PEOPLE ARE STRANGE

And I’m probably the strangest of them all.
Just thought I’d throw that out there.
Violence, anger, sadness everywhere you look.
No rhyme. No reason. No answers.
I have nothing to add to the conversation but my prayers.
I can make neither heads nor tails out of much of anything anymore.
Things I gotta’ do today.
**Take my vacuum apart and clean it. I don’t know why my vacuum has 5 million filters in it nor why it must be taken apart and cleaned every other week but that seems to be the norm and so it must be done.
**Water my plants. Seriously. If I posted a pic of them someone would call PPS (plant protective services) on me. Droopy n’ dry. – ~~Much like my sex life.~~
**Finish up my daughter’s skirt and another outfit – at least – for my grand-Princess.
I’ll post pics when I get stuff done.
**Work on my bujo.
**Work on my afghan. Yeah. The one I bulleted for completion on the 7th.
Not even close.
**Figure out some flippin’ time management skills.
**Figure out an acceptable bedtime or resign myself to the fact that I will never sleep another day in my life.
I’m still crushin’ on ‘Grissom.’ (CSI, the original.) I’m not sure why people keep referring to him as old and fat. He’s in his 60’s. That’s not old. He certainly doesn’t look old and I wouldn’t call him fat. I don’t know who’s looking for a beanpole, young buck but, not it.
Okay, except Ryan Gosling, and he’s in his 40’s.
Anyway, I’m on season 5 now and I don’t even know how that happened.
It’s like eating Pringles. Once you pop you can’t stop, except I can because I don’t like Pringles.
Other stuff I gotta’ do today?
**Come back and visit and comment and share.
I’ve gotten awards and honorable mentions that need to be addressed.
I need to visit my “Tribe” which is now not the thing. I need to change all of you to my “squad.” Apparently that’s the new word of the year because everybody’s out hangin’ wit their squad.
**MAKE MORE COFFEE
Our temps dropped like a rock and I was freezing last night. I resisted the urge to turn on the heat and instead just layered up and went to bed. – Late.

Got hit on Monday with some personal hoops to jump through. Not at all looking forward to that but whatever. – Prayers, good vibes welcome.

I hope wherever you are you’re finding joy in this wonderful day because no matter the hoops, no matter all of the negativity, hatefulness and sadness swirling about us. This life is a gift.
We should probably pay a lit’l bit more attention to that.

Be well. Be happy. Be loved. Show love.

FRIDAY FEATURE – You Gotta’ See This! #002

Good morning folks! Thank you all so much for being so encouraging and receptive of my new Friday feature! If this is your first time here my “Friday Feature – You Gotta’ See This!” is simply a day to showcase the amazingly talented people I see around me or come across online.Last Friday it was my pleasure to showcase Miss JoJo from ‘Tahoma Beadworks and Photography.’ She is multi-talented in multiple mediums. A rare find to be sure. If you missed the post you can read it here.This week I’m showcasing another talented woman.
Dawn Johnson, owner of ‘Paisley Soap Works.’
Dawn has been crafting handmade, all natural soaps for nearly 40 years. A craft she says she learned from her grandmother.

Q&A with Dawn from ‘Paisley Soap Works.’

1.) When did you start making soaps?

Dawn – I have been making soap since 1979 when my grandmother showed me the basics. When my son was born, he had rather sensitive skin for a time and I was so glad I knew how to make my own soap.

2.) How long does it take to make a bar of soap?

Dawn – I make soap using the “cold processed ” method so it takes about an hour to regulate temperatures, 24 hours, to rest prior to unmolding, another 24-48 hours to allow the soap to cure before cutting, and finally 5-6 weeks to fully cure. A long time but totally worth it.

3.) What is the difference between handcrafted soaps and store bought?

Dawn – The difference between handcrafted soap and the bars that you get from the grocery store is that the bars in the store aren’t soap at all…they’re detergent in solid form. Handcrafted soap is made from 3 simple ingredients : fat/oil, water, and lye…no worries, there is absolutely no residual lye in a properly made and cured bar of handmade soap.

