Lifestyle

Journaling…

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“writing down your thoughts and feelings to understand them more clearly“

I’ve tried journaling but I either get hung up in my own head or the little squirrel that runs up and around my brain distracts me.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

In my mind I’ve looked at blogging as a sort of journal, one that I share with others, not one that I write in for my eyes only. This is my third platform for blogging, the original was blogger, and while I no longer post there if you are inclined you can go back and read all 805 post that go back to May 2008. I think at the time I started the blog it was more business focused but as time went I throw in all kinds of things, from owning a quilt shop, our pets, special occasions, new family members and those that have passed.

2015 rolled around and my quilt shop, Kelly Ann’s Quilting, was selected to be in Quilt Sampler Magazine as a top 10 quilt shop and I needed a website that could handle online sales. I had a website on the Wix platform designed and started blogging there. I closed the shop in 2019 and moved on…sort of…I hand my web-designer do another website on Wix for Neked Sheep Wool and started blogging on that website. Here’s the thing…Wix is a great platform but once you no longer have the business and close that website your blog goes away, so all the writing I was doing goes away. My original blog was tied to Kelly Ann’s Quilting and while I still hold that name close to my heart it was time to move along. This blog, Kelly Ann’s Blog, is not tired to any one thing….I’m kind of all over the map. There are times I post silly stuff and in the future you might see more serious writings because it is after all…ALL ABOUT ME…and while I can still be goofy there are some things that need to be taken seriously and you might see that side of me.

So back to Journaling…while I don’t sit down and write in a journal I do use blogging to sort of journal what’s going on or even sometimes my thoughts.

So I ask you…is blogging like a journal…do you enjoy following blogs?? I’m on the search for a good blog reader, one that I can use to subscribe to blogs and have them all in one place, do you know of one?

I’m still learning a lot about this platform so you may see things change up a bit or they may stay the same…only time will tell.

Thanks for following

Toodles

Lifestyle

26 titles

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I’ve been a little busy this year…I’ve read 26 books and started number 27 this morning. A friend told me about the Fern Michaels – Sisterhood series and I am hooked.

Let me back up for a minute….

Last year when we were on our cruise I read several books, it was the perfect vacation with the perfect balance of activities and relaxing by the pool with my Kindle. I started the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series in 2021 but wasn’t reading at a quick pace…there are 30 books in this series by the end of 2022 I was on book 16…I still have 29 and 30 to read but the library doesn’t have 29 yet and 30 doesn’t come out till the fall. But this series really got my reading mojo kicked into high gear.

Okay back to the Fern Michaels series…there are 33 books and I started number 15 this morning.

Growing up I was a reader…there was an elderly lady on our street that would share paper bags of books with me. I would get lost in reading. I thought at one time I might turn into a writer, and who knows I still might but for now I’ll spend every free minute reading others work.

So if you need me…I’ll be on the back porch…or on the beach…or in bed…or…just about any place I can grab a few minutes reading.

Until Next Time…

Lifestyle

“They Say…”

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I used quotes in the title because “they say” is something that we’re all hearing more and more and I just can’t figure out who “they” are. Several years ago my brother and I were chatting and he said … “well they say”…. and I asked … “exactly is who is they” … and we laughed and laughed and moved on to the next silly subject.

But…now I’m gonna say “they say” or better yet “I’ve read” that of the five senses the one that invokes more memories is scent/smell.

It’s known in my family and friends that I was abducted by aliens and my memories sucked out of my brain…okay, not really but I do have a horrible memory.

Anyways…

I was on my way to the post office, stopped at the top of the driveway to pull in the trash cans, and I was flooded with a fragrance/smell that immediately took me back to when we lived in a trailer park in Hubert NC, I could close my eyes and see the inside. I have to say it was very emotional, but in a good way.

You will never guess what the fragrance was…

Yup…kool-aid. I’m not sure what plant/tree it was that put this smell off but…WOW…it was crazy how strong it was. Click here to read the story on Kool-aid

I’m not sure how often we had kool-aid but I do remember drinking it in the kitchen of our home. I doubt I’ll have kool-aid again in my life but ya never know…I might get a wild hair and pick up a package for old time sake.

Until Next Time

Toodles

Lifestyle

Walking thoughts

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We woke up to a beautiful spring morning here in Virginia and after coffee and the last little bit in a book I was reading I put on my walking shoes and headed to town for a walk…can’t walk out where we live because 1. no sidewalks 2. big farm trucks 3. people are just crazy when driving…but I got off topic.

