Fighting the Funk

Do you sometimes feel like you are stuck in the doldrums? For many years I struggled in February. By that time I had had enough of winter. I had no energy, and I was basically unhappy with everything. Years ago I decided that I must suffer from SAD; Seasonal Affective Disorder. Once I realized that this might be the case, I made an effort to get outside more often. I bought a car with a sunroof so that I could experience more light on my way to and from work. (Later is was a convertible and the hours logged with the top down exceeded those with the top up - even in winter!) I walked to lunch when I was at work. I'd stay outside when I got home and play with the kids or the dogs. It did seem to work. My attitude was a bit better. 

From the Internet 

Currently I get a daily email called, "Start TODAY" that recaps segments of the TODAY Show. Sometimes I find interesting links. Thursday's message had a teaser link stating,  "two questions to ask yourself daily to feel joy  and feel more content.

The therapist (Niro Feliciano) in this synopsis of a recent TODAY show suggested that when people feel the way I often felt, they try to imagine the joy they will experience when they attain a goal in the future. Perhaps one of those ideas/goals you thought about at the first of the year! She described our lives as if we are living between the goal posts. I loved the imagery of that! But, she said that focusing on the big goals might not bring joy as that accomplishment may still be far off. 

What Niro suggested instead is to practice gratitude and be in the moment. She suggested a daily reflection where you celebrate your successes, no matter how small, and that will give you feelings of gratitude and contentment. To do this, the therapist recommended two questions to ask yourself daily:

• What are you proud of?
• What did you enjoy?

She explained that these can be very small moments of your day. For me, I might list making my bed as something I was proud of. I always feel better when the bedroom appears orderly, but a lot of mornings, I feel too rushed or too lazy to take the time (all about 2 minutes?!) And something I might have enjoyed is reading some posts of my blog friends. Niro suggests writing your answers to the two questions in a journal, or in an app....I just answered them in this blog post! It was suggested that you reflect on these questions daily. Hmmmm, maybe I'll add that at the end of my posts! There's an idea!

So, what about you? How are you feeling today? What are you proud of? What did you enjoy? Surely, there is something in each day that is the answer for you!

Wonders on my Walk

 It is less than half a mile from my condo to the kids' house. I have to cross two fairly busy streets (Alcatraz Ave and Telegraph Ave), but believe it or not, California drivers are really tuned in to giving pedestrians the right of way. Besides the two streets, the rest of the route I follow is in nice residential neighborhoods, with many pretty houses and lovely plantings. 

It's easy to get distracted on the way....

No matter what time of year I come,

there is always something blooming

that brings a smile to my face

and brightens my day.

A Little Bit of Everything Sort of Day

After walking my grandchildren to school I came back to the little condo and set up my sewing space.

I brought some pieces with me from Lupines & Laughter, a mystery quilt by Bonnie Hunter. 

I made a little bit of headway.

My younger son came by and we went out to local hamburger restaurant for lunch. 

I had a sloppy chicken breast 'burger' that was wonderful.

I accompanied my younger grandchild and the other grandmother on a walk among the redwoods.

There is a large park with trails among the giant trees within 15 minutes of my older son's home.

It's a delightful space with trails going in many directions, even in a light rain

that sometimes made it through the canopy of trees.

We rushed back to their house. The other grandmother made a welcome 

mug of hot chocolate and we were on our way into Oakland

to take my granddaughter to 'bandaloop'.

This is an amazing space where dance happens on the wall, and not the floor. 

It looks like a lot of fun, but I can see it would require a lot of core strength. 

There are several touring groups that practice at this facility.

The dance troupe often 'dances' on the sides of buildings. 

I was in awe of the instructors and how well they worked with the groups of children.

There were about 10 kids in the group, ages 6-12.

At the close of the class I chatted with the instructor, thanking them, and 

enquiring as to whether they have classes for old ladies...'yes'

and, for old ladies who are in lousy shape....'yes'!

Maybe if we decide to spend some time in California this summer I'll try it out! 

 

Winter Garden Challenges

While I am enjoying the relative warmth of the Bay Area in California, the Mister is reporting on the state of some of the plants in our yard following the unprecedented longterm, overnight freezes in central Florida. We had over 10 days in a row where temps dropped below freezing, all the way to 14 one night. After a day or two with slightly higher temps, we'd dip back to frigid again. It has been a terrible winter that has taken a toll on our sub-tropical plantings.

We brought some plants into the garage. Others we covered.

Covering the plants didn't seem to make a difference.

It was just too cold for too many nights.

This is one of two large Staghorn Ferns that apparently have turned brown.

We have two pygmy date palms that exhibit very little green.

The pot in the background used to have several  lovely, full, 

succulents. This is one of the 'shoulda-woulda-coulda' plants

that we could have wrestled inside.

This is what remains of my Chinese Hat plants that

I bragged about previously. 

This bank used to be covered with ferns and variegated liriope.

The perennials and cordyline were hit hard.