Dawn’s personal favorite soap?
“It’s so hard for me to pick a favorite but I think “All Buttered Up! ” would be the one… it has lots of moisturizing cocoa butter, creamy shea butter, and exotic mango butter…yummy!”

Mimi’s personal favorite?
Based solely on the name…
Dragon’s Blood – “A rich and spicy scent likened to the fragrance of Dragon’s Blood resin. The scent is a luxurious blend of amber and myrrh with rich sandalwood and earthy patchouli and is made with Dragon’s Blood resin infused olive oil.”
This is a busy time of year for Dawn as she is attending several festivals throughout Michigan.
If you’re in the area please be sure to stop in and see her!
**June 25th & 26th you can find Dawn here.
‘Log Cabin Days.’ Located at the Fish Hatchery Park in Waterford MI
**August 6th Dawn will be here.
‘Annual Highland Games’ at Greenmead Historical Park in Livonia MI on Saturday, August 6th.
To place an order for Dawn’s wonderful, all natural, handmade soaps you can contact her on her Facebook page, ‘Paisley Soap Works.’ – Be sure and hit the like button while you’re there!
OR
Visit her at her website, ‘Paisley Soap Works‘ to place your order there and learn all about the art of handmade soaps, lotions, body butters, body polishes and scrubs. Bath salts, bath oils, perfume oils and more!
Here’s a lit’l look-see of Dawn’s products.
The “Good Morning” bar. – “A crisp, energizing fragrance with may chang, orange, lime, pink grapefruit, rose geranium, and neroli. Accented by colorful swirls reminiscent of a perfect morning sky with bright yellow, sky blue, wisps of cloud white and sunrise pink.”

Lemongrass Shea – “The wonderful moisturizing benefits of shea butter combined with the freshness of lemongrass essential oil. Swirled with yellow and green.”

I really love the look of this one.
Honeycomb – “Contains pure wildflower honey that draws moisture to skin and a sweet floral honey scent. Natural color, loaded with pure honey with a honeycomb design.”

I love the artistry of this one too.
Dawn does phenomenal designer, custom order bars as well.
Full Moon Over Sand Dunes
‘Peacefest 2016’ – Waterford, Michigan

Before being sold out!I know this Friday Feature was a bit lengthy but when artist/craftsmen/women have turned their talents into a marketable product I turn into a carney shouting, “Step right up, step right up!
“Ya’ Gotta’ See This!”
Thank you, thank you, thank you, to Dawn for allowing me to showcase ONE of her many talents.
And thank all of you for reading along and being a part of shining a light!
I appreciate you all!
Now, get on over to ‘Paisley Soap Works‘ and show some love!

MIDNIGHT MOCHA #002

Yep. It’s midnight and I’m up for the day. Seriously. Not even kidding.
I got too comfortable too early in the evening. – Damn you ‘Grissom!’ –
And so here I am. WIDE awake, enjoying my midnight mocha and throwing out random shit on my blog.Do any of you have the Flipboard app on your phones? I’m absolutely addicted. I like having the news and topics that interest me right at my fingertips with hardly any ads and crap in between. I learn something every time I “flip” through it.
**FLIPBOARD NUGGETS**
Did you know that Kenya has a population of 45 million and only 23% of that population has access to electricity? How crazy is that?? I only know this because I was reading the story about a monkey in Kenya falling onto a transformer and causing a blackout for the entire country!
You can read about it here.

New research. A lit’l bit scary.. Brain to brain communication. I won’t give the long drawn out explanation. You can read that here but seriously. Two scientists in two different rooms sitting in front of video games. One of the scientist’s “thinking” the other scientist into to playing the game. Like getting him to move his fingers around the controller. No joke. Read the article.

People with sleep disorders tend to have impaired memory functions.
Wait, what?In other news. I’ll be up sewing tonight. Shocking, I know. I have a special order stuffed animal and my daughter asked for some pants and skirts. The stuffed animal should take no time at all and I’m hoping to knock out 3 pairs of pants for my daughter and a couple of dresses for my grand-Princess while I’m at. After that, I’ll be continuing on with stocking my inventory for the fall sales.