I drive to town for my walks, there are a few great places to walk, walking paths, trails and safe from #2 & #3 above. I listen to PodCast when walk, my list is all over the place, from True Crime & Cocktails to Kara Swisher to Mel Robbins to the Body Nerd Show….see…all over the place.

I’m real careful when walking and listening to anything, watching for people and animals, always aware of my surroundings. The last few times when walking I’ve come across this odd looking bug, nope didn’t take a picture, and I’m sure it’s nothing out of the ordinary but I’m careful not to step on it. Today the silly thing ran almost under my foot, I kind of jumped back, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then kept on my walk. This reminded me of a scene from the movie, Men in Black II where Agent K, played by Tommy Lee Jones, almost steps on a bug but is able to avoid it, when the bug looked up and said “thank you kindly”…

so my walking thought today was…

We should all try and use the words more often. I think I’m pretty good at saying “thank you” but adding the “kindly” just gives the gesture more warmth and caring, especially when address a stranger. With everything going on in our country and the world, being pitted against each other from all sides, I think it would be a good thing to try this simple little gesture…try more “thank you’s” more “your welcome”…make eye contact and show a little kindness to strangers.

and…

I’d like to think that today that little bug I didn’t step on looked back (cause it was moving) and said “thank you kindly”

Later gators

KA

Lifestyle

Earworm

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“An earworm, sometimes referred to as a brainworm, sticky music, stuck song syndrome, or, most commonly after earworms, Involuntary Musical Imagery, is a catchy or memorable piece of music or saying that continuously occupies a person’s mind even after it is no longer being played or spoken about. Wikipedia“

We’ve all had them and know they can come right out of universe and stick in your head…there is no rhyme or reason…they just happen.

So…today…this one happened

and it is all because of this meme I shared on Instagram

Thank you to whoever made this meme…it made day…and it made a fun earworm that I hopefully have passed on to friends and family worldwide.

Tootles

KA

Lifestyle

You are not the same person

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You are not the same person you were in 2019 and neither am I.

2019

2019 Started off with so much new and promise. I was closing the storefront and moving into the online and quilt show world. The decision to close the store was not made lightly, I lost my oldest brother Christmas Day 2017 and by the turn of the year I came to realize that I was ready to put the storefront behind me. I pondered all kinds of options and timing…we finally decided to finish out 2018 and 2019 close and move forward.

That year went by…quickly. I had three quilt shows scheduled, two were total bust and that’s when I know that…maybe hauling all the goods in and out of convention centers was not my cup of tea and running my business online would better suit the semi-retirement lifestyle that I looked forward to.

2020 started off with promise. I started walking daily, this was the year I was going to play pickleball, kayak and paddleboard…it was also the year I was turning 60 and we had planned some travel…things were looking up…until….

The finger snap happened…

2020

It was a year of uncertainty…we wore mask, we used A LOT of hand sanitizer (if we could find it), learned to garden, cook, and ponder…lots of time to ponder. We also learned a lot about our neighbors, good and bad, and we changed…we were not the same person in 2020 that we were in 2019.

We waltzed into 2021 with a little hope…vaccines were coming out, people were scrambling to get a shot so we could try and figure out what the new “normal” was for so many of us

2021

Many of us had longer and grayer hair…we looked forward to doing things that felt normal, baseball and travel and seeing more of our friends and family….but something happened in the previous year that no one could have ever imagined…we changed…while we knew we weren’t the same person in 2021 we were in 2019…we couldn’t put our finger on what we were.

Some of us in 2019 were true extroverts…loved to be around people, parties, visiting…and when we emerged two years later, for some of us that had changed. I know that I have changed and it wasn’t until recently, in 2023 that I’ve been able to put my finger on it. I’m more selective about saying yes to meeting up, going out, basically socializing…so you see…I am not the same person I was in 2019 and ya know what…that is okay.

There is still plenty of 2023 in front of us but I am learning more about this new me and I have to say I’m liking her more and more. Some things I let roll off my back, much like water on a ducks back, some things I can’t control and honestly don’t want to. Do I wish that what we all went through didn’t happen, you betcha, but we did, we can’t reverse time, we just pick up and find a new and different direction.

So there you have it…we are not the same in 2023 we were last year, the year before or the year before that. If you can look at the finger snap as a pivot in your life it might make it easier to realize the new you…you too have grown and it is up to you to figure out how…are you the butterfly or the moth…for me…I am the butterfly, emerging and exploring…so much to see…and do…and live…and enjoy!

Until next time

KA

2022
Lifestyle · Uncategorized

Hello it’s me…

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To quote Taylor Swift…It’s me…I’m the problem it’s me…

I had all kinds of hopes, aspirations, dreams, plans…how ever you label it I was going to keep this blog up to date on life events. From travel to cooking to gardening to pups to crafting…but it doesn’t take long to push something aside to do other things.

