Music to Quilt by

Music.  It uplifts, calms, energizes.  It sets toes to tapping, feet to dancing.  It soothes the soul and makes the spirit laugh.  I don't know of anyone who doesn't have music he loves.

For me that is instrumental--jazz, bluegrass, Latin, Celtic and a new one for me--classical crossover. I have wondered if my preference for instrumental is tied to my being an introvert.  Song lyrics don't particularly interest me, but I love rhythm.  Singing, even someone with a lovely voice, clutters up the music--please, just give me the notes.  

My favorite times to listen to music are either when I clean or when I quilt.  Nothing like a good beat to get Mr. J and I dancing together.  

Enter Pandora.  I create a station with a favorite piece and from there I find songs I like.  I write down the artist and song, and off I head to iTunes to create my own playlists.  Once I sync those playlist on my iPod/iPhone, I set it to shuffle and off I go. 

Here are some my favorite songs I used to create my Pandora stations:

Latin:  Cafe Mocha by Jesse Cook

Bluegrass: Dawg's Breath by Ricky Scaggs

Celtic/bluegrass:  Crossing the Briney by Ricky Scaggs

Celtic:  Dawn Dance by Alasdair Fraser

Jazz:  The Wave by Kirk Whalum

Soft electronic:  Summer Groove by Jesus Tamames

Classical crossover: Rolling in the Deep by The Piano Guys

Very rarely do I buy whole albums, preferring to create my own mixes, but one artist stood out to me as I listened to my classical crossover station on Pandora:  Lindsey Stirling.  Much of the music on that station tends to be on the quieter side, but she creates a wonderful blend of dance/electronic with classical violin. I bought her first album (the second was a little too heavy on the electronic for me). Her music puts a smile on my face and makes me want to dance. :-)

Here's to good listening!

Seeking Simplicity

Well, after a topsy-turvy house and a couple of rounds of illness, I think I am back to blogging.  The past few weeks have provided some opportunity for a little self-discovery. Raising a family on a single income has not afforded a lot of resources for home purchases, so I have made do with hand-me-downs and such for most of my married life.  No complaints there.  I was glad (for the most part :) ) for what we had and home decorating has never been a big issue with me.  

All the sifting, sorting, and paring down, though, has led me to realize that I love simplicity.  Not only simplicity in home decor, but in pretty much every area of life and interest.  For this post, however, I will focus on our home. 

We are down to the odds and ends--a few pictures, miscellaneous items that were stuck in closet corners, all the boxes we used for packing….Seems like those are always the hardest things to get to.  The one area of the house that is finished is the foyer and dining room, and this space is my inspiration for the rest of the house.  Here are some pics, but they don't quite do the room justice.  I needed to borrow one of those home magazine photographers, but unfortunately there weren't any readily available. 

What I like about this space:  furniture with simple lines, but warm finishes; minimal amount of furniture; pops of color; few decorative pieces.  This area of the house doesn't get a lot of use, so it is easier to minimize what is in the space.  The challenge for me, then, is to see how I can create the same feel in the spaces we use a lot.  I will keep you posted.  

Appliance Trials and Tribulations

Two weeks ago today, the heating element in my dryer went out.  Since the washer was the same age, we decided to go ahead and replace them both, and for the first time I have a matching washer and dryer.  Not a big thing, really, but nice to my sense of orderliness.  I had not wanted to do a front loading washer, but after researching online, I realized it would be the best option.  So the saga begins.

The next day, Tuesday, I place an order for the washer and dryer online at the website of one of the big box stores.  The delivery date was set for July 12, so I had to find some way to manage laundry for a week and a half.  My neighbor across the street graciously allowed me to dry the two loads that I had had in process when the dryer went out.  I only have a small drying rack in the laundry room, and it certainly couldn't handle a full load of laundry.  I wandered around the house considering my options and came up with this:

The Elfa tower actually worked quite well as a drying rack.  I stacked the baskets in the closet and kept out the two that we use the most.  

Finally, this past Friday my new appliances arrived.  I was very much looking forward to having my dryer back.  Line-dried towels tend to be scratchy and knit tops tend to lose their shape.  This time we decided to go with a gas dryer, and when the delivery man brought it in, he asked if I had the hose for the gas hook-up.  Well, it seems they failed to tell me I needed that when I ordered it (they were supposed to let me know).  And, by the way, it needs to be installed by a certified plumber, which the delivery man was not.  Great....I have my new washer and dryer, and the dryer still doesn't work.  

