SEPTEMBER SMILES

 AAAAHHHHHH . . . . SEPTEMBER

Now that autumn has officially started, according to ME, in August, it's time for fall colors, fall temperatures, fall decor, fall food, fall smells, fall sweaters, fall bonfires, fall leaves, fall cleaning, fall blankets and fall FALL!

I've decided to enjoy this September by getting outside and taking a photo every day. I intend on painting something from that photo or the photo itself. It's going to be a phenology wheel style like the one that Marion creates. Marion? You don't know Marion?

Go to MARION'S WORLD at YouTube!! She is a wonder. A dear. A true nature lover, gardener, cook, creative sewer extraordinaire! I love her dearly. She's in the UK. She just had a terrific live stream for her 66th birthday and it was so much fun! Everyone was happy and excited and gracious to her, giving her gifts of money was awesome!

I don't remember how I found out about her but I believe it was when I was doing research on how to make fabric rope, rope or cloth weaving or something like that. I saw her video of how she makes coiled cloth rope and I was hooked! Not only was she down to earth, so interesting and charming, but the way she shows how to do this method she does of making coiled rope or cloth rope or cloth twine, is the best! 

CRAFTY MONTH

We've seen Halloween in the stores already, I think I actually saw some things in July! Wait, we have Christmas in July too, geesh! But for sure, September is the time to get those fall decor crafts made and the Halloween makings AND the Thanksgiving season decorations made too! Oh, and don't put everything away yet because you'd better get the Christmas supplies out and keep them handy because you'll be needing those right away too! 

So yes, it's time to make the stuff for the 'holiday season'! After you've spent all your money getting the kids ready for school with all the supplies and clothes they need, time to go into debt for all the craft and decor items you'll need for FALLHALLOWTHANKSCHRISTMAS!

JANUARY PROMISES

 DON'T MAKE PROMISES YOU CAN'T KEEP

I heard the bird lady in the movie 'Home Alone II' saying this as I wrote it, and it is true. That's one of the reasons why I don't make new year's resolutions. I don't like to make promises at all. I don't like failing at keeping them.

A resolution is 'resolving' something, right? I'm not out to resolve anything but I am going to try to do more things that I've not done before! Some things that I've wanted to do, like finally paint the bathroom, redecorate it, and some things will be things I've never tried yet, or don't know about yet. BUT, (there's always a 'but' for safety net) I won't make any promises to myself or to anyone that this will be.

I have good intentions. I want to learn new things, experiment with new art, new crafts, make things and learn things that are new to me. The first step is getting inspired though!

I've run across a woman named Marion who lives in the UK and she is my inspiration lady! She's a fine woman and is so interesting to listen to and to watch as she does her day-to-day things which is most often crafting! My kind of person!

Don't know how I ran across her but I always feel that we are introduced to the people we need in our lives. I believe that wholeheartedly. I've seen the comments on her YouTube page and lots of people feel the same way. They are truly inspired by her and I can see there are so many good reasons why.

I won't try to explain Marion (named for the 'maid Marion' in the Robinhood story, per her telling us this on one of her videos.) You can view Marion at 'Marion's World' (her dear deceased husband coined that phrase) and here is the link.

MARION'S WORLD at YouTube

I loved joining Marion on the new year's eve video, I was there waiting and then went to some other site or forgot about it and then I missed it! So, I watched it the next morning and it was so fun watching her and listening to her 'chittering' on as she called it.

Bringing people together and making it feel like we are all friends in 'real' life is precious to me. Even though I'm an introvert, I like my alone-ness, I do enjoy having online friends. Online friends are there when you need them and not just popping in when it's inconvenient. It's not a selfish or mean way to be but it keeps me content and not worrying about having to put on for others. I don't mean to seem snobberish or rude, but I am not sure how else to explain that.

So, getting back to making promises, I promise to keep trying to be inspired by others or by myself to try new things, new crafts, do different things or pick up things I've not done in a long time and loved doing ... like playing my guitar! I am promising myself this, to try to live mindfully and FULLY with keeping myself active and feeding myself new ideas and new ways to live my life better. I feel like volunteering myself somewhere too. I'm not sure where, or what that would be, but I need to give to others. It feels so great to give!

I don't know if Marion will ever see this blog, but if YOU DO, Marion, thank YOU for being so fun. For sharing your videos showing your crafts and handwork, for your chats and information and for sharing your precious TIME with us here in the online world!

MARION'S WORLD