Emptying

Have you ever had to take on the task of emptying the house of someone close to you after their death? This is what I've been doing since the death of my mom in January. I've been working on it in a rather off and on fashion. More off than on. The whole process is tiring both physically, mentally and emotionally.

Being the only girl and the youngest -- I have four older brothers -- I took it upon myself to sort through everything. There's an 11 years age difference between me and my closest brother. I was an accident. A happy accident it ended up being. Finally bringing my parents a daughter. I'm the one who lived at home most recently and am familiar with a lot of what's there. Do you still refer to the house you grew up in as home even though you have a home of your own?

Emptying a house, especially one lived in for over 40 years, is not an easy undertaking. My mom was a saver. Not a hoarder. She saved things that could be reused or repurposed, such as margarine tubs and pantyhose. She clipped from magazines and newspapers -- recipes, helpful hints, medical info, advice columns. She was a record keeper -- receipts for major purchases, statements, calendars, owners manuals. 

Needless to say, there's been a lot of shredding. Not much trash. A lot of recycling -- the usual paper, cardboard, plastic, glass and metal, as well as electronics. Some items donated to charity. Others of importance or usefulness being kept by myself or my brothers. What's left will be sold, including the house. 

Last week I came to the conclusion I need to finish up this sorting business so I can move on and focus 100% on my house and myself. I spent most of the weekend over there and made considerable progress. One trip to Goodwill, with more ready for another trip. One trip to electronics recycling, with more ready for another trip. Three trips to recycling. I'm thinking one more day of really attacking it like that and I will be done with the inside of the house. The light at the end of the tunnel. Hallelujah!

Before: Vintage Sprinkler

When I was growing up I often ran through sprinklers during the hot summer months. It was such a fun way to keep cool. I don't see kids doing that now. It seems like people just don't water their lawns so much anymore (I know we don't) or they're using built in automatic sprinklers.

Anyway, one of the sprinklers my parents had that I ran through was a Sunbeam Rain King sprinkler (model K-2). Here it is right now in all its rusty glory. 

I loved this sprinkler mainly because of how it spun around flinging water out in a circle. It still works. I tested it.

Turning the dial on the top adjusts the spray from 5 up to 50 feet out.

A few more shots of the sprinkler before I spiff it up. Here's the bottom.

Side view of the top with the dial.

The other side.

It was during the 1970's that I was running through sprinklers. One of my brothers was telling me he ran through it when he was a kid. That would have been in the 1950s and/or 1960s. I located the following print ads on the internet for that particular model. They are all from the 1950s. 

This one is from 1951 and appears to be a catalog page. 

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Here's a magazine ad from 1951.

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Another magazine ad.  This one from 1954.

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One more magazine ad from 1954.

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I picked up some naval jelly to try first to get the rust off, as well as a spray can of primer. I'm thinking of going with Rustoleum Hunter Green gloss enamel spray paint. Now I need to wait for the weather to be dry when I'm off work to get started on it. Stay tuned for the after post. Maybe a during post, also.

Losing My Softness

So it begins. After gaining 20 pounds during the last several months while I was distracted and lacking motivation with my mom's declining health, death and aftermath, I think I'm finally at the point of a real start toward losing my softness. It's been a long time coming. I've been frustrated that I've not been able to really get going with this.

However, starting in April I did begin increasing my running and cycling miles. The weather improving and quitting my second job both had a hand in that. You can see it in the chart above of my miles logged over the last 12 months. In addition to keeping that momentum going, I need to work on adding back yoga, weights and any other cardio and strengthening I find along the way to toss in.

Today was another big step. A renewed focus on my calorie intake. It's fine and dandy to be burning the calories, but it's no good if I'm shoving them back into my body in the food I eat. To help me out, I've set a goal for total calorie intake per day and logging the food I eat using a calorie tracking website. This I've done in the past and have found it very helpful as I start out.

That's that. Now to stay focused and on track.

Bloglovin

In March Google announced the retirement of Reader on July 1st of this year. At the time, I wondered how I was going to keep up with all of the feeds from the various blogs and websites I followed. Then I checked out a few of the alternatives out there and of them I liked Bloglovin the best. I've been using it happily for a couple months now.

By the way, a feed reader is a super handy and time saving way to stay on top of the blogs and websites you like to visit and read. Instead of bookmarking and hopping from one to the next to see if there is anything new, you can view updates as they happen in one place. As long as the website produces a feed, you can monitor it with a reader. It doesn't have to be just blogs. It can be a news website or a Flickr photostream. Just check on the site to see if a feed is generated. Look for an orange icon like the one below. It's usually small. If you don't see this icon, look for mention of RSS, Atom, a feed or a subscription. The reader you use may allow you to directly enter the web address and locate the feed itself. You can also try a feed validation website.

Back to Bloglovin. You just have to make an account and then you can add feeds to it in two ways. I added my existing subscriptions from Google Reader using the import tool within the account settings. A few either didn't transfer or import correctly for some reason. Those I added manually with the "Add blog" button in the "Manage blogs you follow screen".  That's also how I add new ones to my account. Also, if you have a blog you can claim and manage it on Bloglovin. There's instructions in their support pages.

Ready to get started on Bloglovin? Click the following button. You can create a login by using your email or Facebook account.


After you create your account, don't forget to add my blog!

91 Magazine

Yesterday evening I was wandering around the internet and came upon a digital publishing website named Issuu. While exploring the huge selection of publications available, I discovered 91 Magazine and was immediately smitten. I wanted to share it with you right away. I'm so excited to share this with you, I've only had a chance to flip through the current issue and glance at the previous ones.

This digital only magazine originates from the UK and is described as "An online magazine for the vintage style and craft lover." Upon reading this, I knew it would be right up my alley. When I opened the current issue, I was not disappointed. You can check it out below.

The magazine focuses on two of my favorite things: vintage and handmade. It is very nicely done. Clean layout. A lot of high quality photographs. Over 100 pages jam-packed with information and inspiration. Even step by step projects and recipes.

Be sure to explore the links below. Especially their blog. There you will be treated with more of what you find in the magazine issues, as well as social media links. Enjoy the current issue I've included above and be sure to check out the previous ones. I certainly will be.

Related Links:
Issues: http://issuu.com/91magazine
Website: http://www.91magazine.co.uk/
Publisher: http://www.patchworkharmony.co.uk/
Blog: http://www.patchworkharmony.blogspot.com/
Shop: http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/patchworkharmony

Throwback Thursday

Hello, all!  The weather here in St. Louis started out so nice today. Sunny and mild with a lovely breeze. Now it's chilly and raining. On the other side of the state it's snowing! The rain here isn't supposed to stop until tomorrow night and then a chance through the weekend.

Now to the matter at hand. It's Throwback Thursday! This week I'm sharing a favorite photo of mine in my collection. Isn't this little guy wonderful? I have no idea who he is. The hair. The outfit. The ruffles. The bow. On top of it all, he's on a tricycle. I can't help but smile every time I look at it.

The photo is in an album that belonged to my great grandparents. The photographer is S. Smith at 1115 Franklin Ave. in St. Louis, MO.

I'd love to see your vintage photos. Link them up below (click "Read more" if you don't see it). You'll need to reopen this in a browser if you're looking at it in a feed reader.

Be sure to return in a week for the next installment. Thanks so much for stopping by!