November 9, 2014November 9, 2014 by clumpaday

Big Clumps and Tiny Bubbles

Clump #250: Do some Christmas shopping and move three big clumps from our bedroom; day eight of National Blog Posting Month.

Last season I found candles that seemed like the all-purpose perfect gift … and I didn’t have enough. With three sets at the ready, and wrapped (for free) so nicely, I’m way ahead of the game this year. For those interested, they are Et Al Designs beeswax candles. I’ve discovered they’re also sold at The Grommet, a very cool place to shop online.

So, keeping the pace going in our bedroom: it became the repository for stuff belonging to our younger daughter studying this year in Russia when clearing her floor during the recent carpet-cleaning frenzy.

I have a feeling the bean bag chair will ultimately get the heave-ho, but for now I put it back where it lived when she was much younger. When we finished the basement, she requested a little hide-out under the stairway, just like Harry Potter’s “cupboard under the stairs”:

My husband was away at the Fall Festival Committee wrap-up meeting and dinner, so I was home alone. Don’t feel badly for me. I flipped on the T.V. and found a Lawrence Welk show on PBS from 1973. What a time capsule! I’m sorry that this is the second post in a row with photos taken from our television screen. I promise to get a life tomorrow.

It brought back so many memories: first, being encouraged by our doting great aunts that my three sisters and I were going to be the next Lennon Sisters when we sang for them. They were very serious, believe you me. I just read the Wikipedia entry for The Lennon Sisters. Apparently they still perform but, like us, they are now a trio. Certainly by the time this 1973 show was aired we were way too cool (in our minds) to watch Lawrence Welk. Our grandfather loved to turn it on when he was living with us. It’s a wonder we can see straight with all the eye rolling that went on (behind his back, of course) during those times.

Remember Bobby and Cissy?

This particular show was a tribute to the music of Irving Berlin. Lawrence, himself, danced a waltz with Cissy to “Always”… which just happened to be the “first dance” at my husband’s and my wedding.

So much big hair and hairspray …

on everyone!

Watching the audience dancing during instrumental numbers was like looking back through a family photo album.

The singing number below was just the kind of thing Saturday Night Live parodied so effectively with Kristen Wiig and the tiny hands singer (look it up). I guess the women were supposed to be British governesses? Kind of creepy.

After the recording ended, there was an interview with dancer Cissy of Bobby and Cissy. Here’s what she looks like now (?)

Seems like she still lives by the Lawrence Welk advice: “Keep a Song in Your Heart.” Not to mention a rainbow around your neck. (Feel free to roll your eyes, it’s only fair.)

November 8, 2014 by clumpaday

Ironing and Jane Austen: The Perfect Marriage

Clump # 249: Conquer ironing pile in bedroom…again; day seven of National Blog Posting Month.

I took the photo above by the roadside on a walk today. I just googled “large bright green tree seed” and it looks like an osage orange. I wonder where it came from? Also, I wonder why I can’t keep up with our ironing pile, another wrinkled blob. (Smooth transition.) The only way I could face it was by turning to one of my favorite “ironing movies,” Pride and Prejudice.

I sat the pile down in this rocker and got the movie started. The last big clump of ironing I documented here was sped along by another Jane Austen story, the movie Sense and Sensibility, starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet. Fun fact: in real life, Kiera Knightley dated the actor who played Mr. Wickham, the villain; also in real life Emma Thompson married the actor who played Mr. Willoughby, who was the bad apple of that movie. Hmm.

I know true “Jane-ites” disapprove of this movie version of Pride and Prejudice. Not wearing bonnets in public? Shocking! Mr. Darcy and Eliza kissing? Scandalous! But I absolutely adore it. I know Colin Firth is the ultimate Mr. Darcy, but this is a movie I can watch in one sitting, or standing at the ironing board, as the case may be. The music is sweeping, the photography is gorgeous …

And those trees!