I have absolutely no errands to run tomorrow/today, so I expect plenty of productivity.Speaking of productivity. I was slated to be finished with my crochet/fleece doggie blanket on the 7th. That didn’t happen. Too many, “I’ll be there, I might be there, I’m on my way, oh sorry” moments. So irritating.I need to update my bujo to reflect my delays and new completion dates.We’ve still got a heat wave going on and it’s going to be even hotter today than it was yesterday. Back east the temps dropped and it was cool enough to wear a hoodie.
So weird.
To all of my friends down in “God’s waiting room,” a.k.a., Florida. Batten down the hatches, move to higher ground and be safe! Can’t believe it’s hurricane season already. It’s fire season for us. We’ve had a lot of lightning and rolling thunder with no rain. That’s never a good thing.Okay. I’m off to sew. I may or may not be back later today with some finished stuff. We’ll see how wide awake I am in a few hours.
What’s on tap for your day? Do any of you have trouble sleeping or short sleep patterns? My lit’l sis requires 8 hours of sleep. Do any of you? Do you ever get it?
Sleep has never been my thing so I’m really interested in how so many people can lie horizontally for 6-8 hours a night doing absolutely nothing… To me, it’s mind boggling.

WEEKEND SHENANIGANS

When I wasn’t melting into pools of human flesh this past weekend, “Puzzle Girl” and I set about to hit up a few yard/garage/estate sales.

Okay, first of all, people, when you post your entire life story on Craigslist and then proceed to throw grandma and grandpa under the bus by saying you’re “regretfully” having an estate sale to pay off all of grandma and grandpa’s debt that they left behind – I’m certain because they were bailing your lame asses out of jail – OR, you advertise the biggest yard sale of the weekend, not to be missed, one of a kind items, something for everyone.
Have the fucking sale!
After driving all over hell and back, “Puzzle Girl” and I arrived at no less than 4 posted sale sites and not a one of ’em going on!

Second, if you’re having a garage sale. Have the sale IN your garage.
If you’re having a yard sale. Spread that shit all over from property line to property line.
And if you’re having an estate sale? Here’s a tip.
Three saucers and two chipped cups that belonged to grandma and grandpa sitting on a cardboard box on your front porch for 25 cents a piece or a dollar takes all sign, does NOT count as an estate sale!

Needless-to-say after traveling from one end of the city to the other and beyond, the few sales that we did make it to had nothing of interest to us. So for all of our driving, all of our climbing in and out of a hot vehicle, walking up and down streets and sidewalks and traipsing through backyards and melting every step of the way.
We ended our sale day empty handed.
All was not lost however because the day actually started out quite fantastic. A designated “Girly Day.” “Puzzle Girl” and I finally got to the try the authentic French Pastry shop we’d discovered a couple of weeks back and wow. Talk about amazing.

Authentic, homemade eclairs = Delicious!
“Puzzled Girl” opted for the strawberry topped one which is pistachio with strawberry filling – real strawberries – topped with fresh organic strawberries and pistachios. I went with the chocolate covered traditional eclair.
You can’t get these in the grocery store or donut shop folks. Seriously, not even close.

“Girl Next Door” was coming over for brunch which quickly turned into a French-themed brunch.
We had to pick up these lovely croissants.
So light and airy and buttery and HUGE! They went fantastically well with the homemade crepes that “Puzzle Girl” made us.
FYI – I declared this day my “free” day on my otherwise liquid diet.After the French pastry shop and brunch, “Girl Next Door” had to go back to work so “Puzzle Girl” and I headed out to a couple of shops we hadn’t been to. We both picked up some fun jewelry.
I went with “whore hoops” and a really cool key ring.Side note: The earrings are not seatbelt friendly.We combed the thrift store for some frames for “Puzzle Girl’s” vision, which turned out to be this. photos She says it’s not done yet but she’s done a great job so far and I think it looks super cute!Then, of course, the fabric sales and swaps.
This is day 3 for me. Days 1 and 2 are either already in totes or in the washing machine/dryer.
I got behind on my crochet/fleece doggie blanket so I’ve been pulling double time on it. I have it scheduled to be complete on the 7th. That would be tomorrow.. Yeah.. I might be bumping that out a couple of days. We’ll see. It’s hotter than two squirrels fucking in a wool sock here but next weekend we’ll drop back into the 70’s so I’m okay with it for the moment. A/C is a wonderful thing. I don’t mind the heat. I sit out in it long enough to soak up some vitamins and deepen my tan but I do like coming into the nice, crisp air.What’s happening in your corners of the world? Did you hit any sales this weekend? Discover any new places??? You know I’m a nosey bitch and I gotta’ know, so spill!
In the meantime, stay cool, stay dry, warm, whatever you need to do, do that. Be that!

