3 days

I have 3 days of working at my store left before I am done. I work Weds, Thurs, and Fri of this week and then, all done. I am so thrilled to be done, yet also so scared of what is coming next. I am still trying to sell my house, and the listing ends on Friday, also, so it will be off the market for a little while. Then I may attempt to sell it on my own, and see what happens. I will lower the price significantly, and see what that brings. If it still doesn't sell, I will relist in the Spring. I need a house for sale break. It has been listed almost a year.

I have been gathering in anticipation of my new to come leisure time. I will only be working 4 days a week, instead of 6 or 7, and will have some time to craft. I recently got a book from the library called Mixed Media Mosaics, by a woman whole last name is Mika. She does the most wonderful things with polymer clay, so I am going to try some. A girlfriend decided she was getting out of polymer clay, and sold me 3 boxes of clay, canes, tools and everything I could possibly need to play. And I mean packing size boxes. BIG boxes.

I have purchased enough fabric to recover the entire county's chairs. I have projects. Now I just have to make some room so I can do some of them, and finish something.

Bread Salad

Pissed Of Patricia asked about the salad. It is an old Italian salad, where they use leftover, dried bread. Here is how I make it.

Cut up a bunch of GOOD tomatoes in small pieces. If you don't have decent tomatoes, don't even bother, it will suck.

Put them in a pretty big bowl. Add some chopped sweet onion or green onions, and some salt, a teaspoon or so. Depending on how much you are making, put a few glugs of balsamic vinegar and more of olive oil. Give it a good stir. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes, and up to a few hours so that the tomatoes will release some of their juice. Add fresh or powdered garlic if you want and pepper if you want. I am not a pepperer.

Toast some sliced baguette in the oven, cut in cubes, till dry but not hard, 10 to 15 minutes. I don't usually season them, because I am not a strongly seasoned sort of person. Let them cool a little and while you wait, get some fresh basil (ONLY fresh) and cut it in a chiffonade- roll up a bunch of leaves together and make skinny little slices.

I like to add a decent amount of blue cheese- maybe 2 tablespoons if just for me, more as you serve more. If you have it, avocado is good in it. I also put craisins and sliced almonds, because my holy trinity of salads is blue cheese, craisins, and almonds. Sometimes I add a little cooked chicken, or crab, but it doesn't really need it. Stir it all up, and then add a lot of the croutons. I usually add a scant cup of croutons for me, and if it for a crowd, about 2 cups. You can also use store croutons and it is just fine. Stir it all up, and serve.

If you like the croutons at the end of a regular salad, with all the dressing and other stuff once the lettuce is gone, you will like this salad. It is the perfect hot weather food.

Variations-

Sometimes I add little fresh mozzarella balls, or chopped up brie. Other nuts work well.

The only absolute ingredients are good tomatoes, fresh basil, and croutons. From there you can build it any way you want.

October

We continue to have October in August, and I would normally not mind it, but this year it is bothering me. Perhaps everything is bothering me this year, since I wish I were no longer living here. I have just been the biggest whiner in the world this year, and that really is not me. I am perky, and happy, and optimistic. Sometimes annoyingly so.

So, I have been madly buying up fabric to use on my chairs, after I am done at my store. My income will drop significantly after that, and I need to have projects. I have accumulated 10 chairs to re-upholster, either free from the side of the road, or a sister buys one for $2.00 at a rummage sale (that one is fabulous!!), or whatever. At any rate, I have 10 chairs, all different, and so they will each require different skills to be used. I fall in love with each of them just a tiny bit when I get them and really have to talk myself into being willing to let them go when they are done. One of them, which I am going to keep, is an Art Nouveau era club chair that is so wonderful, I can barely stand it. It is in great shape and if the current covering wasn't pink Naugahyde, I would have it in my house right now.

But I am working 7 days a week right now and that is not conducive to much beyond sleeping, eating, working and laundry. It will end soon and then my life will change so much. I have had my store for 10 years, and all my crafty crap was done there, never at home, and now I will be doing such things at home.

Well, I am off to a family picnic, so I much go cut up a million tomatoes for bread salad. Ask me how I make it someday and I will share.

Summertime

Summer is winding down and there are also many changes coming my way. At the end of the month, I am finished with my store. I have had it for 10 and a half years, and it has been a good job for me, but I am done with it. Well, almost...in the middle of September, I am working for the new owner while she goes on a cruise. But then I am really done!! Really. And I feel great relief, but also great trepidation because my income will go down by a significant amount.

At the end of August me house will no longer be listed for sale. After a long and disappointing almost year of being for sale, and not having sold, we are taking a break. My sister keeps pushing me to rent it out, but the idea of having to come back and fix things after the renters leave is too much for me to contemplate.

