and now for some rambling...

I've been buried in reading a book called "The Buddhist Path to Simplicity". I find it very thought provoking and I'm only able to get through about 10-15 pages at a time before I have to put it down. I have to wrap my head around what I just read.

The current passage talks about "Willful Avoidance". Usually the term willful means disobedient or stubborn, but not so in this case. It means making a conscious effort as in by force of will. Basically, it means that if you know that you have the potential of being put in a bad situation, then make the choice not to be in it in the first place.

I was always a firm believer growing up in facing whatever came my way, not backing down or letting it run over me. Now as I get older, I see the wisdom in choosing not to cross a bridge that will put me in a place that I don't want to be, that will cause me more suffering and pain. Avoidance is refusing to accept or act. Willful Avoidance is recognizing the potential harm or good of a situation and noting that I don't have to get involved if I don't want to do so.

Man, that's deep. It definitely puts some situations looming in my future in perspective.

And now for a random picture of a waterfall, because I love them! :)

"Oh bother..." said Pooh.

As a kid, I was always a fan of the 100 Acres Wood and Pooh was my favorite character.

Then, I went to college supposedly leaving all of that "kid stuff" behind.

I took classes on history, languages, sciences...all grown up material and one day, I signed up for a philosophy class. The professor had one particular book that was required reading. It was called The Tao of Pooh. "Seriously?" I thought. "How could there be any connection between this philosophy class and Pooh?"

I read the book and learned. This book is amazing beyond words and the author is a master mind.

In a nut shell (wouldn't want to ruin it for those of you haven't read it), this books teaches Taoist principles using the characters from the beloved Wood. I now work to make several of those principles a part of my every day life.

My professional life has been ultra stressful in many ways this past month. I've found myself caught up in it all and was coming home mentally drained and exhausted. While cleaning this past weekend, I found this book sitting on my shelf and remembered Pooh with his teachings.

I then decided to make something for my desk at work that would remind me daily to not let stress sweep me away, to slow down, and to enjoy life.

This is my embroidered rendition of the cover of Tao of Pooh. The main lines are split and stem stitches. The detail work is single thread back stitch. I also added a bit of crayon tinting. I'm very happy with how this piece turned out.

A reminder to myself

Just a bit Mario crazy!

For a swap, I've created a set of 3 pin cushions. I originally started with the NES controller. Then, I couldn't help but make two little Mario Mushrooms to go with it. It seemed to silly not include them to me. :)

My husband has put his gamer geek stamp of approval (very rare occurrence indeed!) and quickly asked when I'm going to make him something similar. When I reminded him that he doesn't sew so why would he need a pin cushion, he said that "Those just look super cool!"

Just you wait Dear Husband....I will bring you over to the Crafty side yet! :D

More stenciled t-shirts

I love wearing t-shirts during the summer so over on Craftster, I started a t-shirt swap. Here are 2 of the shirts that I made last weekend.

The turtle shirt was a design that I created from looking at a couple of different items on my swap partner's wist. I sort of morphed the designs into this. I really like the end result, but I learned a LOT about numbering smaller pieces before cutting out the stencil. I didn't do that with the small pieces on the turtle's shell and spent an eternity piecing it back together before I could paint. Lesson learned and remembered!

The dandelion shirt is by far my favorite of any shirts that I've decorated so far. I used painter's tape to do the stems and the dandelion fluff was all painted free hand. It was a challenge for me to make myself stop. I wanted to add more and more, but I'm glad I was able to control myself. This shirt is super cool!

Southwest Ranch Pasta Salad

While eating lunch today at our favorite all you can eat salad restaurant, I had this recipe pop into my head. I just had to come home and make it.







Southwest Ranch Pasta Salad

2 cups rotini pasta, cooked and cooled
1 package Ranch dressing mix
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup milk
1 can RoTel tomatoes (I used the original, but you could bump up the heat.)
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Cook and drain the pasta according to the box directions. Set aside and allow to cool completely. Empty dressing mix into a large bowl. Add mayo and milk. Stir. Measure 1/2 cup of Rotel tomatoes (liquid and veggies). Add to dressing mixture. Mix well. Open and drain corn. Open and rinse the beans. Add the beans and corn to the dressing mixture. Drain the liquid out of the remaining tomatoes. Add to the bowl as well. Finally, add pasta and spices. Mix well.

My husband and I have decided that sliced black olives or diced green bell peppers would also be yummy added into this dish.

A look into the past

I grew up in the mountains of Tennessee with a grandmother who quilted and embroidered. I spent my summers helping with the garden harvest, picking, cooking and canning. I'm a mountain girl with roots in traditional home maker ways.

And then, I graduated from college, moved to another state and time passed by. I strayed from the way I grew up and I'm just now starting to understand the merit and fulfillment that comes in maintaining the "old ways". I've gotten back into embroidery, sewing, making preserves and gardening.

With that, I've decided to make something special for my mom for this Christmas. In order for this to happen, I will be spending part of my summer working on it if I truly want to finish.

I'm going to make her a Dutch Girl wall quilt. I can't decide on the exact design I want. I'm also playing with the idea of doing a matching version of the Dutch boy.

Decisions, decisions...

Feliz cinco de mayo!

*sigh*

This is as close as I get to be to this particular frosty beverage today. :(

My day starts just as usual. I teach a half day. Then, proctor the afternoon AP test which will keep me at work until almost 5 pm. After that, I have my kids by myself tonight since DH is going out to dinner with his dad who is in town for just one night. I'll do the dinner, karate, shower, and pj routine. Somewhere around 10 pm, I will fall into bed with exhaustion.

Yay. Happy Not Mexican Independence Day everyone!


I need a siesta.

Crochet Crazy!

As always, I tend to swing from one type of crafting to the next. I've just finished a fair amount of embroidery so I looked at my craft table for something new to do only to find that my crochet hooks were looking lonesome and sad. LOL!

This past week, I've made a truckload of dishcloths, mostly in preparation for the upcoming Sweat Shop Swap. I'm doing the traditional dishcloth with blue, green, white or yellow (not pictured) edging. I've made 10 of these, but they go together so quickly that I may make another set of 5.



Then, there's my other piece. We were out and about running errands most of yesterday. Since my husband prefers to drive, I decided to take this piece with me to work on while we were sitting in traffic. After I edited the picture a bit, I realized that it looks like a clump of raw hamburger sitting on my table. It's actually a Swiffer cardigan. I had taken a picture of the back of the piece to show how it slips onto the Swiffer itself but it looked rather naughty so I skipped that photo. :D