The Mister received an email from a gardening group that did offer this suggestion:

"Give your plants 2-3 months before calling time of death."

Hopefully many of the plants will come back from the roots. 

It may take time for our garden areas to look full and vibrant again.

And for those plants that don't regrow, we can follow the advice of the same email:

"Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!"

We will find a hardier plant that will be able to thrive in our climate gone awry!

Maybe we should replant with plants similar to the 

"Butcher's Block Plasticus" planted below....

The cold seemed to have no impact on this plant!

(This is an old pitchfork I found on the property.  I thought it would be cute to 

'plant' it in the garden with a vine growing up the handle. But, I didn't want

a vine that would grow out of scale and obscure the antique.

I bought a plastic garland, "planting" it in my garden

and entwining it around the pitch fork!)

So, we can celebrate one green thing in the garden!

 

Iceland

For a few years I would have occasion to ride my bike near a large building that indicated it was the "Sports Basement". As I didn't need any sporting equipment I never bothered to swing over one block to check it out. However, one of my sons mentioned that it is a great place to get athletic shoes at somewhat of a discount, as well as any other sporting equipment, or sports clothing you might desire. 

A few years ago I wandered over that way and discovered that it is quite the sports store, but also that it is an intriguing historical building. The Olympic size rink was opened in the fall of 1940. Several world championships were held there. A bit of research told me that Sonja Henie skated there at the grand opening.

The ice rink was a popular spot for 67 years. 

In 2007 Iceland closed due to financial, mechanical and safety issues. 

Today, this is what the rink looks like:

The rink is chock full of sporting items for sale, from shoes to clothing,

bicycles and skis.

But, a few historical remnants from the rink remain.

My favorite being this electronic sign that would indicate announcements

for the skaters, or the score of a hockey game.   

Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker

I arrived in Oakland on Saturday, grabbed my bike and made the trek (.7 mile) up to College Avenue (in Berkeley) to pick up a few things to sustain my soul - well, at least my body - over the next few days.

Our first home-away-from-home was on a steep hill. We wanted to have bikes, but knew we couldn't get up the hill with any regular bike. We bought electric pedal-assist bikes. I love the ease of negotiating hills, even though we no longer have such a steep hill to climb. This is my go-to transportation when I am in California. There are many bike avenues and bike-friendly streets around me and I can get to just about any store/venue. 

The shopping area on College offers one-stop shopping at a Safeway....

but just across the street there is an amazing butcher shop:

A French bakery: 

(There's also an amazing bagel shop just a block away-

but they were closed by the time I got there.)

A grocer from out of the past:

A Vintner:

And a flower shop...

again, out of the past!

Just walking by makes me smile.

You can pick and choose and they will put together a custom bouquet for you. 

Such pretty and unusual cut flowers:

My panniers were loaded and it was time to head back to the condo,

stopping to see the kids and have dinner along the way. 

BART and Beyond

Saturday morning I left the Hacienda by 6 AM. I arrived at the parking garage at the Tampa Airport just over an hour later, and parked "Plain Jane", my little MINI. If you 'biggify' the picture you can see some of the Tampa buildings in the almost sunrise! 

The plane trip was fine, we had smooth sailing, no wailing babies, and we arrived in San Francisco 20 minutes early. 

I do wear a mask in the airport and on the plane. Here I am on the Air Train heading to the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station.  If I land at a reasonable hour, and the weather is decent, I'll use BART.  I have about a half mile walk from the BART station to the condo. If it is dark, or not a good situation for walking, I use Uber or Lyft. 

BART brings it's own amusements.

This little guy was a cutie. 

A father and son hopped on at one stop. The father had a boom box and a melodica (had to look it up on the Internet) and the young boy had a violin. 

They provided a little entertainment, passed a hat 

and hopped off at the next stop. 

I thought the airport and public transit would be inundated with folks in jerseys because of the upcoming Super Bowl. These were the only folks I saw sporting jerseys.

The walk from the BART station to the condo also has some interesting distractions.

I enjoy this little library along the way. 

It's outside the Alliance Francaise, which offers French lessons.

I have picked up a few children's books in French for the grand kids in the past.

There wasn't anything for their age range today.

No matter what time of year I visit Oakland,

there are always flowers blooming.

Even the potted plants we leave on our porch are looking healthy and beautiful!

 

Trifling

I was asked to make a dessert for dinner at a neighbor's. I began to mull over ideas. I do find it intriguing how my brain 'hop scotches' from one thing to another! I call it the evolution of an idea.

So my first thought was to make my mother's famous mocha cake. Yum! But, I don't have the three cake pans it requires for the coffee-laced sponge cakes (they are in California). But, that's OK, I've made it as a jelly roll before. 

Not my cake, but it looks like it! 
From: livforcake.com

But then....

I have come to realize that I'm getting more sensitive to caffeine. This cake has espresso in the cake, in the filling and in the icing. It also has some chocolate in it, which can also keep me awake. Maybe the attendees at the dinner have the same sensitivity???

