Summer Mode

Grades have been submitted which allows me to officially enter Summer Mode. This means I am making lists for house work, yard work, home improvement projects, continued purging and organizing, as well as my normal sewing, quilting and blogging. I love to check items off a list. What satisfaction comes from making those checkmarks!

Since this blog is mostly about sewing and quilting, I will try not to bring you many of my projects from around the house. However, I will share one because I do feel pretty darn proud of a recent afternoon's efforts at tidying up my kitchen counter.

Being a clutter bug is a label I am all to comfortable wearing. Always have been. In an effort to clear out excess, I am working in small spaces and small increments. The photo below is a collage of before and after.

The upper half shows the much-used corner of the counter beside the stove; kept there are the many items I use regularly for meal-prepping. But, good grief! It was always so messy-looking. The lower half of the collage shows my newly cleaned space. Doesn't it look great? Actually, since taking the picture, I have added one thing in the corner - a small lamp to provide some under-cabinet lighting. Most of what had been sitting out is now in the cabinets above (or below, as in the case of the toaster), and I purged some silverware and duplicate salt/pepper shakers.

When I told my sister about this little victory she referred to it as "life altering." Yes, it is. It motivates me to keep it looking like this as well as to look for the next space I can do similar purging, cleaning, organizing. It's as if doing just this one little space has activated something in me; it feels so satisfying to do one little thing, so why not do one more little thing? Soon, a whole bunch of "little things" will add up to some really cool and amazing BIG THINGS!

So, in other non-sewing/quilting news, I have some audio books to share. This is my new favorite way to read. It allows me to sew while listening, and when I was driving to/from class, I would listen in the car, too. My current read (listen?) is for our book club later this month.

I read Cold Mountain when it first came out, so I am familiar with Frazier's writing. I anticipate this being quite an enjoyable read. So far, it is not disappointing!

In the past month or two, here are some others I've listened to.

My mom had recommended this author a while ago; then, I think my sister did, too, so I requested it. Gosh, what a great story! I am looking forward to reading the entire series!

The three titles listed here are from early last month, according to the dates. I had sorta' lost track. Anyway, Louise Penny is an author that every one in the book club just raves and raves about, but I hadn't gotten on board. After hearing them discuss this or that title meeting after meeting, I decided I needed to get with the program. This is #2 in a very long series about Inspector Gamache. Enjoyable.

The Geraldine Brooks novel was one I eagerly anticipated reading, as I totally enjoyed March, The People of the Book, Year of Wonders, and Caleb's Crossing. The Secret Chord, however, was not as wonderful by a long shot as the earlier ones. It was quite graphically violent, and confusing as far as names were concerned. I don't know what prompted Brooks to be so graphic in her details, but this reader just doesn't care for it. I know the times were different, and there were wars, but still. The most graphic description was a rape, and it was brutal. This was our book club selection for last month, and most of us shared our general dislike of it. Definitely not up to her previous efforts.

The Lee Child book was an easy, fast-paced thriller. Again, my sister had been after me to read the Jack Reacher series, and I finally started. After reading such a gut-wrenching book as The Secret Chord, Killing Floor was perfectly escape-style fiction. Yes, there is violence in books like this, but it is so obviously far-fetched fiction; somehow there's a difference.

Summer Mode, for today, involves some more cleaning/purging; a little bit of gardening; and some spring/summer decorating. Perhaps, I will begin cutting out some t-shirt quilts, also.

Happy Quilting, Friends!