Wrangling

I haven't been holding up my end in the blogosphere. I so look forward to reading what everyone else posts. In comparison my life looks bland.

So what have I been up to?

The word that best describes my recent activities is wrangling, as in doing my best to get things into shape around here, including things that don't want to go quietly. I have been wrangling laundry, paperwork, and dust bunnies. I have moved furniture from room to room and right out of the house. My daughter has been doing some of her own moving/repurposing of furniture, so this past week we spent time wrangling together.

I bought frames and mats for long-neglected items. Ken got in on the act and cut three custom mats for me.

I got to the bottom of the pile of ironing, only to have it grow again when I got caught up on laundry. Oh, is there no end to the things that need to be washed and ironed?

And there was a significant purchase made. I bought new stainless flatware. The set we have was a wedding present. We found out after the wedding that it was a thank-you gift from a wholesaler to Ken's brother who sold auto parts, but it was nicer than what we had so we used it. Over the years we've talked about replacing it with a pattern of our choice but haven't for one reason or another. The last time my "crafty ladies" group met I asked them what they thought about buying new flatware ~ was it okay when the old set still worked after 34 years? One friend shared that she has had three sets in 50 years, and others shared stories about pieces that were lost and found again. Ken and I looked again online, and then I stood in front of the display at Bed, Bath and Beyond for 45 minutes handling every fork several times. I selected the one I like best of all that I've seen, and I put out a place setting for Ken to appraise when he got home. He liked it and thought it cost three times what it did, which tickled me. I'm going to buy another place-setting-for-eight so we have enough when everyone is home for the holidays and eating round the clock.

It was a good week for all things domestic. The house looks habitable again and Ken will fire up the grill tonight for what might be the last grilled chicken of the season. The snowstorm last weekend dropped just a couple inches in our yard, so we still have deck furniture and the chiminea in place.

Next week I am tackling almost-finished sewing projects because I have new ones I want to start.

Not long ago my daughter wisely said to me that it's important to detach from the outcome. We do what we can do, with the knowledge that we have no control over how things turn out. Right now there are lots of things that I can't make come round right, but by golly I can get my household in order to my heart's content.