Hobbling Through July

No dancing this month for me!

 

I've been limping around on crutches due to a torn hamstring and it's slowed me down (which is usually a pretty hard thing to do). Maybe that's what I get for assuming that, at 67, I can keep up with Michelle Obama at the gym! That said, my crutches aren't a very good excuse for ignoring my blog so today is my valiant effort to catch up.

We didn't let my hamstring keep us from traveling around Maine in our little Casita this month.

We spent the 4th at the campsite of dear friends Anita and Fred in Pemaquid . . .

And then headed up to Maine's beautiful Rangely Lake region for a week at South Arm on Lower Richardson Lake. Louise Rich's fascinating book, We Took to the Woods, was written about surviving in this rural region of Maine in the early 1930's, when the remote "South Arm" was the only place families could pick up supplies for the long winter ahead.

At remote South Arm Campground, we enjoyed a week of listening to the loons, catching up on our reading, visiting with old "camp friends", and in my case, hobbling through the woods to the bathroom!

 

 

We returned home in time to pick up my new Mini Cooper. It was finally time to trade in my trusty nine-year old Subaru and treat myself to the car I've always wanted.

 

And, of course, it matches our house!

 

The new car was a great excuse to visit family and friends in two of my favorite places,

Kennebunk . . .

and Kennebunkport.

So many memories here from teenage summers long ago!

Inspired by Marie Kondo's little book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I've also been working with my sisters to help my niece de-clutter and organize her first little apartment.

 

Had I known that someday there would someday be a real career called "professional organizer", I would have signed right up. As it is,  I seem to be lending myself out as an "unprofessional (but free)organizer" frequently enough to keep my de-cluttering urges at bay!

 

 Thank Goodness my new little Mini holds a LOT of stuff!

 

What started as a one-day project has expanded to six but the results have been worth it. Three weeks after we started,  the apartment looks great, I've gotten to know my niece better, and I've acquired considerable practice folding t-shirts using the "KonMari" method.

Blogger Anne's post on decluttering, at Modern Mrs. Darcy, includes an excellent summary of Marie Kondo's method of tidying up, Japanese style. If you haven't read the book yet, her post is well worth a visit.

Sewing is something I can do sitting down so I've done a little of that this month. I'm still working through my stash of fat quarters stitching up accessories to give as gifts.

The eyeglass case were lots of fun to make and I'm just starting to sew these mini credit card wallets.

Last on the "things I can do on crutches list" is catching up on the recent best sellers. I'm currently re-reading a book I taught to high school students for years, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, so that I'll be ready to start on the new release of her "lost book", Go Set a Watchman. I can't wait to read it.

So that's my "hobbling through July" story. I've missed my blog friends and promise to limp over to the computer and log into Blogger much more often in August.

 

How is your summer going?

 

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