Where did they find trees this size:

Much like the size of my ironing job. Just the napkins alone.

This summer we started using cloth napkins for almost every meal. But they do have to be washed, pressed, and put away.

So many clothes we’ve lost touch with for so long … welcome back!

And if that wasn’t cheering enough, I had a “I didn’t kill it!” moment with a pansy orchid that was generously given to me this past Spring, and about which I was beginning to worry. I noticed a brand new flower!

And a new, wrinkled leaf that I don’t have to smooth out.

November 6, 2014 by clumpaday

Everyday Clumps

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housekeeping, Life, Paper Clutter, Photos, Walking
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Clump #248: Clear out old laundry clump and mail pile; day six of National Blog Posting Month.

An update to the soap-on-a-rope story from yesterday. My husband discovered the silly soap this morning, put it over his head, tightly, where it wouldn’t budge any farther, the bar of soap resting on his forehead, and called out to me, “How’s this thing supposed to work?” (Cue the sitcom laugh track.) Aren’t soap-on-ropes supposed to be worn around one’s neck? Or maybe the short rope was the reason this one was 75 percent off? My dear husband, a very patient man, is pictured on a walk above, with me catching up after having stopped for yet another photo.

Today’s clump might seem a bit wimpy. Both just are everyday household chores that rose to the clump level. First, a bunch of sheets washed, dried, but which just kept getting shoved aside for need-to-wear/use laundry. When you (read I) avoid something for too long, roots start forming and avoidance sets in. That and wrinkles.

Below is the heap of mail — mostly catalogs — that were delivered to our house today. After vanquishing the big, bad paper pile of last week, I’ve been like a pit bull attacking the daily inflow of mail. Now that it’s high season for catalogs and solicitations for charities, the extra vigilance is even more important and more laborious.

Here is what I kept: two catalogs I enjoy, and two bills to pay.

I’ll close with another in what could be a series: me walking behind my husband, due to my photo-bugging,

and an example from nature of the benefits of steady, consistent clean sweeps.

November 5, 2014 by clumpaday

The Bureau of Magical Cleaning

Clump #247: Clear off bedroom bureau; day five of National Blog Posting Month.

I was trying to remember the song in the movie Mary Poppins where Mary (Julie Andrews) teaches Jane and Michael how to clean up their room by just snapping their fingers. It was A Spoonful of Sugar. (Oh, Google, you know everything.) “In every job that must be done there is an element of fun. You find the fun aaand … SNAP… the job’s a game.” (What is it with Disney heroines cleaning and singing with birds?)

Well, let’s just say that my clumping is not normally a snap. But today I started the project of clearing my husband’s and my bedroom. Anticipating the season of company-coming-cleaning, I decided to turn my attention to our own space, counter to my usual impulse. Like the shoemaker’s children going barefoot, the housekeeper’s quarters are often the last priority. Clearing our bureau was much more of a snap than I anticipated, and I did find an element of fun in the job. I’ll try to explain:

In the foreground is a soap-on-a-rope. One year my older sister and I, both in a very punchy mood, were looking through a catalog and, for some reason, asked my husband whether he would like an extremely expensive soap-on-a-rope. My husband retorted, “If I bought that, I’d be a dope-with-a-soap-on-a-rope.” I’m sure it was a case of “you had to be there,” but my sister and I laughed until tears were streaming down our faces. Last year I found this soap — not the same vendor, and very much marked down — and gave it to him as a gift. Somehow it never made it into the bathroom. But guess what now awaits him in the shower?

I also found a stash of magazine photos I had cut out quickly one day with my older daughter, with the intention of making a vision board. You know, telling the universe what it is that you want in your life.

I obviously didn’t put a priority on doing it. Since then, though, I found an old notebook with pictures I’d glued inside years ago of a home at the New Jersey shore. This was the exact place my husband and two of his sisters and I rented in September. Talk about a dream come true.