What I’ve been doing since my last post in March was…

  1. Trip to Chicago, yes in March, to visit family
  2. Baseball, yup, baseball has started back up, so between going to games and watching on TV I get distracted.
  3. Planning vacations…a couple of big ones coming up this year
  4. Reading…since the turn of the year I’ve read 19 books.
  5. A little stitching
  6. Made two quilts just need to drop them off at the quilter

So it’s not like I’ve just been sitting around twiddling my thumbs, I’ve been doing stuff but just not writing. I started this blog as a kind of record of what happens through the year. We shall see how often I post…I do have good intentions but Spring is here which means nice weather which means putting my hands into the dirt and enjoying the back porch.

So…until next time

KA

Lifestyle

Raise Your Hand…

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Raise your hand if you don’t like going to the dentist???

I had an old filling give-way so a crown was recommended…so exciting I was finally being recognized for the royalty that I was

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

BUT…I was tricked…I did not receive this crown when I went four weeks ago but instead I got a temporary one…so there was still time for me to get a pretty crown like the one above.

Well…today was the day…I went in excepting there to be great fanfare..you know…like a coronation…roses, music, banners, balloons…but sadly non of that happened when I walked in the door. So they whisked me off to the back room and as I sat down in the chair I asked if this was when I would be getting my sash and I wondered what time the coronation party would start…it was at this point that I realized that I was getting non of that … nothing … what I got was some numbing jell and a few shots from Dr. Drew and the crown was installed on a back tooth…that no…one…will…ever..see!

So while the process was mostly painless I am still rather bummed out that I didn’t get the full royal treatment!

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

So tell me….

Do you like going to the dentist???

Crafting · Lifestyle

Fun Fact

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In 2019 I closed my brick & mortar quilt shop and was looking forward to running an online business focusing on hand-dyed wool, patterns and kits and fun wooly things. It took some time to figure out work space and start loading all kinds of goodies to the website, www.nekedsheepwool.com and moving forward with this new adventure…and then…

2020 happened the world kind of shut down and I found that I needed to reach more people with my business and opened an Etsy page…deciding to go back to my roots with Kelly Ann’s Quilting. As the year went by I started adding more quilting products to the Etsy store and wool and Sashiko to the website, and at one point I had fabric on the website and it just became too much to try and manage. I do have more sales on Etsy and having to update the website each time I sold fabric because a full time job that I didn’t need so all the fabric and quilting supplies were moved to Etsy and for about a year I operated them as two different types of businesses.

2021/2022 I found a new obsession with Sashiko and the Wonderfil threads, and knowing that to get the biggest bang I would need to load both of these products to both of my store fronts. Well…one thing led to another and now I’ve started adding wool to the Etsy store.

Fun Fact…Etsy has 81+ million users and 5.3 million sellers. When you have that kind of audience it’s hard to ignore the possibilities. I’ve pondered this fact for awhile and I feel good about the fact that I’m loading more product over on Etsy, while not ignoring the website, I needed to decide where to spend more energy. For now I’ll be adding the same products to the website and Etsy, so if you are familiar with how Etsy works and that makes you comfortable, I say pop over and check out my page…if you want to see what my website is all about, I think it’s a pretty cool page….either way I would love for you to visit my business pages and let me know what you think.

We are two months into 2023 and I want to use my “work” time more efficiently and have more time to play…so follow along to see where I take my Neked Sheep Wool and Kelly Ann’s Quilting.

KA

Crafting · Gardening

Off her meds

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Mother Nature is off her meds here in Virginia…

78 tomorrow and check out Saturday…do you see those snow flakes… ARE YOU KIDDING ME????

We traveled to North Carolina this weekend and between the time we left and returned my Bleeding Hearts are starting to pop up through the ground. I do have a few bulbs that popped up a few weeks ago, no flowers yet, and they are typically my earliest flowers…but my bleeding hearts need to sleep a little bit longer. I can’t wait for them to put on a show like they have done for years

I made this wool applique wall hanging earlier this month from a kit on my website.

I was kind of excited to get it done so I could enjoy bleeding hearts a little big longer in the house…now I just hope the flowers in the yard survive till they are ready to bloom and don’t get too cold. I’ll be keeping an eye on my flowers and do my best to protect their tender little leaves.

We’ve stayed cloudy today so I’m wrapped up in a jacket and warm socks while working in the basement but you better believe that tomorrow with the temperature going to be close to 80…I’ll be outside soaking up the sun and warmth.

Now if I could just convince Mother Nature to stay on track and stick to one season per week

KA