September 28, 2009

The Sunday Salon, Monday Edition

I am trying to make some changes to my Sunday Salon format that will make it easier to read and skip around as you like. Literature and Life are the 2 major sections, each being divided up as the need calls for. I welcome your input.

Literature
Books: Despite the lack of reviews I am reading. House of Sand and Fog is slow going. What-the-Dickens continues to delight but it's a read-aloud so we read only small chunks a couple nights a week. Pay Attention, Say Thank You is a continual work in progress but almost complete.

Challenges: I have 3 challenges I'm currently working on. There are 3 books left to read for the Take a Chance Challenge. Two more books for the RIP IV. Then I joined a new one last week, the Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge which starts on Thursday. I'm determined to complete them all successfully.

Life
French Cooking: If you didn't see my post about what I made from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking then take a peek. I thought this segment deserved a post all of it's own so from now on Adventures in French Cooking will be a regular series. I'll post whenever I get a chance to cook.

FlyLady: This past week we were to concentrate on decluttering and cleaning the master bedroom. I focused my attention on my sewing area that is set up in my room. Setting my timer for 15 minutes, I was surprised that it only took two days for my sewing area to go from unusable to organized.




As you can see I got rid a lot of floor clutter and put away all the junk on the table. I donated a lot of things. I dusted the sewing machines. Then I spent the rest of the week working on some unfinished projects(UFOs) including repairs to some clothes and making a stylish pillow case that matches my son's quilt that I made 4 years ago.

I don't even remember cutting the pieces out but they sat in a pile waiting for my attention for quite a while. I'm hoping to complete one UFO a week now that I can use my space. This week FlyLady wants us to work on the living room and front entrance/dining room.

Homeschool: Shakespeare! We learned about Shakespeare this week. It wasn't an exhaustive lesson but we learned a little about the man and his times. My kids are too young to understand the language of Shakespeare so we read a couple of beautifully illustrated adaptations of Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. If you can find the Bruce Coville adaptations I highly recommend them. They use Shakespearean language when it is easier understood and narrate the rest. As I said already, the illustrations are just stunning and suit the mood of the play perfectly. We still have to read A Winter's Tale and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

5 comments:

bermudaonion said...

Wow, you've given me some hope for my clutter. Are you sure that only took 2 days of 15 minutes each?

Ti said...

I like the new format.

Clutter is a big deal for me. I can't stand it and if there is any around it makes me nuts and I literally have a hard time focusing.

I spent part of yesterday de-cluttering my kids' desk area. The mounds of homework and practice sheets needed to be worked over in a big way. Now everything is nice and neat. I feel so much better.

Katrina said...

I hear ya on the clutter! My goal for this week is to get rid of lots of it! It's been a while since I checked your blog. It looks great! I've been wanting to change the style of my blog to a wider format and haven't found what I want. What template are you using?

Petunia said...

BermudaOnion-I thought it would take all week. I am so pleased.

Ti-I used to be a slob but I've gotten a lot better. It's true. It's hard to think clearly when your home is cluttered.

Katrina-Declutter in 15 min. spurts. Or try a 27 Thing Fling. Check out FlyLady to learn about it. My template is Minima Stretch.

Sal said...

Wow, even the crooked framed picture has been make straight. I have spent my sat clearing my wardrobe and throwing away some old clothes and putting other good ones into different bags for the Salvation Army. Now I have extra clothes hangers standing by:-) Next project will be my room full of books accumulated over the years and other mess.