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I'm not going to lie to you
and tell the world that there aren't days of depression for me,
especially in the winter. Although fifty years of dealing with
everything a woman has to live through in a marriage is forever there,
over the years I have learned to treat sadness like an unwelcome
situation, rather than to give in to despair. The guest is there and
can't be mistreated, but when they decide to go, so much the better. It
does take a little thought and practice to overcome the dark days..
Eventually, it will be easier. I'll be sending along a series of things
I've done this winter to "pull myself up by my own bootstraps."
Rodney had built me shelves close to the stove for my pots and pans
which was wonderful,
except that this is how they looked, cluttered.
We bought these shelves from Lowe quite some time ago when they were
much less expensive
than they are now. The thing about this now is that the doors closing
over the shelves make
this a much less cluttered area.
Here are more shelves Rod built for me. I have been able to move spices
and some packages,
canned goods, etc. out of the pantry to this area, close to where I
cook and I love that.
However, again, the clutter is decidedly unattractive
More shelves I love and use so much, but clutter, clutter, clutter.
Now these two cluttered areas are covered with this fabric from
Wal-Mart, $1.00 a yard.
I love the uncluttered look my kitchen now has when I have company. For
me, I'm what
is called a visual person, I like to see what is on the shelf, so when
no one is here but us;
I simply leave the curtains open. Rings for bathroom shower curtains
are what I used.
I had an awl to poke a hole through the fabric that had been turned
down, and then
pushed the ring through that. The fabric is knit with no need to even
hem it. The material
is easy to wash with no ironing, so the curtains will be easy to clean.
Rod cut me a length of
conduit (from scrap left over from jobs). He puts utilitarian hooks up
and the conduct
rests on those. It can be painted and that works well. The hooks slide
over the top so the
paint is only scratched off where it cannot be seen.
It's a cheap project,
maybe costing me around 10 dollars, since I had everything but the
fabric.
Here is another way I trick my mind into believing it isn't dark and
cold outside. This was the before view outside my back sliding glass
door. The shelves
had more clutter at the top. Of course, we become accustomed to a view
and pay little
attention to it, but the scene still has an effect upon our mind, I
believe.
I moved another one of those tall plastic cabinets with doors on it to
that place, instead of the curtained shelves. The plants on top
immediately transformed this little space to something pleasant to see.
It is a small thing, but every little bit seems to help for
brightening up our space and our mind. Again, I already had the cabinet
and the plants, so this cost me nothing other than the time to do it.
To continue with ideas to fight the winter
doldrums I include these following pictures. I think you will agree
these ideas are cheaper than medicine or therapy against depression..
Anyway, everythhing is all for fun and that is worthwhile, too.
A sit down dinner party on a middle of the week evening turned out to be
the most enjoyable time ever. The evening was spent with good food,
friendship's pleasant conversation and a general memoriable evening. A
high point
for me was when one of the guests brought this beautiful bouquet of pink
roses. I wanted a picture to keep the memory, forever, so here it is.
In the summer this small area is bright and cheerful, but in the winter
with the curtains pulled and the metal door shut the area becomes
dark and, frankly, blah! To remedy this I moved this mini- lamp
with a small florescent bulb in it so the cost of leaving it on would be
minimal. This painting was moved to the area for a point of interest.
Now the place is warm and interesting.
On one particular low day I was so tired of the winter I made up my
mind to go to Hobby Lobby to look at any spring like silk flowers they
might have. Would you believe I found this branch of a Forsythia looking
branch? It was so real I had to take the one branch home. After
Christmas
these are on half-price so it was around 3.50, a great buy, I thought.
This uninteresting area behind this chair was all at once bright and
cheerful
plus is a reminder, "spring is coming."
This circular painting I did of an apple was just the ticket to accent
the
beige and brown colors of the new curtains I put up in the kitchen.
The red and white trim around it is from Tractor supply and cut from
a length of nylon rope they sell there for farmers and ranchers to use.
The cost for
that was about 3.50. The masonite was around 2.00. The wire and
eye screws to hang it I already had. For me, the painting of a juicy
apple
reminds me of when the apple trees will be blooming in the spring.
This scroll work piece Hobby Lobby had on 1/2 price, else I wouldn't
have been able to afford. Going along with my French decor I chose this
Fleur De Lis. The gold accents are what I use, too. This house can be
dark so the bits of gold lighten up the space. This is over the back
sliding
glass door. I took a wash of white paint and went over the blue paint
which
cleaned that up, too.
This is the front long window beside the door. Here again I have used
my
Aunt's crochet work on the back of this chair. I can see it from the
kitchen
and every time I see the area I'm reminded of happy times in my aunt's
home.
Rod's dad was a rock hound. Rodney built these rather deep, heavy
shelves
for me to accommodate these pieces he collected. Some are fossils,
others
are from different formations. I need to find their names and label
them. I
know someone who was a geologist and I'll have to ask him to do that for
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