So, into the notebook go these photos, too. Much of my wishing is about intangibles like health, love, harmony … and maybe tangible grandchildren.

When I blissfully revisited Mary Poppins to find the song, I picked up something I had never heard in all my many viewings. At the end of “A Spoonful of Sugar,” Mary is ushering the children to an outing in the park. Michael whines, “I don’t want an outing, I want to tidy up the nursery again.” To which Mary replies, “Enough is as good as a feast.” Good thing to remember when wishing.

Before I knew it…SNAP…the job was done! Spit spot.

Even though, the motto of this blog is more like:

Slow and steady wins the race.

November 4, 2014 by clumpaday

It Pays to Ask

Clump #246: Finish inner paper pile; day four of NaBloPoMo.

Today was another day of getting fired up on the telephone to resolve issues from deep in the molten inner core of our huge paper pile. Some examples: a magazine subscription notice of payment due, when I don’t remember renewing said subscription. I googled the name of the magazine and “customer service number,” and spoke to a young woman who seemed embarrassed by the question. I told her I wanted to pay for magazines I received, but she kept saying, “No, you’re good. I’ve terminated your subscription.” I got the distinct impression that this is a way to get forgetful people (like me) to assume they had signaled a renewal … and send in money. I know the magazine business is bad, but really.

Another was a bill for a medical test at a “doc in a box” for my younger daughter that I had thought I paid at the time of the test. They said they’d call me back yesterday, but still haven’t.

Inspired by this raft of successful calls, I ordered a Christmas present online, and was trying, unsuccessfully, to use a googled coupon for the store. I ended up calling the store for help, where a very nice operator told me the coupon wouldn’t work, but said, “I can offer you free shipping.” I’m saving a lot of money by playing the squeaky wheel.

I took the photos above and below this morning, in an effort to capture the state of transition in the outside world. Last bursts of glorious color. In the grocery store the seasons were transitioning, too. I couldn’t decide whether it was a changing of the guard between Halloween and Christmas, or whether it was a war, with Santas and snowmen overpowering the pumpkins.

Ready or not, Christmas is coming!

But please let me soak in the watercolors of autumn for as long as I can.

November 3, 2014November 5, 2014 by clumpaday

Pumpkins, Piss N’ Vinegar

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Life, NaBloPoMo, Paper Clutter, Photos, Procrastination, Pumpkin, The Voice
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Clump #245: Work through inner, inner paper pile; day three of NaBloPoMo.

Oh my, my. I just caught myself starting to read an article entitled: How to Stop Procrastinating — For Good, while procrastinating writing this post. I really didn’t even notice for a while; the irony is pretty thick.

Here is a great tip for hapless housekeepers: invite a neat-nick friend over once a week. My dear friend and fellow The Voice t.v.-show-watching partner came over again tonight for the show. One week ago she set off the clump that I’m finally peeling back to its essence. Funny thing about last week: I dumped all sorts of paper in an ugly pile, stashed it in the corner of our study, turned the light out, and pretended that it didn’t exist. But sometime during the Adam-Blake-Gwen-and-Pharrell-fest I wanted to mapquest a destination for this friend. She came with me into the study where our computer is, I turned the light back on, and, well … my clumping shame was exposed. But she came back again this week. By the end of the Voice season our house should be immaculate. Or maybe I’ll allow myself to relax and be okay with the way things are.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this dichotomy between the public and private self/home. The pumpkin I carved for Halloween made for an unexpectedly funny illustration. Private, raw, and untamed:

Public, neat(er), smooth, and composed:

Dark night of the soul:

Put on a happy face:

I got through a bunch of phone calls today from the inner, inner paper pile that I had been putting off, but when confronted, felt very good. I vented my spleen (where in the world did that expression come from?). I was full of piss and vinegar (again…?) by the end of the paper pile calls. Not as big and grand as the mammoth herding of newspapers and catalogs of a few days ago, but in terms of sense of accomplishment, it was great.

