting up little blocks under old chairs. Not safe!) I waited until Shopko had a sale. It took a year to get what I wanted but I do like them and they were a good buy for $30 each. Instead of going “hog wild” and buying two extra I decided we could keep using the ones upstairs. They actually fit really well with the island but after 9 years of food, chocolate milk, and various other “oops Mom, missed my mouth episodes they were looking quite gross. The material had frayed and the stains were taking over.

I found and purchased faux leather, a close shade of the sundried tomato wall in the dining room. For around $10 I scored enough material to cover both chairs and got four pieces of foam.

Last weekend was the perfect time to call in my expert handy man. He didn’t have enough time to lay tile in the downstairs bathroom but he did have enough to recover the barstools. Oh yes, I should mention that my job around here is gathering and clarifying the cre8tive ideas. My talents end with any kind of measuring or precision requirements (I hate the details!) Chad however is fabulous in this department. If I want it perfect, I ask him for help. I don’t hang any pictures or shelves. Nope, not my department!

While he began the recovering process, I applied my talents to lunch preparation. By the time I was done whipping up tasty tacos, he was done with the chairs. They look fabulous too! I almost didn’t want the kids to sit on them, knowing of coarse, what is to come. I sort of feel like I am sending that beautiful read faux leather to its death. That is why I am taking pictures, to remind us how good it started out looking!

I figure when these covers are trashed, we can pull it off and apply another layer. I have two more old stools that I am going to do the same thing with. I mainly use them when I plop one of the boys on to trim their hair. We’ll throw a towel on the top and call it good.

I finally had the chance to sit on one this morning and I must say it is quite comfy! They seem to be holding up pretty well or perhaps it is the continual reminder of “Scoot closer to the table, lean over………….hit YOUR MOUTH!” Who knows?!

This was one of the “prettiest” and speediest recovery processes I’ve experienced. Too bad things like colds/flu, bad backs, and sour moods and the economy weren’t as easy and enjoyable to recover from!