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| Lake Champlain February 2026 Photo via phone from a camera |
Have a Lovely & Warm Weekend
Almost a week into the organizing, down sizing, and declutter project, I've had it! I ache. My hands look and feel like sandpaper. A pinched finger, in something I don't remember what*, really hurt bad. It is funny only remembering the pain. At the time, I was sure it was bleeding.
My shoulders will ache awful when kept in one position too long. My neck is sore on one side, then the back and then the other side. The bad bone-on-bone knee is very sore. Otherwise, I feel all right. The major portion of the clear out is finished. I now will rest, do laundry, and take breaks sitting in my room admiring all the effort I put in to make it look nice.
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| Apple leaf on a steel tray circa 2010 |
Easy. Methinks it’s the warmth of the company of things surrounding us, a crew of comfort saying we belong. Out the door with stuff can feel like leaving the team. For where!? Most things were bought at a thrift store. I’ll think of donating as stuff being with the home team.
Gladly, I notice that there are many more things at the thrift store that I will not buy because the prices are above thrift store range. I imagine for resellers, high prices can devour a percentage of their profits. Add higher shipping costs would make reselling online more difficult.
Times changing doesn’t feel like it use to. Currently it feels to me that it has a no thru-way sign because the change leaves too many of us behind. It’s not worth the time to go along the out of touch highway.
Going to a thrift store is like attending a community event. Folks are always friendly and engaging. Finding and seeing treasures is a bonus.
After down sizing, I dread buying stuff. Unless I will use it and it is not on my buying ban list, I will not buy it. All my stuff space is occupied until enough goes out the door.
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| A favorite thrift store purchase Aluminum tray |
I sat there this morning sorting a basket of junk drawer stuff thinking. Why? How many ballpoint pens does it take for me to face the fact that store sell pens, not refills?
Evidently, that number is 3 dozen give or take, not counting the pens thrown away already. On the good side, I tossed a handful of things saved for a reason I don’t remember.
A bonus of down sizing and organizing stuff is the mind set. Going along my way, everything I do, make coffee, cook, look for gloves, put away clothes, I reorganize, adjust or add something to the donate pile. A little voice like a Greek chorus sings, When’s the last time you used that? Give it away, give it away. 🎶
Tomorrow, (today if I push it), the project will be finished. Thursday is a thrift store donation day. That is my end goal for the touch down.*
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| Corner clutter in waiting |
*Change of plan. Drop off on another day
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| Old craft project circa 2004 uncovered during craft stash sorting |
Before 8 AM today, half of a major chore is finished. After breakfast, I’ll take care of the rest until I break for lunch. Done with a tuna sandwich and hot chocolate, the second decoupage layer goes on the first metal cabinet and the base application goes on the second cabinet to round out the afternoon.
A happy surprise, the second container I open clearing out stuff earlier, is the very box of old book pages and illustrations I need for the metal cabinets.
Stashing things, found objects, fabric, paper, wire and such is put to better use when only the best is kept, and kept well organized. Otherwise, it takes on a junky look that lacks inspiration.
A craft material stash is never junk. It is as good as any brand new art material.
Where are you going?
Today, tomorrow, next week,
it is always some place
you will be.
A recent package is a thick brown paper from Amazon. I don’t have a use in mind, but I know there will be one. First off, thinking its a cool paper for a pinecone bunting.
Saving package materials happens in waves. Most ends up in the recycle bin. More than once I’ve used a saved weird piece of styrofoam. Ya never know what might come in handy.
Do you save package materials to repurpose?
Anyone can declare a fun off-beat holiday.
I made up a fun holiday years ago. I’ll have to search my blog because I don’t remember the date. Anyway, I am declaring another fun holiday, Time Flies Day, on the first Friday of February. In 2026, 6 February is the first Time Flies Day!
The day will commemorate all those lost hours we spend on the Internet that fly by so fast it makes the days go by faster as well.
Mark your calendars for the first Friday in February. There will be a blog party here with refreshments, cold coffee, dry toast and crusty cheese canapés. 🥳
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| Cold Coffee |
Spinnaker is the name of this font. A spinnaker is a type of sail, the one at the front of the bow full of wind/air that resembles a beer belly. If you look at the two ens, then you might feel a sense of billowing.
Do you feel the puffing out of January 2026 leading us into the next eleven months of adventures?
If not, then please try. Methinks we can do with glorious wind in our sails. For a few minutes every day, embracing our inner peace can be good.
Then, let’s get onto griping about what needs a good trashing. Shake out the venting you don’t share! If jumping up and down isn’t possible, then wiggle out the debris of what disturbs you.
February 2026 begins tomorrow.
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| Decoupage in Progress |
As I was sulking about finally having the energy only to be foiled by a simple thinking error, I decided to start an easy long waiting project.
In 1998 I bought two small metal file-storage combo cabinets. If I had to choose a few pieces of furniture to bring with me, they would be in the top five. (Lamps don’t count as furniture.)
Loving print as I do, I’ve decoupaged old books to them and painted them over the years. Now it is back to the old book decoupage look.
The base layer will dry for a day or so before adding the top layer. Then a burnt sienna antiquing coat, sealer and done. Maybe.
Sitting there feeling defeated, I just so happen to sort the magazine rack I had to move out of the way to get the cabinet out.
Yankee Magazine covers add a huge country vibe to my decor. I have several editions from 2018 to the current one. What if instead of book pages and illustrations, I use the magazine covers to decoupage!? No, the colors are too bright for that application. A better idea is to frame in a group. There’s a vertical between doors space that’s a perfect fit.