FRIDAY FEATURE – “You Gotta’ See This!”

I’ve decided to add a Friday feature to my blog called, “You Gotta’ See This!”
The theme of each feature will change every month.
For the month of June, the feature theme will focus on arts and crafts.
Every Friday this month I will be showcasing someone that I feel oozes talent and creativity in various mediums, some of them in multi-mediums, i.e., the written word, photography, sewing, needlework, painting, etc.

I will ask 3 questions pertaining to the theme – for this month, arts and crafts. –
I will ask them to pick their favorite craft to showcase, and I will choose my favorite of their crafts to showcase as well. They don’t know which one I’m picking, just FYI.
Why am I doing this?
Because we have a lot of talented people in this world that I believe should be seen and heard.
Because I’m tired of bad news and want to contribute something fun and wonderful, if only for 4 days out of the month.
And because, why not? Why not shine a light on someone and applaud their place on this planet and in our lives.
And because it’s my blog and I can.
This month I am showcasing JoJo from ‘Tahoma Beadworks & Photography.’
JoJo is one of those rare creative souls who is multi-talented in multiple mediums. She tells me this started in childhood.

Q & A with JoJo from ‘Tahoma Beadworks & Photography.’

1.) How old were you when you first started crafting?
(Please elaborate beyond kindergarten.)

JoJo – I have been making things as long as I can remember. As an only child growing up in a rural part of town, I didn’t have any other children to play with. I used to get craft kits of all kinds when I was little, for my birthday and Christmas, and during summer vacation. Makit Bakit, paint by number, Chip-It, basic beading-on-styrofoam kits, Christmas ornaments, etc. I’ve always loved beads and my grandmother used to attach beads and sequins by hand to gowns and blouses that were sold in fancy boutiques in Manhattan.

2.) MUST you craft every day?

JoJo – I do try to work on something every day, but sometimes life gets in the way and I don’t have time or am too tired. But I can get projects started, or at least do some needlepoint or cross stitch.

3.) What is your favorite craft to do?

JoJo – Hard to decide what’s my fave craft to do. I enjoy altered art, making jewelry but lately I’ve just wanted to do needlework.

JoJo’s favorite personal craft: “Hard to pick just one fave craft that I’ve done, but I guess my most recent fave is probably the potions cabinet that I made earlier this year.”
I have to say, this is also one of my favorite crafting projects that JoJo has done. It’s a magically, cool piece and you can read all about in her post, here.

Mimi’s favorite JoJo piece??? I have to tell you. It was incredibly difficult for me to pick. I had so many tabs opened to JoJo’s blog it took me all night just to narrow it down to three and then another hour to pick one! But if I have to pick just one….
Drum roll please….
“Ya’ gotta’ see this!”
ISN’T IT COOL???? JoJo made that!!
If you go to her post here, you can see other bottles that she’s made, and keys and a fairy garden and if you follow her blog you’ll see how incredibly talented she really is in ALL mediums!
It’s amazing, SHE is amazing!
I hope you’ve all enjoyed this lit’l visit with JoJo, and please do go over to her blog and sprinkle some love to let her know how talented she is.