I decided to schedule my regular plumber instead of having the box store's installer.  We haven't had much success with those guys.  So, it looked like I would have to wait until the following Tuesday.  I went back to my neighbor across the street, who had said to bring my laundry over for drying when I needed to.  I told her what had happened, and then repeated the story to her husband when he came to see what was going on.  He had connection to a plumber, gave him a call to set up something for that same afternoon, and then went to the store to get my hose as I didn't have the car at home that day.  What great neighbors!

The dryer finally is working, and on Saturday, as I did a load of laundry, we realized that the delivery guy didn't level the washer well.  My dear hubby put that to rights and we tried to do a rinse and spin cycle to test it out, as the instructions said.  Push the on button, push the rinse and spin setting, and then push start.  Nope, it would only do the whole wash cycle.  Okay, so I call the service number in my appliance info, and tell her what is going on.  First she starts asking me this series of questions:  did I use to much laundry soap? too much softener? is the load too big? and by this point I am getting a little frustrated and repeat the problem.  So, she says, the washer isn't rinsing.  No, it won't do just rinse and spin.  So, it isn't spinning.  Sigh, no it will only do the wash cycle, not just the rinse and spin.  Let me set up an appointment with a technician.  Thank you.  

We will get the quirks work out yet, but in the meantime, I can do my laundry.  Happy sigh!

Nostalgia

A couple of weeks ago my iron died, so a shopping I went.  And this is what I found:

The Black and Decker Classic--simple, straight forward, no fancy gadgets or features, and hopefully sturdy.  The only thing is that it makes me feel like I should get my hair bobbed, and don a gingham apron and high heels when I iron.  

Double-tasking

I remember when multi-tasking became all the rage.  How many plates can you keep spinning at one time?  That idea appealed to me as it came during the season of caring for little ones and homeschooling, and as much out of necessity as anything, I incorporated it as often as I could.  Alas, multi-tasking turned out not to be so great after all--more stress with less done less well. 

Now that life has slowed down a bit, I have discovered what does work, and I call it double-tasking.  Since tasks vary in the amount of focus they require, it works quite well to pair up certain jobs in order to use my time the most effectively.  Here are some job pairing that work well for me:

Phone conversations while folding laundry or dusting.

Watching a movie while ironing.

Using my iPad to do my daily Bible reading while I do the dishes.

Cleaning is always an opportunity for planning, meditating, or prayer.

Using picking up the mail and refreshing the bird baths to get some sunshine/vitamin D.   

Cooking works well paired with short tasks such as emptying the the dish drainer or sorting through mail that I can do in breaks between food preparations, though I have found it works best to do tasks that keep me close to the kitchen.  However, I have found that baking and talking on the phone is generally not a good idea.  Those forgotten ingredients or unintended substitutions made a few things less than tasty.

Double-tasking not only lets me get more done, it has the bonus of making a "mindless" task more enjoyable.  Nice!

On Keeping a Clean House

Since all my latest projects are in progress, I thought I would use this post to talk a little about what I do with the rest of my time.  I am a career homemaker, and I love my job.  No, I don't get a thrill from scrubbing toilets or dusting shelves, but I do enjoy keeping our home in order.  Homemaking has gotten a bad rap the past several decades and I am sorry for that.  In the midst of recognizing that women have the ability to do many things outside the home, it is a shame that the energy, intelligence, and skill that goes into homemaking was not appreciated as well.  

I have always loved domesticity, even as a child.  When our children came along, and especially when we started home schooling, I discovered that I also love organizing.  There is a certain satisfaction that comes from taking a disordered space and making it functional and attractive.  To me, that is what housework is all about--making a home function well for whatever particular activities a family has, and making it a welcoming space not only for the family, but also for all who come to visit.  When people first come into my home, they usually do comment that our home is clean or organized, but after that it fades into the background which is just as it should be.  

One of the negative comments about housework is that it is mindless activity.  I have two thoughts on that:  What job doesn't have mindless, tedious parts to it?  And just because a task doesn't require thought, it doesn't mean the mind has to be idle.  House work affords me opportunity to listen to music or podcasts (while dusting or cleaning), watch a movie (while ironing), or just to think about things I have read or heard (while vacuuming).  I plan letters or this blog post, make phone calls while folding laundry, and sometimes I pray while I work.  

I have always been so thankful that my husband has valued my work at home.  He works very hard to take care of us, and I see it as an honor to take good care of him.  He in turn encourages me in my creative endeavors.  

I may not make any money in my career, but it certainly has its own rewards.