So, what then?

Ah, strawberries are in season here in Florida (if our freezing temps have totally done the crop in).  I can make a jelly roll with a nice sponge cake, make a filling using fresh strawberries, add a whipped cream frosting and garnish with more berries.  That would be perfect! It's near Valentine's Day, and what would be more appropriate than a pretty red and white cake?! 

Image from "All Recipes"

                                                                            But then...

Wait, wait! Do I have a trifle bowl here? Yes, indeed! I will use the berries and a sponge cake, along with some whipped cream and make a beautiful, tasty, seasonal dessert! Great! The evolution of my idea has led me here. 

Image from: https://www.scatteredthoughtsofacraftymom.com/strawberry-trifle-with-pound-cake/

But wait...

Should I infuse the berries with some sort of fancy liqueur? Perhaps some Chambord? Let me check the Internet. I mean, really, why should anyone have cook books anymore, with so many options at our fingertips. (But it is so much fun paging through cookbooks and magazines and enjoying all of the photos, the heft of the book, the odor of the ink and so forth!) Regardless, I look up 'Strawberry Trifle' to check out ideas others have for how to make a scrumptious, simple, elegant, seasonal dessert. 

Looky here....

Here's an amazing post with a whole list of tempting trifles. I didn't really think about the options out there. Shame on me, I am usually more creative than that!

But...

the evolution of an idea is complete! 

Carrot cake trifle it is!

Will mine look anything like this?

Time will tell! 

Close enough!

Is Democracy on the Chopping Block?

These words, attributed to Alexander Tytler* in 1790, to my mind seem to have been prophetic, sadly so. They make a person stop and think. And you? What do you think?

“Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.

Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage…”

*Dr. Alexander Tytler, Professor of General History, University of Edinburgh

This Year's Quilt Challenge

I stepped up to the plate to run our quilt guild's 2026 challenge. I'm excited, as are several of the other members.

This is the blurb that will be in our newsletter explaining the challenge:

This year’s quilt challenge is “The challenge of the States” in honor of our country’s 250th anniversary! Participants are asked to pick the name of one of our 50 states from a hat. They will have the opportunity to research that state.

• What is the state’s flower?
• What about the State bird?
• Is there a State quilt block or quilt?
• Are there colors associated with the state?
• What is the State song or motto and what designs does that inspire?

From there, participants will create an entry for display and judging (by attendees) at the annual  Christmas party. 

Entries may be any size and may be created using any quilting/fabric technique. 

I had so much fun introducing the challenge to the group at yesterday's meeting. I began by playing the music from this video:

After explaining the challenge, I closed my presentation by playing the music from 'Mission Impossible'.

 

There were smiles all around.....until it came time for the ladies to pick a state. Unbelievably I heard the following:

• Illinois is boring.
• I can't do Alabama.
• Is Mississippi a 'red' state? (I was very tempted to pull up a map on my phone to show her what color it was in the illustration 😂)
• I won't do Kansas, (and as she threw the state back into the hat), I'm not gonna do this unless I get a state I like. 
• Yay! I got Texas! (She said as she pulled her hand out of the hat with nothing in it!)

Do you believe the sass I got from ladies who are all of an age they should know/act better? Yeah, I guess you do believe it!

Sew Busy

 Tuesday was sew busy! I am juggling several sewing projects - but it's all my own doing! I can't blame anyone else. So, my glorious sewing desk is in its happiest state! 

• The turquoise fabric is being made into a purse. First thing on Tuesday I was experimenting with sewing cork-like material to the fabric, to see if my machine could handle it, and what thread color would look best.
• There are some purple, pink, blue and white fabrics beyond that . Those are pieces I'm still putting together for the Bonnie Hunter annual mystery quilt. This year's quilt is called, "Lupines and Laughter".
• Closest to the machine you can see a green-ish kitty cut out with a yellow stripe across the back. That's a kitty purse that I decided to make yesterday for my granddaughter. I have a puppy dog around someplace that is destined for my grandson,
• It's difficult to make out, but on the far, back corner of the desk, I have a pile of baseball caps. The Mister asked if my embroidery machine could sew a saying on a baseball cap - so I've been experimenting with that. 
• You also might note some red and green fabrics just to the right of the sewing machine. I keep scraps of Christmas fabric there to sew 'leaders and enders'. Ultimately those scraps will grow and become a quilt in. their own right. 
• The stuff draped over the chair includes a shirt I wear when I get chilly, a cover for the embroidery machine and a heavily quilted piece of fabric I have been using to practice swirls on the long arm quilting machine.

And as the saying goes....you ain't seen nothing, yet! There are all kinds of things out of the shutter's range that viewers can't see! Yes, I've had a busy and productive day and juggling multiple things is the way I roll. What about you? Do you work one project through to the finish before starting something new?

Oh, and the coin purses I decided to make yesterday? Ta da!!!!