Photo Blog- February

Photo Blog Challenge- February- Simple

I am going to concentrate on the simple everyday things that I come across, first up: the broom

1. The broom:  (from Wikipedia- not a credible source): In 1797, the quality of brooms changed when Levi Dickenson, a farmer in Hadley, Massachusetts, made a broom for his wife, using the tassels of sorghum, a grain he was growing for the seeds. His wife spread good words around town, creating demand for Dickenson's sorghum brooms.

I use my broom almost daily.  With a litter box and three cats, and three people living in a house, a lot gets scattered on the floor.  We don’t take our shoes off when we come into the house.  We try, but unsuccessful.  Yes, I know, the sh-t we track in, should convince us to do so, but we don’t. The broom appears.  My last broom was almost 16 years old.  Yes, 16 years old!  It still had life left in it, but last week, I became frustrated with it and out it went, I flung it out into the backyard.  See the picture… After a few days, I put it in the garbage.  It was difficult, it gave me a lot of good sweeps over the years; old faithful, hanging in the closet.  We went out to buy a new broom, I must say, it doesn’t perform like the old one, but I guess it needs to be broken in.  Well, I guess I’ll give it a try for the next 16 years. The broom is a simple everyday necessity, at least in my house. 

2. The snow day

Awww…the snow day.  If you’re a kid, you love them, because you don’t have school.  As an adult, we can love them or hate them. The responsibilities of cleaning the driveway, shoveling, missing work and perhaps missing a day of pay all add up to not a great thing for an adult.  I also look at snow days as simple days of catching up on what we need to, slowing down and enjoying a simple snowfall, spending time home with the kids, and just doing the things we move to the back burner because we are busy when it isn’t snowing.  Snow days = simply slowing down and taking a breath, a breath we will need for all the shoveling ahead.

 #3 Pathtags

 

I have made quite a few pathtags, see picture. I enjoy looking at these simple pieces of metal on a day that I don’t have any thing to do (which is rare).  I look forward to trading and sending and receiving these in the mail. I join clubs that have a theme associated with.  The one club I started was the Presidents Vinylmation Club.  Each person who joined made one or more of the presidents using the Vinylmation shape, until all 45 of the presidents were chosen. This club took about a year to complete, as it was slow starting, but we did get all of the tags made and distributed to the participants.  Another popular theme for pathtags is Charley Harper.  An American artist, whose subjects are mostly animals and insects. If you never heard of this artist, look him up, simply beautiful art that transforms well into pathtags. This simple hobby of mine,

has kept me busy and filled with joy by both giving and receiving them.

 

4. My cats

We have three cats: Miss Kitty, Mr. Tom, and Stretch Bozinski. We have a lot of property and a big house and at times, I may not see the cats for hours. I included my cats under the prompt “simple” because they are simple to please.  A scratch under the neck or on top of the head, or an occasional cat treat seems to make them happy and content. When I am watching TV or working on the computer, one or more come around and hang out with me. It’s nice to have to company when I am home alone doing work. Pictured is Stretch Bozinski (black and white). He has an abnormally long tail and when he lies down he stretches out and takes up a lot of room. He was named after a high school basketball coach at my school who was very tall.  It seemed liked the perfect name when I got the cat from the SPCA. Miss Kitty is the light colored cat, and Mr. Tom, likes to lay on his back a lot. 

 

5. Grocery shopping

Hmm…really?  Grocery shopping?  I enjoy grocery shopping when I have time.  I HATE it when I have to stop on the way hoe from work to pick something up for dinner. I chose to put grocery shopping under the simple category because it is simple and it gives me simple enjoyment to choose items for a nice dinner or a couple of dinners for the week.  It makes my life much more simple of I go into the store with a plan of what I am making for dinner the next three says or so.  I am organized and to simplify my life I go shopping on Sunday, the least busiest day of the week for me.