Small, but far-reaching in impact.

November 2, 2014November 2, 2014 by clumpaday

There’s Still Time and Paper

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Fall, Life, NaBloPoMo, Paper Clutter, Photos, Queen, Time Change
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Clump #244: Inner pile of yesterday’s clump; day two of NaBloPoMo.

Ahhh, the gift of an extra hour, or as a friend put it, getting back what was taken from us last Spring.

I had a meeting early this morning and thought I was running late. It really brought out the inner two-year-old brat in me (“No, I don’t want to!”), until my husband tipped me off to the fact that I was operating on daylight savings time. Whoa! Suddenly, all dressed and with the requisite papers printed out, I had a full hour in which to luxuriate. I made sure I didn’t blow it by luxuriating too long and having to rush out the door for a second time in one morning. I left a little earlier than I normally would, and was able to marvel at the beauty of the day, above, taking photos along the way. I left my cup of tea in the car, but had time to retrieve it.

I was the first one at the meeting (ha!), and even had time to take photos from inside:

It was what Winnie-the-Pooh would describe as a blustery day. Clear and bright.

And as promised, a clearing took place inside our house, too: the inner core of the massive paper pile documented in yesterday’s post. I organized it all into logical sub-piles, filed the fileable papers, and will work on the “action” pile tomorrow during business hours, since many items require a phone call.

Does everyone know that Bed Bath & Beyond coupons can be used even when expired? Just checking. Keep stashing them away and never buy anything there for less than twenty percent off.

Also, speaking of time, I’m currently not feeling love toward Harry & David, who we’ve done business with in previous years, and who kindly send us our gift giving history and catalogs, below. Let the record show that on September 9 I received an email from them with the title: Judy, There’s Still Time To Order From Your Gift History. Well I should hope so! Bah Humbug!

This pile of old notes provided a surprising mash-up of messages. I was happy to find I had jotted down three things to buy in bulk when on sale this year for a holiday giveaway for the needy: Barbies, nail polish, and wrapping paper, hot items last year. I must have written “Tomorrow we’ll discover what our God in Heaven has in store” from the song “One Day More” from Les Mis for this blog; the penultimate day of a previous challenge?

NOW I’M HERE; DON’T STOP ME NOW sounds like some kind of desperate ransom note, but they were the two Queen songs I jotted down (quickly and messily) that my older daughter wanted me to call her and let her listen to when I and our younger daughter attended a Queen with Adam Lambert concert this summer. The words away from the concert became oddly inspiring for me today in this challenge.

Don’t Stop Me Now!

November 1, 2014November 1, 2014 by clumpaday

Plunging Into the NaBloPoMo Challenge

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Lake, Life, NaBloPoMo, Paper Clutter, Photos, Procrastination, Public Speaking, Upstate New York, Writing
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Clump #243: Vanquish paper dragon, yet again. Day one of NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month).

Hello again … I’m back from Baking Land!

Some big things happened when I was gone from the blogosphere. First, I had a “big” birthday. To mark the occasion, I was determined to take a dip in the lake where my family and I were staying for the celebration. Yes, it was October. Oh, yes, the water was cold. My older daughter and youngest niece joined me. Here are some of the wonderful gifts from the experience:

My very wise daughter said, on the day we were to take the plunge, “Mom, it’s not going to be any warmer or more light outside than it is now.” Me: “So true. Let’s do it.”
I had a very strong image in my mind of exactly what I wanted to do: walk, walk, walk in, with no stopping, then dive from there, float on my back and kick up a big ball of splash (below), the way my mom always did, then get out. Done and done. A clear, rock-solid goal is a powerful thing.
My hot, outdoor shower afterward felt like heaven! Gotta have the cold to fully appreciate the warm.
The whole experience shook off every speck of dust and cobweb (old-lady-ness), inside and out. Invigorating!

