Potpourri 2024

 

I thought I'd go through my phone and post photos that came out ok.  There's a little bit of everything here.  Even a heart shaped puddle.  Thank you all for sticking with me even when I wasn't here.  Wishing you all a healthy and peaceful new year!  

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merry christmas

 

Hello sweet friends.  This will be the 18th year of Christmas in this house.  Other than accessories the kitchen is still the same and I plan for it to never be changed or upgraded.  

This is the extent of my decorating and I'm pretty proud of myself for doing this!  It feels just right to me.

I am wishing you all the loveliest Christmas ever.  We've been through so much together and I hope to continue to write here.  The comment section is the best part of this blog.  I read every single comment and love them all.  Take care sweet friends and see you soon. x

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quiet times

 

The holidays can be a challenging time for some of us.  I should say, for me they are.  Crowded parties, markets, parking...everything gets so hectic.  Even if you are not hosting you can get caught up in the frenzy.  I made it through Thanksgiving and the "big" one is coming up.  Gosh they have gotten so hard for me.  Life moves on and I feel stuck in the past.  It's so hard to describe but I know I have people reading here that have lost loved ones.  I was told time heals but that hasn't been the case for me.

I've set the table for a close friend who is coming for dinner tonight.  I'm looking forward to just the quiet of this evening and lovely talk.  I crave these quiet times.  How are you all getting on?  Please do tell! x

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fresh ideas

 

Since I get so many requests about handling a low income I thought I'd share a fresh way I'm thinking about my money these days.  I watch a lot of finance YouTube people like Ramit Sethi and others like him.  They go over couples/singles finances and come up with a game plan to get out of debt or achieve other goals.  It hit me one night that my "bills" are actually my luxuries.  It's a fresh way of looking at an old topic.  

I will give you few examples...walking into a hot room and pushing a button and cold air pours out of vents to cool me off.  That is a luxury.  Drawing a hot bath on a cold night.  That is a luxury.  My cell phone.  Luxury.  When I began looking at my bills in a new light, I suddenly felt very very rich.  Literally everything in my life seems to be a luxury.  Have you ever felt like this?  Please do tell!  xo

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calm

 

Staying calm is my number one priority as of late.  Maybe for you too?  Relax and be assured that this is a calm space.  No ads of any sort, I hope just a dose of loveliness to calm frazzled nerves.  I baked bread this morning and worked in the garden.  I'm going to be focusing on activities whose main purpose delivers peace and tranquility.  I'm not on IG at the moment because it's too much for me these days.  Wherever your political preference lies it'll always be ok to pop over here.  In fact, I will not publish any comments with any bias whatsoever.  So lets celebrate all we have and all we don't have.  xo

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the simplicity of one

Reposting this because I'm still doing this and it works!

Before I get started writing about the simplicity of one, can I just say how much I love the above arrangement?  Seriously, since we moved here that area, situation, whatever you want to call it has made me crazy.  For the record, that spot isn't crazy, I am 😁.  Anyway, there is just something about the unfussiness of it that soothes me everytime I walk in the house.

Ok, soooo, the simplicity of one is nothing new.  Like why do we keep 2 potato peelers, or 25 pairs of black shoes or 52 tubes of red lipstick?  I understand the less stuff lying around makes life a lot easier and peaceful.

But since Larry passed away I'm now on a fixed income.  Can't believe I even typed that but it's true.  Ugh, not the fixed income, I just miss him so much😞.  Being on a fixed income means I now have limits on my money.  I quit my job to take care of L and really don't want to go back and re-build my clientele and all that goes with that.  So I've decided to learn to live within the limits of this income and the limits of my home and garden. 

When I wrote out my budget I thought of several different ways I could go about it and settled on the idea of one.  What if I just filled my gas tank once a month?  Could I live within that limit? Turns out I can.  Can I do one load of wash per week?  Why yes I can.  Can I go to the market once a week, that's easy.  What else can I cut down to one?  The list is endless and it has simplified so much for me.  I used to run errands and toss clothes in the wash and ran to the grocery whenever I needed anything.  Now a lot more thought goes into my daily routine and it works for me.  I realize this won't work for everyone but maybe it could be the simplicity of 2 or 3 or what works for you.  The idea is to live purposefully and think before just mindlessly going about your day.  The best part is, with a little thought, I'm making it on my one paycheck a month.

Also, before I go, I want to thank you all again for your love and support.  Would you like more posts about money?  It's one of my favorite subjects but talking about it is generally frowned upon by society.  So let me know what you'd like to see more of here on the blog.  I make a v small amount of money writing it and will even tell you exactly how I make money here if that interests you.  Take care and have a great Sunday.  x

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winterizing

 

It's hard to believe that in Southern California you have to winterize but we do!  I've been filling sandbags for the last 3 days for an impending atmospheric river.  Because this house is 135 years old there is no insulation and most of the windows are the original ones.  I love the old wavy glass but it isn't v climate friendly.  So I get out lots of thick blankets, put the insulated drapes up and make do.  If you look closely in the top photo you can see where I keep my 2lb weights.  I'll lift those while watching tv to help keep me warm and strong. 

I adore how the glow from the lamp lights these walls.

It has been ages since I've done a wardrobe post.  I used to do so many I made myself and many of you sick to death of them.  But lately, probably bc I'm now 66 I need to see what looks good on me and photos work best for that.

All these clothes are so old and I still love them.

And one last note, aren't you thrilled to be on a website without ads?!  We are all deluged with them now.  It's karma for all the ads I used to do!  I'm taking a break from instagram bc every other post is an ad or 3.  So enjoy!  xo

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