Many, many thanks from the bottom of my heart to JoJo for sharing a piece of herself with me, and all of you. I do so appreciate you JoJo, and really, you deserved to be showcased because you truly do ooze with talent and creativity.
Thank you again..
Happy Friday folks. Go on out and lift somebody up. Tell somebody you appreciate them and the gifts and talents they have to offer and share.
Peace.

SUMMER’S HERE AND THE TIME IS RIGHT…

Yeah… There’ll be no dancing in the streets for this girl. Not in triple digit heat anyway. I like hot weather but triple digits is best enjoyed indoors with the AC running full blast.
I’m “prompting” my way through my blog this month.June 1-5 prompts are brought to you via a lit’l site I found called, ‘Writing Exercises.’

TODAY’S PROMPT – Write about an ornament.

My first thought, being a girl who loves all things Christmas was to post my favorite Christmas ornament. But, a.) Christmas is packed away. And b.) I’ve already mentioned Christmas once this month. I didn’t want to piss off the masses – that would be you, my beloved readers. –
So, I chose another favorite ornament.
This one.
(Photo by Jill Reger)

It just happens to come attached to my favorite vehicle, which would be this one.
1966 Jaguar MK X.

With this 1950 Jag model coming in a close second.
When I hit the lottery you can bet I’ll be owning a couple of these.IN OTHER NEWS – I got nutthin’ folks. This week is gonna’ be all about staying cool and building my inventory for upcoming craft shows n’ the like. I got delayed on my blanket when my sister came to visit so I’ll be doing double time on blocks today, which means I’ll be doing double time with “Grissom” who I just find sexier n’ sexier which each episode.

I need to narrow down my blogging groups as well. I haven’t been posting in them because there are so many to post in and I’m trying to figure out the best fit for me. Until then, I blog for myself and you, my faithful readers.

Also need to work on my BuJo (bullet journal) and start another one for daily tasks, and another for my blogging. I dunno but the creative bug has bitten me hard lately and all I want to do is create n’ play like I’m in kindergarten again. And, FYI, it feels great doing it so Imma’ gonna’ do more of it.
I hope you’re all having an amazing day wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, and I hope you can find a moment in your day to play like you’re in kindergarten again.
Finger painting, coloring, recess, or eating paste!
I wanna’ know how you play like a kindergartener!

HALF WAY

Wow! Where did the first half of this year go?? I know that it’s not officially summer just yet but holy hell, with temps out here in the triple digits, it’s close enough for me!
And, don’t look now folks but we’ve only got 6 more months left of 2016.
Cah-ray-zee!!!
I’m “prompting” my way through my blog this month.
June 1-5 prompts are brought to you via a lit’l site I found called, ‘Writing Exercises.’

TODAY’S PROMPT – Write about your day so far.

I started my first “Bullet Journal.” This one is to help me keep track and stay on task with my sewing/crafting.
I started out with a basic, blank journal. They have journals specifically for “bullet journaling.” I don’t think it matters either way. You could even use a 3 ring binder if you wanted to, which I plan on doing in the future.
This is what I’ve got so far.
Obviously, I have much more work to do on it. I’ll cover the front of it and doodle it up more on the pages but it is a fun way for me to keep track of my projects in the making.
This is one of my current works in progress. The one I have listed in my BuJo (bullet journal.)
This blanket is scheduled to be complete by the 7th of June.
Another first. I had never crocheted on fleece before. It’s super easy and this project is super fast. It will be a 12 block/square pattern with 3 or 4 inch joining stitches and of course a border. I have no idea if this will be a crib blanket or an adult throw.. Won’t know until I start joining it all together. This is my own design so however big I make it is however big it will be.

So, that’s my day so far. Letting my creative juices flow.
I’ve also showered, consumed two pots of coffee, done a load of laundry, a load of dishes, swept the floors and the patio. And apparently am knockin’ out a blog post.
What’s your day been like so far?
The rest of my day will be indoors with the AC on and a crochet hook in my hand watching CSI on Netflix.
Ooops. I mean Hulu…
Why am I just now watching this show??? Grissom, much like our weather, is HOT!
Be safe, be well, and Happy June, folks!