Fighting the Blues

I'm falling behind on several projects, which makes me annoyed with myself. My progress on the thrifted clothing fabric quilt has been frustratingly slow. I'm mired down with spring cleaning the last two rooms, which are probably going to take until summer arrives. My guy has been busy pressure cleaning the outside of the house, so I've been taking care of the dogs solo, including their long walks, which takes up more of my time. All of these things combine to drag me down.

On the upside? I've finally gotten into the rhythm of working on my latest project for the day job, but I had a lousy couple of days with that. I did finish our hurricane prep, and now have everything in place to weather another storm season, but I still wonder if it's enough. I'm constantly second-guessing myself.

Although I have a good routine established with housework and the day job, sometimes I can't get into it. I know some of the culprits are lack of sleep (I had a bad time last week with insomnia), physical limitations (I'm definitely feeling my age and afflictions more keenly these days) and general blahness. Like everyone I get tired of all the demands on me. I'm really sick of the internet, too. All this doom and glooming and hatred makes me sick.

How do I combat all this aggravation? I'm writing a little every day in a new journal about how fortunate I am, and what does make me happy in my daily life (i.e. reaching my work quota, the pups, a nice walk.) I'm cooking up a storm, and in the last couple of weeks I've discovered three new delicious recipes. I made oatmeal raisin cookies that are safe for me to eat that my guy actually loved. I'm fighting the frustration with positivity and creation, and it's working to slowly pull me out of this blue period.

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Better than Fried

I cut some chives from the kitchen garden to make garlic-chive baked fries for dinner. This is a great side dish for veggie burgers. Click here for the recipe from Taste of Home.com.

Stuff

After finding this Caron one pound skein of lovely peach yarn in my thrifted lot I raided my stash for two cakes of Mandala in Pegasus, which matches it perfectly. For practice and hand therapy I'm going to make another Worth Street Afghan with this free pattern , but this time I'll use the yarn that was recommended for it plus the one pound skein. I'm not quite ready to do the vintage/recycled linen quilt I had planned (still a bit too nervous about the idea), so I'm going to use some color therapy and make a quilt from these thrifted green fat quarters. I considered doing another Yellow Brick road patchwork pattern, but I might go with a split rail fence like this one.

Make It Yourself

As we head into December, here are ten ideas for easy handmade gifts: Cookie Exchange: If you live close to your friends invite them over for a cookie exchange. Basically everyone bakes a set amount of their favorite cookies, and these are exchanged at the gathering by lottery, sharing a little from each batch with everyone, or however you want to do it. You can also exchange recipes, too. My neighbor did this once and it was wonderful. Favorite Recipe Cookbook : For my favorite person I found a copy of my favorite cookbook from a vintage bookseller (yes, I am that old) and went through it making notes on all the recipes I used, how I tweaked them, etc. Ornament: There are probably a million free tutorials on how to make your own holiday ornaments, so do some research online. I like to make hanging pomanders , which smell heavenly and are biodegradable after the holidays. Mug Rugs: If you sew, making up a set of mug rugs is simple and easy; I add these every year to my ...

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