Handcrafted Wooden Clock With Stained Glass

 

My husband partnered with one of his workshop buddies to add stained glass to a wooden clock that he made. The partner does stain glass pieces as his hobby while my husband does woodworking. The top photo does not do the oak wood grain justice because of being back-lighted.  The round puck is battery powered. The control allows different lights to be emitted from the puck. A very nice piece with practical use.

Winona Lake Farmers Market July 12th

 

This morning my husband and I went to the Winona Lake Farmers' Market. There was a pleasant breeze blowing through the pavilion. 

Not quite as many vendors as sometimes, but I found what I wanted: pie, flowers, honey. (Bought small tomatoes too though not on my list).

Take Back Your Home

 I recently searched Hoopla for a book about decluttering that I had seen mentioned. Hoopla did not have it but suggested Take Back Your Home by Morgan Tyree. 

This book differs in several ways from others that I have read. Its emphasis is on sorting and organizing more than getting rid of things. She does suggest that as you are putting "like with like" that you cull duplicates or unused items. She spends a lot of time taking you through "systems" so that you can identify which pertain to you and how to overcome obstacles. Some of her material deals with time management, but she has previously written a whole book about that.

She addresses in part of her book a population mostly ignored by other authors: those with physical disabilities and neurodivergent people (autism, attention deficits) and helps them to work around their challenges. People with short attention spans cannot use tips to go through a whole room or a whole category of things in a short time. She simplifies and breaks things down to make them manageable.  

She includes stories about her personal efforts and those of her clients. Many practical suggestions and successes are described.

For me, the book's perspective does not go far enough in decluttering but does get people to calm their home environments which creates  less stress. Knowing what you have and where it is located pays off.

 

Liquid Living

 Originally, I was told I would be on a liquid diet for 2 weeks after my abdominal surgery. The morning after the surgery, the surgeon said I could try some soft foods like scrambled eggs or mashed potatoes after 10 days of the liquid diet. Looking forward to that.

I want to distinguish the meals some by what I eat. For example, I am sticking to Greek yogurt and fruit juices in the morning. Chicken broth or beef broth or creamed soups for lunch or supper. 

I had the red pepper and tomato soup this afternoon. I really liked it. The butternut squash we have eaten before. At least these have a bit of texture unlike the clear broths.

Stocked up on Ensure and Muscle Milk to make sure I am getting some of the nutrients not available in soup. I bought those at Costco. The Muscle Milk is really chocolatey. The Ensure is palatable but not great. 

Jello and pudding and ice cream and sherbet also allowable on my diet. But I have a yearning for something crunchy or chewy which won't happen until around the 4th of July.

Meanwhile, my husband is in charge of his own meals. He is not handy nor experienced in the kitchen, but I have stocked a few microwaveable items in the freezer. He will go to restaurants or Grace Village dining room some of the time as well. Maybe in another week I will have reduced pain and more stamina to fix some things for him. 

It is over 90 degrees today so the popsicles I stocked up on look good, too. Keep cool if you are part of this heat pattern.