So, that’s what I did yesterday instead of doing laundry. Today there’s laundry to do. I’m also making homemade pizza.
Have a party this weekend
So, just in case, I jot down ideas for the second month of the year.
Fact is, I’m often in my pajamas typing my posts. There’s clutter stations around me that move like the tides; and sometimes, like wind storms (when I don’t tidy up after a project).
I’m not going to make a photogenic breakfast. There will be globs of pancake mix on the counter. Next to the kitchen, there’s birdseed on the floor by the patio door, (pre vacuuming). Hanging off the chair is a trim removal from a stained vintage embroidered tablecloth project. The embroidery that can be reused will go on a tee shirt. I’ve hunted for the thread to pull off all the trim, but have yet to find that thread.
It is hilarious to me to think how we really are versus our blog persona.
Oh, there’s birdseed on the carpet tracked in on my slippers.
P.S.
Day three, zero visits to my first poem of 2026 at Coffee Frappes & Seashells
Ironically, the higher prices make library book sales even more attractive as they limit the titles they accept for donation to not older than 2010. The book I’m reading was published in 2008 bought at a thrift store.
If a book is ragged, very low value , not a first edition, then I might use it for crafting making. I believe around 1939 printers stopped using lead in ink. One of my projects is a redo of circa 1950s metal office cabinets that I use for art supplies, by decoupaging a 1936 second reprint of Walter D. Edmonds book, Drums Along the Mohawk.
Reading e-books has changed the great landscape of book publishing that is a rich part of our history. A great part of our human heritage is discarded in favor of technology. What about bookshelves? What will they be for? Shoe racks?
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| Reading the Birdseed |
The atmospheric pressure must be at work along with the tension the snow storm brings because today I have a feeling of being out from under a dark cloud. I feel lighter, more energetic, creative.
Adding. I’ve been on a journey to diversify the YouTube channels I watch. Craft shows are replacing comfy camping videos.
I watched about ten minutes of hands making a gift box out of cardboard. Did I learn anything? Yes. Is it useful? Yes. I gained a few tips, and, saw an example of the hands only style video filmed well. Not all videos of that style are that good. A hand dance going from scissors to paper to glue is lovely.
What else I notice in my journey is the status of my own creativity. Watching people make things is inspiring. Instead of multiple camp set ups, I see craft materials going together.
I hope y’all put effort into regularly viewing creative shows, when your time allows. I believe it can help lift your spirits like it has mine.
The sun just came out. Still, the snow won’t melt in the cold temperatures. That is all right with me because the melt that freezes when the thermometer digits go down in the evening is not a happy event. Nobody likes ice on the roads.
And the winds blowing around a massive amount of powder snow will create iffy roads. A big snow drift suddenly ahead is also not a happy event.
Drive Safe
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| Out my window today |
Vermont is a 322 mile long state from the Canadian border in the north to Massachusetts in the south. Upstate New York, and 107 miles of Lake Champlain, is our western border. New Hampshire is our eastern border. Vermont has cool borders.
My area on the upper left of the map, on a screen, is a few miles from Lake Champlain and 22 miles south of Burlington along Route 7.
I think it is fair to say I live in Upper Left Vermont because the majority of communicating that I engage in, is on an LCD screen, flat like a paper map.
Also, I have been brainstorming names for my YouTube channel since last summer. The name has changed once or twice. I have finally found a title I like that, I feel, fits the format.
Really. Putting together a YouTube channel takes a lot of time in planning. At the development stage, I’ve gone through as many formats as I have names. Words that may help, (as it has me) are: don’t force it.
Have brainstorming sessions, think about it, and then let it stay or fade. The format/style I’ve chosen was created that way. Now, so has the name, Upper Left Vermont.
With no date selected for when my YouTube channel starts, it will be interesting to see if the name changes. Hm? Maybe I should add from, From Upper Valley Vermont. 😎
Guessing here, maybe too many marshmallows in my hot chocolate earlier brought on a sugar crash nap. I did not plan on sleeping that early.
So, I turn on the TV to watch YouTube videos of craft making, furniture restoration, travel, thrifting, camping, art and some documentaries. I think I dozed off watching a frame upcycle video.
The best creator channels for me, are those that balance talking with footage; and, only add what personal details are relevant to the content. I watch the experience performance. I don’t need to know all about the person’s life to appreciate their content.
For traveling shows, I feel, it is good to diversify watching what is out there because, for example, the RV (recreational vehicle) life has a scary side. I recently watched enough different channels about the good and bad to grasp a camper reality balance.
The scariest element of camping, I believe, is the danger people pose over wild animals, snakes and nasty bugs.
As good an experience camping life is, if I were ever to RV out in the wild or a campground, then I would travel with a male companion fully trained in firearms, survival, and physical combat. I’d want a bullet proof camper running on one main power source with a reliable backup system that can do just about every thing but fly off like a chopper.
Over done and as silly as that may sound, the freedom of going into Nature has a path right through the people gaunlet that has no property line, no city limit, no gates, no borders.
I now have zero (0) dreams of camping alone anywhere. Same goes for hiking alone.
Oh! And as for bushcrafting tent camping in bad weather, rain, thunderstorms and snow storms…No. I am an umbrella person. An anti shiver in the cold person. A don’t want heat stroke, hypothermia, frost bite or even frost nip person. I love the outdoors in context.😎
