Recently Fascinated by the Story of Huguette Clark

I read the first installment months ago. Apparently I wasn't the only one fascinated by her story because MSNBC followed it up with more investigation and reporting. Now it looks as though there will be legal investigation into whether this elderly person is being cared for and not exploited. Even if everything is ok, good for MSNBC for asking. It seems quite suspicious that her accountant and attorney are controlling access to her, even preventing distant relatives from checking on her.

Mom Just Locked Her Door

ROFL!

This is classic. How many times have I thought about doing this?! Mom needs a timeout kids. I love The Onion.

Will it make you happy?

While I am sitting here making a list for back to school shopping, I am struggling to get into the typical spirit of the event. I am having a harder time accumulating stuff lately. I just read this article and could really relate to it. I know my kids will need some new things, but I'm reluctant to add more stuff to our house until we get rid of some things. I think before school shopping, we will need to do a little more weeding out of things we don't need.

Even my kids seem to have caught this shift a bit, although, not when it comes to Moxie girl dolls or itunes stuff. I think back to school shopping will be a bit more subdued this year. My daughter had her grandmother take her to the Salvation Army Thrift Store for her birthday shopping. I think she realizes that her money will go a lot farther there. She came back with two shirts.

The things that have brought us the most joy this summer that were new purchases included trips up north camping, two new camping cots (it's nice to have a bed that doesn't deflate around midnight), fishing licenses and a hammock. That hammock has had so much use this summer and will hold two which makes it a lovely place for conversations or just hanging out together.

Weekword: Collection

My collections are many. Books:
Globes (and more stuff in the background in my kitchen):

And quilts:

These are just a few of my collections. I'm feeling the need to pare down right now so will be getting rid of some things but the collections listed here will stay. I may weed out a few afghans, kitchen stuff, vintage games, etc. but the quilts, books and globes will stay. I would also like to get rid of the collection of empty reusable waterbottles that my son leaves next to the sink, the shoes piled in the laundry room and the "to file" stack of papers on the dining room table. How do we stop collecting that stuff?! I need to stop with the physical collection and just collect memories, dreams and love.

I found this wonderful illustration on tumblr today that fit this week word perfectly.

See Elisabeth at Textilspanieln for other week word participants.

Weekword: Balance

I seem to have lost this recently and have no time for art. I haven't knitted in days. This is my attempt to get a little bit back. I whipped this up in a very short period and really just threw things together but it was fun. Goal for the weekend: Seek Balance. "Make time for art - It's Important" per one of my favorite prints from Aimee at Artysville. It is hanging in my art room but perhaps I need to move it to another room so that I will go to my art room more often!

Check out Mary's blog, No Polar Coordinates for other participants.

Wednesday's Finds

Impromptu garage sale stop today. Older woman cleaning stuff out. She used to sew prom dresses for others as well as clothing for herself. She happened to have lots of patterns in my size. I'm not sure I will actually sew them, but they are really fun old patterns. I also got yards of black ball fringe for 50 cents. I also got an old cootie game, old memory game and old scrabble game. All in all, I spent $2.60 there.

I picked up some books at a used book store today too. A productive day.

Tuesday Fun

Someone in the area was getting rid of a whole lot of magazines on Craigslist (free). I'm planning on hosting a vision board making session this fall for a small group of women, so I snatched up a few dozen. Yeah! Plus, I get some fun weekend reading for the next several weeks.

And I had a lovely drive in an area near my house where I've never been before. This cute little house was too adorable not to photograph. Unfortunately, I only had my cell phone with me.

On the way back, my son and I stopped and watched my husband play an inning of baseball. When my husband got home from baseball, the two of us went out on our monthly date to our favorite restaurant and sat outside. It was a lovely evening.

This place always has the most interesting beers on tap.

I enjoyed a lovely IPA and a steak sandwich with watercress, gorgonzola and tomato on a crusty farm bread with an old pickle.

Evening Sunset - Last Week

So how can I be so busy that I only post once a week or less? I even missed last weeks' word! Which is really quite amazing since I french braided hair several times this weekend. No pictures to show for it though. All I got is this lovely sunset picture from my phone.