Pack a Shoe Box for a Needy Child

I first heard about Operation Christmas Child, the Samaritan's Purse project, from my niece and her daughter. It sounded like a great idea, so today I did my shopping for the shoe box and have it packed and ready to drop off at one of the designated locations in my area.

If you're interested in packing a shoe box with gifts for a desperately needy child somewhere in the world, just go to the site above and read the instructions. You'll find a list of gift suggestions as well.

When you drop off the box of goodies, you'll also donate $7 to cover the shipping cost for sending the box to the child.

This week, November 17-24, is the week for dropping off the shoe boxes, so don't delay!

De-Cluttering

(The English cupboard before and after)

Did you see Oprah last week when she had the de-cluttering guy, Peter Walsh, as a guest? He and his decluttering team are going across the country in their little VW convoy to help us Americans clean up our messes. I suspect they won't be stopping here, much as I could use their help, but he claims that just 10 minutes per day will bring amazing results on one's own.

So I've taken him up on that claim.

Now, I'm not an appallingly messy housekeeper. The floors aren't littered with clothes; there aren't opened cans of decaying pet food on the counters; the bathrooms get cleaned once a week (more or less), I vacuum and wash the floors regularly, I do the laundry two or three times a week, etc. But  I certainly have areas needing improvement. Behind closed doors, for instance, havoc reigns. 

So I've spent the past few days attacking one cluttered site after another. The living room end tables are now organized and free of stuff that had been stored in them for years. (I finally found the Princess Diana cancelled postage stamps that I was searching for a year ago, and I also found a treasured photo from my college years.) My roll-top desk is now extremely clean and uncluttered. The quilt cupboard, which is more of a craft cupboard than anything else, was yesterday's chore, and although it probably doesn't look much better to you who don't know it intimately, it's MUCH cleaner and clutter-free to me, its owner.

Today I tackled the English cupboard in the kitchen.( The before and after shots appear at the top of this post. I wish I could figure out how to upload photos in the order I want them to appear.) If you see little improvement in my quilt cupboard, you'll have to admit you see major improvement in the English cupboard. Gone are candles I'll never use, candle holders I'll never use, cookbooks I haven't used in years. 

This de-cluttering gives me a new sense of freedom. I love having my life less weighted down with stuff. I think it was Ernest Hemingway who owned few actual "things": a few clothes, a wristwatch, that was about it. He felt we become prisoners of our possessions. I think he's right. 

My Babies

My orchids are a source of joy and beauty for me. I first caught the orchid-growing bug about six or eight years ago, I'd guess, when my sister started growing them. Not to be outdone, I had to try growing them, too.

The first few years were not that successful. The orchids, in bloom when I bought them, would seldom bloom again. If they did bloom, the blossoms came from the original flower spikes and not from new spikes.

Then I began putting the plants outside for the summer.

Eureka!

Turns out, my orchids love the front porch. They get only a tad of sunshine in the very early morning. The rest of the day they're in the shade. On the porch they enjoy warm days and cool nights: just what the orchid doctor ordered, apparently.

When I bring the plants back into the house each fall, many are sporting new leaves and new flower spikes. I put these on a table in the front entrance, where the spikes grow and develop buds and, eventually, blossom. The blossoms last for several weeks, which is what I love the most about orchids.

The orchids that have no evidence of new spikes I put upstairs in my "orchid nursery," the guest room. There they sit in front of a window, protected from direct sun by a curtain. During the fall, winter, and spring I often find new spikes coming from these plants, so they get promoted to the downstairs entryway.

The photo here is one that I took yesterday. Three orchids are now in bloom, bless their hearts. 

Gluttony 101

So what would you do if 1) you love lobster, 2) you learn that fresh Maine lobsters are now down to $3.59 per pound, locally? 

I thought so. You'd do as I did: you'd buy six lobsters for two people (and wish you'd bought twice as many), bring them home, recruit your spouse to do the dirty deed of dropping them into the boiling water,...and have yourself a gluttonous feast.

But I like to think I did this in order to help support Maine's lobstermen. I mean, with the price of lobster being so low right now, isn't it the duty of every good Maine citizen to buy several lobsters to keep the industry afloat?

I thought so.

Yes!

Obama!

Oh, mama!

Things to Do Today

1. Vote. Check. I submitted ballots number 565 and 566 in my little town. (I didn't vote twice; I voted on national and local issues.)

2. Make sure he votes. Check. (See photo below.)

3. Get my hair cut.

4. Walk myself and my dog and do my yoga. (The dog likes to join me in the yoga routine, but it's not easy to exercise with a 75-lb. dog draped across my mid-section.)

5. If I'm then desperate for something more to do, clean house.

P.S.

Check out my friend Kay's blog post. She certainly struck a nerve with that one, judging from the responses she has received.

Season's Almost Over!

Proof that this political season has gone on WAY too long: My niece was driving somewhere the other day, her three-year-old happily chatting in the back seat. Suddenly my niece heard her daughter say, "My name is Violet, and I approve this message."

...and if you can't vote for Obama, at least vote for the other guy.