Also, I completed a writing task that has been hanging over my head for a year. I was aided by life lesson number one, above. I told myself, “I will never have more time to do it than I have now,” as the deadline bore down on me. Later, I read said writing in front of a group, which was very big for me, given my history with public speaking. A flashback to the “presentation speech” I was required to do in junior high or high school (blocked out the year): I had made the mistake of choosing to demonstrate how to make a tissue paper flower, not realizing how much my hands would shake in front of the class. I told myself that it was loud to me, but maybe the other kids couldn’t hear the rattle of tissue paper shaking — until a class comedian piped up with, “It’s a good thing she’s not working with a knife!” Ah, memories!

Now, down to business. The clump. With all the Fall Festival baking, going away to upstate New York, and the big writing project to fret over, the paper-build-up in our house again reached danger level. My good friend came over to watch The Voice with me last Monday night, so I swooped up all the paper and dumped it in a corner of our oft-beleaguered study. If its walls could speak they would be crying, “Help, I can’t breathe!”

But here you go, old thing, my work in progress:

And after. Pile on the right is the clump for tomorrow.

The study breathes a sigh of relief. Enjoy, indeed.

A happily ever after.

Until the next time …

Big thanks to my sister Jean for the lake photos!

October 11, 2014 by clumpaday

Festival Day; Baking Challenge Complete

Clump #242: Finish S’mores Cupcakes; final day of the seven-day bake-a-thon.

So, first off, the marshmallows caught on fire. Funny, now, though not at the time; the parchment paper had been too close to the heating element in the oven. Oops! Take two.

The chocolate part of the s’more cupcake called for chocolate ganache, which I had never made before. Wow. Cream and really good chocolate. How can you go wrong?

I used about a tablespoon on each cupcake and spread it out from the center.

After it had set, it was a cinch to wrap … usually a challenge with frosted cupcakes. Fall Festival, here they come!

I was missing our younger daughter, the queen of chocolate ganache and other culinary wonders, but this year our older daughter flew in for the festival. She played the bride in an annual reenactment of the first wedding in our meetinghouse, held in the eighteenth century. I played the mother of the groom:

An old Quaker selfie. Time now to rest these old weary bones!

October 10, 2014 by clumpaday

Not Quite A Piece of Cake

Clump #241: Bake and decorate Cake Walk cakes; day six of the seven-day bake-a-thon.

So it all started with the magazine pictured above. A seductive collection of cute cakes that seemed sooo easy and fun. I argued for keeping the Cake Walk in our Quaker Meeting’s Fall Festival — tomorrow — and I said I could throw together four cakes for four walks. For those unfamiliar with the game, a group of kids stand upon carpet squares set in a circle. Underneath each carpet square is written a number. Music plays, the kids move around the circle, ideally dancing. When the music stops, all the players stop. Someone picks a number out of a hat, and whoever is standing on that numbered carpet square wins a cake. Whoo hoo!

The cakes are usually snazzy numbers with lots of candy. I used two boxed cake mixes (they were on sale for 99 cents!), figuring I only needed a half for each cake.

As they say, “Mistakes were made.” I thought the lollipop cake below would be a snazzy one, but didn’t realize I needed to wear gloves in order to knead the food color into the fondant.

I was not happy with the process, nor the color of my hands (even though they were radiant orchid, the Pantone color of the year).

When I got to the part of the recipe that advised taking off the fondant before cutting the cake, I said, “No, I can not do it!” Note to self: read directions thoroughly.

I went to Plan B, the Henry and Mudge cake from Cynthia Rylant’s book Henry And Mudge And The Best Day Of All, wherein Henry has a birthday cake made to look like his aquarium. A family favorite.

The others were inspired by the magazine. Sunflower:

Car (two halves of a round layer, frosted together with an L cut out of one side):

And baby owls:

Wrapped up and ready to go:

Let the games begin!

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Tag / Life