I feel in such limbo and like I am not sure what I am doing right now. I had hoped to be moved on to new things in my life by now and starting in a new place and a new job. I can and will take this time to work on my projects and build up my skills and hopefully build up my clientele. I am the sort that makes a decision and acts on it. But this time I am not able to do that, through no fault or action of my own. I am, however, glad to no longer be listed for sale, as it am not so worried about keeping me house up. It has gotten out of hand, but I have hesitated to try to fix it, because that always involves a bigger mess. At least for me it does!

We have had a very odd summer here this year. we keep saying it is October in August- it has been 45 degrees at night, and cold enough in my house, that if it were winter, I would turn on the heat! But I refuse in summer. Except in the bathroom. I hate getting out of a shower into a cold room!

I hope your changes are all good.

Copy cat

A friend of mine is doing a meme of the abc's of herself for the month. I am not doing that. I am just going to blather on about stuff. And I may do it alphabetically. Or not. Maybe I will just do the list. Instead of 101 things about me, but rather just a bunch of crap about me.

1- I collect carrots. Anything carrott-y. It is dumb, but there it is.
2- I have worked in much manufacturing and there are things I have made, for a living-
CBS Records
Stuffed Rabbits
Mens Suits
Arrow shirts
Socks
Electrical boxes
Ultrasound gel

3- I like making things
4- I don't do very well working for others. I think I am always right, and it apparently irritates them. Hmm. Go figure.

5- I don't like lemon.
6- I get a little freaked out if the handles of the serving spoons at the dining table are pointing at me.
7- I have been married twice and think it is probably a bad idea for me to ever contemplate it again. Apparently, I suck at it.
8- I pick men very poorly.
9- I am a knitter, but only manage to get excited about it every other year.
10- I am a crafter who does a ton of things, but never worry about getting fabulous at any of it.
11- I love to learn new things, but don't worry about doing it beyond the class. I just want the experience, and whatever I make in the class.
12- I own a liquor store and at the end of August, I will be leaving the business after 10 years.
13- I hate it but I think I will sort of miss it.
14- I have no kids, by choice, but I love other peoples kids, and always have at least one little kid friend and their momma.
15- I don't hold grudges.
16- I have way too much crap, and really would like to pare it down.
17- I have 2 dogs. I used to have 5 but my husband got 2 in the divorce, and I had 3. Then the 3rd one went back to her original family. So now I just have the 2 girls, Ruthie and Naomi. I love them very much.
18- I won't have more dogs in the future. At least for a while. They are an anchor, and make it more difficult to go places.
19- I am very outgoing and gregarious, but it is hard for me to make friends. I don't have much social confidence.
20-I am a crappy housekeeper. I don't really care.
21-I have made peace with being a crappy housekeeper. I get around it.
22- I watch so many Law & Order reruns, I can almost recite them.
23- I like my tv. It is a failing, I know, but I do.
24- I battle with my weight on a daily basis, but if, when I die, the worst they can say about me is that I was overweight, I am good with that.

Green, green, green

I find it so interesting that suddenly, green is in. None of this stuff is new. Some people have been green forever. Some have worried about too much crap and straining the planet for most of their adult lives. I do well in some areas, not so well in others. I probably use less that a roll of paper towels in a year, but I do use paper plates more than I should. I hate doing dishes. But I hate throwing away paper towels and napkins, so I use cloth napkins and cleaning towels. I keep my house reasonable cool in winter, because I was raised by a tightwad dad and now that I pay the electric bill, it makes a lot of sense! I recycle dutifully. I use my library for most of my reading, though I do purchase a lot of books- reference types- as opposed to novels. I read a lot of magazines, but I try to pass them on to friends so many people read them before they go to the recycle place. I have some reusable grocery bags, but I forget to take them with me a lot. I try where I can, and when I can do better, I do.

I was reading a green blog, and there was a question of whether it was more important to eat locally, or to buy from impoverished 3rd world citizens who grow what I need. I believe it is my obligation to patronise my local purveyors of food. I believe we have an obligation to the world, but I believe our first obligation is to our own people. We send aid everywhere, but the people who lived through Katrina are still in need of help. Our government has not helped them as much as they are helping citizens of Iraq. I agree we made the mess in Iraq and have a responsibility there, but I believe we have more of a responsibility to our own people. So, I do not donate to foreign aid organizations. I donate to organizations that help locally, or nationally. I feel that is my responsibility.

I try not to eat very much meat, especially beef, because of the massive amounts of resources that going into producing a pound of beef,and the massive amounts of manure that are produced by the cows and then have to be held in a massive lagoon so it doesn't contaminate our water. I have decided that I can eat what I really want, but I should eat the best quality, organic food available. Which can be much tastier. So I win. Either way.

So we all do what we can, and try not to judge people who make different decisions than we make. And perhaps between all of us, it will do some good.